USA > Kansas > Shawnee County > History of Shawnee County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 2
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OTHER SHAWNEE TREATIES.
The Shawnees were parties to other treaties between the government and the Indians relating to valuable lands in Ohio, Indiana and the country west of those States. They joined the Delawares and other tribes in a treaty at St. Louis in 1815, the government being represented by William Clark, Ninean Edwards and Augustus Choteau. The first clear title to land re- ceived by the Shawnees was the result of a treaty in 1817 at the foot of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie. Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur were the commissioners on the part of the United States. Blackhoof, Pi-ach-ta, Way-we-lea-py and Qua-ta-wapee were the principal Shawnee chiefs. The treaty gave the Indians a large tract of land at Wa-paugh-konn-et-ta (Ohio) and an annuity of $2,000, one of the considerations being "the faithful serv- ices of the Shawnees in the late war with England." Wapakoneta (short- ened from the Indian name) is the present county-seat of Auglaize County, Ohio.
In the year 1831, after the death of Blackhoof, the Indians in the vicinity of Wa-paugh-konn-et-ta were led to believe that the State of Ohio would soon pass laws which would compel them to pay taxes for the benefit of the white people, and that other obligations would be imposed upon them, unless they would consent to sell their lands and take up new homes in the distant West. They were offered 100,000 acres of land adjoining the tract of 50 miles square which had already been ceded to the Carondelet band on the Kansas River, a proposition to which the Shawnees reluctantly agreed. The terms of the agreement were very unfair to the Indians in respect to the matter of providing funds for the payment of their debts and to reimburse them for improvements made upon their lands, and the money unjustly with- held from the tribe was subsequently refunded by congress.
The Shawnees were the first of the Eastern tribes to be located in Kan- sas. In the various treaties they acquired 1,600,000 acres of land, which was subsequently exchanged by law and treaty negotiations for land in the Indian Territory proper.
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
Although the Shawnee Indians gave their name to Shawnee County, they were not so closely identified with its history as some of the other tribes. The Pottawatomies had a reservation of about three townships in the north- west corner of the county, and the Kaws owned an extensive tract of land in the northeastern part of the county. Many evidences remain of these early Indian settlements, and some of the descendants of the Pottawatomies and Kaws still reside in the county.
KANSAS INDIAN VILLAGES.
In the year 1830 the Kaws established three villages at the mouth of Mission Creek, 16 miles west of Topeka. Fool Chief's village was north of the river near Silver Lake, and contained about 800 persons. Hard Chief's village was located on the bluffs south of the river, with about 600 inhabi- tants. American Chief's village, two miles up Mission Creek, numbered about 100 persons. The ground where Hard Chief's village stood being un- broken prairie, the lodge sites may still be seen. In 1880 Secretary F. G. Adams, of the Kansas State Historical Society, visited this locality and counted 85 lodge sites. In 1901 the place was visited by J. V. Brower, of St. Paul, Minnesota, who found 70 or more of the old earthen huts. They are now rapidly going into decay or being obliterated by the plow. At the time the treaty of 1825 was made with the Indians, these lands were said to be worth seven cents an acre; later they were estimated to be worth $1.25 per acre, and afterwards the Indians were permitted to dispose of them at $3 per acre. An average of $100 an acre would not be too much for the same lands to-day.
In a recent contribution to the collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, Miss Fannie E. Cole gives an account of the Kansas Indians in Shawnee County after 1855. The Cole family settled in the county in May of that year, locating on a farm near the little town of Indianola, a trading post, five miles northwest from Topeka. Miss Cole says :
THE TRIBE IN SHAWNEE COUNTY.
"We took possession of our new home June 6, 1855. It was situated on what was known as the 'Delaware Trust Land.' I suppose that when Kansas formed part of the Indian Territory this tract was a portion of the Delaware reserve, which, upon the organization of Kansas into a Territory, was relinquished by them to the United States government, to be sold to settlers for their benefit. Our farm lay just north of the third mile of the Kaw half-breed reserve. The Kaws, being a Western tribe of Indians, I think that they once claimed all the area of Kansas, and perhaps more, as
ABE JACOBSON MONE LOAN
THE FIRST FRAME BUILDING IN TOPEKA
--
SHAWNEE COUNTY COURT HOUSE
FEDERAL BUILDING
LINCOLN SCHOOL
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their hunting grounds, and when the government made a treaty with them, for the purpose of removing various tribes of Indians from the East to these lands-the Kaws having 23 half-breeds in their tribe-reserved 23 tracts, each containing one square mile, all lying contiguous to each other on the north bank of the river, extending from the east line of the Pottawatomie reserve, about three or four miles west of Topeka, down to the vicinity of Lecompton. As these tracts followed the course of the river, as a natural consequence some of the miles extended further north than others, and when the government surveys were made there were many fractional "quarters," as they were called, between the northern lines of the tracts and the sectional lines.
"Our farm consisted of one of these fractional quarters, containing something over 90 acres, and 46 acres of the regular quarter section, the re- mainder of which formed part of the Indianola town site. The tract of half- breed land just south of us was occupied by Moses Bellemere, a Canadian Frenchman, whose wife was Adele La Sert, one of the original half-breeds. She was a daughter of Clement La Sert, a Canadian Frenchman, whom I had supposed was a trader among the Kaws. While he lived among them he married a blanketed squaw, and they had two or three children. When he left the Kaws he abandoned the squaw, but took the surviving children, a boy and a girl, with him. Clement La Sert took for his second wife a woman of the Osage tribe. She was nearly white, having but very little Indian blood in her veins, and she trained his Indian daughter (Mrs. Bellemere) in the ways of the white people.
"The Indian relatives and friends of the Kaw half-breeds came every summer from their own reservation, at Council Grove, in Morris County, and encamped in the dooryards and around the premises of the Bellemeres, the Papans, the DeAubries, and others. Among them was the chief, La Soupe. He was the tallest Indian I ever saw, and must have been six and a half feet tall. Mrs. Bellemere lived on her allotment for many years. When her Indian mother died, Mrs. Bellemere refused to allow any Indian ceremonies, but had her attired in neat burial clothes, and buried like white people. Mrs. Bellemere herself died about 1870, and is buried in Rochester cemetery. Her husband and three children survived her. The latter were Joseph, aged about 16, Julia, 14, and Leonard, 7. After Mrs. Bellemere's death, Mr. Bellemere married a white woman named Hetty Garmire, whose sister, Margaret, married Garland Cummins, an old Indianola saloon-keeper and ex-Kickapoo ranger.
"On some of the farms just north of Menoken could be seen, within recent years, and, perhaps, are still visible, large circles in the soil. Many years ago a large village of Kaws was established there. It was probably
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
the village of a chief called Fool Chief, and, judging from the little I have heard of him, I imagine that he was well named. Some years ago I taught the Menoken School. In the early springtime these circles showed very plainly all over the level, freshly-plowed fields."
THE KAW INDIANS.
The exact beginning of the Kaw Indian settlements in Kansas has never been determined. It is certain that they were here as early as 1673. for in that year they were found by Father Jacques Marquette on his expedition to discover the Upper Mississippi. They were then known as the Canzas Indians, occupying a wide area of country on both sides of the Kansas River, from the Missouri to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. The first treaty made with them by the United States government was that of Octo- ber 28, 1815. By a second treaty, June 3, 1825, the Indians ceded a tract United States all the lands to which they had title or claim, except a tract "to begin twenty leagues up the Kansas River, and to include their village on that river; extending west thirty miles in width through the land ceded." It was also provided that 23 sections should be located and set apart on the north side of the river for certain half-breeds.
For the remainder of their domain, embracing upwards of 10,000,000 acres, the tribe was to receive an annuity of $3,500 per annum for 20 con- secutive years. By a treaty concluded January 14, 1846, the same tribe ceded to the United States 2,000,000 acres of its land on the east part of their country, the United States agreeing to pay the Indians $202,000, of which $200,000 was to be funded at five per cent., the interest to be paid for 30 years, and thereafter to be diminished and paid pro rata, should their numbers decrease, but not otherwise.
The same treaty provided that there should be set apart for the use of the Kansas Indians a suitable country near the western boundary of the 2,000,000 acres ceded to the government. This reservation contained 255,854 acres, which, together with the $200,000 held in trust, and upon which they received $10,000 per annum as interest, made them a wealthy people. They lived on this reservation for many years, and until the changed conditions brought about the treaty of 1859, by which the reservation was divided into two parts, known as the "Trust Lands" and "Diminished Re- serve;" and these were subsequently disposed of under a treaty ratified in 1863. Much litigation resulted, but in all the transactions the Indians were compelled to accept whatever was offered them and to yield before the onward march of civilization.
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THE KAW HALF-BREEDS.
The principal part of the special reservation of one mile square for each of 23 Kaw half-breeds was located in Shawnee County. The first seven half-breeds to receive allotments in this reservation were Adele and Clement, children of Clement La Sert; Josette, Julia, Pelagie and Victoire, children of Louis Gonvil; and Marie, daughter of Baptiste Golvin. An interesting account of these families appears in Cone's "Historical Sketch of Shawnee County," printed in 1877. The father of the first two children named was a Frenchman, an interpreter and trader among the Kaws. He died at the old Kaw village near Silver Lake in 1835. The daughter, Adele, married a Frenchman, Moses Bellemere, previously referred to in Miss Cole's article. Louis Gonvil, the father of the four half-breed girls above referred to, was also a trader for many years among the Kaws. At an early age Josette Gonvil went to live with the family of Frank G. Choteau, an Indian inter- preter at Kansas City, Missouri. She was married there in 1839 to Joseph Papan. Julia Gonvil was married soon after to Ahcan Papan. In 1840 the two families moved on to their Shawnee County farms, living near each other for a number of years. A Frenchman named Franceur de Aubrie married Pelagie Gonvil, in 1842, and in 1843 Louis Papan married Julia Gonvil. The name Papan appears frequently in the public records of the State and county.
FIRST LOG CABIN BUILT IN TOPEKA, 1854.
CHAPTER II.
Organisation of the County-Township Divisions-Physical Aspects of the County-Rivers and Streams-First Efforts in Agriculture-Topeka and Tecumseh Contest for the County-Seat-Territorial Elections, Judi- cial System, Roster of Senators, Representatives and County Officers- First Land Transactions-Bridging the Kansas River-County Build- ings-Growth in Population-Assessed Valuation, Live Stock and Farm Statistics-Nursery and Creamery Industries-Post Offices and Rural Delivery Routes-A Prominent Landmark.
Kansas was admitted into the Union as a Territory in 1854. On the 8th of November of that year the Territory was divided into 17 election districts, the third one of which comprised what was afterwards known as Shawnee County. The first Territorial Legislature, held in 1855, established 33 counties. Shawnee was one of the original 33 and ranked 11th in the list. The original boundary was: "Beginning at the south-east corner of Doug- las County ; thence west twenty-four (24) miles; thence north to the main channel of the Kaw or Kansas River; thence down said channel to the north- west corner of Douglas County; thence south to the place of beginning." All of the tract thus described was south of the Kansas River. The boun- dary lines were changed in 1857, and again in 1860. Under the latter change six government townships on the south were detached and became a part of Osage County, and the northern boundary of Shawnee County was extended to include all of the territory formerly belonging to Jackson County lying south of the second standard parallel. This gave Shawnee County two congressional townships north of the Kansas River. In 1868 four other con- gressional townships were added on the north.
BOUNDARIES AND TOWNSHIPS.
Shawnee is in the third tier of counties west of the Missouri River and embraces 357,120 acres of land, forming a square of 24 miles, with the exception that the tract lying north of the river extends five miles further west than that lying south of the river. The north and south lines are par-
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allel, 24 miles in length and the same distance apart, running due east and west. The adjacent counties are Jackson on the north, Jefferson and Douglas on the east, Osage on the south, and Wabaunsee and Pottawatomie on the west.
The first subdivision of Shawnee County into municipal townships was made September 14, 1855. Two townships were formed, Tecumseh and Yocum, the dividing line being the Wakarusa River. In 1857 the county was subdivided into the townships of Tecumseh, Topeka, Brownsville, Bur- lingame and Wakarusa. In 1860 there was a consolidation into three town- ships : Tecumseh, comprising all of the eastern portion of the county lying south of the Kansas River; Topeka, the territory north of the river, and the northwestern portion lying south of the river; and Auburn, comprising the southwestern part of the county. Later in the same year there was another subdivision into six townships, Monmouth being cut off from Tecumseh on the south; Williamsport, from Auburn, on the east; and the new territory acquired on the north of the river erected into the township of Soldier. The change of county lines in 1868 made necessary another division into town- ships, Silver Lake being detached from Soldier. By another change, in 1871, Rossville was set off from Silver Lake, on the west. In 1879 Men- oken township was set off from Silver Lake, on the east. The permanent arrangement of townships is: Rossville, Silver Lake, Menoken and Soldier, on the north side of the river; Dover, Mission, Topeka, Topeka City, Tecum- seh, Auburn, Williamsport and Monmouth, on the south.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY.
Most of the territory in Shawnee is prairie land, 69 per cent. being de- scribed as upland, and 31 per cent, bottom. The forest area is less than 10 per cent., the timbered portion being confined to the water-courses, and con- sisting of elm, cottonwood, walnut, oak, sycamore, box-elder, hickory and ash, with elm and cottonwood predominating. All the land is of good quality and valuable for farming, stock-raising and orcharding. The prin- cipal stream, the Kansas River, flows directly east through the county, and the principal towns are located on its northern and southern banks. Other streams are the Wakarusa River, and Shunganunga, Soldier, Indian, Cross, Muddy, Mission, Half Day, Deer and Blacksmith creeks. Wakarusa signifies "river of weeds," and Shunganunga "the race course." Mission Creek derived its name from the old Kaw Mission; Soldier Creek was so called because the soldiers passing from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley camped upon its banks. Half Day Creek was named for a Pottawatomie chief, and
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
Blacksmith Creek took its name from the old Kaw blacksmith shop. There are several minor creeks,-Stinson, Ward, Martin, Thompson, Colby, Linn and Vesper,-which derive their names from early settlers in the locality. There is an abundance of limestone in the county, suitable for building pur- poses, and a fine article of brick clay. Some coal has been found but not in continuous or extensive quantities.
In the early '50's the belief obtained that the Kansas River was navi- gable. The material used in the construction of Fort Riley, 135 miles west of Kansas City, was transported by steamboats in 1853. A boat ascended to Manhattan in 1855. The first shipment of corn from Shawnee County was by water in 1857. Two companies were incorporated in 1857 for build- ing and operating boats upon the Kansas River, and there are numerous accounts of travel and freight shipments by the steamers "Calona," "Emma Harmon," "Gus Linn" and "Kansas Valley," the last named being the last to ascend for a distance of 70 miles from the mouth of the river. This was in April, 1861. In the early treaties with the Indians the government inva- riably reserved the right of navigation upon this stream. The river event- ually became congested with snags and sand-bars, and in 1864 the State Legislature declared it to be non-navigable, thus opening the way for the construction of dams, and limiting the transportation facilities of Eastern Kansas to wagons and railroads.
FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT.
The actual settlement of Shawnee County by white men was in 1854, although there is abundant evidence of the presence of white men in the locality long prior to that date. Frederick Choteau conducted a trading post on Mission Creek as early as 1830. In the same year Rev. William Johnson commenced his missionary labors among the Kaws. In 1835 a government farm for the benefit of the Indians was established in the valley of Mission Creek, with Maj. Daniel Boone (a grandson of the famous Kentuckian), as instructor in farming. It is believed that this was the first plowing done within the limits of the county, although the Indians had previously per- formed farm work in a primitive way. The Papan brothers, Joseph, Ahcan and Louis, heretofore referred to, came in 1840, and another brother, Euberie, came in 1841. They were natives of St. Louis, their father, Louis Papan, having moved there from Montreal, Canada, about the year 1780. The Papan brothers started the first ferry across the Kansas River in 1842, to meet the demands of travel between Fort Leavenworth and the Southwest, and later the Oregon and California travel.
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COUNTY SEAT CONTEST.
The Territorial Legislature of 1855 designated Tecumseh as the county- seat of Shawnee County, and appointed a Board of County Commissioners with power to proceed with the erection of the necessary buildings. A site for the Court House was donated by the Tecumseh Town Association, and a substantial brick building was erected in the fall of 1855 and the spring of 1856. Its dimensions were 40 by 50 feet, two stories in height, with a lofty portico in front on pillars of brick, the whole costing $8,500, in payment of which an issue of bonds was resorted to, in the absence of other funds. There were other obligations outstanding against the county and great dissatisfac- tion was expressed at the character and extent of the expenditures. A protest was also made against the action of the Territorial, or "bogus," Legislature, in respect to the location of the county-seat and the appointment of officers, and, in 1857, when the Free-State element came into power, the Legislature provided for submitting the county-seat question to a popular vote. The election was held October 4, 1858, the contesting towns being Tecumseh, Topeka, Auburn and Burlingame-the last named town subsequently became a part of Osage County. The election resulted in favor of Topeka, which became the permanent county-seat. The hopes of Auburn and Tecumseh took sudden flight, and instead of developing into cities of prominence and distinction they lapsed into mere hamlets of purely local renown. A slight change in the vote might have made Auburn or Tecumseh the county-seat and a future great city-perhaps the capital of the State. But-
The owl upon Afraisiab's tower hath sung her watch-song, And round the imperial throne the spider weaves his web.
The contest between Tecumseh and Topeka for the county-seat honors was really a struggle between the Pro-Slavery faction and the Free-State men. The latter were largely in the majority at Topeka, and the former in control in Tecumseh. The Pro-Slavery party elected Gen. J. W. Whitfield as delegate to Congress at the election held in November, 1854, the Free- State party declining to vote. At the legislative election of March 30, 1855, the Free State faction voted for Jesse D. Wood for member of the Council, and C. K. Holliday for representative, the Pro-Slavery candidates being H. J. Strickler for councilman and D. L. Croysdale for representative. Owing to protests and dissatisfaction, Governor Reeder ordered a new election to be held at Tecumseh, May 22, 1855, at which Wood and Holliday again received the support of the Free-State voters, but the election was contested, and the
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HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY
seats awarded to Strickler and Croysdale by the Legislature which met July 2, 1855, at Pawnee.
MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE.
The first election for members of the Territorial Legislature was held March 30, 1855. Shawnee County was not then in existence, but the terri- tory it covered was included in the Third Council District. At this election H. J. Strickler was chosen (Senator) Councilman. Under the apportion- ment of 1857 Shawnee was included in a district of 17 counties, and in the election of that year Oscar E. Learnard of Coffey and C. K. Holliday of Shaw- nee were elected to the Council. In 1859 Shawnee was included in a district with Osage and Breckenridge (now Lyon) counties, and Chester Thomas was chosen to represent it in the Council. On the 6th of December, 1859, the first election of members of the State Legislature was held, Shawnee being in a district with Jackson and Jefferson counties. H. W. Farnsworth was Shawnee's Senator. C. K. Holliday was elected November 5, 1861, to fill a vancancy caused by the resignation of H. W. Farnsworth. Since that date the Senators from Shawnee County have been : David Brockway, 1863; Daniel H. Horne, 1865; George W. Veale, 1867; W. H. Fitzpatrick, 1869- 71; N. C. McFarland, 1873; William Sims, 1875; D. C. Metsker, 1877-81 ; Silas E. Sheldon, 1885 ; Thomas A. Osborne, 1889; William E. Sterne, 1893; Thomas J. Anderson, 1897; John T. Chaney, 1901 ; Joseph B. Betts, 1905.
At the election held March 30, 1855, Shawnee being then included in the Fourth Representative District, D. L. Croysdale was chosen as the first representative in the Teritorial Legislature. Croysdale was followed by M. W. McGee, James A. Delong and Charles S. Mckinney. George B. Holmes was elected in 1858. In 1859 Shawnee was given two representa- tives, and elected W. H. Fitzpatrick and S. R. Caniff. In 1860 W. H. Fitzpatrick and William E. Bowker were elected. Under the State constitu- tion, Shawnee, Jackson and Jefferson counties composed the Sixth District, and elected eight representatives. Those from Shawnee were S. R. Caniff, H. H. Heberling, H. W. Curtis and William E. Bowker. John P. Greer and William E. Bowker served as representatives in the last Territorial Legisla- ture. In 1861 H. W. Martin and C. H. Welch were the Shawnee represen- tatives. The Legislature of 1862 divided Shawnee into two districts, and the representatives chosen were W. P. Douthitt and John T. Ward. The fol- lowing were subsequently chosen in the same districts: J. F. Cummings and Henry Fox, 1863 ; S. D. Macdonald and James Fletcher, 1864; C. K. Holliday and W. W. Lawrence, 1865; James M. Spencer and S. E. A. Palmer, 1866; John Guthrie and James Fletcher, 1867; John Guthrie and Perry Tice, 1868;
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John Guthrie and John W. Brown, 1869; George W. Veale and Jacob Has- kell, 1870; S. C. Gregg, C. K. Holliday and H. E. Bush (three districts), 1871; Daniel M. Adams, George W. Veale and Wesley Gregg, 1872; Ira C. Johnson, John Martin and Jacob Welchans, 1873; James Burgess, John Martin and F. R. Foster, 1874; Daniel M. Adams, P. I. Bonebrake and F. R. Foster, 1875 ; Golden Silvers, P. I. Bonebrake and F. R. Foster, 1876; M. T. Campbell, George W. Veale and Thomas Buckman, 1877; Thomas M. James, Thomas J. Anderson and W. D. Alexander, 1879; J. H. Foucht, T. J. Ander- son and J. B. Johnson, 1881; Thomas M. James, George W. Veale and J. B. McAfee, 1883; David Overmyer, A. H. Vance and J. B. Johnson, 1885 ; C. P. Bolmar, George W. Veale and J. B. McAfee, 1887; H. C. Safford, George W. Veale and J. B. McAfee, 1889; D. M. Howard, William C. Webb and F. M. Stahl, 1891; A. C. Sherman, William B. Swan and James A. Troutman, 1893; A. C. Sherman, George W. Veale and S. M. Garden- hire, 1895; A. L. Brooke, Edwin D. Mckeever and Harry G. Larimer, 1897; A. L. Brooke, Edwin D. Mckeever and W. C. Stephenson, 1899; J. B. Sims, J. B. Betts and Edwin D. Mckeever, 1901 ; J. B. Betts, A. F. Williams and John B. Sims, 1903; Robert Stone, W. A. S. Bird and John Howerton, 1905.
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