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 94
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Grantville, a village of Jefferson county, is located in Kaw township on the Union Pacific R. R. 25 miles southwest of Oskaloosa, the county seat and 7 miles from Topeka. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 103. .
Grapevine Telegraph .- In the territorial days, while the conflict over slavery was the leading issue in Kansas affairs, a sort of pro-slavery head- quarters was maintained at Weston, Mo., for the purpose of rendering prompt assistance to friends in Kansas. The territorial headquarters of the Kansas pro-slaveryites were at Lecompton, and a line of communica- tion was kept up by what was known as the "Grapevine Telegraph." It was something like the underground railway of the abolitionists. If the
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people at Lecompton needed the aid or cooperation of their Missouri friends, a messenger was mounted on a good horse and sent across the country at night, avoiding the roads most likely to be frequented by free- state men. On the other hand, if the Weston contingent had anything to propose, the messenger came from that end of the line. Along the route were certain pro-slavery settlers, whose cabins could be used as resting places, or where a fresh horse could be secured by the messenger.
Grasshopper Falls .- (See Valley Falls.)
Grasshopper Falls Convention .- The third session of the territorial legislature was the first session of the free-state legislature. The first legislature was composed of pro-slavery men who met at Pawnee, and adjourned to Shawnee Mission, in 1855. The second legislature, which met in Jan., 1857, was also composed of pro-slavery men. The third territorial legislature, which met in special session at Lecompton, Dec. 7-19, 1857, was the offspring of the "Mass and Delegate Con- vention which assembled at Grasshopper Falls in Jefferson county on the 26th of August of the same year. The situation in Kansas was the topic of the times when Robert J. Walker was appointed governor of the territory. At the time of his appointment it was thought by the administration, and the real friends of the Democratic party, that civil war was on the eve of breaking out in Kansas which threatened to involve the whole Union. The Topeka legislature had determined to put its government into practical operation, which would evidently bring on a collision between it and the territorial authorities; each party would be supported by different states, and thus war was inevitably the consequence. The policy therefore determined upon by Mr. Buch- anan and Mr. Walker, in order to avert this calamity, was to sustain the dignity of the territorial legislature by compelling obedience to its enactments, and suspend action on the part of the state legislatures, by giving every assurance and guarantee that the election of delegates to the constitutional convention should be fairly conducted, and the constitution framed by them be submitted "to a fair and full vote for ratification or rejection by the people." (See Walker's Administration.)
At a delegate convention held at Topeka on June 9, the free-state men resolved not to participate in the constitutional convention, but determined to meet on July 15. Also it made Topeka its capital, passed an act for taking the census and for election of state officers. The delegate convention assembled in Topeka on July 15, 1857, declared its fealty to the state government, nominated candidates for state officers, to be voted for on Aug. 9, and asked for the resubmission of the constitution. The prominent members of the organization in an informal conference, agreed that the existence of the free-state party demanded the control of the territorial legislature and that it could be secured if the promises made by Gov. Walker for a fair vote and honest count were fulfilled. To insure honest voting at the fall elec- tion it was resolved "That Gen. James H. Lane be appointed at this convention and authorized to organize the people in the several dis-
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tricts, to protect the ballot boxes at the approaching election in Kan- sas." The complement of this resolution was one calling for a mass meeting of the citizens of Kansas to be held at Grasshopper Falls on Aug. 26 to take such action as might be necessary in regard to the October election. Another resolution called for a delegate convention to be held at the same time and place, to carry out the decisions of the mass convention; there were to be twice as many delegates as there were free-state senators and representatives. The question of partici- pating in the October election, for members of the legislature and dele- gate to Congress, engaged the attention of the free-state men during the summer. The notion of abandoning the state organization, and so far recognizing the validity of the territorial legislature as to vote under the provisions was unpopular at first, but the far-sighted ones reasoned that it was impractical to contest the election, and wiser to take part in said election. The Federal government had recognized the territorial legislature as legitimate, which tended greatly to pre- clude the success of the Topeka constitution. Should the free-state men be victorious at the coming election they would have obtained all they sought by the state organization. Should they be defeated they would stand the same chance of triumph under the Topeka government. They had, therefore, little to lose and much to gain by going into an election.
The mass and delegate conventions met at Grasshopper Falls as planned. It was an important assemblage, and was a crisis in the his- tory of the territory. G. W. Smith was chairman of the mass con- vention and W. Y. Roberts of the delegate convention. After much spirited discussion the following resolutions were passed by the mass convention :
"Whereas, It is of the most vital importance to the people of Kansas that the territorial government should be controlled by the bona-fide citizens thereof; and,
"Whereas, Gov. Walker has repeatedly pledged himself that the peo- ple of Kansas should have a fair and full vote, before impartial judges, at the election to be held the first Monday in October, for delegate to Congress, members of the legislature, and other officers ; therefore, be it
"Resolved, That we, the people of Kansas, in mass convention assem- bled, agree to participate in said election.
"Resolved, That in thus voting, we rely upon the faithful fulfillment of the pledge of Gov. Walker, and that we, as heretofore, protest against the enactments forced upon us by the voters of Missouri.
"Resolved, That this mass meeting recommend the appointment of a committee to wait upon the territorial authorities, and urgently insist upon a review and correction of the wicked apportionment endeavored to be forced upon the people of Kansas, for the selection of members of the territorial legislature.
"Resolved, That Gen. J. H. Lane be authorized and empowered to tender Gov. Walker the force organized by him under resolutions
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passed by the convention held at Topeka on the 15th of July last, to be used for the protection of the ballot-box."
The delegate convention nominated M. J. Parrott as a candidate for delegate to Congress, appointed "a territorial executive committee of twenty members to have their office at Lawrence, five of whom should constitute a quorum, for the transaction of business, and recommended to the citizens of the voting precinct to choose a committee of three persons, who should keep a record of all the votes cast, those refused and the reasons of refusal, and that citizens should be present in suffi- cient number to sustain such a committee."
The free-state men were fearful 'of success, and in their speeches to the people they reviewed the situation thus: With the administration against us; with one-half of the six months' voters virtually disfran- chised; with an election law framed expressly to keep the newly arrived immigrants from the polls; with a hellish system of districting staring us in the face; with most of the officers of the election Border Ruffians of deepest dye ; with the slave party in Missouri boldly avowing through Gen. Atchison, their determination to invade us; with only the al- ready half violated pledge of Gov. Walker to rely on; we do not feel at liberty to cherish a very lively expectation of a fair election."
The election day was Oct. 5, and notwithstanding the obstacles the free-state men won. Nine free-state men and 4 pro-slavery men were elected to the council, and 25 free-state men and 14 pro-slavery men were elected to the house of representatives.
Grasshopper River .- (See Delaware River.)
Grasshoppers .- The grasshopper is classified by entomologists as a "leaping, orthopterous insect belonging to the families Acrididæ or Locustidæ." The ordinary grasshopper is a member of the former. The Rocky mountain grasshopper or, as it is sometimes called, the Rocky mountain locust, is about one inch long and is migratory in its habits. Its eggs are deposited in the ground in the late summer or autumn, and when the young insects are hatched out the following spring they are ready to migrate. On several occasions they have swept in vast swarms over the country west of the Mississippi river, practically destroying every green thing on their line of March. Neill's History of Minnesota mentions invasions of grasshoppers in the years 1818 and 1819, and the early white settlers of Kansas learned of an Indian tradition regarding a grasshopper visntation in 1820. John Schoe- makers of the old Osage mission wrote of some damage done by grass- hoppers in the fall of 1854, and says the crops were destroyed by them in 1855, when some of the horses at the mission were sent to Henry county, Mo., where they could be cared for until another crop could be raised. John G. Pratt, who came to the Delaware mission in Kansas in 1835, says the first visitation in that section was in 1867.
But the greatest invasion of the insects was that of 1874. The report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture for that year says: "About the 25th of July, one of those periodical calamitous visitations
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to which the trans-Mississippi states are liable once in from eight to ten years, made its appearance in northern and northwestern Kansas- the grasshopper or locust. The air was filled and the fields and trees were completely covered with these voracious trespassers. At one time, the total destruction of every green thing seemed imminent. Their course was in a southerly and southeasterly direction, and be- fore the close of August the swarming hosts were enveloping the whole state. The visitation was so sudden that the people of the state became panic-stricken. In the western counties-where immi- gration for the last two years had been very heavy, and where the chief dependence of the new settlers was corn, potatoes and garden vegetables-the calamity fell with terrible force."
Starvation or emigration appeared to be the only alternatives for the people of the ravaged districts. In this emergency Gov. Osborn called a special session of the legislature to devise some means of re- lief. In his message the governor gave a list of the counties that had been devastated by the grasshoppers. Those most seriously affected were Norton, Rooks, Ellis, Russell, Osborne, Phillips, Smith, McPher- son, Rice, Barton, Reno, Edwards and Pawnee, but in a number of other counties more or less damage had been wrought. Said the gov-
ernor : "The number of persons who will require more or less aid, as estimated on the reports received, will not, it is thought, exceed 15,000, and many of these will require but little assistance. The great- est want seems to be for small grain, whereby these destitute people can be subsisted until another crop can be raised. The wishes of the people, so far as I have been informed, are entirely in favor of providing for the present emergency, and for doing it at home. The day has gone by when we need to look to others for assistance."
The special session authorized an issue of state bonds to the amount of $73,000 to provide relief for the stricken people, and authorized the county commissioners in certain counties to issue bonds-on vote of the people of the county-the proceeds to be used "as a relief fund for the destitute people," and to be used "for the purpose of furnish- ing them with the necessary food, clothing and fuel only." No levy was to be made for a sinking fund for the payment of these county bonds for ten years. The maximum amount of bonds the counties could thus issue was limited as follows: Barton, Norton, McPherson, Russell, Osborne, Phillips, Reno and Smith, $5,000 each; Rice and Jewell, $4,000 each; Republic, Rooks, Mitchell and Lincoln, $3,000 each; Ot- tawa, Harvey and Pawnee, $2,000 each; Barber and Ford, $1,000 each. Three days later another act was passed authorizing the commissioners of "any county in the state" to issue bonds, not exceeding one-half of one per cent. of the assessed valuation of property, to be known as "special relief bonds." Appropriations of $1,000 were made out of the surplus in the state treasury for the benefit of Rush and Decatur counties, and $500 for Ness county. (See Osborn's Administration.)
Through the county assessors, returns were received as to the num-
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ber needing assistance. The greatest demand was for food, the num- ber of people needing rations being reported at 32,614. Of those need- ing clothing, 8,077 were men, 9,758 were women, and 16,452 were children. In addition to the work done by the state, the United States government furnished through the war department a supply of army clothing. Giles, in his "Thirty Years in Topeka," says this aid con- sisted of 4,541 woolen blankets, 1,834 overcoats, 131 sack coats, 131 pairs of trousers, and 4,468 pairs of boots.
On the evening of Nov. 19, 1874, a meeting was held in Topeka, at which the "Kansas Central Relief Committee" was organized with Lieut .- Gov. E. S. Stover as chairman, and Henry King, editor or the Topeka Commonwealth, as secretary. The next day the committee issued an address warning the people of the Eastern states against unprincipled persons who were soliciting aid for the Kansas grasshopper sufferers. Railroad companies transported free of charge the dona- tions made to this committee, and in this way a large amount of rations and clothing was distributed. The committee received and disbursed cash to the amount of $73,863.47 ; besides 265 carloads and 11,049 pack- ages of supplies, the total value of the assistance rendered being $235,108.47. This included 32,614 rations, and clothing for 8,077 men, 9,758 women and 16,452 children.
Wilder's Annals of Kansas (p. 643), says: "this visitation of grass- hoppers, or locusts, was the most serious of any in the history of the State. They reached from the Platte river, on the north, to northern Texas, and penetrated as far east as Sedalia, Mo. Their eggs were deposited in favorable localities over this vast territory. The young hatched the next spring, did great damage to early crops, but in June, having passed into the winged state, they rose into the air and flew back to the northwest, whence their progenitors had come the year before."
In March, 1877, the state legislature passed an act authorizing the township trustees of the different townships, and the mayors of cities not included in any township, when requested in writing by fifteen legal voters in such township or city, to direct the road overseers of the several road districts to warn out all able-bodied male persons between the ages of twelve and sixty-five years, for the purpose of destroying grasshoppers. Persons over the age of eighteen years might pay a dollar a day and be exempt from such work, but failure to answer the call or to pay the stipulated amount subjected such person to a fine of three dollars a day. The next day a supplementary act was passed, providing that the counties in any senatorial district might cooperate in the enforcement of the law. When the grasshoppers appeared in the western counties in 1911, there was some talk of reviv- ing this law, but the scourge was not of sufficient magnitude to render it necessary.
Graves, a hamlet in the central part of Cloud county, is about 10 miles south of Concordia, the county seat and most convenient railroad station, whence mail is delivered by rural route.
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Gray, Alfred, one of the pioneer settlers of Kansas, was born at Evans, Erie county, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1830. He was educated in his native state, and in the spring of 1857 located at Quindaro, Kan. He was a member of the first state legislature; was secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture from 1872 to 1880, and was one of the commis- sioners to the Centennial exposition at Philadelphia in 1876. He was always active in promoting the agricultural and industrial interests of the state. His death occurred at Topeka on Jan. 23, 1880. The legis- lature of 1881 appropriated $1,000 for a monument to Mr. Gray, as a token of appreciation for the work he had done during his life. Two years later the appropriation was raised to $1,500, and in 1885 the amount was made $1,800. The monument stands in the cemetery at Topeka.
Gray County, located in the southwestern part of the state, is the second county north from the Oklahoma line, and the fourth east from Colorado. It is bounded on the north by Finney county, on the east by Hodgeman and Ford counties, on the south by Meade, and on the west by Haskell and Finney. Practically the same territory that now constitutes it was described by the legislature of 1879 as Foote county. In 1881 an act was passed creating and bounding Gray county as fol- lows: "Commencing at a point where the east line of range 27 west crosses the south line of township 21 south; thence west on said south line of said township to where said line crosses the west line of range 30 west; thence south on said west line of range 30 west to the south line of township 28 south; thence east on said south line of township 28 south to the east line of range 27 west; thence north on said east line of range 27 west to the place of beginning."
In 1887 it was bounded as follows: "Commencing at the intersection of the east line of range 27 west with the north line of township 24 south; thence south along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 30 south; thence west along township line to where it intersects the east line of range 31 west; thence north along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 24 south; thence east to the place of beginning."
In April of that year A. J. Evans was appointed census taker. According to his returns there were 4,896 bonafide inhabitants, of whom 912 were householders. The taxable property amounted to $1,295,852, exclusive of railroad property. The governor issued a proclamation in July organizing the county. Cimarron was named as the county seat and the following officers were appointed : Sheriff, W. B. Marsh ; clerk, G. C. Pratt ; commissioners, J. G. Shoup, E. S. McClellan and Frank Hull. Prior to this Gray had been attached to Ford and Finney coun- ties for judicial purposes. It had been settled for about ten years, though most of the inhabitants had come in 1885. Cimarron and Ingalls, the only towns on the railroad, were rival candidates for the county seat. The former had experienced a boom and had 1,000 inhabi- tants, a two-story school house, a two-story depot, 2 newspapers, 2
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banks, a drug store and about 20 mercantile establishments. Monte- zuma, about 15 miles to the south, had a newspaper and entered the county seat contest, but later withdrew in favor of Ingalls, which gave the latter a much better chance at the election. The voting took place on Oct. 31 and both towns claimed the victory, Ingalls by 236 majority, and Cimarron by 43. The papers representing the two factions were filled with strong language, in some instances talking about shooting, hanging and tarring certain parties. It seems that a wealthy New Yorker by the name of A. T. Soule was interested in Ingalls and was accused of corrupting the election, while on the other hand T. H. Reeves, manager for Cimarron, was accused of buying the "equaliza- tion society" for $10,000. This was an organization of men who had banded themselves together for the purpose of selling out to the highest bidder. Both sides were "armed to the teeth' and it became necessary for the governor to send out a detachment of militia to preserve the peace. The county offices were moved to Ingalls in Nov., 1887. The matter was taken into the courts and in 1889 a decision was rendered by the supreme court in favor of Ingalls. The fight did not end there, however, and after more. litigation and trouble Cimarron finally won.
The first newspaper in the county was the New West, established at Cimarron (Foote county) in March, 1879. It was "Devoted to the Development of the Great American Desert." Since that time Gray county has learned to irrigate and the so-called American desert is being developed in a profitable way.
The surface of the county is rolling prairie. The Arkansas river crosses it in a southeasterly direction, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. follows the north bank of the river passing through Wettick, Cimarron, Ingalls and Charleston. There are 6 townships- Cimarron, Foote, Hess, Ingalls, Logan and Montezuma. The post- offices are Cimarron, Cave, Charleston, Colusa, Ensign, Ingalls, Hess, Jumbo, Montezuma and Post.
The farm products amount to nearly $1,000,000 per annum. In 1910 the wheat crop was worth $225,000; corn, $146,000; other field crops brought the total to $765,641; the value of animals sold for slaughter was $65,471, and eggs and dairy products to the amount of $35,000 were marketed.
The assessed valuation of property in 1910 was $7,446,341. The population was 3,121, a gain of 1,857, or nearly 150 per cent. during the preceding decade.
Gray, Mary T., who came to Kansas as a bride on July 5. 1859, was for many years closely identified with the educational and club work of the state. She was one of the founders of the Social Science club which was organized at Leavenworth in May, 1881, and of the Feder- ation of Women's clubs. (See Women's Clubs.) Mrs. Gray was a woman of fine education and pleasing personality, and was a writer of more than ordinary ability. She died at Kansas City, Kan., Oct. IO, 1904.
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Great American Desert .- This was the term used by the people east of the Mississippi river to express their idea of the country west of that river when it was an unknown land. Carey and Lee's Atlas of 1827 located the Great American Desert as an indefinite territory in what is now Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Indian Territory and Texas. Brad- ford's Atlas of 1838 indicates the great desert as extending from the Arkansas through into Colorado and Wyoming, including South Dakota, part of Nebraska and Kansas. Others thought the desert included an area 500 miles wide lying directly east of the Rocky moun- tains and extending from the northern boundary of the United States to the Rio Grande river. Its boundaries changed from period to period for Mitchell's Atlas of 1840, placed the Great American Desert west of the Rocky mountains. The section shown by the various geographies grew smaller every year until only sandy plains in Utah and Nevada bore the name desert.
The history of the development of this portion of the continent be- gins with the earliest explorations in the New World. The expeditions following Columbus were made by Spaniards from the South. Mexico and Florida having been discovered, one Alvar Nunez was sent from Spain to explore Florida. His journey took him to the mouth of the Mississippi-here he suffered a wreck and only fifteen of his men sur- vived -- eleven of these were killed by the Indians. The four remaining were made prisoners and separated. Nunez, who was also known as Cabeca de Vaca, was carried by the Indians north into the great plains in sight of the Rocky mountains. He and his companions became reunited, escaped the Indians and working their way slowly, found the Spanish settlement in Mexico in 1836. In 1838 Hernando de Soto left Spain to explore Florida. About the same time Coronado, inspired by the tales of Cabeca de Vaca, started north to find seven golden cities. His search for Quivira took him to what is now central Kansas.
Early in the 19th century the United States government sent out exploring expeditions. One of these was under the command of Lieut. Zebulon Pike, who in 1806 went west from St. Louis to hunt the source of the Arkansas river. In description of the country he wrote, "From these immense prairies may arise one great advantage to the United States, viz: The restriction of our population to some certain limits, and thereby a continuation of the Union. Our citizens being so prone to rambling and extending themselves on the frontier will through necessity be constrained to limit their extent to the west to the borders of the Missouri and Mississippi, while they leave the prairies incapable of cultivation to the wandering and uncivilized aborigines of the country."
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