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 47
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Organic Act .- (See Kansas-Nebraska Bill.)
Orion, a hamlet in Gove county, is located II miles west of Gove, the county seat, and 13 miles southwest of Grinnell, the nearest shipping point. It has a money order postoffice and mail daily. The population in 1910 was 30.
Oro County, one of the extinct counties of Kansas, was created Feb. 7. 1859, by the territorial legislature, and was bounded as follows: "Commencing at the northeast corner of Montana county, thence run- ning due east to the 104th meridian of longitude, thence due south to a point 20 miles south of the 39th parallel of latitude, thence due west to a point 20 miles east of the 105th meridian of longitude, thence due north to the place of beginning." The act also provided that D. Newcomb, William J. King and George McGee should constitute a board of commissioners to locate the seat of justice near the center of the county. Oro county is now a part of the State of Colorado.
Oronoque, a village in Norton county, is located in Leota township on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. 8 miles west of Norton, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population, according to the census of 1910, is 200. It is the principal trading and shipping point for a large agricultural district in the western part of the county.
Osage City, the largest town in Osage county, is located at the junc- tion of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Missouri Pacific rail- roads, 8 miles west of Lyndon, the judicial seat. It has two weekly newspapers, banking facilities, an opera house, electric light plant, creamery, hotels, and all lines of mercantile enterprises are represented. There are a number of churches and good schools. The town is sup- plied with express and telegraph facilities, and being the railroad cen- ter of the county has superior shipping advantages. It is the most important coal mining town in this section of the state, and produces flagstone and ochre in commercial quantities. The population of Osage City, according to the census report of 1910; was 2,432.
The town was platted in Dec., 1869, after the route of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. had been fixed. T. J. Peter, superintendent of that road, and John N. Witherell, who owned a part of the site, were the principal promoters. The first buildings were erected at once and the year 1870 saw a large growth in the new town. The first store was opened by Bothel & Ryus in January, and a hotel was built by John F. Dodds about the same time. In March the second store was opened by Drew & Playford and John A. Martin started a hard- ware store. A large two-story brick school house was built, but it was afterward blown down. The postoffice, which had been estab- lished at Onion creek in 1868, was moved to Osage City and the name
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changed in March. John F. Dodds was the first postmaster. The first coal mines were put into operation in the summer by the Osage Carbon and Coal Mining company. The town was incorporated as a city of the third class on April 1, 1872, and the first officers were: Mayor, John A. Martin; clerk and marshal, A. C. Sine; attorney, S. M. Barry ; police judge, J. C. Williams; treasurer, T. J. Mathews ; assessor, Samuel Reed; street commissioner, Samuel Slusser; councilmen, Samuel Slusser, W. H. Hobbs, Thomas Jenkins, T. J. Mathews and O. J. Sweadman. A severe windstorm swept the town in June, 1874, blow- ing down two churches, the school house and a number of barns and damaging several business houses and residences. In 1882 a general conflagration occurred which resulted in the destruction of business property to the extent of $35,000.
Osage County, created by the first territorial legislature in 1855 under the name of Weller county (q. v.), is the third county west of the Missouri line and centrally located between the Nebraska and Oklahoma state lines. It was not organized until 1859, when the name was changed to Osage. The next year a strip 9 miles wide from the southern part of Shawnee county was added to it, which gave it its present area of 720 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Shaw- nee county, on the east by Douglas and Franklin, on the south by Coffey and on the west by Logan and Wabaunsee.
The northern part of Osage county was formerly a part of the Shawnee reserve and the rest belonged to the Sac and Fox Indians. The main line of the Santa Fe trail crosses the county from east to west passing through the present city of Burlingame. The Leavenworth branch of this same road crossed the northern part. The only white men living in the county prior to 1854 were Gen. Whistler, an ex-army officer and Indian trader, and John Goodell, both of whom had mar- ried Indian wives and were living where the Santa Fe trail crossed IIO Mile creek, and a man by the name of Case, who kept a trading post at the Indian agency at Quenemo. On May 30, 1854, John Frele settled with his family near Burlingame, where he bought out a Shaw- nee Indian. His son, born shortly afterward, was the first white child born in the county outside of the agency. In August I. B. Titus, James and John Aiken, Alphonso Prentis and others settled on Switzler creek; John Skidmore, William Aiken, John Ward, Hollam Rice, Samuel Devany and Harry Harvey settled on Dragoon creek. About the same time the two McGee brothers, Fry P. and Mabillon, bought out the two early settlers at 110 Mile creek and established an inn. Moran McGee and C. N. Linkenauger took claims near the mouth of Switz- ler creek. In the fall agents of the American Settlement company (q. v.) selected a site for settlement not far from the present town of Burlingame. Among the colonists who came under the auspices of this company were George Bratton, Absalom W. Hoover, Joseph McDonald, James Bothel, William Cable, William Howard, Samuel Allison, J. R. Steward, Marcus J. Rose and Thomas Black. Only four-
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teen remained through the winter, the others, having no shelter or tools with which to build, returned east after staking their claims. In 1855 the population was increased by a large immigration, the greater number settling near Council City and the others locating along the creeks in various parts of the county.
The election troubles, common all over Kansas in 1855, were experienced in Osage county when the Missourians took the polls and elected their candidate, Mabillon McGee, to the legislature. Gov. Reeder ordered another election held, and a man by the name of Rice received every vote in his district. A certificate of election was issued to Rice by the governor, but the legislature refused him a seat and admitted McGee in his stead.
The first store in the county was opened at Council City in 1855 by Samuel Allison. The first postoffice was established about the same time with Loton Smith as postmaster and was kept at Allison's store. The first fourth of July celebration was held the same year. The first marriage of record took place in 1860 between John Riffenback and Hannah Thompson. The first school was supported by subscription and was taught in a tent in the spring of 1855 by Miss Louisa Todd. The year 1856 was a severe one for the settlers. Nearly every one was sick with malarial fever. Sufficient and suitable food was impossi- ble to obtain and this, together with a lack of medical aid and proper care, resulted in many deaths, among which was that of Loton Smith.
Most of the claims were taken before the government surveys were made and each settler staked out as nearly as possible 240 acres. This gave rise to considerable trouble as only 160 acres were allowed by the government. When the surveys were completed farms were cut into all sorts of shapes and the ownership of the various pieces was a matter hard to determine. To add to the trouble many of the resi- dents were unable to buy the lands they occupied when they were put up for sale by the government in 1859. They were obliged to borrow money, on which they were unable to pay interest, and finally lost their holdings. The drouth of 1860 reduced the settlers to starva- tion, and when they finally did raise crops there was no market for them. In 1859 and again in 1861 the county was swept by severe storms which destroyed considerable property, injured a number of people and caused a great deal of suffering. In common with the whole of the state Osage county suffered from the devastations of the grass- hoppers in 1866 and in 1874.
The county seat contest, common to nearly all new counties, took on a serious aspect in Osage. Prior to the organization of the county the voting was done at Burlingame, no objections being raised. The first meeting of the county commissioners on April 27, 1859, was held at Superior. This board was appointed by the governor and was com- posed of V. R. Morrill, M. Rambo and A. T. Dutton. S. M. Perrin was clerk. An election on June 7 resulted as follows: J. L. Rooks, judge ; D. B. Burdick, sheriff ; J. Perrill, surveyor. At the first regular elec-
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tion in November the following officers were chosen: J. R. Carrier, superintendent of schools; M. Rambo, judge; C. C. Crumb, sheriff ; A. N. Hulburd, register of deeds; W. O. Fisher, attorney ; John Rambo, clerk; A. T. Dutton, treasurer ; J. P. Perrill, surveyor, and A. Leonard, coroner. The legislature of 1860 appointed a commission composed of O. H. Sheldon, Philip C. Schuyler and James M. Winchell to select a location for the county seat. They selected a spot about midway between Superior and Burlingame, which they called Prescott. At the county seat election, held in April, Prescott was rejected and Superior continued as the county seat. The first term of the district court was held there in Oct., 1861, with R. M. Ruggles presiding judge. A county seat election was held in 1861, and another in 1862, and both resulted in the choice of Burlingame, where the county records remained for many years. When the Indians moved away and the whole of the county was opened to settlement Burlingame was not central enough, and another county seat election was called in Oct., 1870, which resulted in a victory for Lyndon. The Burlingame peo- ple immediately got out an injunction to prevent the removal of the county records, which was the beginning of a series of litigation and a strife which ended in 1875 in both sides resorting to the use of arms. The people of Lyndon, who had for five years been trying to get the county records, finally decided to resort to force and a small body of armed men with a team were sent to Burlingame to remove the records. On learning of their approach the men of Burlingame bar- ricaded the court-house and prepared to defend it against the Lyndon- ites. Scouts were stationed along the road to guard it. The Lyndon men sent out scouts one or two at a time to reconnoiter, all of whom were captured and landed in jail. A force of about 400 from the southern part of the county was then raised at Lyndon and marched to Burlingame, determined to secure the records or burn the town. Scouts sent on ahead brought back the intelligence that the court- house was filled with armed men ready to defend the records. For a time it appeared as though there would be a battle, as both sides were worked up to a fury. However, wiser counsel on both sides pre- vailed, and Burlingame gave up the records, believing that to be the only way to save the town from destruction. A short time after this the supreme court, in which the case was at that time pending, sus- tained the lower court in favor of Lyndon and the county seat has remained at that place ever since.
The first military company was organized in 1855 for the purpose of marching to the defense of Lawrence. It was called the "Old Free State Guards," and was officered as follows: Henry Todd, captain ; William Toothman, first lieutenant; G. I. Drew, second lieutenant ; and L. D. Joy, orderly sergeant. The next year border troubles began in Osage county, which did not end until after the Civil war. Another military company was organized by the free-soilers in June, 1856. A portion of Buford's company, which had been sent from the southern
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states to drive the anti-slavery men out of Kansas, camped on IIO Mile creek, where they remained all summer, making raids, robbing and committing various outrages. Travel on the Santa Fe trail was seriously impeded and it was impossible to get provisions into the free- state settlements unless the wagons were protected by an armed force. On July 4 nearly every man in the settlement went to Topeka to pre- vent the border ruffians from making an attack on the free-state legis- lature, which was to convene that day, but on its being dispersed by Col. Sumner, they returned home.
Most of the new immigration was free-state and by the time the Civil war broke out Osage county was overwhelmingly opposed to slavery. During that conflict Osage county furnished more than its share of soldiers for the Union army. The first enlistment was in May, 1861, when 25 men entered the Second Kansas infantry. A large num- ber of Osage county men served in the Eleventh Kansas, and many joined the regiments of other states. During the Price raid every able-bodied man in Osage went to the defense of the border. They composed the Santa Fe road battalion and were commanded by Col. M. M. Murdock. The loss of life among Osage county men during that campaign was heavy.
In 1865 two bonding propositions for railroads were carried in Osage county-one for the Lawrence & Emporia, and the other for the Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe. The former was never built, but the latter was completed through the county in 1869, when $150,000 in bonds were issued. The next year the Lawrence & Carbondale road was built. Various different roads were projected in the succeeding years but no more were built until 1879, when the Manhattan, Alma & Bur- lingame road was completed. At the present time there are 140 miles of railroad in the county.
Many of the early towns projected in the '50s have disappeared from the map, among them being: Council Grove, once the principal town of the county; Arvilla, on Switzler creek; Fremont, Prairie City, on the Santa Fe trail; Young America, on 110 Mile creek; Eureka, just east of Switzler creek; Havana, 4 miles west of Burlingame; Ver- sailles, Washington, Indian City and Georgetown. The following are the towns and villages in the county at the present time: Lyndon, Barclay, Burlingame, Dragoon, Ellen, Maxson, Melvern, Michigan Val- ley, Olivet, Carbondale, Osage City, Overbrook, Peterton, Quenemo, Ridgeway, Rosemont, Scranton, Union, Vassar. The county is divided into 16 townships, viz .: Agency, Arvonia, Barclay, Burlingame, Dragoon, Elk, Fairfax, Grant, Junction, Lincoln, Melvern, Olivet, Ridgeway, Scranton, Superior and Valley Brook.
The surface of Osage county is undulating prairie. Bottom lands average about three-fourths of a mile in width along the streams. The native timber belts along the rivers and creeks average less than one- half mile in width, and contain black walnut, cottonwood, elm, hickory, hackberry, pecan, oak, ash, wild cherry and sycamore. Coal of excel-
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lent variety underlies a large portion of the county and has for years been mined at Osage City, Scranton, Carbondale, Burlingame and other points. Magnesian limestone is found in the east, blue and gray lime- stone in the west, and a superior quality of sandstone in the north. Some of the flagging stone quarried at Osage City has been used in paving Topeka and Emporia. A gray marble capable of taking a high polish has been found in the southern townships. Yellow ocher, used in mineral paint, is found at Osage City. Potter's clay is plentiful near Burlingame. There are salt springs in the south along Salt creek and a mineral spring near Carbondale is said to possess medicinal qualities.
The leading crops are: Corn, which is worth over $1,000,000 annually ; oats, which brings $150,000 to $200,000 each year ; Kafir corn, worth $100,000; tame grass, worth $200,000; prairie grass, which brought $230,000 in 1910; and wheat, worth $50,000. The total annual output of the farms was worth $3,500,000 in 1910, of which live stock contributed over $1,000,000.
The population, according to the census of 1910, is 19,905. The total assessed valuation of property in the same year was $31,677,000.
Osage Mission .- (See Missions.)
Osage Trail .- This was a much traveled thoroughfare used by the Osage Indians when they occupied lands near the southern boundary of Kansas, and according to the late J. R. Mead of Wichita, ran from their settlements near the confluence of Fall river and the Verdigris, in what is now Wilson county, in a northwesterly direction through the counties of Wilson, Elk and Butler, to a point about 6 miles above the junction of the Little Arkansas and Arkansas rivers in Sedgwick county, where their hunting grounds were located. The trail had evi- dently long been used by the Indians, as deep gullies had been washed in the trails on the slopes of the hills when first noticed by the settlers.
Osawatomie, one of the principal cities of Miami county, is located on the Marais des Cygnes river, about a mile above the mouth of Pottawatomie creek and is one of the most historic towns in Kansas. Agents of the Emigrant Aid society selected the town site, which was surveyed in Feb., 1855, by A. D. Searl. According to early historians the name was formed by combining the Osa of Osage with watomie of Pottawatomie, the stream of the latter name uniting with the Marais des Cygnes to form the Osage river. The original town company con- sisted of Orville C. Brown, president ; S. C. Pomeroy, an agent of the emigrant company, and a Mr. Ward of New York. The first settlers were from the eastern states. Samuel Geer is supposed to have erected the first building, which was used for a residence and boarding house. The Emigrant Aid society sent out a sawmill, which was erected on the south bank of the Marais des Cygnes about half a mile below the town, and there much of the lumber was sawed for the first build- ings. In the summer of 1855 a blacksmith shop was opened by a man
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named Holdridge and a drug store by Dr. Darr. The first store was also opened about this time by Mr. Geer, who was appointed post- master on Dec. 21, 1855. C. H. Crane was the first lawyer to open an office in the pioneer settlement.
On June 7, 1856, the first battle of Osawatomie occurred. The vil- lage was plundered and some horses carried off, but no blood was shed. At this time there were about 30 buildings at Osawatomie and an actual population of about 500. The second battle of Osawatomie (q. v.) occurred on Aug. 30, when part of the town was plundered and burned, but notwithstanding this disaster the settlement grew and fast became the center of the free-state party in the eastern counties. By 1857 the early chroniclers say that it was a town "of considerable importance, having a population of about 800, of whom 200 were voters."
In 1863 the first state hospital for the insane was located about a mile northeast of Osawatomie. It has become one of the largest insti- tutions in the state. The first newspaper in the town was the Southern Kansas Herald, established early in 1857. It changed hands several times, was removed to Paola in 1866, and soon discontinued. The Osawatomie Times was established in 1881, but was published only one year. The papers of the present time are the Graphic and Globe, both weeklies. The first school house grew too small and in 1906 a fine new building was erected with the most modern equipment.
Railroads were not built to Osawatomie until the early '7os, but at the present time it is a division point of the Missouri Pacific road, and the repair shops of that line are located there. Osawatomie is a supply town for a rich agricultural country and is also its shipping point. It is the first city in the county, having in 1910 a population of 4,046.
Osawatomie, Battle of .- During the early summer of 1856, armed bands of both free-state and pro-slavery men were traversing the east- ern part of the territory and several encounters took place between the two factions. Soon after the sack of Lawrence (q. v.) the pro-slavery men decided that every free-state settler must be driven out of the ter- ritory, and Osawatomie was chosen as one of the places for the exhibi- tion of this policy. The residents feared that the whole settlement, the Browns more particularly, would be destroyed. Early in June a party of 150 Missourians, under command of John W. Whitfield, learning that most of the men of the free-state forces were occupied elsewhere, attacked the town. No resistance was made, and beyond plundering some houses and running off horses no great damage was done. From that time on, however, the residents were in hourly fear, as the territory from Mound City to Fort Scott and as far west as Lawrence was occupied by border ruffians and neither person nor property was safe. About the middle of Aug., 1856, the Missouri- Kansas militia began plundering and killing in the vicinity of Osawato- mie. On the 25th about 150 Missourians camped not far from the town (II-26)
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expecting to take it by surprise. While they were quick, the free-state men were quicker, the camp being captured after a total rout of the ruffians. It was not anticipated that another attack would soon be made, but on the night of Aug. 29 a band of about 400 Missourians, commanded by Gen. Reid, started from Bull creek for Osawatomie, intending to reach the town about midnight and make an attack about daylight.
On the morning of Aug. 30 Frederick Brown left Osawatomie before sunrise to return to Lawrence, and while on his way to S. L. Adair's, met Reid and a small advance guard, which was being guided by a minister named Martin White. The attacking forces had crossed the Marais des Cygnes at Bundy's ford, about 4 miles northwest of Osawatomie, and was approaching the town when Brown was recog- nized by White, who raised his rifle and shot Brown upon the spot. The shot aroused some of the settlers living in the vicinity, mes- sengers were at once despatched to notify the people in the village and Capt. Brown, who was half a mile east of town. Dr. Updegraff and Capts. Brown and Cline collected their men as quickly as possible and decided on plans for defense. At first it was designed to use the block- house, but on learning that Reid had a cannon with him this plan was abandoned. Brown, with 41 men took a position in the timber on the south side of the Marais des Cygnes, facing south. Brown, with 17 men, was on the right; Dr. Updegraff, with 10 men, formed the center, and Capt. Cline, with 14 men, the left wing of the defending company. An independent company was still farther to the left in the Emigrant Aid company's mill. By the time these forces were arranged the Missourians were passing about 600 yards in front. One man, who had been sent to reconnoiter, finding the enemy so close, had fired at them. He immediately retreated to the main body, fol- lowed closely by the Missourians, who formed on the ridge west of where the John Brown monument now stands. After forming in line they fired three guns as a signal for the free-state men to surrender. Orders had been issued to the defenders not to fire until Capt. Brown gave the signal, but when they heard these three shots they could not be restrained, believing that the enemy had opened the engagement. All of Brown's command fired, although the men knew it was con- trary to orders. The Missourians first attacked the right wing and were partially repulsed, when they brought the cannon into action about 400 yards in front of Brown's command, moving it further east at each shot, to scour all the timber. It was loaded with grape shot, but the bullets passed over the heads of the men and little damage ·was done. The free-state forces kept moving eastward, firing at the enemy, who finally abandoned the cannon, dismounted and charged into the timber, whence the main body of the defenders was located. After having held the ground for over an hour against ten times their number, the free-state men were now placed in a position where they must surrender or retreat, and most of them escaped across the Marais
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des Cygnes, losing a few killed or taken prisoners. The Missourians then entered the town and commenced to pillage and burn it. They first fired the blockhouse, in which several men were stationed, and only four houses escaped being destroyed. When the ruffians left they had two wagons filled with their wounded and ten loaded with the plunder taken from the homes of the citizens.
Reid and his force started east, with the intention of crossing the Marais des Cygnes near the mill, but the men stationed there opened fire, and not knowing the number of the defenders, the Missourians faced about and left the town by the way they came. The free-state men who escaped assembled at a log house north of the river, among them being Brown and Updegraff. The following day they moved to the south side of the Marais des Cygnes and commenced fortify- ing another camp, but it was never completed.
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