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 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
The Kansas went into commission on June 18, 1907, under. com- mand of Capt. Vreeland, and was one of the four first class battleships that went on the Pacific cruise the following December. Capt. Vree- land was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and the Kansas was placed under the command of Capt. Charles J. Badger. On Dec. I, 1910, the ship was in the second division of the Atlantic fleet, composed of the Kansas, the Louisiana, the New Hampshire and the South Caro- lina.
Bavaria, a village of Saline county, is located on the main line of the Union Pacific R. R. 9 miles west of Salina, the county seat. It has express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 110. The place was originally settled in 1865 by Ernst Hohneck, who later deserted it. In 1877 E. F. Drake laid off the town of Bavaria.
Baxter Springs, an incorporated city of Cherokee county, is located a short distance west of Spring river, at the junction of two divisions of the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., II miles southeast of Colum- bus, the county seat, and not far from the southern boundary of the state. The first settler was a man named Baxter, who located there about the year 1858, when the land was known as the "Government Strip." During the war of 1861-65, Baxter Springs was on the direct route from Fort Scott to Fort Smith, and lying, as it does, close to the Missouri line, it was also subject to an attack from some of the guerrilla bands that infested the region. A military post was established there in May, 1863, and garrisoned by the First Kansas colored infantry and a battery commanded by Lieut. Knowles. In June the garrison was withdrawn and the post remained unoccupied until Aug. 17, when Col. Blair ordered Capt. John Crites' company of the Third Wisconsin cavalry to reoccupy it. A little later Crites was reinforced by a detach- ment of the Second Kansas colored infantry under command of Lieut. R. E. Cook, and early in October further reinforcements were added under Lieut. James B. Pond of the Third Wisconsin cavalry, who took with him a 12-pound howitzer. On Oct. 4 Gen. Blunt left Fort Scott for Fort Smith, with an escort of 100 men of the Third Wisconsin and Fourteenth Kansas cavalry, the band and a wagon train, and about noon of the 6th reached a point near Pond's camp at Baxter Springs.
161
KANSAS HISTORY
Here he saw a body of mounted men advance from the timber on Spring river and as they wore Federal uniforms he thought they were Pond's men out on drill or to give him a reception. Capt. Tough, Blunt's chief of scouts, rode forward, but soon returned with the in- formation that the men were rebels, and that a fight was then going on at Pond's camp.
As a matter of fact, the men seen by Blunt were some of Quantrill's guerrillas, commanded by Quantrill in person. Seeing that they were recognized, the guerrillas advanced on the escort, fired a volley, and then charged. The Union troops were outnumbered more than five to one and fled at the first fire. Blunt succeeded in rallying 15 of his men, and with this meager force held the enemy at bay, until noticing a gap in the line he made a dash through it and escaped. His adjutant- general, Maj. Curtis, attempted to cut his way through another gap, but was killed. Britton, in his "Civil War on the Border," says: "In many instances where the soldiers were closely pursued, they were told that if they would surrender they would be treated as prisoners of war; but in every case the moment they surrendered and were dis- armed, they were shot down, sometimes even with their own arms in the hands of the bandits."
A short time before this unhappy affair, which is known as the Bax- ter Springs massacre, Pond's camp had been attacked by the guerrillas while 60 of his picked men were absent on a foraging expedition. Lieut. Pond managed to work the howitzer by himself, and the fact that the camp was supplied with artillery doubtless deterred Quantrill from charging and capturing the entire force then in the garrison.
In 1865, after the war was over, two men named Armstrong and Davis built a house on the site of Baxter Springs, and the next year a town was laid out on 80 acres by Capt. M. Mann and J. J. Barnes. Soon after this A. F. Powell opened a store, and when Baxter Springs became the outlet for the Texas cattle trade, the town took on all the appearances of prosperity. But the cattle trade brought to the place a number of notorious characters, and Baxter Springs quickly won the distinction of being a "wide open" town. The late Eugene F. Ware, in one of the Kansas Historical Collections, says "it was the toughest town on earth." In Nov., 1867, it was made the county seat of Chero- kee county, but the following summer, while the Cherokee Neutral Lands were in dispute, James F. Joy, who had purchased the lands, and Congressman Grinnell of Iowa visited Baxter Springs, and the citizens at a meeting adopted resolutions declaring they were satisfied with the plan proposed by Joy in dealing with the settlers on the lands. This offended many citizens of the county, and at an election the fol- lowing February (1869) a majority of the people voted to remove the seat of justice to Columbus. In the meantime Baxter Springs had voted bonds for something like $200,000 to aid railroad companies, etc., and this led a number of the citizens to leave the place. Added to this, the outlet of the cattle trade was removed farther west and the boom
(I-II)
I62
CYCLOPEDIA OF
was over. For several years Baxter Springs made but little progress, but in Sept., 1873, rich lead deposits were discovered in the vicinity and again the town began to grow, this time in a permanent and sub- stantial manner.
The Baxter Springs of the present day has an electric lighting plant, waterworks, two banks, two weekly newspapers, an international money order postoffice from which five rural routes emanate, flour mills, hotels, planing mills, a telephone exchange, telegraph and express offices, a large retail trade, and in 1910 had a population of 1,598.
In 1885 Congress appropriated $5,000 for a national cemetery about a mile west of the town, where the victims of the massacre of 1863 are buried.
Bayard, one of the minor villages of Allen county, is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. in the northeast part of the coun- ty, some 15 miles from Iola, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, an express office, some mercantile in- terests, and is a shipping point for the surrounding agricultural dis- trict. The population in 1910 was reported as 50.
Bayneville, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Ohio township, Sedgwick county, is 12 miles southwest of Wichita. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, express and telegraph offices, some retail trade, and is a shipping point of some importance.
Bazaar, a village of Chase county, is the southern terminus of a branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. that runs to Strong City. It is 10 miles south of Cottonwood Falls, the county seat, has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, some retail stores, and in 1910 reported a population of 75.
Bazine, a village of Ness county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. II miles east of Ness City, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, an express office, tele- phone connection, and is a trading and shipping point for the neigh- borhood. The population in 1910 was 125.
Eagle, a village in the southwestern part of Miami county, is on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. about 15 miles southwest of Paola, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and ex- press offices and a good local retail trade. In 1910 the population, according to the U. S. census, was 180.
Beale's Expedition .- Edward F. Beale was born at Washington, D. C., Feb. 4, 1822. At an early age he entered the United States navy and saw his first active service with Commodore Stockton on the Pa- cific coast during the Mexican war. At the close of the war he re- signed his commission in the navy and was made superintendent of Indian affairs in California and New Mexico. In 1853 he led an ex- pedition to explore the central route to the Pacific coast. Leaving Westport, Mo., in May of that year, with 12 riflemen, he went first to Council Grove. From there he passed up the Arkansas river to the mouth of the Huerfano, about 20 miles east of the present city of
163
KANSAS HISTORY
Pueblo, Col., thence to the San Luis valley, and from there to the coast. A full report of the expedition was written by Gwynn H. Heap, one of the party, and published in 1854.
Beardsley, a money order post-village of Rawlins county, with a population of 50 in 1910, is a station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. 10 miles west of Atwood, the county seat. It is a supply point for the neighborhood and does some shipping of grain and live stock.
Beattie, a village of Marshall county, is located in Guittard town- ship, 15 miles east of Marysville, the county seat, on a branch of the Vermillion river and on the St. Joseph & Grand Island R. R. It has banking facilities, a newspaper, telegraph and express offices, churches and schools, and a money order postoffice with two rural mail routes. The population in 1910 was 500. The neighborhood about Beattie was settled prior to 1865 by Hugh Hamilton, H. G. Smith, Eli Goldsberry, E. Cain, J. Trotten, G. Thorne, James Fitzgerald and P. Jones. The town was laid out in 1870 by the North Kansas Land and Town com- pany of St. Joseph, Mo., on land owned by James Fitzgerald and John Watkins. The original town site consisted of 160 acres, and the town was named Beattie in honor of Hon. A. Beattie, then mayor of St. Joseph, Mo. The postoffice was established in 1871, and the first store was built by L. Brunswick in 1872.
Beaumont, a village of Butler county, is situated in Glencoe town- ship, about 20 miles southeast of Eldorado, the county seat. It is a station on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, telephone connection, and is a shipping and supply point for a rich agricultural district in the east- ern part. of Butler and the southwest corner of Greenwood counties. The population in 1910 was 200.
Beaver, a hamlet of Sheridan county, is located in the southeastern part of the valley of the Saline river, and receives mail by rural de- livery from Quinter, which is the nearest railroad station.
Beaver Creek .- There are four streams in Kansas that bear this name. The first flows in a southeasterly direction through Clark coun- ty and empties into the Arkansas river; the second rises in the north- ern part of Barton county and flows north to the Smoky Hill river; the third flows south across the western part of Smith county and empties into the Solomon river near the town of Gaylord; and the fourth and largest is composed of two forks, one of which rises in Sherman and the other in Cheyenne county. They unite near the town of Atwood, Rawlins county, from which point the main stream follows a northeasterly course and empties into the Republican river at Or- leans, Neb. This last named Beaver creek was so named by James R. Mead's exploring party in 1859 on account of the large number of beaver dams along its course.
During the Indian troubles in the summer of 1867, the Eighteenth Kansas left Fort Hays on Aug. 20 for the headwaters of the Solomon
164
CYCLOPEDIA OF
and Republican rivers. On the evening of the 21st Capt. Jenness of Company C was sent out with a detachment to ascertain the cause of a light seen at some distance across the prairie. He found the remains of an old Indian camp fire, but in attempting to return to the main body he became confused in the darkness, and finally decided to bivouac on the open prairie. Early the next morning he reached the river, about 8 miles below the camp. According to a published ac- count by Capt. Jenness, the command was then some 85 miles north west of Fort Hays. Upon reaching the river he pushed on toward the main body, but after going about 3 miles his detachment was at- tacked by a large body of Indians. Forming a hollow square, he man- aged to hold the savages at bay. His men were armed with Spencer repeating carbines and each man carried 200 rounds of ammunition, so they were well equipped in this respect for a heroic defense. After a short skirmish Capt. Jenness again began to move up the river toward the camp, but after going half a mile saw more Indians. He then returned to the river and threw up a breastwork of driftwood and loose stones, behind which his little band fought valiantly for three hours. All the horses except 4 were either killed or wounded; 2 of the men were mortally and 12 seriously wounded, and the detachment with- drew to a ravine, where they found water and remained under cover of the willows and banks of the ravine until dark. The Indians then drew off and Jenness and his men, under the guidance of a scout, fol- lowed a buffalo path for 5 or 6 miles until they came to the river. The Indians renewed the attack the next morning, but the main command came to Jenness' rescue. This affair is known as the battle of Beaver creek.
In Jenness' narrative the exact location of the action is not given. Some years after the event, James A. Hadley, a corporal of Company A, published an account of the engagment in the Farm and Home Sentinel of Indianapolis, Ind. The localities mentioned by Corporal Hadley were given by A. J. Pliley, the famous scout, who locates the scene on Prairie Dog creek in the northwestern part of Phillips county.
Beaverview, a post-village of Rawlins county, is located on Beaver creek, about 18 miles southwest of Atwood, the county seat, and 12 miles southeast of McDonald, which is the nearest railroad station.
Beckwourth, James, hunter, trapper and scout, was a mulatto of great physical strength who came west with Gen. Ashley in 1825 and won considerable reputation as a trader and Indian fighter, finally becoming chief of the Crow tribe. Parkman says he was "bloody and treacherous, without honor or honesty," but the Bent brothers and Kit Carson, who knew him better than Parkman, say he was one of the most honest of Indian traders. In the days of the argonauts he lived in California, where he wrote his autobiography, which was published about 1855. During the Mexican war he carried messages for Gen. Kearney, riding alone through the hostile Indian country from Bent's fort on the Arkan- sas to Fort Leavenworth. For awhile he was associated with the cele-
165
KANSAS HISTORY
brated Jim Bridger in piloting trains across the plains. He trapped and traded along the Arkansas river, and in no small degree contributed toward bringing the present State of Kansas under the dominion of the white race.
Beebe, George M., the last secretary and acting governor of Kansas Territory, was born at New Vernon, N. Y., Oct. 28, 1836. He received an academic education, and in 1857 graduated at the Albany Law School. In the spring of 1859 he came to Kansas, located in Doniphan county, and in November of that year he was elected a member of the council in the territorial legislature. He was therefore a member of the legislature which met at Lecompton on Jan. 2, 1860, and which passed the bill abolishing slavery in Kansas. On May 1, 1860, he was appointed territorial secretary, to succeed Hugh S. Walsh, and en- tered upon his duties on July 1. When Gov. Medary resigned on Dec. 17, 1860, Mr. Beebe became acting governor and continued to act in that capacity until the state government was inaugrated on Feb. 9, 1861, when he was succeeded by Gov. Robinson. In 1863 Mr. Beebe removed to Nevada, where he was appointed collector of internal revenue, but declined. He then went back to New York and became the editor of the Republican Watchman, published at Monticello. In 1874 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, and was reëlected in 1876. The Kansas State Historical Society has made several efforts to get into correspondence with Mr. Beebe, but for some reason he has persistently declined to answer the letters.
Beebe's Administration .- The story of Gov. Beebe's administration is soon told. When Gov. Medary went to Ohio on Sept. 11, 1860, Mr. Beebe became acting governor and served as such until Nov. 25, when the governor returned. The records do not show that much of a strat- ling or unusual nature occurred during this period. For some time there had been trouble between the free-state and pro-slavery settlers in Linn and Bourbon counties, and about the middle of November, fear- ing another outbreak of hostilities, Mr. Beebe ordered Adjt .- Gen. Strick- ler, on the 19th, "to take immediate steps to ascertain what force of infantry, if any, either of the militia of the territory or of volunteer companies, can be put into service, if necessary, within one week from the date hereof."
On the same day he wrote to Gen. Harney, at St. Louis, asking that the 200 infantry at Fort Leavenworth be placed subject to the order of the governor of the territory. After the return of Gov. Medary, Mr. Beebe wrote to President Buchanan, under date of Nov. 26, giving an account of the recent disturbance in Bourbon county. "These men," said he, "under the lead of a notorious offender, one James Montgom- ery, assisted by a desperate character named Jennison, threatened to break up a special term of the United States district court called to meet at Fort Scott on the 19th inst. for the trial of cer- tain of their number, charged with offenses against the United States, and kill Presiding Justice Williams, the marshal and his deputies, and all interposing resistance, and destroy the town of Fort Scott."
166
CYCLOPEDIA OF
Upon learning of these threats, Mr. Beebe, accompanied by Adjt .- Gen. Strickler, had visited Fort Scott and found that Judge Williams had abandoned the idea of trying to hold the special term of court. In his letter to the president Beebe states that he met Montgomery and Jennison, who finally agreed to disband their men, but a few days later they were at their old tricks. He suggested that the governor issue a proclamation declaring martial law in that part of the territory, and that a force of at least 300 dragoons should be sent there to main- tain order.
When Gov. Medary resigned on Dec. 17, 1860, Mr. Beebe again be- came acting governor. On the 21st he wrote to the president: "The legislative assembly of this territory convenes on the 7th prox. If it is the purpose of your excellency to appoint a successor to Gov. Medary, I would respectfully request that you cause me to be so advised, as in such event I do not desire to occupy any time in preparing, in an executive capacity, for the coming legislature."
The Wyandotte constitution, in defining the boundaries of the pro- posed State of Kansas, had cut off all that portion of the territory lying west of the 102nd meridian of longitude. The country west of that meridian was known as the "Pike's Peak region," and Mr. Beebe requested the president that, in the event of the admission of Kansas and the establishment of a new territory farther west, to appoint him to the same position in that territory he then held in Kansas.
The legislature met at Lecompton on Jan. 7, 1861. W. W. Upde- graff was for a third time chosen president of the council, and John W. Scott was elected speaker of the house. On the 8th both houses voted to adjourn to Lawrence, where they met on the next day. As no successor to Gov. Medary had been appointed, it devolved upon Mr. Beebe to submit a message to the assembly, which he did on the Ioth. His message is interesting, in that it presents some figures relating to the property values and financial condition of the territory. He re- ported the territorial indebtedness as being $96,143.58, while the re- sources from taxes due and unpaid amounted to about $104,000, though he expressed the opinion that not more than $30,000 of this could be collected "without some special and direct action taken for the ex- press purpose." The value of the taxable property of the territory he estimated at $28,000,000.
Mr. Beebe pointed out, in a rather laconic manner, the folly of in- corporating so many town companies. He stated that in 38 counties there were 135,328 town lots, or more than two for each inhabitant, and significantly asks: "May not a reasonable apprehension be en- tertained, unless something be soon done to stop this mania for town speculation, that there will, ere long, be no lands left for farms in the territory?"
Mr. Beebe recommended a revision of the election laws, especially the registry provisions; the repeal of the law abolishing slavery in the territory ; some thorough system of organizing counties and town-
167
KANSAS HISTORY
ships; and the repeal of the law regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors, or the enactment of a law of that character that would be in- telligible.
After dwelling at length upon the discord between the North and South on the question of slavery, he closed his message by saying: "But if nothing can be done-if this worst must come-having been made the wand with which the magicians of Evil have aroused the elements, it may not be expected Kansas can stand an idle watcher of the storm. Intimately identified as her interests are with the per- petuity, progress and prosperity of that Union of States into which she has hoped soon to enter and take her equal place-while she could not witness a dissolution with feelings other than of deepest anguish -if God, in His wrath, shall tolerate the worst portent of this tempest of passion, now so fiercely raging, Kansas ought, and I trust will- declining identification with either branch of a contending family, tendering to each alike the olive offering-establish, under a constitu- tion of her own creation, a government to be separate and independent among the nations."
This was the last session of the territorial legislature. Few impor- tant laws were passed, the most noteworthy being the acts fixing the number of employees of each house of the legislature and their salaries, and declaring illegal the bonds issued in payment of claims for losses sustained during the border war. The acts of this legislature were afterward declared valid by the state courts. (See Robinson's Admin- istration.) On Feb. 2, 1861, the assembly adjourned, and just a week later the state government was inaugurated.
Beecher Rifle Church .- On May 31, 1857, the settlers in and about the village of Wabaunsee, the most of whom were members of the New Haven colony, held a meeting for the ultimate purpose of forming a church organization. At this meeting resolutions were adopted recog- nizing the expediency of organizing a Congregational church. Com- mittees were appointed to attend to the preliminary matters and to obtain the names of those willing to unite in organizing a church, such organization to take place on the last Sunday in June. On June 21 it was resolved to set apart Saturday, June 27, as "a day of fasting and prayer," and that seven persons, then present, having letters from other churches, should constitute the nucleus of the proposed church. On the day appointed the brethren and sisters gathered in a ravine on the east side of the Wabaunsee townsite, where they were undis- turbed by the noise and clatter of the village, and devoted all this day and the forenoon of the following one to the organization of a church which, as stipulated beforehand, was to be Congregational in form, as unsectarian as possible, and was to be known as "The First Church of Christ in Wabaunsee." A council of neighboring churches had been called to recognize the new church, but the Manhattan church was the only one to respond. It was therefore deemed expedient to organ- ize a council, which was done, and Rev. S. Y. Lum, who preached the
I68
CYCLOPEDIA OF
first sermon in Kansas, in 1854, delivered the one on this occasion, and Rev. C. E. Blood, of Manhattan, gave the fellowship of the churches, and the Wabaunsee church was launched.
As long as Beecher lived he took an active interest in the Wabaunsee colony, and it was the custom of the colonists at each annual meeting of the church to read his letter which accompanied the rifles, "Let these arms hang above your doors as the old Revolutionary muskets do in many New England homes. May your children in another generation look upon them with pride and say 'Our fathers' courage saved this fair land from slavery and blood.' Every mornings' breeze shall catch the blessings of our prayers and roll them westward to your prairie homes. May your sons be large-hearted as the heavens above your heads; may your daughters fill the land as the flowers do the prairies, only sweeter and fairer than they. You will not need to use arms when it is known that you have them. It is the essence of slavery to be arrogant before the weak and cowardly before the strong."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.