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 56
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trouble, when in reality he usually had little or no part in the dis- turbance."
J. T. Botkin, another Kansas man, now employed in the secretary of state's office, in the Topeka Capital of Nov. 21, 1910, has this to say of the cowboys: "I do not see things as the romancers do. I have lived with the cowboys and been one of them; have worked with them in the branding pen, on the round-up and the trail for weary weeks at a time; have lived with them in camp; have slept with them in all kinds of weather with only my saddle blanket for a bed, my saddle for a pillow, and the blue sky for a covering. I have sat on the back of a broncho during the silent watches of the night, humming softly to the herd and watching the course of the stars that I might know when to call the next 'relief.' I have been with them when we shipped the beef to Kansas City, and have seen and known them under almost every condition and ought to, and I believe I do, know something about their habits and character.
"The real cowboy, the fellow about whom the songs, the plays and the stories have been written, and on whom so much gush has been wasted, was a very ordinary fellow. He was the best practical rider in the world. He possessed about the average intelligence, but he was usually illiterate and coarse. He was not overly cleanly about his person. He lacked energy and was without ambition. His language was profane and of the style of the braggart. He delighted to hear himself called 'Texas Jack,' 'Cimarron Dave,' 'Arizona,' or some other, to him, high sounding name. His habits were very bad and when he struck town he sought the companionship of the evil and filled his skin with red liquor. He rode through the streets, shot holes in the atmos- phere and tried to rope a dog. He did this to impress the people with the idea that he was a 'Bad man from Bitter creek.' Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it was all bluff and bluster. . The country of .
'magnificent distances' seemed to dwarf rather than to broaden him. He had no part nor interest in the greater affairs of life and neither his occupation nor environment tended to develop him. To be able to ride a horse, read the brands and rope a steer when necessary was all that was required of him, and he naturally drifted into shiftless and lazy habits.
"Compared to other characters of the border, he was not 'quick with the gun.' Ask any old timer of Dodge City, Baxter Springs, Hays or Abilene and he will tell you that but few gun fights between the gamblers and cowboys were won by the latter. He was an easy vic- tim and his money was a gift to the gambler."
Such are the views of two Kansas men regarding the cowboy. And while these views seem to be contradictory, both may be right. It depends upon the point of view. Among the cowboys, as in all other occupations, there were doubtless men above the general average and others who fell below. In the former class would be found the men described by Mr. Street, and in the latter the "ordinary fellow" men-
(I-30)
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tioned by Mr. Botkin. With the settlement of the West came the passing of the cowboy. Those above the average readily adapted themselves to changed conditions and entered other occupations. Some became ranch owners, others small tradesmen, etc. Those below the line-or at least many of them-drifted still lower down in their habits and associations until they dropped from view below the social horizon.
One trait of the cowboy is worthy of more than passing notice. He was generally loyal to his employer and to his comrades on the ranch or range. The interests of the "boss" were carefully guarded, and when the boys belonging to an "outfit" went to town together, if one of them got into trouble the others could usually be depended on to help him out of it, even at the expense of personal risk. But the cow- boy with his fanciful costume and jingling spurs has gone, never to return. Just as the railroad put the old stage coach and the pony express out of business, so the homesteader and the husbandman have relegated the cowboy to the institutions of the past.
Cow Creek .- One stream bearing this name rises in the central part of Crawford county and flows southward through the counties of Craw- ford and Cherokee until it empties into the Spring river near the city of Galena. Another and more important Cow creek rises in the north- ern part of Barton county and flows in a southeasterly direction, its waters falling into the Arkansas river a little below the city of Hutch- inson. This Cow creek was crossed by Lieut. Pike near the present town of Claflin on Oct. 10, 1806, and Fowler's journal of the Glenn expedition for Oct. 15, 1821, contains the following entry: "We set out at our usual time up the River N. 80 West and stopped at the mouth of bold stream of Watter 70 feet Wide," etc. The stream thus mentioned Coues identifies as Cow creek.
In the latter years of the Civil war some troubles with the Indians occurred along Cow creek. On the evening of Dec. 4, 1864, a small escort of the Seventh Iowa cavalry, with a wagon loaded with ammuni- tion from Fort Ellsworth and bound for Fort Zarah, went into camp on the bank of Cow creek, about 15 miles east of Fort Zarah. Soon after going into camp they were attacked by a party of Indians, who crept up under cover of the creek bank. The driver of the team and one soldier were killed, and the others fled, three of them finally reaching Fort Ellsworth. Capt. Theodore Conkey of the Third Wis- consin cavalry, commanding at Fort Zarah, sent out a party of 25 men and brought in the wagon, though about one-half of the ammuni- tion was damaged.
A government train bound for Fort Union, New Mex., was attacked by Indians on Chavis creek on June 9, 1865. Lieut. Jenkins, with 60 men, hurried up from Cow creek and followed the marauders to the Arkansas river, but they got away, having captured 101 mules, 3 horses and 75 cattle. Five days later the westbound overland coach, escorted by 6 men, commanded by Lieut. Jenkins, was attacked a few miles west of Cow creek station. Jenkins held on until reinforcements
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arrived, when he drove the Indians to the river, killing and wounding 15 without the loss of a man.
Cow Island .- (See Isle au Vache.)
Cowley County, located in the southern tier, the fifth county west of Missouri, was created in 1867 with the following boundaries: "Com- mencing at the southeast corner of Butler county, thence south to the 37th degree of north latitude, thence west to the east line of range 2 east, thence north to the southwest corner of Butler county, thence east to the place of beginning." It was named in honor of Lieut. Mathew Cowley of Company I, Ninth Kansas, who was killed at Little Rock, Ark., in 1864. The county is bounded on the north by Butler county ; on the east by Elk and Chautauqua; on the south by the State of Oklahoma, and on the west by Sumner county.
It is believed that N. J. Thompson was the first actual settler in what is now Cowley county. He built a cabin on the Walnut river, near what he supposed was the south line of Butler county, in Aug., 1868, but it was afterward found that he located in Cowley county. The land was still an Indian reservation, but the white settlers were attracted by the fertility of the soil and another settlement was soon made south of Thompson by William Quimby and a man named Sales. Cattle dealers began to come among the Osages to purchase their herds and carried back reports of the rich lands, which caused a num- ber of white settlers to trespass on the Indian reserve and make set- tlements. Among those who came in 1869 were James Renfro, T. B. Ross. John and Joseph Stanbury, F. W. Schwantes, S. B. Williams, B. F. Murphy, T. A. Blanchard and some others, extending the settle- ments southward to within 4 miles north of the present city of Win- field. In June, 1869, C. M. Wood brought a small stock of groceries from Chase county to sell to the Indians. This stock he kept at Ren- fro's house for a time, but soon erected a stockade and cabin on the west bank of the Walnut nearly opposite where Winfield now stands. The Indians were numerous and knowing the insecurity of the whites in the country, began to steal and make unfriendly demonstrations, which caused Wood to move back to Renfro's for safety.
About the same time that Wood came, E. C. Manning and P. Y. Becker came down the valley and erected a cabin for the latter at the bend of the Walnut river about 2 miles below Winfield, and on June II Manning laid claim to the land where a part of Winfield now stands. In August all the settlers in the valley were ordered off the Indian lands. Wood's stockade was burned and all the settlers but T. B. Ross left for Butler county. Later the settlers began to drift back, and in September several families came down the valley to settle near Manning. These settlers each paid the Osage chief $5 for the privilege of remaining. Among them were W. G. Graham and family, Mrs. Graham being the first white woman of north Timber creek. Pretty- man Knowles, James H. Land and J. C. Mountfort also located in this neighborhood. In December Alonzo Howland, W. W. Andrews, Joel
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Mack, H. C. Loomis, A. Mentor and others took up claims. Mr. How- land built a dwelling on his land just south of where Winfield now stands, which was the first frame house in the county, the lumber for it having been hauled 100 miles.
During the summer of 1869 H. C. Endicott, Edward Chapin, George Harmon, W. Johnson, Patrick Sommers and others took up claims as far south as the site of Arkansas City. In June, 1870, a party of men took claims along the Grouse valley, among whom were John Nichols, O. J. Phenis, D. T. Walters, Gilbert Branson and William Coats. Up to this time all settlers had been trespassing on the Indian lands, but on July 15, 1870, the Osage diminished reserve was opened for settle- ment and the whites began to pour into the county. The land was surveyed and sold to actual settlers in quantities not exceeding 160 acres each. Among the new arrivals were J. C. Fuller and D. A. Mulligan, who bought A. A. Jackson's claim which adjoined Manning's. Max Shoeb built a log blacksmith shop, and W. Z. Mansfield opened a drug store in a log cabin, the first of its kind in Winfield.
The first newspaper of the county was the Cowley County Censor, owned and edited by A. J. Patrick, the first issue being dated Aug. 31, 1870. The first postmaster in the county was C. H. Norton of Arkansas City, who was appointed on April 18, 1870. The next was E. C. Manning at Winfield, who was appointed in May. The first United States census was taken in June, 1870, and the population at the time was 726. The first session of the district court was held at Winfield on May 23, 1871, by Henry G. Webb, judge of the Eleventh judicial district. Arkansas City and Winfield were hardly established as towns before schools were opened. In 1871 a $10,000 school house was built at the latter place and the same year thirty-seven districts were organized, although only three erected buildings. The Methodists were the pioneer religious organization in the county. They perfected a church organization at Winfield in the spring of 1870 under the direc- tion of B. C. Swartz, and in the fall the Baptists organized a church at Winfield. These were followed soon by other denominations.
Early in Feb., 1870, a bill was introduced in the legislature to organ- ize Cowley county. This bill named Cresswell (now Arkansas City) as the county seat. The citizens of Winfield determined to have their town made the county seat. C. M. Wood, A. A. Jackson and J. H. Land made a canvass of the county and found that it contained over the necessary 600 inhabitants for organization. Papers were made out and forwarded to the governor, petitioning him to have Winfield made the seat of justice. On Feb. 28, 1870, the governor proclaimed the county organized, with Winfield the temporary county seat. W. W. Andrews, G. H. Norton and A. F. Graham were appointed special com- missioners, and E. P. Hickok, clerk. The first meeting of the board was held on March 23 at the house of W. W. Andrews, who was elected chairman. A special election for township officers, and to locate the county seat, was ordered for May 2. At that election Winfield received
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108 votes for county seat, Creswell 55, and thus Winfield became the permanent seat of justice. The following officers were elected: Mor- gan Willett, Thomas Blanchard and G. H. Norton, county commis- sioners; H. C. Loomis, county clerk; E. P. Hickok, clerk of the dis- trict court; F. A. Hunt, sheriff; John Devoe, treasurer; W. E. Cook, register of deeds; T. B. Ross, probate judge; F. S. Graham, surveyor ; and W. S. Graham, coroner. At the general election in November E. S. Stover was elected state senator from Cowley; E. C. Manning, representative; T. B. Ross, probate judge; J. M. Patterson, sheriff ; E. P. Hickok, clerk of the district court; A. A. Jackson, county clerk; G. B. Green, treasurer ; E. S. Torrance, attorney ; Walter A. Smith, register of deeds; H. L. Barker, surveyor; H. B. Kellogg, coroner.
On Aug. 22, 1871, a petition was circulated to change the county seat to Tisdale, which was located at the exact geographical center of the county, but the vote resulted in a victory for Winfield. In 1873, the county buildings were erected, consisting of a court-house and jail. The former, which cost $11,500, was located on a block of land, one-half of which was donated to the county by the town com- pany and the other half purchased by the commissioners.
Cowley county is divided into the following townships: Beaver, Bolton, Cedar, Creswell, Dexter, Fairview, Grant, Harvey, Liberty, Maple, Ninnescah, Omnia, Pleasant Valley, Richland, Rock Creek, Sheridan, Silver Creek, Silverdale, Spring Creek, Tisdale, Vernon, Wal- nut and Windsor.
The general surface of the county is gently rolling prairie. There are some bluffs in the east, and the western part is quite level. The valley of the Arkansas averages about 5 miles in width; the valley of the Walnut averages about 2 miles and the smaller streams from a quarter of a mile to a mile. Timber belts are found along the streams that vary from a quarter of a mile to a mile in width and contain Cot- tonwood, elm, hackberry, mulberry, walnut, oak, redbud, pecan, hickory, ash and cedar. The county is well watered by the Arkansas river which crosses the southwestern portion, and the Walnut river, which flows south in the western part of the county, and their tributaries, the most important of which are the Muddy, Dutch, Timber, Silver and Grouse creeks. Cowley county is one of the first counties in the state in the production of corn. Oats, winter wheat and other grains are also extensively raised. Live stock raising is one of the leading industries, and dairying is a paying business. There are about 300,000 bearing fruit trees in the county that bring in a large income. Magnesium limestone of an excellent quality is found and extensively quarried, both for local use and shipment out of the county. Gypsum is found in large quantities in the west. A large salt marsh exists in the south- western portion.
Few counties in the state have better transportation facilities. Five lines of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway system center at Winfield; the Missouri Pacific enters the county near the southeast
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corner and runs west to Winfield; a branch of the same system runs from Dexter to Arkansas City; the St. Louis & San Francisco crosses the county diagonally from northeast to southwest, through Winfield, and a line of the Kansas Southwestern runs west from Arkansas City. Altogether, the county has over 200 miles of main track railroad.
The population, according to the U. S. census for 1910, was 31,790. The value of farm products, including animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter, was $4,321,090. The five leading crops, in the order of value, were : corn, $674,865 ; hay, $581,383; oats, $398,559; Kafir corn, $172,- 500; sorghum, $101,760. Dairy products to the value of $429,123 were sold during the year.
Coyotes .- The word "coyote" is "the Indian name for a North Ameri- can member of the dog family, also known as the prairie wolf and scientifically as "Canis latrans." These animals range from Canada on the north to Guatemala on the south, and are slightly smaller than the gray wolf, but have a more luxuriant coat of hair. Their color is generally tawny, mingled with black and white above the white below, and their length averages about 40 inches. By nature they are slink- ing and stealthy in their habits and display considerable cunning in obtaining their food. They live in burrows on the prairie and when hunting at night utter a most blood-curdling howl as they gallop along. They were once so numerous in Kansas that the legislature authorized a bounty to be paid for their scalps by such counties as deemed it necessary. At present coyotes are frequently met with in central and western Kansas.
Coyville, an incorporated city of Wilson county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. and on the Verdigris river, in Verdigris township, 12 miles north of Fredonia, the county seat. It has all the main lines of business, including banking facilities. There are telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 227.
The first store was opened at this point in 1859 by Albert Hagen, a Polish Jew, whose principal customers were Osage Indians. The first church was organized at the home of Rachel Conner by T. B. Woodward. The place was named for Oscar Coy, who, with P. P. Steele, bought out Hagen's store in 1864. In May, 1866, the post- office was established with Coy as postmaster. In August of the next year R. S. Futhey located a sawmill a mile below the town, which was the first one in the county. The next year he was grinding corn and making flour in the same mill. The mill was later moved to Coy- ville. A bridge was erected over the Verdigris in 1873, and in 1886 the railroad was built. .
Cragin, Francis W., geologist and educator, was born at Greenfield, N. H., Sept. 4, 1858, the son of Dr. Francis W. and Mary Ann (Le- Basquet) Cragin. He was educated in Wisconsin, at Washburn College, Topeka, Kan., the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and grad- uated at the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard University, with the
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degree of B. S., in 1882. In 1889 he received the degree of Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins University, and subsequently studied marine zoology at Dr. Agassiz' private laboratory, Newport, R. I. From 1882 to 1891 he was professor of natural history at Washburn College. In 1883 he inaugurated the first biological survey of Kansas, a report of which was published in the issues of the Washburn College Bulletin of Natural History. In 1890 he became proprietor and editor of the American Geologist and held that position until 1896, when he was offered and accepted the chair of geology at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Col., which position he still holds. During the years 1892 and 1893 he was assistant geologist of the Texas geological survey. He is the author of numerous scientific papers; an original fellow of the Geological Society of America; a member of the National Geological Society, and of the International Congress of Geologists.
Craig, a village in the northern part of Johnson county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 7 miles north of Olathe, the county seat. Mail is received by rural route from Zarah.
Crandall, a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Coffey county, is located near the south line of the county, about 10 miles south of Burlington, the county seat, and 5 miles west of LeRoy, from which point it receives mail by rural route. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 40.
Crane, a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., in Mont- gomery county, is located 6 miles north of Independence, the county seat, from which place it receives mail by rural delivery.
Crawford, a money order postoffice of Rice county, is situated in Galt township, near the northeast corner of the county, 16 miles from Lyons, the county seat. It is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., and in 1910 reported a population of 35.
Crawford County, one of the eastern tier and the second north of the line separating Kansas and Oklahoma, is bounded on the north by Bourbon county ; on the east by the State of Missouri; on the south by Cherokee county, and on the west by the counties of Neosho and Labette. It was created by the act of Feb. 13, 1867, and was named for Col. Samuel J. Crawford, at that time the governor of Kansas. The area of the county is 592 square miles. It is divided into nine town- ships, to-wit: Baker, Crawford, Grant, Lincoln, Osage, Sheridan, Sher- man, Walnut and Washington. The general surface of the county is undulating, the water-courses flowing in three different directions. In the northeast Drywood, Bone and Coxes creeks flow northward to the Marmaton river ; in the west Big and Little Walnut and Hickory creeks flow southwest to the Neosho; and in the southeast Lightning, Lime and Cow creeks flow southward, their waters finally reaching the Neosho.
Crawford county lies in the tract known as the "Neutral Lands" (q. v.), which were ceded by the Cherokee Nation to the United States by the treaty of July 19, 1866. Prior to that treaty some attempts
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were made by white men to settle within the territory. John Leman, a blacksmith, settled in Osage township in 1848. In 1851 P. M. Smith located in Baker township, but did not erect a dwelling, being content to live during his short stay in a tent. A man named Sears built the first house (a log cabin) in this township in 1856. Coal was discovered in this township by a government exploring party under Col. Cowan, and was first mined by parties from Missouri in 1857. As early as 1852 a number of white men, among whom were Howard, Fowler, Hale and the Hathaways, settled in Lincoln township, and the first school in the county was opened there in 1858 in a small log house that had formerly been used as a dwelling, the settlers contributing the funds to pay the teacher. James Hathaway had established a blacksmith shop where Arcadia now stands in 1844. Harden Mathews settled in Sherman township in 1850, and there were a few white men in Walnut township in 1857. In 1861 the Cherokee Indian agent, acting under orders from President Buchanan, took a body of United States troops and expelled the settlers, burning their houses and destroying their crops. Others soon came, however, to take the places of those who had been driven out. That same year a man named Banks settled on the Big Cow creek in Crawford township. In the summer of 1865 John Hobson, Frank Dosser, Marion Medlin and a few others settled in Osage township, and about the same time J. F. Gates, Stephen Ogden, John Hamilton and others located in Sheridan township. Settlements were made the following year in Grant and Washington townships. In Sept., 1866, a postoffice was established at Cato, in the northwest corner of the present Lincoln township.
J. W. Wallace, Lafayette Manlove and Henry Schoen were appointed special commissioners and F. M. Logan county clerk, for the purpose of organizing the county. The first meeting of the commissioners was held on March 16, 1867, and the first order was one dividing the county into nine civil townships. The second order divided the county into election precincts. Another order directed the clerk to give 30 days' notice of an election to be held on April 15, 1867, for the election of county and township officers, and to decide the location of the per- manent county seat. At the election J. W. Wallace, F. M. Mason and Andrew Hussong were elected commissioners; F. M. Logan, clerk; and J. M. Ryan, sheriff. The county seat question was not decided at that time, and in September Crawfordsville was selected as temporary seat of justice.
At the general election on Nev. 5, 1867, a full quota of county officers was chosen, as follows: County clerk, H. Germain; clerk of the dis- trict court, C. H. Strong; probate judge, Levi Hatch; sheriff, J. M. Ryan; treasurer, R. B. Raymond; register of deeds, H. Coffman ; assessor, William Roberts ; surveyor, R: Stalker; coroner, Jacob Miller, attorney, L. A. Wallace; commissioners, Frank Dosser, I. Evans and Joshua Nance. At this election Girard was selected as the county seat, and at a meeting on May 11, 1868, the commissioners ordered all the
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county officers to remove their offices, records, etc., to that point. The people of Crawfordsville applied to the district court at the September term for a writ of mandamus to compel the county clerk to take all records back to Crawfordsville, claiming that it was the legal county seat. The writ was granted, but on Nov. 7 a petition, signed by 577 citizens, was laid before the county commissioners, asking them to order an election for the location of a permanent county seat. An election was accordingly ordered for Dec. 15, when Girard received 375 votes and Crawfordsville 312. This settled the question.
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