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 44
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Rev. R. P. West of the Methodist church preached the first sermon in the county, but the Baptists were the first denomination to organ- ize a permanent congregation. That was Aug., 1868, and the church was dedicated in Oct., 1874. The Presbyterian church of Clay Center was organized in the school house on April 1, 1871, and the first minister
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was J. D. Perring. Father Tichler established the Catholic church at Clay Center in April, 1877. Since then nearly all denominations have organized and erected churches in the county.
The surface of the county is rolling except in the north part of Oak- land and the southern part of Five Creeks townships, which are high and rocky. The river and creek bottoms vary from half a mile to a mile in width and comprise about one-twelfth of the area. Timber belts are common along the streams and consist of cottonwood, red and white elm, oak, hackberry and locust. Sandstone and magnesian limestone are abundant, clay for brick and pottery is plentiful and red ochre and gypsum are also found. Agriculture is the principal occupation. Corn, winter wheat and oats are the chief crops, while in 1907 there were 150,000 bearing fruit trees, peach and apple being the leading varieties. The county stands well to the front in stock raising and dairy products.
Clay Center, on the Republican river, a little north and east of the center of the county, is the seat of justice and principal town and is the site of the county high school. Other towns of importance are Green, Idana, Industry, Morganville, Oakhill and Wakefield. The population of the county in 1910 was 15,251, and the value of the agricultural products, including live stock, was over $4,000,000.
Clayton, a town in Noble township, Norton county, is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 17 miles southwest of Norton, the county seat. Clayton was incorporated in 1907, and in 1910 reported a population of 191. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Vidette), a creamery, a feed mill, a hotel, a money order postoffice with three rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, and ships large quantities of grain and live stock. It is the principal trading point for a rich agricultural district in the western part of Norton and the eastern part of Decatur county.
Clayton, Powell, soldier and diplomat, was born at Bethel, Pa., Aug. 7, 1833. He was educated in the public schools and at the Partridge Military Academy at Bristol, Pa., after which he studied civil engineer- ing at Wilmington, Del. In 1855 he came to Kansas, where he followed his profession of civil engineer until 1861, having been city engineer of Leavenworth in 1859. On May 29, 1861, he enlisted as a captain in the First Kansas infantry; was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Kansas cavalry on Dec. 28, 1861 ; promoted to colonel on March 7, 1862, and to brigadier-general on Aug. 1, 1864. He was mustered out on Aug. 24, 1865, and from 1868 to 1871 was the reconstruction governor of Arkan- sas. He then engaged in business as a planter in Arkansas; was a dele- gate to every national Republican convention from 1872 to 1896; was minister to Mexico from 1897 to 1905, and since then has been president and general manager of the Eureka Springs railway.
Clearfield, a hamlet in the southeastern part of Douglas county, is located on a branch of the Wakarusa river, 4 miles east of Vinland, the nearest railroad town. It has a rural free delivery from Eudora and in 1910 had a population of less than 20 inhabitants.
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Clearwater, an incorporated town of Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county, is situated 17 miles southwest of Wichita, near the Ninnescah river, and at the junction of the Missouri Pacific and the Atchison, To- peka & Santa Fe railroads. It was first settled in 1870, was platted as a town in 1872, and in 1910 reported a population of 569. Clearwater has 2 banks, a money order postoffice with three rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a weekly newspaper (the Courant), Baptist, Christian, Methodist and Presbyterian churches, good public schools, and is the principal trading and shipping point for a rich agricultural district in the Ninnescah valley.
Cleaverdale, a hamlet of Clark county, is situated in the Bluff creek valley about 12 miles north of Ashland, the county seat, and 10 miles southeast of Minneola, which is the nearest railroad station. It is a postoffice and trading center for that part of the county.
Cleburne, one of the river towns of Riley county, is located in Swede township on the Union Pacific R. R. and on the Big Blue river, 28 miles north of Manhattan, the county seat. It is supplied with a bank, tele- graph and express offices and an international money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 225.
Clements, a little town of Chase county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. and the Cottonwood river, 15 miles southwest of Cottonwood Falls, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, telegraph and express offices, all the regular line of mercantile establishments, and a state bank. Live stock, hay, grain and produce are shipped in considerable quantities and Clements is the trading point of a large agricultural district. The population according to the census of 1910 was 200.
Cleveland, a village of Belmont township, Kingman county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 7 miles south of Kingman, the county seat. The railroad name is Carvel. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, telephone connections, express office, grain elevator, some good general stores, and in 1910 reported a popula- tion of 75.
Clifton, an incorporated city of the third class of Washington county, is located near the southwest corner, on the line between Clay and Mulberry townships, and about 20 miles from Washington, the county seat. It is on the Republican river, at the junction of the Union Pacific, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Missouri Pacific railroads, which gives the city unsurpassed shipping facilities. Clifton has 2 banks, a money order postoffice with five rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, churches of various denominations, some first class mercantile houses, a hotel, a good public school system, etc. Of the 614 population according to the U. S. census of 1910, 261 lived in Clay and 353 in Mulberry township.
Climate .- Kansas is situated between 37° and 40° north latitude, and 94° 38' and 102° 2' west longitude. The elevation above sea level ranges from 700 feet in the southeastern part of Montgomery county to 4, 100
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feet in the northwestern part of Greeley county. Owing to its location and altitude, the state escapes the severe winters of those farther north, and the enervating heat of the summers of the south. Consequently, the climate of Kansas is mild, and under average conditions is without tropical heat or arctic cold. The air is dry, invigorating and particularly wholesome in western Kansas, and extremes of temperature are usually of short duration.
Beween the northern and southern parts of the state there is a dif- ference of several degrees of temperature both summer and winter. The ' following statistics, covering a period of ten years, were taken from the United States weather bureau reports. The mean winter temperature ranges from 28.5° in the northern counties to 34° in the southern. The mean summer temperature ranges from 74° in the northwest counties to 79° in the southeastern part of the state. Over a large portion of Kansas the highest temperature recorded exceeds 110°, the highest being 115° in 1860, 1894 and 1896. The lowest temperatures recorded range from 15° below zero in Morton county to 32° below zero in Finney. The date of the last killing frost in spring ranges from April 6, in the extreme southeastern part of the state to May 5, in the north- west. The first killing frost of autumn ranges from Sept. 30 in the northwest to Oct. 25 in the southeast. The average number of growing days between these killing frosts ranges from 150 in the northwest coun- ties to 200 in the southeastern.
According to Indian tradition the Kaw river remained frozen for a month during the winter of 1796-7. "All streams remained frozen for thirty suns," while Jan., 1908, according to the United States weather bureau, was the warmest January that Kansas ever knew. The pre- vailing direction of the wind is from the north and northwest during the winter. During March it is from the southwest and for the rest of the year generally from the south. The source of rain supply is mainly from the Gulf of Mexico. The average winter precipitation which in- cludes rainfall and water from melted snows, ranges from 1.19 inches in the extreme northwest to 6.53 in the extreme southeast. The average precipitation for spring ranges from 4 inches in the western part of the state to 12 inches in the east. In the summer the range is 8 to 14 inches for the same localities, and for the fall from 15 to 44 inches. The aver- age number of rainy days per year increases from 49 in the extreme west to 99 in the eastern part of the state. The annual average number of days with thunder storms ranges from less than 20 in the extreme south- west to over 40 in the eastern counties. The total annual precipitation in the dryest recorded year, ranges from less than ro inches in the west- ern counties to 26 inches in the eastern, and in the wettest year from 21.16 in the west to 58.30 in the east. The average snow fall ranges from 8.6 inches in Montgomery county to 25.6 in Atchison, and in the western part from 18.1 inches in Thomas county to 21.2 in Morton. McPherson has the heaviest average snow fall (24 inches) for the central part.
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Where the rainfall in Kansas is deficient it is due more to the lack of the necessary conditions of the soil, vegetation and local evaporation than to the lack of humidity in the aerial currents, as the same influences which bring the Mississippi Valley states their supply of moisture also bring it to Kansas. The conditions necessary to bring this moisture from the atmosphere are deeply plowed ground, well cultivated fields, growing crops, large areas of trees, ponds of water, etc. As most of these conditions are lacking in western Kansas, the scarcity of moisture in that section may be easily accounted for. The rainfall is graduated from east to west in proportion to the natural fertility of the soil and the area of cultivated land.
Commencing at the Rocky mountains and extending eastward almost to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, lay the "Great American Desert" or "Staked Plains" of some sixty years ago. At that time, this new fer- tile region was almost as much of a desert as are the barren wastes of New Mexico and Arizona today. Then all of Kansas lying west of Topeka was what the Kansas of the present is west of the 100th merid- ian. Immense herds of buffalo tramped the earth hard, and with the sun baking process it underwent, the soil became almost impervious to water. Prairie fires added to the hardening process, by burning the scanty vegetation. The earth's surface exposed to the sun's fierce rays became heated and by radiation gave its temperature to the atmosphere. Hot winds were the result. The desert gave these winds birth, and only the desert could nourish them. When civilization introduced elements foreign to their nature they became so much milder when compared with those of earlier years, that the present generation has no concep- tion of this terror of the first pioneers. Then the principal rain supply of the summer months was through the medium of thunder storms of great severity. Precipitation took place at a high level and was very rapid, slow gentle rains being extremely rare.
For years farming in Kansas was carried on under the greatest diffi- culty, and few people believed that the frontier would ever extend much beyond the longitude of Topeka. But the pioneers were not daunted, step by step, mile by mile, year by year, they advanced upon the "Great Desert," until now the state is under cultivation practically to, and in some districts beyond, the 100th meridian. The plow has done its work. Millions of acres of water shedding sod have been broken, and by this stirring of the soil it has been placed in condition to conserve the rain- fall that formerly was wasted. Tree claims have been set out, fruit trees have been planted, and these groves and orchards prove valuable acces- sories to the cultivated soil in increasing the humidity of the atmos- phere, and a more general diffusion of moisture has followed. As the tide of emigration flowed westward the blue stemmed grass has always been found to follow closely, and has passed the 100th. meridian. The sand hills of Reno, Barton, Pawnee and Edwards counties are rapidly becoming grass covered ..
· The mirage, due to light reflected through several strata of air of (I-24)
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different densities, lifting into view objects lying below this horizon, was common in the western counties in early days, and is still seen oc- casionally on the hot dry days of summer, when there is little radiation.
The hot winds, already mentioned, always make vegetation wilt, and when they move with great velocity, burn the vegetation. Some of the most destructive winds have occurred when the soil was saturated with moisture. Wheat in the milk and corn just beginning to'tassel are es- pecially liable to injury by these winds. When there is sufficient moist- ure in the ground the plants usually recover at night, but when con- tinuous hot winds have dried the ground the crops are often completely destroyed and seldom show more than a partial recovery. The leaves of the trees become so dry that they crumble when touched. But as previously stated, the hot winds have become toned down, and a few years more of civilization will probably cause them to disappear en- tirely. The average velocity of the Kansas wind, according to the gov- ernment weather bureau reports, is 8.5 miles per hour. Storms, such as the "blizzards" of the northwest seldom occur, and cyclones, notwith- standing the common belief to the contrary, are equally uncommon.
Climax, one of the villages of Greenwood county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. and on Otter creek, 10 miles south- east of Eureka, the county seat. It has good churches and schools, and several of the leading lines of business activity is represented. There are telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice. The popu- lation in 1910 was 100.
Clinton, one of the early settlements of Douglas county, is located in the valley of the Wakarusa river, 9 miles southwest of Lawrence and about 7 miles northeast of Richland, the nearest railroad station. The first settlement near the site of the village was made in June, 1854. The following year a postoffice was established about a mile east of the present town, at a place called Bloomington, but on Aug. 30. 1858, it was removed to Clinton, J. A. Bean becoming the first postmaster. Mr. Bean had opened a store on the north side of the public square in 1854 and by the time the postoffice was established several other general stores had been opened, houses erected and the town became so pros- perous that it was a prominent contestant for the county seat. The Presbyterians perfected an organization in the town in 1860 and five years later erected a church edifice. No railroad has ever reached the town and it has not lived up to the great expectations of the early days. At the present time it has good churches, a school, several stores, a black- smith and wagon shop, a money order postoffice, and in 1910 had a popu- latio of 83.
Clonmel, a village of Illinois township, Sedgwick county, is a station on the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient R. R. 15 miles southwest of Wich- ita. · It is a comparatively new place, has a postoffice, a general store and some other business enterprises, and in 1910 reported a population of 40.
KANSAS HISTORY 371
Cloud County, located just west of the 6th principal meridian, in the second tier of counties south of Nebraska, was created out of unorganized territory by the act of Feb. 27, 1860, and named Shirley (q. v.). On Feb. 26, 1867, the name was changed to Cloud in honor of William F. Cloud, colonel of the Second Kansas cavalry.
It is bounded on the north by Republic county ; on the east by Wash- ington and Clay; on the south by Ottawa; on the west by Jewell and Mitchell, and has an area of 720 square miles.
On Feb. 4, 1865, the boundary lines of Washington county were ex- tended to include the counties of Shirley and Republic, provided, "how- ever, that at any time in the future, when the territory now comprised either in the county of Shirley and (or) Republic shall contain the num- ber of inhabitants that shall entitle them to a county organization, they shall be authorized to organize and become a distinct county."
It is believed that the first white men to visit the territory now in- cluded in Cloud county, were French traders, who passed up the Re- publican and Solomon rivers early in the 18th century. A Spanish ex- pedition from New Mexico, passed through Cloud and Republic coun- ties early in Sept., 1806, about the time Pike's expedition (q. v.) was encamped on the Solomon.
There has been much discussion as to who were the first permanent settlers in Cloud county. According to J. B. Rupe and the statements of Lew Fowler, he and his brother and John and Harlow Seymore came to Cloud county in 1858 to hunt and trap. They were followed by C. W. Brown. The Fowlers were single men, but Brown brought his family with him. At the time these men came to Cloud county, they are sup- posed to have been the only settlers west of the 6th principal meridian. Within a short time the Fowler brothers built what afterward became known as the "Conklin House," platted a town site and called it Eaton City. This was the first real house in the county and was located in the western part of the present city of Clyde. Brown and Seymore set- tled first on Peach creek and then on Elk creek. The surveyors who laid out Eaton City were Sylvanus Furrows and a man named Starr, but the Fowlers did not file on the claims before they enlisted in a Kansas regiment at the outbreak of the Civil war. In the autumn of 1865, they returned to the county but found that their claims had been taken by others.
Early in the spring of 1860, John Allen of Kentucky, and his son-in- law, Sutton McWhorter, took up claims north of Lake Sibley, on the military road to Fort Kearney, and laid out a town called Union City. Allen brought some fine blooded cattle with him, the first introduced into that locality. Some of the other settlers were Thomas Heffington, who later moved to Elk creek, Joseph Finney on Elk creek, and John Sheets on Elm creek. Philip and Carey Kizer and Newton Race, with their families, some hired help and 40 head of cattle passed up the Republican valley and located on White Rock creek about 3 miles from the mouth. Daniel Wolf and several sons from Pennsylvania settled a few miles
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south of the present city of Concordia, on a creek that bears their name. Jacob Heller settled on Elk creek, and was followed by his father and brothers. J. M. Hageman, J. M. Thorp and August Fenskie made im- provements on their land at once and were the first to raise crops that were marketed. In July, 1860, some of the settlers left on account of an Indian scare, and as the population was estimated to be only 80, it fell below that for a time. In Oct., 1860, the first white child was born in the county-Augustus, son of August and Ellen Fenskie.
In 1862, Richard Coughlen, John D. Robertson, Zachariah Swear- ingen and their families joined the frontier settlement. During the year Charles and Peter Conklin, with two sisters and an orphan child, took up their residence in the log house built by the Fowlers, which was the best in the county. These men were suspected of being mem- bers of an organized band of horse thieves, and as the county was yet unorganized, the settlers took the law into their own hands. A party of some 30 men of Washington and Cloud counties was organized to lynch the Conklins, but they heard of the design and escaped. The mob tore down the house sheltering the women and child, who soon left the county.
The Elm creek school house, the first in the Republican valley, was built in 1864. It was a rude structure of round cottonwood logs, 14 by 16 feet in size, with dirt roof and floor and slabs were used for seats and desks, but the "three R's" were well taught by Rosella Honey, who was the first teacher.
During the summer of 1864 occurred the second great Indian scare. Early in the spring, Company C, Seventeenth Kansas state militia, had been organized in this locality, with Col. J. M. Schooley as captain ; J. M. Hageman, first lieutenant; J. C. Chester, second lieutenant ; David Meyers, third lieutenant ; G. D. Brooks, ensign, and 30 privates. This was the first military organization in the county and first saw duty in scouting that summer. Rumors were circulated that the savages were making war against the whites along the frontier from Minnesota south- ward, and though this report was not true, depredations had been com- mitted in southern Nebraska. The settlers in Cloud county being few and defenseless, the appearance of the Indians in Aug., 1864, caused most of those living along the creeks to flee to Washington and Clay counties, where they banded together for defense. After remaining at Clay Center for some time, the fugitives returned as far as Clifton, and while there determined upon building a fort. A blockhouse was erected near G. D. Brook's claim and a scouting party under Capt. Schooley went as far as the White Rock, but finding no Indians returned. The people finally returned to their homes though a few abandoned their claims en- tirely.
The next year the Indians killed a party of hunters and J. M. Hageman in recounting it said, "One of the most diabolical crimes committed by savages on this border was the destruction of six hunters in the month of May, 1865. The party left home about the 4th of May, and were last
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seen by the white men near Buffalo creek some two days later. Nothing more was ever heard of them except the finding of the bodies, but evi- dences were found that they had sold their lives dearly."
Parties from Cloud county assisted in the search for Mrs. Ward after the White Rock massacre in April, 1867. In 1868 threatening Indian bands appeared in the Solomon valley, and on Aug. II, an outbreak oc- curred. They began pillaging on the farms of Henry Hewitt and John Batchie, who lived near the river. By a ruse the Indians suggested shooting at buffalo heads and had the whites shoot first, then, when their rifles were empty, shot them down. News of this event traveled through the settlement and the people began organizing for defense. The next day three more white men were killed at Asher creek, and while the settlers were gathering to move to a stockade the Indians swept down upon them. Two Missel boys were captured, John Wear was killed, and Mrs. Henry Hewitt wounded. A message was sent to Jennie Paxton, who was teaching school, and she managed to get all the pupils safely to a house near by except Lewis Snyder, who was in the rear and was overtaken. He was badly hurt by the Indians and left for dead, but recovered. Benjamin White, who lived on Granny, now White's creek, west of Concordia, was killed on Aug. 13, and his daughter, Sarah, carried into captivity. A Mrs. Morgan was also captured by the same band of Indians and the two women were together until rescued by Gen. Custer, after a winter campaign.
In the spring of 1869 the Cheyennes and Arapahoes again appeared in the Republican valley. Ezra Adkins, the twelve-year-old son of Homer Adkins, who lived about 6 miles up the Republican from Concor- dia, was killed by Indians within a short distance of his home while driv- ing home some cattle he had been herding on the west side of the Repub- lican. The Indians then destroyed the Nelson house, but the family had escaped.
The first attempt to organize the county failed, and a permanent or- ganization was not effected until Sept. 6, 1866, with Moses Heller, G. W. Wilcox and Dr. Lear as commissioners and N. D. Hageman clerk. Elk Creek was named as the temporary county seat. The first political convention in the county, held on Sept. 1, 1866, nominated John B. Rupe for representative; Quincy Honey, sheriff ; Zachariah Swearingen, treas- urer ; Matthew Wilcox, clerk ; J. M. Hageman, probate judge ; John Fow- ler, assessor; Dr. Lear, superintendent of schools; and Lew Fowler, Robert Smith and William English, commissioners. Moses Heller sub- sequently took Smith's place on the ticket. J. M. Hageman was elected a delegate to the state convention to be held at Topeka on Sept. 5.
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