USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 11
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breast of each of the skeletons was a pile of flint implements. The large implements were made from common blue chert, while the drills and arrow points are of finer materials and of various colors.
Everything about these discoveries goes to show that they are the re- mains of Indians who occupied this region centuries ago. All external evidence of a burying ground had been obliterated, and had it not been for the heavy rains the discovery would probably not have been made."
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Trees of considerable size had been felled upon the site of this old aboriginal cemetery 30 years before the discovery mentioned by Mr. Remsburg, a fact which goes to bear out his statement that the skele- tons were those of natives who had lived centuries ago.
Another important archaeological investigation was made by Prof. J. A. Udden of Bethany College in the early 'Sos, when he examined the mounds south of the Smoky Hill river and found bones of animals, stone implements, sandstone or "hand grindstones," the entire collec- tion numbering some 500 interesting relics. Prof. Udden made a par- tial report to the Academy of Science in 1886, and subsequently a more complete report was published in the Kansas Historical Collections. The finding of a piece of chain mail (See Coronado) he says "makes it certain that the village was occupied by Indians at least as late as after the discovery of America by Europeans."
Perhaps the most interesting archaeological relic ever found in Kan- sas is the ruins of a pueblo known as El Quartelejo. Dunbar says that about 1702 "the occupants of the pueblo of Picuries, in northern New Mexico, forsook their village and, resorting to the northeastern plain, established the post later known as El Quartelejo, distant northeast 350 miles from Santa Fe, in the present Scott county, Kan. The ex- planation of this sudden movement was probably the result of some fanciful or mysterious impulse, from which they were in due time readily dissuaded by the governor of the province, Don Francisco Cuerbo y Valdes, and soon after resumed their forsaken home."
Bancroft, in his history of Arizona and New Mexico (p. 228), says: "Capt. Uribarri marched this year (1706) out into the Cibola plains ; and at Jicarilla, 37 leagues northeast of Taos, was kindly received by the Apaches, who conducted him to Cuartelejo, of which he took pos- session, naming the province San Luis and the Indian rancheria Santo Domingo."
The ruins of the old pueblo are in the northern part of the country and were first noticed about 1884. The dimensions are 32 by 50 feet, and the remains of the foundation walls indicate that it was divided into seven rooms, varying in size from 10 by 14 feet to 16 by 18 feet. Prof. S. W. Williston visited these ruins in 1898 and the following January gave a description of them before the Kansas Historical So- ciety, his paper on that occasion appearing in the vol. VI of the Kansas Historical Collections. Handel T. Martin, of the paleontological depart- ment of the University of Kansas, who examined the pueblo in con- nection with Prof. Williston, has published the results of his investiga- tions in an illustrated article in the Kansas University Science Bul- letin for Oct., 1909. After remarking that much of the stone has been taken away by the people living in the vicinity, Mr. Handel asks the rather pertinent question: "Would it not be well for the state to pre- serve at this late day our only known pueblo from further destruc- tion ?"
Argentine, the second largest town of Wyandotte county, is located in the extrenie southeastern portion on the south bank of the Kansas
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river and on the Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe railroad, about 4 miles west of Kansas City, Mo. Late in the 'zos the railroad located their transfer depot, side tracks, round house, coal chutes and sheds near the present town site, and within a short time a considerable settlement had sprung up. The land was surveyed and platted in 1880 and orig- inally consisted of 60 acres of land owned by James M. Coburn. The Kansas Town company obtained a charter on April 9, 1881, and imme- diately organized with a capital of $100,000. The incorporators were William B. Strong, George O. Manchester, Joab Mulvane, J. R. Mul- vane and E. Wilder and the same body of men were the directors for the first year. Joab Mulvane was elected president and manager of the company; and E. Wilder, secretary and treasurer. This new company purchased 415 acres of land adjoining the first town site, and after giv- ing the Kansas City, Topeka & Western railroad what it desired for railroad purposes, the remaining 360 acres was laid out as Mulvane's addition to Argentine and placed upon the market. In 1882 Argentine was incorporated as a city of the third class, having acquired by that time the required number of inhabitants for a city government. The first Tuesday in August an election was held for city officials, at which time G. W. Gully was elected mayor; John Steffins, W. C. Blue, Patrick O'Brien, A. Borgstede and George Simmons, councilmen ; J. H. Halder- man, city clerk; A. J. Dolley, police judge ; and Charles Duvall, marshal.
In the winter of 1881 a public school was opened and the citizens saw the necessity for a public school building. On Aug. 28, 1882, an election was held to vote on the question of issuing bonds to the amount of $7,000 for such a purpose, and the proposition was carried by a large majority. Work was at once started on the first school building. A postoffice was established in 1881 and has been enlarged several times in proportion to the growth of the city. The Congregational church was the pioneer religious organization, as services were held in the sum- mer of 1881 and the following year a church building was erected.
One of the first commercial enterprises in the town was the Kansas City Refining and Smelting company which located there in 1880. This was for many years the largest plant in the country. The capital stock of the original company was $200,000 and over 250 men were employed from the start. It was built for the purpose of refining gold and silver bullion, shipped from the other smelters, but the company also carries on lead smelting and the manufacture of various commercial products from the other metals that are recovered in the refining process, chief of which are blue and white vitriol. Copper is made from the vitriol and in 1896 more than a million and a half pounds of this metal were put on the market from the Argentine plant. At the present time the company has a paid up stock of more than $3,000,000 and is the leading manufactory of the town.
Many other commercial enterprises have located in Argentine be- cause of the excellent transportation facilities. It has extensive railroad repair shops, large factories for the manufacture of iron products, and
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many retail stores. Today Argentine is a well paved city with excel- lent water and lighting systems, street railway, good public school sys- tem, many churches, good hotels and is an extensive banking town. The population in 1910 was 6,500.
Argonia, one of the incorporated towns of Sumner county, is in Dixon township, on the Chikaskia river and at the junction of the At- chison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Missouri Pacific railways, 20 miles west of Wellington, the county seat. It has an international money order postoffice, from which , emanate four rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connection, grain elevators, a good school system, and is the principal shipping and supply point for the western part of the county. Several religious demoninations, including the Baptists, Methodists, Friends and Presbyterians, are represented by neat houses of worship. The population in 1910 was 466.
Arickaree, Battle of .- This action terminated the Indian wars on the plains. It was the most tragic of the many battles fought with the In- dians in Kansas and Nebraska and took its name from'the place where the battle which was fought-on a small island in the middle of the Arickaree, a branch of the Republican river. This island is now in- cluded in the state of Colorado, near the west line of what is now Chey- enne county, Kan.
LEECHER'S ISLAND, SEPT. 17, 1905.
In the summer of 1808 a troop of renegade Indians, composed of men from several tribes, made a raid on the settlers of the Saline and Solo- mon valleys, killed a number of people, drove off numerous horses and captured two white women, one of whom lived on White Rock creek, Jewell county, the other on the Solomon river in Ottawa county. Most of the settlers from the district fled to the towns for safety. The In- dians were well armed and mounted and moved rapidly toward the north. Many of the settlers along the Saline and Solomon were old soldiers and quickly formed an armed band to pursue the Indians but could not (1-7)
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overtake them. Gen. Sheridan, who was in command of the depart- ment, heard that there was a band of Indians camped on the western frontier and decided to pursue them. Col. George A. Forsyth was or- dered to form a volunteer company at Fort Harker (q. v.), in what is now Ellsworth county. Lieut. Frederick Beecher, of the regular army, was detailed to select the troop and choose 50 picked men, experienced frontiersmen, ex-soldiers and scouts, all known for their metal and dar- ing. Most of the men furnished their own horses and were well equipped for the service. They made a forced march to Fort Hays, then up the Smoky Hill river to Fort Wallace, a distance of 200 miles. There they were supplied with ammunition, rations, pack mules and a few horses. On Sept. 10, the troop, consisting of 49 men, left Fort Wallace, Col. For- syth in command, Lieut. Beecher second in command, and Dr. Moore, of Fort Wallace, citizen surgeon. They expected to meet a band of from 250 to 300 Indian warriors, the number reported by the scouts.
Hearing of an Indian raid on a wagon train near Sheridan, the troop hastened in that direction. There they struck the Indian trail and fol- lowed it north until they reached the Republican river then westward to the Arickaree, where a camp was formed on its north bank opposite a sandy island. While they could see no Indians the troop was con- vinced they were in the vicinity. The island was investigated and chosen as a safe place of retreat should they be surrounded by the enemy, sentinels were posted, the stock guarded and most of the men went to sleep worn out by the forced march. The Indians had been notified by their scouts of the conditions at the camp and attacked just at dawn on the morning of the 17th. By stealth, they had crept down the ravine and managed to stampede most of the mules and also some of the horses. Singing their battle-songs-Cheyenne, Arapahoe and Sioux-the Indians came on. The men of the troop knew that advance meant death and retreat was impossible, the advantage of the island as a place of refuge was now of value and Col. Forsyth gave the order, "Reach the island." This sudden movement disconcerted and surprised the Indians. Col. Forsyth divided the command, part going to the east end of the island under Jack Stilwell, the other to the west end. The Indians advanced in disorder across the creek bed toward the island and were met by volley after volley from the whites, who had managed to dig shallow pits in the sand which offered small cover. Some of the Indians then tried to advance through the tall grass, but were picked off. During the first hour many of the horses and mules were killed, firing on both sides was kept up until Io o'clock, when several chiefs had been killed and the celebrated chief, Roman Nose, took command. He claimed to have a charmed life and led another fierce attack toward the east end of the island, which the Indians did not know was de- fended as the fighting had been all at the other end. Roman Nose was shot and with his fall the attack practically ceased until 2 o'clock p. m., when the Indians received reinforcements under Dull Knife of the Sioux tribe. Orders were not to fire until the Indians were in close range;
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Dull Knife was killed and when the Indians returned and recovered his body, the battle was ended. The river bed was strewn with the dead warriors and ponies of the Indians; the wounded whites received but lit- tle aid as Dr. Moore had been hit in the head early in the engagement. Col. Forsyth and Lieut. Beecher were both wounded, many of the men were dead, and all suffered for lack of water. At midnight two scouts were started on their perilous journey to Fort Wallace for aid, and reached the fort at sundown on Sept. 20. A command left at midnight for the Arickaree. As help was so long in coming to the besieged men, who were suffering, two more men volunteered to try to get through the Indian lines. They met the relief party under Col. Parker, and guided it to the island. It was later learned that the Indians lost be- tween 700 and 800 warriors during the battle, which broke their power in the west.
Arispie, a hamlet of Pottawatomie county, is located 9 miles east of Westmoreland, the county seat, and 7 miles southwest of Onaga, from which place it receives daily mail.
Arkalon, an international money order postoffice of Seward county, is situated in Fargo township at the point where the Chicago, Rock Is- land & Pacific R. R. crosses the Cimarron river, 13 miles northeast of Liberal, the county seat. Although the population is small, Arkalon is an important shipping point, especially for grain and live stock.
Arkansas City, the largest city of Cowley county and one of the most important commercial centers of southeastern Kansas, is beauti- fully located on the elevation between the Arkansas and Walnut rivers, about 4 miles north of the state line and 12 miles south of Winfield, the county seat. The city was laid out in 1870, about the time Cowley county was organized, and the postoffice was established'in April of that year with G. H. Norton as postmaster. Mr. Norton built the first house-a pioneer log structure-and was one of the first merchants. The place was first called Adelphi, later Walnut City, still later Cress- well and finally the name of Arkansas City was adopted. On June IO, 1872, Judge W. P. Campbell of the 13th district issued the order for the incorporation of the town, and at the first election for municipal officers on July 2, A. D. Keith was chosen mayor. For a few years the growth was comparatively slow, but in Dec., 1879, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad company completed a line to Arkansas City, after which the growth was more rapid and of a more substantial character. Following this road came the Kansas Southwestern, the Missouri Pa- cific, the Midland Valley and the St. Louis and San Francisco lines, pro- viding transportation facilities as good as are to be found in any .city of its size anywhere.
With the advent of the railroads, manufacturing became an important industry. Water power is provided by a canal 5 miles long connecting the Walnut and Arkansas rivers. Among the manufactured products are cement, flour and feed, brooms, paint and alfalfa meal. The city also has a meat packing establishment, planing mills, ice factory, cream-
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eries, five banks, an opera house which cost about $100,000, an electric lighting plant, a fine waterworks system which was first installed in 1881 and has been enlarged to keep pace with the growth of the city, a fire department, a street railway, a good sewer system, and two beauti- ful public parks. The first school was taught in 1871 by T. A. Wilson in a house that cost about $400. The present public school system com- prises four modern ward school buildings and a high school building which cost about $40,000. A number of fine church edifices add to the beauty of the city, the jobbing trade covers a large territory, and the press is well represented by two daily and three weekly newspapers. The Arkansas City Commercial club is composed of energetic citizens, always alert to the interests of the city, and that its efforts in this direc- tion have been successful may be seen in the fact that the population increased from 6,140 in 1900 to 7,508 in 1910.
Arkansas River .- Undoubtedly the earliest account of this river is to be found in the narratives of the Coronado expedition, 1540-1541, in which the stream was given the name "St. Peter's and St. Paul's river." Marquette names it on his map of 1673. The Mexicans named it "Rio Napete," but the stream acquired the name "Akansa" from the early French voyagers on account of a tribe of the Dacotah or Osage stock which lived near its mouth. The stream has its source in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, in latitude 39 degrees 20 minutes north, longi- tude 106 degrees 15 minutes west. It flows in a southerly and easterly direction, passing through the royal gorge to the city of Pueblo, from which place it takes an eastward course, traversing what was once a portion of the "Great American Desert," and entering Kansas in Hamil- ton county, just south of the town of Coolidge, thence flowing in a gen- eral easterly direction through the counties of Hamilton. Kearny, Fin- ney, Gray and Ford, at which point the stream makes an abrupt turn to the northeast, passing through the counties of Edwards, Pawnee and Barton, the "great bend" of the river being in the last named. From here the river turns to the southeast, passing through the counties of Rice, Reno. Harvey, Sedgwick, Sumner and Cowley, leaving the state at a point almost due south of the village of Davidson. It then flows across Oklahoma and Arkansas, emptying into the Mississippi river at Napoleon. Ark.
The Arkansas is accounted the most important of the western tribu- taries of the combined Mississippi and Missouri rivers, is about 2,000 miles in length, of which 310 are in the state of Kansas. The stream is rarely navigable to a point above Fort Smith, though in times of flood the channel is open to boats of light draft to a point much higher up. In 1854 a writer in the New York Tribune, in describing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, gave Fort Mann (near Dodge City) as the "head of navigation" on the stream. (See Early River Commerce.)
Across the plains of Colorado and Kansas the channel of this river is very shallow. in some places the banks being less than five feet above low water, and the channel at least three-quarters of a mile in width.
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The stream in Colorado is almost entirely diverted to the irrigation of lands alongside, and the sandy wastes thus watered have been made veritable garden spots. This wholesale diversion of the water by that state was the cause of much complaint on the part of property owners and others along the river in Kansas who suffered considerable loss and inconvenience from the river going dry. To determine what rights the state had in the matter, the Kansas state senate of 1901 passed a con- current resolution relating to the diversion of the waters of the Arkansas river, in the state of Colorado, as follows :
"Whereas, It is a matter of common notoriety that the waters of the Arkansas river for some time past have been and are now being diverted from their natural channel by the state of Colorado and its citizens, to the great damage of the state of Kansas and its inhabitants; and
Whereas, It is threatened not only to continue but also to increase said diversion ; therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, the house of representatives concurring therein, That the attorney general be requested to institute such legal proceedings, and to render such assistance in other proceedings brought for the same purpose, as may be necessary to protect the rights and interests of the state of Kansas and the citizens and property owners thereof."
The house concurred, and in May, 1901, the state of Kansas by its attorney-general, filed a bill in equity in the U. S. supreme court, which necessitated the taking of many thousands of pages of testi- mony of residents living along the valley of the Arkansas. The case was finally decided in favor of Colorado.
Arlington, an incorporated town of Reno county, is situated in the township of the same name, 17 miles southwest of Hutchinson, at the point where the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. crosses the Nin- nescah river. It has a bank, grain elevators, a weekly newspaper, a good public school system, a cornet band, a money order postoffice with two rural free delivery routes, express and telegraph offices, and is the shipping and supply point for a large area of the rich agricultural coun- try surrounding the town. The population increased from 312 in 1900 to 450 in 1910.
Arma, an incorporated town of Crawford county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 9 miles east of Girard, the county seat, and about 3 miles west of the state line. It is a typical Kansas town, has express and telegraph offices, a flour mill, a lumber yard, several gen- eral stores, and in 1910 reported a population of 327.
Armour, a sub-station of the Kansas City postoffice (see Kansas City), is located on the Union Pacific and Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- cific railroads, about 4 miles west of Kansas City, Mo.
Armourdale, (See Kansas City.)
Armstrong, (See Kansas City.)
Army of Law and Order .- From the name of this organization. one would naturally suppose that it was formed for the purpose of promot- ing peace, prosperity and good government among the people of Kansas.
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But such was not the case. It was an armed force, the strength of which has been variously estimated at from 500 to 1,100 men, organ- ized by. David R. Atchison and one of the Stringfellows, whose policy was banishment or extermination of all free-state men in the territory. The "army" was divided into two regiments, with Atchison as com- mander-in-chief. The headquarters of the organization were at Little Santa Fe on the Missouri border, some 15 miles south of Westport. Among the outrages committed by this force was that of robbing the Quaker mission, because the Quakers were "nigger stealers." The cat- tle and horses belonging to the mission were driven off, articles of value were appropriated, and for a time the mission was broken up. In the latter part of Aug., 1856, the "army" was preparing for an attack upon the city of Lawrence, when the timely arrival of Gov. Geary put a stop to the proceedings. The Army of Law and Order was a part of the militia disbanded by Gov. Geary, and it was never reorganized. (See Woodson's and Geary's Administrations.)
Army Service School .- As early as 1870 Gen. John Pope, then com- manding the Department of the Missouri, urged the establishment of a school for teaching military tactics, etc., and recommended that it be located at Fort Leavenworth. He repeated his suggestions several times before Gen. W. T. Sherman, commanding the army of the United States, laid the foundation of the infantry and cavalry school in his Gen- eral Orders No. 42, dated May 7, 1881. This order directed that steps be taken for the establishment of a school of application for the infan- try and cavalry, similar to that for the artillery at Fortress Monroe, Va. The school was to be made up of three field officers of cavalry and in- fantry ; not less than four companies of infantry and four troops of cav- alry ; one battery of light artillery, and the officers detailed for instruc- tion from each regiment of cavalry or infantry, not exceeding the rank of lieutenant, who had not previously received professional instruction.
Col. Elwell S. Otis, of the Twentieth United States infantry, was as- signed to the command of the post and charged with the work of or- ganizing the school, under a code of regulations similar to that in use at Fortress Monroe. General Orders No. 8, series of 1882, announced the organization of the school, issued certain regulations for its govern- ment, prescribed a course of instruction covering organization of troops, tactics, discipline and theoretical instruction.
The Spanish-American war caused a suspension of the school for four years, during which time there was a large increase in the army. Elihu Root, secretary of war, in his report for 1901, said: "In the reorganiza- tion of the enlarged army about 1,000 new officers have been added from the volunteer force, so that more than one-third of all the officers in the army have been without any opportunity whatever for systematic study of the science of war." He spoke highly of the work accomplished by the school before the war, and recommended its renewal.
As a result of his recommendations, General Orders No. 155, of the war department for 1901, directed that "The infantry and cavalry school
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at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., shall be enlarged and developed into a gen- eral service and staff college, and shall be a school of instruction for all arms of the service, to which shall be sent officers who have been recom- mended for proficiency attained in the officers' schools conducted in the various posts."
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