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 64
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Daniel Woodson, who had been acting governor, was the first receiver of the land office at Doniphan and later at Kickapoo, holding this posi- tion from 1857 to 1861. The Pony Express from St. Joseph to the Pacific coast went through Doniphan county, the route leading by the sites of the present towns of Wathena, Troy, Bendena, Denton and Purcell.
The drouth of 1860 caused great suffering in Doniphan county as well as other parts of the state and they received relief to the extent of 138.750 pounds of provisions. Doniphan being a border county
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suffered considerable annoyance and damage to life and property from the raids of the border ruffians. In 1860 guards were kept on duty in all the little cities at night. The women took an important part with the men in protecting their homes, and many are the instances of courage on the part of young girls and women in times of distress and danger. In one instance a girl in men's clothes was shot by the guard.
After the Civil war was over and the border troubles settled, the people began improvements again. Three miles of track had been laid in 1860 near Wathena by the St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway com- pany. After the close of the war a new company was organized, and Doniphan county voted bonds for the construction of the road. Travel up to this time had been carried on by boat on the rivers and by stage and freight wagon west of St. Joseph, Mo. This first road entered the county at Elwood, passed through Wathena and Troy, leaving about midway on the western line. The next road to be built was the Atchi- son & Nebraska, for which the county voted $200,000 in bonds and gave in individual subscriptions $10,000. This road was built as far as White Cloud in 1871. The St. Joseph & Elwood bridge was built the same year. In 1872 a railroad was built from Wathena to Doniphan via Palmero by George H. Hall, John L. Motter, O. B. Craig, William Craig and George W. Barr. It was finally acquired by the St. Joseph & Western company and the rails were taken up and used on that line. At present Doniphan county has three lines of railroad, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, extending from southeast to northwest, passing through Troy ; the St. Joseph & Grand Island enters from St. Joseph at Elwood and crosses directly west; the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific enters in the southwest, runs northeast to Troy and east to St. Joseph.
When the county was first organized it was divided into five town- ships, Wayne, Washington, Iowa, Wolf River and Burr Oak. In 1856 Center township was formed out of the western portions of Washing- ton and Burr Oak, in 1878 Union township was formed out of the terri- tory of Wolf River, Marion was formed later between Washington and Wayne. A number of the historic towns of earlier times have disap- peared from the map. These include Columbus, Charleston, Lafayette, Normanville, Mt. Vernon, Palermo, Ridge Farm, Syracuse, Walnut Grove, Whitehead and Wolf River. The towns and postoffices of the present are, Bendena, Blair, Brenner, Denton, Doniphan, Elwood, Fan- ning, Gabriel, Geary, Highland, Highland Station, Iowa Point, Leona, Moray, Palmero, Purcell, Severance, Sparks, Troy, Wathena and White Cloud.
The surface of the county is rolling except for the bluffs along the Missouri river. There are a number of smaller streams among which Wolf river is the most important. It enters from the west flows in a northeasterly direction through Leona and Severance and empties into the Missouri. Clear creek and Mission creek also empty into the Mis- souri.
The geological formations of Doniphan county are very interesting.
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Many relics of prehistoric ages have been taken from the bluffs and banks of streams. A few years ago a large tooth weighing 5 pounds was unearthed. Mounds in which the prehistoric races were accus- tomed to bury their dead existed in considerable numbers in the early days of the white man's occupation. Limestone is found in considerable quantities, also sandstone of a good quality and potter's clay. Coal is found to some extent but not in commercial quantities.
The area is 379 square miles or 242,560 acres, of which 177,297 acres are under cultivation. The principal products are wheat, corn, oats and fruits. The county is one of the foremost in horticulture, having about 350,000 bearing fruit trees. In 1910 the total income from farm pro- ducts was $2,705,712, of which corn was worth $1,034,982; wheat, $119,247; and oats, $193,790. The assessed valuation of property was $24,909,152, and the population was 14,422, which makes the wealth of the county average nearly $1,700 per capita.
The educational advantages cannot be surpassed anywhere. 'There are 68 organized school districts with a school population of 4,553. The Highland University, which was the outgrowth of the early missions of 1837, is the oldest chartered educational institution in the state. There are Roman Catholic and Lutheran schools at Wathena. The first school for white children was estatblished near Highland in 1858. John F. Sparks was the first teacher. The school house, which was built of logs, was on the site of the building now belonging to district 56. In 1867 an unsuccessful attempt was made by the Methodist church to found a boarding school at Burr Oak.
Doniphan's Expedition .- In May, 1846, Gov. Edwards of Missouri requested Col. Alexander W. Doniphan, a lawyer of Liberty. to assist him in raising troops in the western counties of the state for volunteer service in the war with Mexico, and he acceded to the request. The enthusiasm of the people was high and in a week or so the eight com- panies of men had volunteered, which, upon organization at Fort Leavenworth, formed the famous First Missouri mounted volunteers. This regiment formed a portion of the column known as the Army of the West, commanded by that chivalric soldier, Gen. Stephen W. Kearney. All of the troops rendezvoused at Fort Leavenworth. The volunteers having undergone a few weeks' drilling, the Army of the West commenced its march to Santa Fe on June 26, 1846, and on Aug. 18 following Gen. Kearney's army entered Santa Fe without firing a gun.
In November of the same year, Col. Doniphan was ordered with his regiment into the country of the Navajo Indians, on the western slope of the Rocky mountains, to overawe or chastise them. He completed this movement with great celerity. His soldiers toiled through snows three feet deep on the crests and eastern slope of the mountains. Hav- ing accomplished the object of the expedition by concluding a satis- factory treaty with the Indians, he returned to the Rio del Norte, and on the banks of that stream collected and refreshed his men, preparatory to effecting what was then intended to be a junction with Gen. Wool.
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He was here reinforced by two batteries of light artillery. In Dec., 1846, he turned his little column to the south and put it in motion towards Chihuahua. In quick succession followed his brilliant and decisive victories at Brazito and Sacramento, the capture of Chihuahua, the plunge of his little army into the unknown country between Chi- huahua and Saltillo, and its emergence in triumph at the latter city. After his arrival at Saltillo, inasmuch as the period of enlistment of his men would soon expire, his regiment was ordered home. The march was continued to Matamoras, where the regiment embarked for New Orleans. The men were discharged at New Orleans and arrived at home about July 1, 1847.
The march of this regiment from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, Chihuahua, Saltillo and Matamoras-a distance of near 3,600 miles- is called Doniphan's Expedition, and in a measure is germane to Kansas history. There was no road, not even a path, leading from Fort Leavenworth into the regular Santa Fe trail. The army, therefore, steered its course southwesterly, with the view of intersecting the main Santa Fe trail, at or near the Narrows, 65 miles west of Independence. In accomplishing this, many deep ravines and creeks with high and rugged banks were encountered. The heat was offen excessive; the grass was tall and rank; the earth in many places so soft that the heavily loaded wagons would sink almost up to the axle upon the level prairie, and the men were frequently compelled to dismount and drag them from the mire with their hands. Hence the march was, of neces- sity, both slow and tedious. About noon, on June 30, they arrived upon the banks of the Kansas river, which they crossed in boats without loss or accident, and encamped for the night on the west bank among the friendly Shawnees. On July I the troops continued their march in a southwesterly direction, to intersect the road leading from Independ- ence to Santa Fe. After a toilsome march of some 15 miles, without a guide, through the tall prairie grass and matted pea-vines, sometimes directing their course to the southward and sometimes to the west- ward, they at length struck upon the old Santa Fe trace, and encamped for the night near Black Jack, in what is now Douglas county. Pro- visions (chiefly bread-stuffs, salt, etc.) were conveyed in wagons, and beef-cattle driven along for the use of the men. The animals subsisted entirely by grazing. By July 5 the troops had reached Council Grove, now the county seat of Morris county, Kan., one of the most important stations on the old trail. Advancing about 16 miles further they encamped near the Diamond Springs. On July 9, they arrived upon the banks of the Little Arkansas, in what is now Rice county. The evening of July 12 found them at Walnut creek, in what is now Barton county, and the following day brought them to the noted Pawnee rock, near which place they diverged from the main Santa Fe road and fol- lowed the Arkansas river to a point near the present city of Pueblo, Col., where they crossed into the enemy's country.
Then ensued what proved to be one of the most remarkable military campaigns in American history. The principal engagement was the
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battle of Sacramento, which one writer says "was the most wonderful ever fought by American arms." Col. Doniphan's men attacked a forti- fied position held by troops outnumbering them nearly five to one, and in speaking of their charge at that place the same writer says, "It has never been equaled in all the annals of the world's warfare." The State of Kansas has honored Col. Doniphan by naming a county and a town for him, and the State of Missouri named the seat of Ripley county in his honor.
Dorn County .- (See Neosho County.)
Dorrance, one of the principal towns of Russell county, is located in Plymouth township, on the Union Pacific R. R. and near the Smoky Hill river, 17 miles east of Russell, the county seat. It was settled about the time the railroad was built, was incorporated in 1910, and the same year reported a population of 281. Dorrance has a bank, an inter- national money order postoffice with three rural routes, telegraph and express offices, telephone connections, a hotel, churches of various denominations, a good public school system, and a number of well equipped mercantile establishments. Being located in the midst of a rich agricultural district, it is an important shipping point for grain, live stock, and other farm products.
Doster, a small village of Sumner county, is a station on the Kansas Southwestern R. R. 6 miles west of Caldwell and about 20 miles south- west of Wellington, the county seat. Mail is received by rural delivery from Caldwell.
Doster, Frank M., lawyer and the first Democrat to be elected to the office of chief justice of the Kansas supreme court, was born in Virginia, Jan. 19, 1849. He received his education at the Indiana State University and Illinois College, and later graduated at the Benton Law Institute of Indiana. At the age of fifteen years he enlisted in the Eleventh Indiana cavalry, under Lincoln's last three-year call, and served for two years. In the summer of 1865 his company was sent from the south and served along the Santa Fe trail. Prior to his enlistment he served in the state militia and took part in the Morgan raid of 1863. He commenced to practice law in Piatt county, Ill., but in about a year removed to Kansas and located in Marion county. In 1872 Mr. Doster was elected to the state legislature. Three years later he was elected judge of the Twenty-fifth judicial district, but was defeated for reelection in 1891. In 1893 he was appointed judge of the district court and on Jan. II, 1897, was made chief justice of the supreme court of Kansas, where he served until 1903. Judge Doster is an able lawyer, a close student, and though a Socialist, at the time of his elec- tion he said, "I know only one code of law and that is the same one studied by the other lawyers and I shall try to follow it as best I can." While upon the supreme bench Judge Doster advocated an amend- ment to the constitution which would increase the supreme court to seven members. On June 22, 1901, the following statement appeared in the Kansas City Star, "He expounded the law as he found it and as
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he learned it from celebrated jurists who have gone before him in America and England. No judge was ever more impartial, and to the corporation and the humble citizen alike he has given equal and exact justice. More than a learned judge, Judge Doster is a man of scholarly attainments, and his opinions have a classic flavor seldom found on the dry pages of court reports." One able lawyer said, "He is a credit to the state, a credit to the bench and a credit to his profession."
Douglas County, located in the second tier of counties west of Mis- souri and in the fourth tier south of Nebraska, is bounded on the north by Jefferson and Leavenworth counties, from which it is separated by the Kansas river; on the east by Johnson county; on the south by Franklin county, and on the west by Osage and Shawnee counties. It is one of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legis- lature with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the main channel of the Kansas river, at the northwest corner of Johnson county ; thence south to the southwest corner of Johnson county ; thence west 24 miles to a point equidistant between the limits (embraced in the original plots) of the towns of Lecompton and Tecumseh."
It was named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas, United States senator from Douglas at the time of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill.
It has an area of 469 square miles and is divided into the following townships: Clinton, Eudora, Grant, Kanwaka, Lecompton, Marion, Palmyra, Wakarusa and Willow Springs. The general surface of the country is undulating, breaking into high bluffs along the Kansas and WVakarusa rivers. The bottom lands or valleys, which comprise about a quarter of the area, are from 2 to 4 miles in width. Timber belts are generally found along the streams, and average about a mile in width. The principal varieties of native timber are ash, elm, cottonwood, oak, walnut and hackberry. The main water course is the Kansas river, which flows in a general southeasterly direction and forms the northern boundary. The Wakarusa river, also an important stream, flows nearly across the county from the west and empties into the Kansas river. The main tributaries of the Wakarusa are Deer, Rock, Washington and Coal creeks, while Plumb creek flows across the extreme northeast corner. In the south are Eight Mile and Ottawa creeks, and along the eastern boundary Captain's creek. Springs are abundant and good well water is usually found at a depth of 25 feet. The soil is extremely fer- tile, and all grains grow well. The principal crops are winter wheat, Kafir-corn and hay, but the county ranks high in the production of Irish potatoes. Limestone is extensively quarried in Wakarusa and Lecompton townships. Potter's clay is found along the Kansas river, and coal has been mined in limited quantities south of Lawrence. The county also ranks high in live stock and there are over 200,000 bearing fruit trees in the county, more than half of which are apple.
The first white men to visit the present Douglas county. so far as is known, were French traders, who passed up the Kansas river in the first quarter of the eighteenth century and carried on an extensive trade
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with the native Indian tribes. Following them, but nearly a century later, were the white explorers who generally followed the waterways toward the west. Thomas Say's route lay along the south bank of the Kansas river through what is now Douglas county, when he passed up the stream in 1819. Fremont followed this route in 1842 and again in 1843, when he went west to explore the Rocky mountains. In 1842, the expedition camped within the limits of Douglas county near the present site of Lawrence, and in his journal of the expedition, Fremont wrote, "We encamped in a remarkably beautiful situation on the Kansas bluffs, which commanded a fine view of the river." The Santa Fe Trail (q. v.), traversed the southern part of the country from east to west, and the route to the gold fields, which began at Westport, Mo., crossed the Wakarusa near what was once the town of Franklin, a little south- west of the present town of Eudora, passed near Lawrence, and ·left the county beyond the present town of Big Springs. Thousands passed westward over these famous highways after gold was discovered in California, but there were none who stopped to settle as it was Indian territory and the only habitations were the stations kept by whites for the accommodation of the travelers.
The first permanent white settlement in what is now Douglas county was made by Frederick Chouteau in 1827, when he established a trading post, on the south bank of the Kansas river, a little above the present hamlet of Lake View. It remained but a short time, as he removed to Shawnee county in 1830. In 1848 the Methodist Episcopal church established a mission among the Shawnees on the south bank of the Kansas river, near the mouth of the Wakarusa, but in 1857 it was abandoned.
Prior to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, much of the best land in the valley of the Kansas river had been marked for preemption by Missourians. The undue haste of the pseudo settlers, made against the protests of the Indians, and the great influx into the territory was probably stimulated by the knowledge that organizations were being formed in the north to send emigrants to Kansas with the avowed pur- pose of working to make it a free-state. Hence, by staking out claims, the Missourians hoped to hold the land against these undesirable set- tlers.
Some of the first men who came to Kansas in the summer of 1854 and settled along the California road were F. W. Lunkins, A. R. Hopper, Clark Stearns, H. R. Lykins, the Wade brothers, J. A. Wakefield, S. N. Wood, William Lyon, Josiah Hutchinson, and a number of others. South of the California road were Joel K. Goodin and William Brey- man. A. W. and A. G. Glenn, William Shirley, and M. S. Winter set- tled at Lecompton; Jacob Branson, Charles Dow and Franklin Cole- man located near the present site of Vinland in 1854. A little farther south, near the present city of Baldwin, claims were taken by Robert and Richard Pierson, Jacob Cantrell and L. F. Green. Douglas, a pro- slavery town, was laid out 2 miles southeast of Lecompton on the claim
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of Paris Ellison, and later in the year William Harper and John Chamberlain settled in the extreme northwestern part of the county where Big Springs was afterward laid out. In May, 1855, Napoleon Blanton settled on the Wakarusa 4 miles south of Lawrence, where a bridge was soon built, known as Blanton's.
Most of the claims taken by the Missourians were merely staked out, or a few logs cut and piled up crosswise to show occupation, sometimes only a notice was posted. These non-resident squatters nearly all returned to Missouri, but they had organized and agreed to have no interference with the "paper" claims, threatening to shoot any man who attempted to take possession. But the most systematic movement toward colonization was made by the New England Emigrant Aid company (q. v.) which directed a party of men from Massachusetts and Vermont to start for Kansas with a view of establishing permanent settlements and working to make Kansas a free-state. Other com- panies followed and together they founded the city of Lawrence.
When claims were taken by squatters, it was assumed that they had secured the land for a permanent home and intended to improve them, but as many did not do this the early settlers formed associations to protect themselves against such encroachment upon the land. Before the New England emigrants came to the territory two such organiza- tions had been formed in what afterward became Douglas county. A call was issued for a meeting to be held on July 8, 1854, at Blue Jacket's store on the Wakarusa. The free-state men who had already located in the vicinity believed that the meeting was to be of men friendly to making Kansas a free-state and attended in considerable numbers, but upon their arrival discovered that it was a meeting of squatters to make rules and regulations with regard to claims. A number of those present were pro-slavery in sentiment and wished to introduce resolutions barring emigrants opposed to that institution of slavery. There were too many free-state men present to carry out that plan, and a com- promise was effected by which any person had a right to bring property into the state and the question of slavery was to be settled when the territory had a sufficient population to be admitted to statehood. Some of the more bitter pro-slavery men were not satisfied with the turn affairs had taken and openly declared that they intended to fight the settling of the territory by free-state men, especially the New England company. This first organization was known as the Wakarusa Asso- ciation.
A meeting of the settlers was called for Aug. 12 at the house of Brice W. Miller, at Miller's Spring, or Millersburg, the object of which was the adoption of some regulations that would afford protection to the actual settlers, not unlike those adopted by the pro-slavery men farther east. By that time northern men had come into the Wakarusa valley in considerable numbers, and the meeting was of great importance. It was generally understood that only actual settlers were expected to attend, but the members of the Wakarusa Association and many pro-
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slavery men were present. Settlers and claimants came from a radius of 40 miles, but the question was of burning interest and not confined to any locality. John A. Wakefield called the meeting to order and stated the object to be a conference of actual settlers in the territory. A Mr. Dunham from Missouri caused some disturbance, as the spokes- man of the Missourians present, who were practically in the majority. This led to a quarrel and the meeting came near breaking up, but a compromise was affected. John A. Wakefield was chosen president of the Actual Settlers' Association and S. N. Wood register. After con- siderable argument and deliberation a committee was chosen from each of the associations to agree upon some plan by which they could work together, for the benefit of both. This joint committee submitted a report, which was adopted and proved effective in settling many of the claim difficulties and disputes that arose thereafter, until title could be gained from the government. As new settlers came into the terri- tory they joined either association as they preferred.
The first election in what is now Douglas county was held on Nov. 26, 1854. for a delegate to Congress. The free-state men did not take much interest in it, but from the great number of Missourians who voted at that time the residents should have had some hint of what would follow at the local elections. Douglas county, with only 50 legal voters, cast 283 votes. (See Reeder's Administration.)
The election for members of the first territorial legislature was set for March 30, 1855. The district in which Lawrence was located had 369 voters. For weeks before the election the residents in the border counties of Missouri were active and the Blue Lodges perfected a plan of campaign by which their members were to march into Kansas on election day, take possessions of the polls and by a heavy vote gain control of the legislature. Companies were sent into every council dis- trict in the territory, and into every representative district but one, in such numbers that they could control the election. They came openly, with the avowed purpose of voting, heavily armed and provided with provisions. About 1,000 of these men came into what is now Douglas county on the evening preceding the election, and the morning of elec- tion day. Richard Cordley in his history of Lawrence says, "On the morning of the election the Missourians came over to the place of voting from their camp, in companies, or bodies, of 100 at a time. Mr. Blan- ton, one of the judges, not appearing, Col. Young claimed that as the people of the territory had two judges, it was nothing more than right that the Missourians should have the other one to look after their interests. Robert Cummins was elected in Blanton's stead because he considered that every man had a right to vote if he had not been in the territory an hour. The Missourians brought their tickets with them. Not having enough they had 300 more printed in Lawrence the evening before and the day of the election."
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