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, Volume II > Part 34
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From the very earliest times mineral and thermal baths have been considered of great importance in the maintenance of health and in the cure of disease. The Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, Romans, and mod- ern peoples had resorts near springs, the waters of which were sup- posedly mineral and medicinal. At many of the old resorts, both the external and internal use of the water was prescribed by a physician, and the same method is followed at present day resorts, as the prop- erties of mineral waters vary greatly, and what is beneficial to one is harmful to another. Waters are divided into three classes as far as. their reaction is concerned, viz: neutral, acid and alkaline, and are divided into groups with regard to their ingredients.
The waters from mineral springs and wells in Kansas are classified by the university geology survey as follows: The chlorid group; the sulfate group; the chlor-sulfate group; the carbonate group; the chlor- carbonate group; the sulfid group; the chalybeate group; the special group, and the soft water group. Waters of the chlorid group are gen- erally called "brines" because they contain a large quantity of sodium chloride. The most important springs producing this kind of water are the Geuda springs in Cowley county. The sulfate group of waters have sulfates as the predominating ingredient. Under the familiar name of "salts" or "Epsom Salts" there exists magnesium sulfate, and under the name of "Glauber's Salts" there exists sodium sulfate. Kansas is rich in waters of this class, and while most of them are derived from wells some come from springs.
Waters representing this group are found in the vicinity of Carbon- dale, Osage county, in the Chingawassa springs in Marion county, the Sun springs at Morrill, Brown county, Sycamore springs, near Morrill, and the White Rock springs in Jewell county.
The chlor-sulfate group embraces waters which retain many of the constituents of the chlorid group, yet contain sulfates in considerable abundance. The Morrill mineral spring at Carbondale, Osage county, belongs to this group. It has a flow of 600 gallons an hour, which is supposed to come from a fissure in the rock several hundred feet in depth. Near this spring is a sanitarium where nervous diseases are treated. The most interesting and best known spring in Kansas is the Great Spirit mineral spring near Waconda, Mitchell county. It is thus described by G. E. Patrick: "The spring is distant from Cawker City
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about 21/2 miles. * It flows, not after the manner of most springs, from some hidden nook or cavern, but from the summit of a nearly sym- metrical mound, shaped like a low statured sugar loaf, or to be more mathematical, like a truncated cone. This mound is 42 feet high, nearly as level on the top as a floor, and in the center of this small table land is found the spring itself, which is quite as remarkable as its surround- ings. Instead of a gurgling rivulet, trickling away among the rocks, the visitor sees before him a smooth, almost motionless body of water, more than 50 feet across, and filling its basin to overflowing, or if not to actual overflowing, so near it that its surface appears to be upon a level with the top of the mound. * * * The only reason why such overflow does not occur is, that the rock forming the mound is very porous, and affords innumerable minute outlets."
The story of the spring is as follows: Waconda, the daughter of a great Indian chief, became infatuated with the son of a great chief be- longing to another tribe. The two tribes being hostile to one another, the intimacy was strongly opposed by the parents, and when the tribes met by this spring a conflict ensued. The lover of Waconda, weak from fighting and loss of blood, fell, or was hurled, in the pool. Waconda plunged in after him and both were drowned. The spring since that time has been called "Waconda" or Great Spirit spring and the Indians believe the spirit of Waconda still dwells in the mound. Every tribe of Indians that has visited Kansas since its earliest settlement has shown the greatest reverence for this spring. There has been much litigation over the Waconda spring, which has hindered its development. There is, however, a hotel there, and much of the water is shipped. About a half mile southeast of the spring is another, called "Waconda No. 2." The important constituents of the water exist in about the same pro- portion as in the big spring.
Near Lincoln Center, Lincoln county, there are three mineral springs, and at Topeka there is another called Phillips mineral spring. The carbonated waters are perhaps the most numerous of any class. Among these are Dixon's spring at Atchison; the Baxter Chalybeate springs in Cherokee county ; Bonner springs, Nos. 1, 2 and 3; Kickapoo springs in Leavenworth county; Chilo springs in Cherokee county; Chautauqua springs in Chautauqua county ; Eagle springs in Doniphan county ; Mur- phy springs in Geary county ; Hoover's spring at Onaga, Pottawatomie county ; Sylvan springs and Stanly spring in Johnson county. Bonner springs are the most important of these, being a resort of some impor- tance, 17 miles west of Kansas City. There are 20 springs, a lake, a park, hotels, a sanitarium, a pavilion, and other improvements neces- sary to accommodate guests and tourists.
The chlor-carbonate group of waters are those containing quantities of chlorids and bi-carbonates. They are not very numerous in Kansas and are found mostly in wells. Sulfid waters, or those giving off free hydrogen sulfid gas, exist in small numbers and are found in wells instead of springs.
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The chalybeate or iron waters are usually carbonates, though the iron in some cases is regarded as a sulfate. Arrington springs, in Atchison county, and McDuff spring, in Atchison ; Bonner springs, Nos. 4, 5 and 6; Locust Lake iron spring in Leavenworth county ; Parkhurst's spring at Independence; Wetmore springs in Nemaha county; La Cygne iron spring near La Cygne; Clarus spring in Woodson county, and Louis- ville springs, north of Wamego, are the principal springs of this class.
The special group of waters contain special substances that have thereapeutic value, such as lithium, barium, bromin, strontium, iodin, boric acid and arsenic. This group is represented by Baxter springs Nos. I and 5 in Cherokee county, and Lithia spring in Jewell county.
The soft water group of waters are called by some "indifferent" and "neutral" waters because they contain a very small amount of solid mat- ter, some having less than a grain to the gallon. They often have great value as therapeutic agents. The principal springs of this class are Parker's spring at Atchison; Brookville spring in Saline county; Cali- fornia spring in Franklin county; Cave and Chico springs at Salina; Chautauqua springs; Clarus spring at Batesville, Woodson county ; Conway springs in Sumner county ; Delaware springs in Wilson county ; Linwood spring, Leavenworth county, and Sand springs in Dickinson county. The waters from nearly all the Kansas springs are used for medicinal or domestic purposes. Many of them have hotels, sanitariums and picnic grounds and are patronized extensively as pleasure resorts.
Mingo, a port-hamlet in Thomas county, is located in Summers town- ship on the Union Pacific R. R., 10 miles southeast of Colby, the county seat. The population in 1910 was 45.
Minneapolis, the judicial seat of Ottawa county, is located a little to the west of the center of the county on the Solomon river and at the junction of the Union Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail- roads. The Solomon river furnishes water power for manufacturing purposes. There are machine shops, flour mills, grain elevators, a foun- dry, alfalfa mills, a creamery, an ice plant, an electric light plant, water- works, an opera house, public library, 2 weekly and 3 monthly news- papers and 3 banks. There are telegraph and express offices and an international money order postoffice with 7 rural routes. The main products shipped are wool, live stock, poultry and produce. The city has fine church and public school buildings, and in 1910 reported a popu- lation of 1,895.
Minneapolis was laid out in 1866 by Israel Markley, Elijah Smith, Dr. James McHenry, A. C. Stull and A. J. Smith. It was first called "Mark- ley Mills," because Mr. Markley built a grist mill at that point in 1866. In that same year the county seat was brought there from Ayersburg by vote of the people. At the same time Col. John Kerwin moved his store from Fort Solomon. The town was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1870. The first hotel was opened in 1870 and the first bank established in 1875. The railroad was built in 1878.
(II-19)
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Minneha, a hamlet in Sedgwick county, is located on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. 5 miles east of Wichita, the county seat, from which place mail is distributed by rural route.
Minneola, an incorporated city of Clark county, is located near the northwest corner, about 25 miles from Ashland, the county seat. It is a station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., has a bank, 2 grain elevators, a weekly newspaper (the Record), a money order post- office, telegraph and express offices, telephone connections, several gen- eral stores, hardware and implement houses, a hotel, and in 1910 re- ported a population of 348.
Mirage .- The phenomenon known as mirage has been classed as fol- lows by scientists: I-The mirage of the desert; 2-the mirage of the sea; 3-looming; 4-a combination of the 2d and 3d; and 5-the Fata Morgana. The first has been frequently witnessed on the Western plains in the United States. It is due to the refraction of rays of light passing through strata of air of unequal density, and may be illustrated by the following simple experiment: Place a small coin in a shallow opaque vessel and take a position where the edge of the coin is just visible. Then have an assistant pour clear water into the vessel and in a short time the whole coin can be seen. The density of the water be- ing greater than that of the air, the line of vision is refracted or bent downward, bringing the coin into view. So, in like manner, a ray of light may be bent in passing through layers of air of diffeernt density. bringing into view distant objects below the horizon. The Herald of Freedom of Feb. 17, 1855, gives the following description of a mirage seen in Kansas:
"On yesterday we had the privilege of seeing a rare sight-a mirage on the prairie. On approaching the town of Lerny, about a mile and a quarter this side, we found the whole intermediate space between us and the grove of trees beyond the town apparently occupied by a beau- tiful lake of water. On the apparent shores next to ourselves the road ran down and disappeared in the lake, as did the fence upon one side of the road, while the placid and beautiful water extended upon the right and left, until lost in the distance. The trees in the distance ap- peared to be immersed for half their length in the lake, as if growing in the water. Even the reflection of the trees, and of the clouds above, were distinctly visible. We approached the vision and it vanished."
Frank P. Root, in his History of the Overland Stage (p. 251), de- scribes a mirage he once witnessed. Says he: "In connection with my first trip by overland stage coach, I witnessed a grand and beautiful sight that I shall never forget. It was late in the afternoon of Jan. 27, 1863, in the South Platte valley, between Alkali lake and old Julesburg, upwards of 400 miles west of the Missouri river. The air was cool, but the sun shone with dazzling brilliancy. Sitting on the box with the driver, as we were making good time up the valley, suddenly, a few miles beyond us to the west, there loomed up in the distance something that appeared to resemble a lake. Going a short distance farther, the
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scene changed, and there appeared a number of buildings, only they were above the horizon and inverted. It was one of the strangest and, to me, one of the grandest sights I had ever beheld."
Numerous instances of this character have been recorded, and in some cases the mirage has been so perfect that the town or object brought into view has been recognized. As the "Great American Desert" has been brought under cultivation mirages have become less frequent, though they are still sometimes seen in the western part of Kansas and Nebraska, and at other places on the sparsely settled plains.
Missions .- Soon after the first settlements in North America were made, missionaries began to visit the natives for the purpose of instructing them in the Christian religion and to persuade them to adopt the customs of civilization. The Catholic church was especially active in this work. Early in the 17th century Jesuit missionaries crossed the ocean and began the establishment of missions. While the Jesuit father was something of a fanatic in his religious views, he was generally a man of courage, filled with a sincere devotion to his calling, and loyal to his king. As the white settlements grew in number and strength, the Protestant denominations became interested in the wel- fare of the Indians and sent missionaries among them. Prentis says : "The missionaries were heroic pioneers of Kansas. They invented phonetic alphabets; they created written languages, wrote dictionaries and song books, and gave to the Indian the Bible and the Christian religion. They went into the rude lodges and wigwams and cared for the sick and dying. They suffered from poverty and often from savage cruelty ; they sacrificed home and friends, and many died alone on the prairie that the Indians might know the better way and the higher life."
The first missionary to the Indians in what is now the State of Kansas, of which there is anything like an authentic record, was Father Juan de Padilla (q. v.), who accompanied Coronado to Quivira in 1540-41. A year later he returned to that province as a missionary and died among the Indians. But it was not until in the early part of the 19th century that any organized movement to establish missions among the western tribes was undertaken. In 1820 Bishop Dubourg, of the Catholic see of New Orleans, sent Father Charles de la Croix as a missionary to the Osage Indians in Missouri, which formed the northern part of the diocese. It is probable that the first baptism of Kansas Indians was at Harmony mission, just across the state line from the present city of Fort Scott, where Father La Croix baptized a number of natives in the fall of 1820. Two years later he visited the Osages in the Neosho valley, where he baptized two children-James and Francis Chouteau. Harmony mission was founded by the Presbyterians, who were among the first of the Protestant denominations to establish mis- sions among the Indians. In June, 1824, Father La Croix was suc- ceeded by Father Van Quickenborn, who visited the Neosho valley in 1827, a year before his death.
Hopefield mission was established among the Osages in 1823 by the
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American board of commissioners for foreign missions of the Presby- terian church. It was at first located on the Neosho river in what is now the Indian Territory, but was twice moved northward, being located the second time near White Hair's village in Labette county, Kan. It was discontinued in 1837. Two other Presbyterian missions were located among the Osages in 1824. One of these was the Boudinot mission, which was situated on the Neosho river near the mouth of Four-mile creek, and the other was on the west side of the Neosho, with the Rev. Benton Pixley in charge. Both these missions were aban- doned in 1837.
In 1829 the Methodist church took the necessary steps to found a mission among the Shawnees, and Rev. Thomas Johnson was selected by the Missouri conference to take charge. The mission was located in what is now Johnson county, Kan., about 3 miles from Westport, Mo., and a mile from the state line. A year or two later William John- son, a brother of Thomas, was appointed missionary to the Kansas Indians and went to their villages about 10 miles west of Topeka, where he remained until the fall of 1832, when he went to the Delaware mis- sion. In 1835, when the government established farms for the Kansas Indians, he returned to his mission work with that tribe. He died in 1842 and was succeeded by Rev. J. T. Peery in 1844. In 1839 a manual labor school was started in connection with the Shawnee mission. It was located a short distance southwest of the original mission and was attended by children of other tribes. The first year the enrollment was 72, including 27 Shawnees, 16 Delawares, 8 Peorias, 7 Pottawatomies, 6 Kaws, 3 Kickapoos, and I each of the Munsees, Osages and Gros Ventres. The attendance in 1851 reached over 100 and included several Wyandots, Omahas and Ottawas.
A Baptist Shawnee mission was established in 1831, about 2 miles northwest of the Methodist mission above mentioned, and the Friends had a mission about 3 miles west-established in 1834. The Baptist mission was founded through the influence of Rev. Isaac McCoy and Dr. Johnston Lykins and his wife were placed in charge. In April, 1832, an appropriation was made by the Baptist board of missions, buildings were erected, and in 1833 Dr. Lykins and his wife were joined by Jotham Meeker and Robert Simerwell. The mission was abandoned in 1855 or 1856. At the Friends mission Henry Harvey was the leading worker. This denomination never undertook to print books in the Indian dialects as some of the others did, but tried to teach the Indian youth to speak and write the English language. The Friends became engaged in missionary work about the beginning of the 19th century. and no sect was more earnest in trying to elevate the natives.
The Methodist mission among the Delawares was located on section 3, township II, range 23 east, in the western part of Wyandotte county, not far from the present village of Maywood. It was founded in 1832 by William Johnson and Thomas B. Markham and continued in suc- cessful operation for several years. Another Methodist mission was
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that among the Kickapoos, established by Rev. Jerome C. Berryman in the fall of 1833 in the northeast part of Leavenworth county. The next year the Catholics started a manual labor school there, but the Kicka- poos did not take kindly to the idea of working, and the school was practically abandoned, one of the buildings subsequently being used as a publication office of the Pioneer, of Kickapoo City. The Catholics, however, founded a mission among the Kickapoos in 1836, with Rev. Christian Hoecken and Felix Verreydt in charge. Two years later these two zealous workers went to the Pottawatomie mission on Sugar creek, not far from the present town of Centerville, Linn county, where they remained until the removal of the Pottawatomies to their new reserva- tion on the Kansas river. This removal was effected under the treaty of 1846. A new mission was established where the town of St. Mary's now stands, and the mission school developed into St. Mary's College. In Sept., 1848, Father Maurice Gailland succeeded Father Hoecken and remained in charge of the institution until his death in 1877.
Three Protestant missions were started in the year 1837. The Metho- dists established one among the Pottawatomies where Osawatomie now stands; the Baptists opened one on the Marais des Cygnes river near the present city of Ottawa; and Revs. S. M. Irvin and William Hamil- ton started a Presbyterian mission among the Iowas, Sacs and Foxes not far from the present town of Highland, Doniphan county, on the emigrant road from St. Joseph westward. The Methodist mission was discontinued when the Pottawatomies removed to their new reserva- tion. The Baptist mission, which was under the management of Rev. Jotham Meeker, continued until his death on Jan. II, 1854. The Pres- byterian mission remained in successful operation for a number of years. A tract of 115 acres of land was obtained, a mission house was erected at a cost of $8,000, and in 1846 a school was opened. (See Irvin, S. M.)
A Baptist mission was opened among the Weas in 1840 by Dr. David Lykins. It was located about a mile east of the present city. of Paola and continued as a useful and successful institution for many years. From this time until 1847 there is no record of the establishment of new missions in Kansas. In 1847 there was a revival of mission work. A Baptist mission was opened among the Delawares at Briggsvale, near the town of Delaware, where a tract of about 22 acres of land was obtained, and another mission was established among the Miamis about Io miles southeast of the present city of Paola, near the site of the old Miami village on the Marais des Cygnes. The same year the Catholics established a mission among the Osages. This mission, which was founded by Rev. John Schoenmaker, was located just east of the Neosho river, where La Croix and Van Quickenborn had engaged in missionary work some 20 or 25 years before. A school was opened and the place was known as "Osage Mission" for almost 50 years, or until it was changed to St. Paul by the act of the legislature, April 12, 1895.
In 1848, after the Pottawatomies were settled upon their new reser-
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vation, a Baptist mission was opened there under the direction of Rev. Isaac McCoy. It was located on the south side of the Kansas river. about 6 miles west of Topeka, and not far from the present station of Menoken on the Union Pacific railway. Traces of the mission buildings still remain on the site. Rev. Robert Simerwell, who began mission work among the Pottawatomies in 1833, was stationed at this mission for some time. Under the treaty of April 19, 1862, the mission was granted a tract of 320 acres of land which was sold to the Baptist Mis- sionary Society of New York, which sold it to actual settlers when the mission was abandoned some years later, and it is now used for agri- cultural purposes. A Methodist mission was opened among the Shawnees in Douglas county in 1848 with Rev. Abraham Still in charge. It was located on section 8, township 13, range 21 east, not far from the mouth of the Wakarusa, and was abandoned in 1857.
In 1850 the Methodists erected a mission school building at Council Grove, where a school was opened the following year by T. S. Huffaker and Henry Webster, who also engaged in missionary work among the Kansas Indians, the treaty of 1846 having appropriated $1,000 of the annuity for educational purposes on the "diminished reserve." The same year the Catholics opened a mission among the Miamis. Six years later the Presbyterian missionary board established a boarding school for Kickapoos in Brown county, and it continued until 1860. From 1866 to 1871 a day school was taught there, the revenue for its maintenance being derived from the Indian fund. The building was then torn down.
About 1860 or 1861 a mission was established among the Sacs and Foxes on the Osage river about 6 miles east of the line between Osage and Franklin counties by a Methodist minister named Duvall and his wife. Some years later it was removed to a point about a mile south- west of the present town of Quenemo. This was the only Indian mis- sion ever established in Osage county.
Among the Methodist missionaries, the names that stand out most conspicuously are those of Thomas and William Johnson, J. T. Peery, L. B. Stateler, J. C. Berryman, Joab Spencer. Jeese Green, Nathan Scar- ritt and T. S. Huffaker. The most prominent Baptist missionaries were Isaac McCoy, I. D. Blanchard, Johnston and David Lykins, Jotham Meeker, Robert Simerwell, I. S. Bacon and John T. Jones. Among the Catholics the names of Van Quickenborn, Hoecken. Schoenmaker, Verreydt and Gailland will ever be revered, and Hamilton. Irvin and Dunbar were foremost in the missionary work of the Presbyterian church.
Missouri Compromise .- (See Kansas-Nebraska Bill.)
Mitchell, a village of Rice county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 8 miles northeast of Lyons, the county seat. It is a trading and shipping point, is supplied with telegraph and express offices, and has a money order postoffice. The population according to the census of 1910 was 100.
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Mitchell, Alexander C., lawyer and Congressman, was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 11, 1860. Before he had completed the course in the public schools of his native city, his parents removed to Kansas and located at Lawrence, where Mr. Mitchell passed the remainder of his life. He attended the public schools in Lawrence until he was prepared to enter the University of Kansas, graduating in the law department of that institution as a member of the class of 1889. For four years he was deputy city attorney, after which he was city attorney for a similar period of time, and for six years he was a member of the board of regents of the state university. His qualifications as a lawyer led to his appointment to a place on the board of law examiners, and he served in that capacity for three years. In 1906 he was nominated by the Republicans of the 13th district in Douglas county for repre- sentative in the state legislature, and in November he was elected. His record commended him to his constituents and in 1908 he was reëlected. While in the legislature he was chairman of the good roads committee and assisted in making the first effective "rock roads law" ever passed by the general assembly of the state. He was the author of the bill abolishing capital punishment; drafted the law permitting judges of the district courts to parole prisoners; fought for the primary election law; was influential in securing the passage of the two-cent fare law, and directed the movement that led to important changes in the juvenile court law. In 1910 he went into the primary campaign as the progres- sive Republican candidate for Congress in the Second district, defeated Charles F. Scott for the nomination, and in November was elected. During this campaign he made a vigorous fight, and, having been a sufferer from cancer of the stomach for about two years, his health. failed to such a degree that when Congress was called in extra session in April, 1911, he was barely able to get to Washington. Mr. Mitchell took his seat in Congress and cast one vote which was in favor of the bill for reciprocity with Canada. After a short stay in Washington he returned to his home in Lawrence, where he died on July 7, 1911. In 1890 Mr. Mitchell married Miss Helen M. Baldwin of Lawrence, who survives him.
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