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 29
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Owen Brown was one of the early school of abolitionists, a disciple of Hopkins and Edwards, and from his earliest childhood John Brown breathed an atmosphere antagonistic to the institution of slavery. He was twice married-first to Dianthe Lusk, a widow, who bore him seven children ; and second to Mary Ann Day, by whom he had thirteen (I-16)
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children. Eight of the twenty children died young, and of those who grew to maturity all were abolitionists. Five of his sons removed from Ohio to Kansas in 1854 and selected claims some 8 to 10 miles. from Osawatomie, where they were joined by their father on Oct. 5,
JOHN BROWN MONUMENT, OSAWATOMIE.
1855. Father and sons were mustered in as militia by the free-state. party and turned out to aid in the defense of Lawrence. Two of Brown's sons were captured by the United States cavalry, which was. used to aid in enforcing the territorial laws passed by a pro-slavery
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legislature, and John Brown, Jr., with his hands fastened behind his back, was driven by a cavalry company 9 miles on a trot to Osawatomie. Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography says: "This state of things must be fully remembered in connection with the so-called 'Pottawatomie Massacre,' which furnishes, in the opinion of both friends and foes, the most questionable incident in Brown's career."
In Jan., 1859, Brown left Kansas with a number of slaves taken from Missouri owners and went to Canada, where he arranged the details for his raid on Harper's Ferry, Va. Through the national Kan- sas committee he secured 200 rifles, and on June 3, 1859, he left Boston with $500 in gold and permission to keep the rifles. Late in that month Brown and his associates rented a small farm near Harper's Ferry, where they were to complete the preparations for their raid. Brown's daughter, Anne, and a daughter-in-law, Owen Brown's wife, were installed as housekeepers. Here Brown was visited in August by Frederick Douglass, to whom he imparted his plan for the seizure of the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, and, if necessary to carry out his purpose, the capture of the town itself. Douglass did not look with favor on the scheme, but Brown, having consecrated his life to the abolition of slavery, was not to be dissuaded. Accord- ingly, on Sunday evening, Oct. 16, 1859, Brown mustered 18 of his men and moved on the arsenal. At half-past ten the gates were broken in with a crow-bar, the small guard was overpowered without difficulty, and by midnight the town was patrolled by the raiders. Six men were sent to bring in some planters living in the vicinity, with their slaves, it being Brown's idea to free and arm the negroes to aid in bringing about a general uprising. Unhappily for the scheme a train got through Harper's Ferry and carried the news to Washington. Capt. Robert E. Lee, who afterwards won distinction as a Confederate gen- eral, hurried from Washington with a company of marines, and the citizens armed themselves to aid the troops in capturing the raiders. Brown and six of his men barricaded themselves in the engine room and held out against great odds until two of his sons were killed and he was wounded. He was tried before a Virginia court, convicted of treason and sentenced to be hanged. His execution took place on Dec. 2, 1859, and it is said that no man ever met his fate with greater forti- tude. His body was buried at North Elba, Essex county, N. Y., near the farm given him by Gerrit Smith.
John Brown has been called a fanatic, and some have even gone so far as to adjudge him insane, though there is no positive evidence to show that he was mentally unbalanced. From boyhood the doc- trines of abolition had been drilled into him, until the idea that all men ought to be free became with him a sort of obsession. His methods were not always of the best character, but he had the courage of his convictions and was willing to lay down his life for a principle. His battles of Black Jack and Osawatomie were insignificant when com- pared with Gettysburg or Chickamauga, but they began the conflict that ended in the annihilation of chattel slavery in the United States.
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On Aug. 30, 1877, a monument was unveiled at Osawatomie "In memory of the heroes who fell in defense of freedom," John J. Ingalls delivering the dedicatory address. The monument was erected by the John Brown Memorial association. Some years later the Women's Relief Corps of Kansas started a movement to have the battlefield of Osawatomie set apart as a public park. The field was purchased on May 13, 1909, and on Aug. 31, 1910, the park was dedicated with imposing ceremonies, ex-President Roosevelt being the orator of the occasion. Besides these recognitions of Brown's valor, the Kansas legislature of 1895 passed a resolution requesting the authorities in charge of the United States statuary hall at Washington to permit the Lincoln soldiers' and Sailors' National Monument association to place a statue of John Brown in the hall, but nothing farther came of the movement.
Brown, Mary A., second wife of John Brown, was born in Wash- ington county, N. Y., April 15, 1816. Her maiden name was Mary A. Day. At the age of sixteen years she became the wife of Brown and assumed the care and management of his five motherless children. After the execution of her husband she retired to the Adirondack re- gion of New York, where she lived in seclusion until 1862, when, ac- companied by her family, she removed to lowa. In 1864 she went to California and was not again east of the Rocky mountains until 1882. In that year she visited Chicago at the request of the John Brown Memorial Association, and on Nov. II, 1882, she arrived in Topeka, where she was the guest of T. D. Thacher. This was her first visit to Kansas, as she remained in New York when her husband and his sons came to the territory in the '50s. A reception was given Mrs. Brown in the senate chamber on the evening of the 15th. She then visited Lawrence and Osawatomie and returned to California. She died on Feb. 29, 1884.
Brown, William R., lawyer and member of Congress, was born at Buffalo, N. Y., July 16, 1840. He was educated at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and at Union University, Schenectady, N. Y., graduating at the latter institution when 22 years of age. After leaving college he studied law and in 1864 was admitted to the bar. Soon after that he came to Kansas and located at Lawrence, where he took an active part in political life. In 1866 he removed to Emporia and entered into partnership with Judge R. M. Ruggles. He served as deputy clerk of the supreme court and was journal clerk of the lower house of the state legislature in 1866-67. At the close of the session Mr. Brown dissolved his partnership with Judge Ruggles and opened a law office at Cottonwood Falls, Chase county. The same year he was elected judge of the Ninth judicial district. Always a public-spirited man, with the welfare of the people at heart, he served as judge until March I, 1875, when he resigned, having been elected to Congress the pre- vious fall as a Republican. After serving one term in Congress, Mr .. Brown became the senior member of the law firm of Brown & Zim- merman of Hutchinson.
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Brownell, a town of Waring township, Ness county, is a station on the Missouri Pacifis R. R. about 16 miles northeast of Ness City, the county seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice with one rural delivery route, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a good retail trade, Baptist and Methodist churches, good public schools, and in 1910 reported a population of 200.
Brownsville, an inland hamlet of Chautauqua county, is located near the east line of the county, II miles northeast of Sedan, the judicial seat, and about the same distance southwest of Elk City in Montgom- ery county, whence it receives its mail by rural route. The nearest railroad station is Monett, on the Missouri Pacific about 5 miles south- west. The population according to the report of 1910 was 15.
Bruce, a thriving little town of Crawford county, is a station on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. about 12 miles southwest of Girard, the county seat, and 4 miles west of Cherokee, from which place mail is received by rural free delivery. In 1910 the population was 164.
Buchanan, James, 15th president of the United States, from 1857 to 1861, and under whose administration Kansas was admitted into the Union, was born at Mercersburg, Pa., April 23, 1791. His father, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, came to America in 1783 and set- tled in Cumberland county, Pa., where he married and raised a family of eleven children, of which James was the second. After attending the local schools, the future president entered Dickinson College, where he graduated in 1809. He then studied law and in 1812 began practice at Lancaster, Pa. Although a Federalist and opposed to the War of 1812, his first public address at Lancaster, in 1814, was in favor of enlisting more troops, and even enrolled his own name. In Oct., 1814, he was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature, and the succeeding year was reëlected. He then declined further political honors for the purpose of devoting all his talent and energies to the practice of his profession, but the death of the young woman to whom he was be- trothed caused him'to change his plans, and in 1820 he was elected to represent his district in Congress. After serving in that capacity for ten years, President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia in 1831. In the fall of 1833 he returned to Pennsylvania, and the follow- ing year was elected United States senator by the legislature of that state. In 1839 President Van Buren tendered him the attorney-gen- eralship of the United States, but he declined, preferring to remain in the senate. In 1845 he entered the cabinet of President Polk as sec- retary of state, where his tact on the Oregon boundary question and the annexation of Texas proved of great value to the administration. In 1852 he was defeated by Franklin Pierce for the Democratic nomina- tion for president, and after the latter was inaugurated he appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to England. He was nominated and elected president in 1856. The principal events of his administration were the Dred Scott decision; the Kansas troubles, which he had inherited from President Pierce's administration the John Brown raid on Harper's
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Ferry, Va .; the trial and execution of Brown, and the secession of some of the Southern states. Mr. Buchanan's alliance with the slave power; his efforts to force the admission of Kansas under the Le- compton constitution, which would have made Kansas a slave state; and his failure to prevent the secession of states, caused him to be severely criticised, yet he promptly signed the bill admitting Kansas under the Wyandotte constitution as a free state. He was succeeded by Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861, and five days later retired to his country seat at Wheaton, where for a time he kept aloof from the cares of public life. Subsequently he spent some of his leisure time in writing a vindication of his policy, his book being published in 1866 under the title of "Buchanan's Administration." James Buchanan · died at Lancaster, Pa., June 1, 1868.
Buckcreek, a station on the Union Pacific R. R. in Jefferson county, is located on the southern line of the county just where the railroad crosses the border, 6 miles from the east line. It is 12 miles from Oskaloosa, the county seat. Mail is supplied from Williamstown by rural route.
Buckeye, a rural hamlet of Dickinson county, is situated in the town- ship of the same name, about 8 miles north of Abilene, the county seat and most convenient railroad station, from which place mail is received by rural free delivery. The population was 40 in 1910.
Bucklin, one of the principal towns of Ford county, is located in the southeastern part, 27 miles from Dodge City, at the junction of two divisions of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. It was in- corporated in 1909 and in 1910 reported a population of 696. Bucklin has two banks, a weekly newspaper (the Banner), an international money order postoffice with two rural routes, a grain elevator, tele- graph and express service, a telephone exchange, hotels, mercantile establishments, Protestant churches, good public schools, and is the shipping and supply point for a large agricultural district.
Bucyrus, a village in the northeastern part of Miami county, is on the Missouri Pacific railroad, 15 miles northeast of Paola, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph station and express office, and in 1910 the population was 200.
Buffalo .- Not until Cortez reached Anahuac, the capital of the Aztecs, in 1521, was the buffalo known to Europeans. Montezuma at that time had a well appointed menagerie, and among the animals of his collection the greatest rarity was the "Mexican Bull, a wonderful composition of divers animals. It has crooked Shoulders, with a Bunch on its Back like a Camel; its Flanks dry, its Tail large, and its neck covered with Hair like a Lion. It is cloven footed, its Head armed like that of a Bull, which it resembles in Fierceness with no less strength and Agility."
This is probably the first description of the American buffalo in print. In 1530 Cabeca de Vaca encountered buffalo in a wild state in what is now Texas. He also left a description of them, telling of the
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quality of their meat and of the uses of buffalo robes. Coronado in 1542 reached the buffalo country on his way to Quivira, and traversed the plains that were "full of crooke-backed oxen, as the mountain Serena in Spaine is of Sheepe." In 1612 an English navigator named Samuel Argoll mentions meeting with buffalo while on a trip to Vir- ginia, discovering them some miles up the Pembrook (Potomac) river, probably near Washington, D. C. Father Hennepin encountered buf- falo in 1679 while on a journey up the St. Lawrence river. Marquette has said that the prairies along the Illinois river were "covered with buffaloes." Lewis & Clark, the explorers, when on their return trip down the Missouri in 1806, mention having to wait an hour for a herd that was then crossing the river.
Col. Richard I. Dodge, in his "Plains of the Great West," describing a herd met with in Kansas, says: "In May, 1871, I drove in a light. wagon from old Fort Zarah to Fort Larned on the Arkansas, 34 miles. At least 25 miles of this distance was through one immense herd, com- posed of countless smaller herds of buffalo then on their journey north.
The whole country appeared one great mass of buffalo, moving slowly to the northward. . . . The herds in the valley sullenly got out of my way, and, turning, stared stupidly at me, sometimes at only a few yards' distance. When I had reached a point where the hills were no longer than a mile from the road, the buffalo on the hills, seeing an unusual object in their rear, turned, stared an instant, then started at full speed towards me, stampeding and bringing with them the numer- ous herds through which they passed and pouring down upon me all the herds, no longer separated, but one immense compact mass of plunging animals, mad with fright, and as irresistible as an avalanche. . . Reining up my horse, . . . I waited until the front of the mass was within 50 yards, when a few well-directed shots from my rifle split the herd, and sent it pouring off in two streams to my right and left. When all had passed me they stopped, apparently satisfied, though thousands were yet within range of my rifle and many within less than 100 yards. Disdaining to fire again, I sent my servant to cut out the tongues of the fallen. This occurred so frequently within the next 10 miles, that when I arrived at Fort Larned I had twenty-six tongues in my wagon. .. ,I was not hunting, wanted no meat, and would not voluntarily have fired at the herds. I killed only in self-preservation and fired almost every shot from the wagon." This herd is estimated to have numbered about 4,000,000 head.
Accounts are numerous of the existence of buffalo in other remote localities, but on the great plains they throve best and were to be found in greatest numbers. The mating season occurred when the herd was on the range, when the calves were from two to four months old. During the "running season" the herds came together in one dense mass of many thousands-in many instances so numerous as to blacken the face of the landscape. Kearney, Neb., was probably very near the center of the buffalo range, and every year the plains Indians had their
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buffalo hunt. The buffalo supplied many of their wants, the skins being carefully tanned to supply clothing, bedding, and covers for tepees ; the meat not intended for immediate consumption was stripped off the car- cass, carefully dried, and thus made available for use until the next hunt. The hides of the old bulls were used as a covering for a water craft known as "bull boats"-being carefully stretched over a round framework, the hairy side within. These boats were constructed more easily than by hollowing out logs.
"Of all the quadrupeds that have lived upon the earth, probably no other species has ever marshaled such innumerable hosts as those of the American bison. It would have been as easy to count or to esti- mate the number of leaves in a forest as to calculate the number of buffaloes living at any given time during the history of the species pre- vious to 1870."
From 1820 to 1840 it has been estimated that approximately 652,275 buffaloes were killed by buffalo hunters, the total value of which at $5 each would be $3,261,375. Where Indians killed one for food the the hide and tongue hunters killed fifty. This incessant slaughter was kept up year after year, thousands of hunters-whites and Indians- being employed for no other purpose than to kill as many as they could. Buffalo Bill (W. F. Cody) was once engaged in this business and is said to have killed 4,280 in 18 months, while thousands of others were likewise engaged of whom no record is had. In 1871 several thousand hunters were in the field and it is estimated that from 3,000 to 4,000 buffaloes were killed daily.
The building of the Pacific railroads divided the buffaloes into two large herds that ranged on either side of the Platte river. The esti- mated numbers in these herds at this time was about 3,000,000 each and it was never thought by western men in those days that it would be possible to exterminate such a mighty multitude. But the same im- provident work of destruction continued and by 1875 the southern herd had been exterminated. The northern herd in 1882 was thought to number about 1,000,000 head, but by 1883 it was almost annihilated, and Sitting Bull and a few white hunters that year had the distinction of killing the last 10,000 that remained.
This wholesale slaughter of the buffalo brought about more than one uprising among the Plains Indians, who foresaw the total destruction of their food supply, and some sanguinary wars were the result. Dur- ing the construction of the Kansas Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads the buffaloes were so numerous as to impede work, and on more than one occasion trains were derailed by running into herds.
After the extermination of the southern herd a new industry sprang up, the bones of the slaughtered millions being carefully gathered and shipped back east, where they were ground into fertilizer to be used on the impoverished farms of the older sections. Thousands of car- loads were shipped, the average price paid being from $4 to $6 a ton.
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Charles J. (Buffalo) Jones, for many years a resident of Kansas, suc- ceeded in a measure in domesticating the buffalo, and has made experi- ments in crossing them with the Galloway breed of cattle, the product (Catalo) taking the characteristics of the buffalo.
To save the animals from total destruction the United States secured a number of buffaloes and placed them in the Yellowstone National Park where they might be free from molestation. This small herd in- creases very slowly owing to losses of calves through predatory ani- mals. Outside of a few public and private collections, the buffalo has entirely disappeared.
Buffalo, one of the incorporated towns of Wilson county, is located in Clifton township on the Missouri Pacific R. R. and on Buffalo creek, 15 miles northeast of Fredonia, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper, brick and tile works, a feed mill, express and tele- graph offices, and an international money order postoffice with two rural routes. The town is located in the oil and gas fields. The population for 1910 was 807.
Buffalo was founded in 1867, when a postoffice was established there with Chester Gould as postmaster. The first store was opened in 1869 by the Young Bros., and the first hotel by John Van Meter, in 1870. The Buffalo Agricultural Society was organized in 1872. In 1886 the railroad was built, which was an impulse to the growth of the place. The next year the first bank was started. The town was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1898, and the first election held in October of that year, when the following officers were chosen: Mayor, E. B. Johnson ; police judge, A. Jamieson ; clerk, C. M. Callar- man; treasurer, J. L. Dryden ; street commissioner, O. P. Neff ; coun- cilmen, W. L. Ward, J. S. Blankenbecker, B. E. Jones, A. A. McCann, G. K. Bideau.
Buffalo Bill .- The sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill," known throughout the country as a synonym for daring and superior marksmanship with the rifle, is claimed by two men, both of whom won the appellation in Kansas. These men are William Mathewson, a pioneer of Wichita, and William F. Cody, better known in late years as proprietor of the "Wild West show." Although the latter is more widely known, there is little doubt that Mathewson was the first to receive the title of Buffalo Bill. He was born in Broome county, N. Y., Jan. 1, 1830, and while still in the "teens" came west and went as far as Denver with the celebrated scout, Kit Carson. James R. Mead, a pioneer Indian trader, in an interview in the St. Louis Republic of June 24, 1906, says that Mathewson struck the Santa Fe trail near old Fort Zarah and established a trading post near the site of the present city of Great Bend, and that he gained the name of Buffalo Bill in the winter of 1860-61 by supplying the settlers with buffalo meat during a scarcity of provisions.
William F. Cody was born in Scott county, Iowa, Feb. 26, 1846. His father was killed in the "Border War" in Kansas, and in 1860-6r,
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when only 15 years of age he became a pony express rider across the plains. While thus occupied he gained a knowledge of the country that led him to accept the duties of guide and scout, and in the Civil war he was a member of the Seventh Kansas cavalry. "Who's Who in America," for 1910-II, says Cody "contracted to furnish the Kansas Pacific railway with all the buffalo meat required to feed the laborers engaged in construction, and in 18 months (1867-8) killed 4,280 buffalo, earning the name of 'Buffalo Bill,' by which he is best known." From 1868 to 1872 he was a government guide and scout in the operations against the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, and he has probably par- ticipated in more Indian fights than any other living man. He was elected to Nebraska legislature in 1872; again became a scout, for the Fifth U. S. cavalry; was judge advocate of the Nebraska National Guard, and in 1883 organized the Wild West show, with which he has traveled extensively in this country and Europe. This fact has kept his name before the public, while Mr. Mathewson has been con- tent to pursue the "even tenor of his way." Mead, whose interview is referred to above, was an intimate acquaintance and associate of Mathewson, and was no doubt fully acquainted with the facts. From his statement it will be seen that Mathewson was known as "Buffalo Bill" at least six years before the name was applied to Cody. Capt. Jack Crawford, the well known scout, also makes the statement that Col. Mathewson is the original "Buffalo Bill."
During his life on the frontier, Mathewson always tried to main- tain friendly relations with the Indians, but on one occasion it be- came necessary for him to discipline the Kiowa chief, Satanta, with his fist, which he did so thoroughly that he became known among the Indians as "Zane-pong-za-del-py," which in English means "Bad man with the long beard."
Buffalo County, now extinct, was created by the legislature of 1879, with the following boundaries: "Commencing where the north line of township 20 south, intersects the line of range 27 west, thence south along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 24 south; thence west along township line to where it intersects the east line of range 31 west; thence north along range line to where it intersects the north line of township 20, south ; thence east to the place of beginning."
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