USA > Kansas > Marshall County > History of Marshall County, Kansas : its people, industries, and institutions > Part 3
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Swanson, Oscar .1.
819
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Taryin, Charles 11. 1028
Taton, Rev. Francis H. 480
Thather. George I. M. D. 474
Thiele, George H.
722
Thomann, Frank
536
Thompson, James
648
Thomson, Frank
808
Tibbetts. Charles C. 634
Tilley, Samuel W. 934
Times, The Blue Rapids
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Toedter. John P.
594
Train, F. ... 1040
Travelute, Andrew J. 488
Traxler, Henry
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Vanamburg, John D.
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Van Vliet, George
997
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Wagner. John F.
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Wagner. Louis J. 1032
Warnica, Calvin 987
Warnica, William D. 546
Waters, Henry C. .
618
Weaver, Henry 779
Weber, Carl 752
Wells, James 587
Wells. Oliver C. 549
Werner. Frank A.
580
Westburg. Kasper
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Wilcox. James R.
688
Willey, Charles L. 727
Winquist. John A. 1007
Winter. Burton M. 1024
Witt. Gustav .\.
772
Wittmuss, Albert
671
Wohler. Frank T. 856
Wohler. Ortwin F. 889
Wood, Orhn P., M. D. 564
Wnester, Joseph B. 837
Wullschleger. Jacob
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Wullschleger, Robert
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Yamasi, Frank
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Yanssi. Rudolph
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Zarybuicky, Joseph
Zimmerling. Ernst W.
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WHERE THE WEST BEGINS.
Out where the West begins, Out where the hand clasps a little stronger, Out where the smile dwells a little longer, That's where the West begins. Out where the sun is a little brighter, Out where the snow falls a trifle whiter,
Where the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter, That's where the West begins.
Out where the skies are a trifle bluer, Out where friendship's a little truer, That's where the West begins. Out where a fresher breeze is blowing, Where there's laughter in every streamlet flowing, Where there's more of reaping and less of sowing, That's where the West begins.
Out where the world is in the making, Where fewer hearts with despair are aching, That's where the West begins. Where there's more of singing and less of sighing. Where there's more of giving and less of buying, Where a man makes friends without half trying, That's where the West begins.
--- ARTHUR CHAPMAN.
(3)
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY, ORNITHOLOGY AND FLORA.
The geologist bas drawn an irregular line diagonally across the county from northeast to southwest, from near Summerfield, where the altitude is one thousand four hundred and fifty feet above sea level, to a point near where the Big Blue river leaves the county and where the altitude is about one thousand one hundred feet above sea level. He tells us that east of that line the territory is of the Carboniferous and west of the line, is composed of the Permian age, an equal division, which has been satisfactory so far to all concerned.
The Big Blue, which carries more water in dry weather than any other stream in Kansas, enters the county on the north, eleven miles east of the west line and leaves it on the south, twelve miles east of the west line, flow- ing through a bottom from one-lialf to one and one-half miles wide, of the richest farming land known.
The Vermillion river receives the water from the eastern and south- castern part of the county and pours it into the Big Blue, about a mile north of the southern line of the county.
Along the rivers and creeks is found a plentiful supply of limestone for building purposes, the quarries at Oketo and Florena on the Big Blue and at Beattie on the Vermillion, having shipped stone for many years in thousands of carload lots to Nebraska and Missouri.
An apparently inexhaustible supply of gypsum is found near Blue Rapids, where hundreds of thousands of dollars are invested in its manu- facture.
PRECIOUS STONES.
Semi-precious stones, such as agates of all kinds, opals, white sapphire. topaz, turquois, quartz crystals and jasper of various kinds, are found in the
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sandbars of the Big Blue and its tributaries, on the high hills and the glacial drift. in almost every part of the county, in small quantities.
Many of these have been ground and make beautiful jewelry. There is, however, not enough of any one kind to market profitably. Quite a num- ber of fresh water pearls' have been found in the mussels taken from the Big Blue river.
A poor grade of coal has been found near Axtell, but not in quantity to assure profitable mining.
The first attempt at drilling for coal or gas was made at Marysville in 1884, but when salt water was struck at about four hundred feet, operations were discontinued. In 1887 a well was sunk near Hutchinson's mill to a depth of one thousand one hundred and fifty fect, and abandoned in salt water. In 1006 the Schmidt brothers sunk a well one thousand one hundred and fifty feet near the river bridge at Marysville and abandoned it in salt water. Another well was sunk between AAxtell and Vermillion to one thou- sand three hundred feet, with similar results.
During the year 1916 thousands of acres of Marshall county land were leased by various oil companies for the ostensible purpose of drilling for oil.
In February, 1917. a home organization, strictly mutual, by landowners only, was perfected with a view to testing the territory to a depth of three thousand feet. The officers of this company are. C. A. Hammett, president : Alexander Schmidt, secretary: M. W. Schmidt, treasurer, with directors in both Marshall and Washington counties.
FORESTRY.
The cottonwood was the native monarch tree of Kansas for many years. It grew plentifully along the rivers, and as the pioneer built his cabin near the streams, the cottonwood furnished shade and shelter for himself and the small herds he possessed. The cottonwood, being full of sap withstood the drought and prairie fires, and because it made rapid growth. settlers were urged to plant the trees for wind-break for orchards and stock.
Every farm had its "row" and grove of cottonwoods. Sometimes a furrow was plowed and twigs stuck in the ground, which would soon show sturdy growth. The rapid growth of the cottonwood was its redeeming feature. It lost its foliage early and did not make prime lumber. The cot- tonwood tree is gratefully remembered for the protection it gave to the pioneer, but it is rapidly being eliminated and replaced by the catalpa. ash. mulberry, walnut, box elder and maple. The box elder, maple and willow
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
were close friends of the cottonwood, for the reason that they, too, resisted the drought and fire. Native cedar grew in the canyons and draws and along the bluffs.
The catalpa, a deciduous tree, makes a fine shade and produces clusters of large, fragrant, white blossoms, which are beautiful and make the tree popular.
A great deal of attention is given to tree culture and in most towns there are too many trees. The straggling, ill-formed trees are being culled and replaced by straight, symmetrical trees of many different varieties.
FARMING.
Farming has been and is the great pursuit of the people of the county. Of the twenty-three thousand inhabitants, only seven thousand reside in the towns. The 1916 reports show that three hundred fifty-three thousand two hundred and eighty acres are under cultivation : two hundred eighteen thou- sand three hundred and forty acres in pasture or not under cultivation, and eleven thousand three hundred and eighty-five acres in wild timber. Most of the hardwood grows along the creeks and small streams, while the soft timber prefers the river bottoms, and the wild cedar inhabits the almost inac- cessible bluffs at any point.
The great staple products of the farm have ever been corn, wheat, oats and, for a good many years, alfalfa has been a great factor as food for beast and fowl. There is scarcely a product of the soil raised anywhere, which cannot be raised profitably in this county.
THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY.
Kansas has unlimited quantities of gypsum in a great variety of fornis. and it is fast becoming one of the greatest resources within the domain of the state. There are three gypsum districts and the northern area or dis- trict is in Marshall county.
The Big Blue and Little Blue rivers unite near the town of Blue Rapids and furnish at that place the best water power in the state, estimated at one thousand five hundred horse-power at low water.
The plaster manufacture is the prominent industry of Blue Rapids, a town of one thousand seven hundred inhabitants, where there are three gyp- sum mills and a fourth one in prospect.
In 1871 J. V. Coon of Elyria, Ohio, came to Blue Rapids, burned some
ยท
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
of the gypsum and carried it back to Cleveland, where it was pronounced to be of good quality and two carloads were ordered at a good price. He returned to Blue Rapids and he and his son, Emir J. Coon, in 1872 built a frame shed on the east bank of the river, below the town. In an iron kettle, which held about five barrels and which was heated by a stove, they commenced the manufacture of plaster of Paris. In 1875 they built a stone mill on the west side of the river and the water power of the river was used for grinding. This mill was operated for twelve years, when the firm dis- continued business.
Hiram and Frank Fowler followed Coon & Son in the plaster business, building a single kettle, frame mill at the west end of the bridge over the dam.
In 1892 .A. E. Winters formed a company and built the Blue Valley mill, constructing a dam across the Little Blue, about one-half mile above its junction with the Big Blue. This is the point referred to by early settlers as "marble falls." because of the rapids of the river there and the gypsum deposit in the west bank of the river, which they thought resembled marble.
This mill was purchased by the United States Gypsum Company and was operated until 1916, when they abandoned and tore down the mill after building a new modern steel and concrete mill, just south of town at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This mill stands on the I. D. Yarick ranch where Mr. Yarick had previously opened up a gypsum mine.
GYPSUM INDUSTRY DEVELOPED.
Following this. Dr. William Hunter, H. H. Russell, Frank Paul and Jesse Axtell. of Blue Rapids, and Dr. W. E. Ham and N. T. Waters, of Beattie, built a mill, which was purchased by Mr. Henley, of Lawrence, for the American Cement Plaster Company. This mill has been greatly enlarged and is still in operation.
In 1902 after the sale of the Great Western Plaster Company's mill to Henley. Hunter. Russell. Ham and Waters purchased the gypsum deposits north of town and built a two-kettle mill which they operated by electric power, naming their corporation the Electric Plaster Company, and install- ing an electric-light plant in Blue Rapids. This mill was operated until 1912, when Mr. Henley of the American Cement Plaster Company bought a controlling interest in it and dismantled it.
In February, 1906, the Blue Rapids Company, a corporation of Marys-
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
ville men, began operating a new mill on the north side of the river, with F. W. Hutchinson as manager. It was sold to Henley in December of the same year and is now operated as the American cement plaster mill No. 2. This mill has been much enlarged by the installation of a plaster-board plant, the output of which is a great success as a substitute for laths and plaster in buildings.
Experts declare the Blue Rapids gypsum to be the purest as well as the whitest found west of Nova Scotia. The United States Gypsum Company and the American Cement Plaster Company purchased mills at Blue Rapids in order to get the best possible quality of gypsum from which to make plaster of Paris, dental and molding plaster. Most of the plaster for the staff work at the Worlds Fair at Chicago and St. Louis was made in Blue Rapids. It has been shipped to almost every country in the world, one shipment being made to Japan in the fall of 1916. The annual shipment of the product of the gypsum mills at Blue Rapids is about two thousand five hundred cars. The average car carries forty tons of stucco, which never sells at less than eight dollars per ton.
PREHISTORIC.
In a sand pit on the east bank of the Big Blue river, half a mile south of Marysville, and about twelve feet below the surface, laborers found a number of large bones which soon crumbled in the air, and several very large teeth which are petrified.
The largest of these teeth measures eight inches by three and one-half inches on the face, the otliers being a little smaller. Whether these were teeth of a mastodon or some other long extinct creature, has not been determined, and to what age it belonged, is likewise an enigma.
Imbedded in our limestone are found almost every species of what had been animal, plant and Crustacean life. Walnut and cedarwood have been found while digging wells at various points, from twenty to forty feet below the surface. While digging a well near Eighth and Alston streets in Marys- ville, charcoal and crude pottery were found at a depth of twenty-seven feet. Stone axes, hammers and similar crude tools have been and still are being found many feet below, as well as on the surface at almost any point in the county.
These stone tools probably contribute the evidence of the connecting link between the age which produced the enormous bones and teeth and the age which produced the Indian. At least the gap between the large teeth and
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MARSHALL COUNTY, K.I.S.I.S.
the stone ax is not covered by any other visible evidence, unless it be the so-called glacial drift which covers various parts of the county to various depths.
BIRDS.
Ornithologists tell us that there are over three hundred distinct varieties of birds in Kansas, not counting those of the domestic breeds. The earliest settlers tell us that when they came here there were many wild turkeys in the timber along the streams, but they did not last long after the rifle and shot- gun came. Grouse and prairie chickens fairly covered the country for many years, and okler settlers get a sort of lonesome feeling in the spring mornings for the reason that no longer is heard the familiar cackling of the prairie hen and the drumming of her mate, which was familiar on all sides from thou- sands of happy throats in former days. Alas, the avarice of the hunter has reduced the number of this "native," until now there are not a hundred left in the county, in spite of the strict game laws.
The quail, which roamed our fiells and woods in thousands, the special friend of the farmer, and everybody's pet wild bird. has become so scarce that the call of "Bob White" has become a novelty. The innocent quail has fallen a prey to the highly civilized white man, as has the magnificent deer. antelope and the buffalo.
EXIT OF THE EAGLE.
The great American eagle, which was once a daily visitor, has become so rare, that now the newspapers print his appearance as an item of news. He was not hunted, but he must have noticed what happened to the chicken and the quail, and he moved on. We still have hawks, crows and owls. The winged scavenger -- the buzzard-always was scarce here, but much more so of late years. Wild geese and ducks in their flight north or south, formerly visited us by the thousand. They come in dozen lots now, and these lots are far between, and the migratory crane is seen only a mile high.
The snipe and curlew, formerly plentiful, have become as scarce as the prairie chicken. There are still a few plover, but they seem to have been more a bird of the sod than of the field. The cry of the whipoorwill has not been heard in this county since 1880, but there are many more song birds than formerly. mockingbirds, thrushes, redbirds, robins, orioles, grossbeaks and others ; blackbirds, martens, swallows, kingbirds, linnets and larks, wrens and humming-birds, all favorites. The blue-jay is not a favorite, nor is the English sparrow, which made his first appearance here in the summer of 1878.
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
and was first discovered by that genial Irishman, Tom McCoy, who was every- body's friend and who made harness, and by Sam Forter, who worked across the street from McCoy in a blacksmith shop. They were watched very closely for a long time ; there were only two of them when first seen, and they had a nest on McCoy's shop, and had things their own way for a while. Their mul- titudinous offspring have become veritable pests.
During the summer of 1916 a heretofore unknown bird in this locality made its appearance. It looks much like a grossbeak and will become a favor- ite above all for the reason that it eats potato-bugs in great number, and it is the only bird known that has such an appetite.
NATIVE FLOWERS.
Pre-eminent among the wild flowers of the state is the sunflower, which is generally accepted as the "state flower." It is a very hardy plant, grows rampant and thrives wonderfully in the least favorable weather as well as in propitious seasons. In times gone by it covered every spot of uncultivated land, with rank growth, along roads and byways and its yellow face greeted one everywhere from early summer till frost. In the early days quite a little fuel was obtained from the stalk of this wild flower. For some unknown reason the sunflower has been much less plentiful in the last five years than at any time before.
The first dandelion made its appearance in this county about the year 1888. It was quite a favorite while it was in its years of modesty; it is no longer a favorite, the horticulturist and the storebox philosophier, the scien- tists of the agricultural departments of the various states and the nation and the ordinary man with a hoe have exhausted all their wisdom in its suppres- sion.
The native wild flowers are rapidly disappearing. The wild rose, the field lily, wild daisy and violet are about the only remaining wild flowers of the prairies that are familiar to the boys and girls of today. The old-time wild primrose, the yellow poppy, white and purple larkspur, wild parsnip, sageflower and asters are very rare. Here and there are to be found a wild yucca or soapweed and a cactus, which recall the days when this was supposed to be a part of the great American desert. A favorite and familiar native flower is the goldenrod, also the sweet wild rose, which is most delicate in coloring and fragrance.
1
CHAPTER II.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
SPANISH.
One of the myths in the minds of carly Spanish explorers was that of "The Seven Cities."
In 1532 Francisco Pizarro had conquered Peru from the Incas and had extorted from the governor an enormous sum of money. Stories of fabul- ous wealth, gold and precious stones had so inflamed the Spanish minds, that the people accepted as true, various myths regarding the New World.
Even so experienced an explorer as Ponce De Leon, who had been the companion of Columbus on his voyages, became infatuated with the myth of the Fountain of Youth and believed that if he could find the fountain and lave in its magic waters, old age would "fall from him like a garment," and he would walk again in the strength and vigor of youth.
The name Cibola and the Seven Cities was given in 1536-1540 to sup- posed large and powerful cities in the present New Mexico, by Friar Marcos dle Niza, who had made some excursions from Old Mexico into the North country. The good Friar may have heard the word "Cibobe" from the native Tehua Indians. According to their traditions it was a place in south- ern Colorado, whence their ancestors issued from the interior of the earth. Cibobe was the mythical cradle of the tribe. Or he may have heard the word from the Zuni Indians. Ciba is the Indian name for rocks and the Zumi Indians held a range of mountains in what is now New Mexico.
MYSTIC NUMBERS.
The Island of Seven Cities was a fabled island which, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, was supposed to exist in the Atlantic, west of Europe. It was said to have been peopled by seven bishops who, with many followers, had been driven out of Spain by the Moors. The number seven has been
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
regarded as a mystic number for centuries by disciples of the occult. Seven is a result of combining the number three or the triad, with the number four or the tetrad. The triad (three ) was held sacred as the source of energy and intelligence. The tetrad (four) was venerated by the heathen minds. It represents a square and exhibits by summation all the digits as far as ten-(1+2+3++4). It marks the seasons, the elements, the four ages of man. United with the triad the number seven resulted. Seven marked the series of lunar phases. It was the number of the known great planets. We have the Seven wonders of the world; seven days in the week; the city on Seven hills. More than likely, Spanish students of the mystical originated the idea of the Seven Cities of Cibola. The slave Tejo and the "Turk", no doubt, heard the tale in idle hours from the Spaniards and sensing the greed for gold and plunder in the Spanish mind, enlarged on the "great cities to the North where the streets were paved with gold and the door-posts studded with precious gems."
The stories which were told of the land of Cibola and the seven cities, are always attributed by historians to Indian slaves or half-breed negroes who acted as guides. By some occult means these guides were always able to converse with any and all tribes of Indians, encountered during the marches in search for the cities. It is evidence of the abnormal state of mind created by the desire for gold, when men like Guzman and Mendoza were induced to accept as true the word of a menial, in a matter which involved danger, hardship and a great outlay of money.
EXPEDITION ABANDONED.
In 1530 Nuno de Guzman was the ruler of New Spain. He had an Indian slave, Tejo, whose father had been a trader and had gone into the "back country," to trade with the inhabitants. Tejo told Guzman that he had sometimes gone with his father and that there were some towns there as large as the City of Mexico. In seven of those towns there were streets given over to shops and workers in precious metals. Tejo said it would require forty days travel to reach these cities. Guzman decided to go after the wealth. He enlisted four hundred Spaniards and twenty thousand Indians. His plans were not carried out and this expedition was abandoned. This was in 1530.
Ten years prior to this in 1520, De Narvaez had attempted to subju- gate Cortez, the governor, and had suffered defeat. Soon after this he was empowered by Charles V of Spain, to govern Florida. On the 15th of
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MARSHALL. COUNTY, KANSAS,
.April. 1527, De Narvaez landed at Tampa Bay with two hundred and sixty soldiers and forty horsemen. He soon began his travels in search of gold.
Volumes have been written about this expedition which ended in dis- aster. only four escaping death by the Indians, by storms and starvation. These four were Cabaza de Vaca, the leader of the band; Maldonado, Dor- antes, and a negro slave, Estevan. The four had wandered in the wilds of Texas and the deserts and mountains of New Mexico for seven years. They were rescued on the coast of the Gulf of California in April 15. 1537. Mendoza was now viceroy of Mexico and be bought Estevan from Dorantes, the slave's master.
The four men related many stories of their wanderings and of the northern countries. These stories recalled, revived and confirmed the stories of the trader's son, the Indian Tejo.
The greed for gold awoke in Mendoza and he decided to send an expe- dition North, and Friar Marcos de Niza was chosen to head it, as he had made short expeditions North and had been with Pizarro in his plundering expedition into Peru. The negro, Estevan, was the guide. The result of this expedition was that the Friar reported that he had been told that there were cities to the North, where the people wore cotton clothes and had much gold. It appears from the records, which are meager, that the Friar was somewhat guarded in his report, but when he mentioned gold-that was sufficient. The wildest rumors were passed from mouth to mouth. It was said the door-posts were studded with precious gems. Royal permission was sought to explore the country of Cibola. This privilege finally went to Mendoza, he selected the post of Compostella on the Pacific Ocean, as the point of assembly and appointed Coronado to act as commander of the expedition.
CORONADO.
The foregoing historical review but serves to lead our attention to the one man-of that group of Indians, half-breed negroes and Spaniards, who is of interest to the people of Kansas and of Marshall county-Francisco Vasquez de Coronado.
Coronado was a Spanish soldier, who came to Mexico, probably with Mendoza. lle was about forty years old and was governor of Neuva Galicia, when Mendoza selected him to command an expedition North in search of the land of Cibola and the seven cities.
On Monday, February 23. 1540, Coronado with two hundred and sixty horsemen, seventy footmen and several hundred Indians started from Com-
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MARSHALL COUNTY, KANSAS.
postella and marched due north into the country we know as Arizona. There he fought a battle with the Indians and defeated them, and the Spaniards took possession of the Zuni villages on July 7, 1540. These villages consisted of mud and stone dwellings, rude, filthy and dark. These were the fabled "Seven Cities" of Cibola.
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