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 57
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Thus far Pike had ascertained the sources of the Little Osage and the Neosho rivers; had passed round the head of the Kansas river, and had discovered the headwaters of the South Platte. He was now intent on finding the upper sources of the Red. What Pike called the third fork was reached on Nov. 23. He writes: "As the river appeared to be dividing itself into many small branches and of course must be near its extreme source, I concluded to put the party in a defensible siti- ation; and then ascend the north fork to the high point of the blue mountain, which we conceived would be one day's march, in order to be enabled from its pinnacle to lay down the various branches and positions of the country."
The "third fork" was the St. Charles river, and Pike's encampment was made at what he called the "grand forks," or at the junction of the Fountain river with the Arkansas. The high point he referred to was Pike's peak. His men cut the necessary logs the next day, and
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erected a strong breastwork, 5 feet high on three sides, with the other opening on the south bank of the Arkansas. Leaving all the others at this fort, Pike, Robinson, Miller and Brown started for the mountains. By the 26th they had ascended so high that they looked down on the clouds rolling across the plain to the east. The next day they reached the summit, after a very difficult time, having been obliged often to wade in snow waist deep. Returning, they reached the fort on the 29th, after which the surrounding country was explored for several miles in every direction in a vain search for the source of the Red river.
While Pike was in camp on the Rio del Norte, in what is now New Mexico, he and his party were captured by a detachment of Spanish cavalry and conducted to Santa Fe. This was in Feb., 1807. He was well treated, and after being taken to Chihuahua, where his papers were confiscated, was conducted east through what is now Texas and finally liberated near Natchitoches, La.
Thus the project of exploring the Red river was defeated and one of the objects of the expedition was not accomplished. The Spanish governor suspected that Pike was leagued with Aaron Burr to detach a portion of Spanish territory. But as not a scrap was found to con- nect him with the "Burr conspiracy," the Spanish treated Pike and his men as respectable Americans, advanced him $1,000 on the credit of the United States, and escorted him to Natchitoches, which town was con- ceded to be within the American domain. The upper course of the Red river was claimed by Spain, and to have permitted Pike to explore it would have been tantamount to a recognition that American territory extended to that river. Three years later Pike's journal was published and the wonderful possibilities of Kansas were thus made known to the English-speaking nations.
Pike's Peak Trail .- One of the numerous thoroughfares leading to the gold fields of western Kansas, before Colorado was cut off, was by way of the Santa Fe trail, up the Arkansas river past Bent's Fort, and on to Cherry creek. This route was known as the "Pike's Peak Trail." On account of its location it was a month earlier than by way of the Platte river, and like all roads leading to the gold fields, was much traveled during the period of excitement. From "The Prairie Traveler," published by Capt. Randolph B. Marcy in 1859, the list of camping places and distances from Westport, Mo., to Denver City, a distance of 685 miles, was as follows: "Westport to Indian creek, 43/4 miles ; Cedar creek, 83/4; Buell creek, 81/2; Willow Springs, 91/2; '110-Mile' creek, 201/4 ; Prairie Chicken creek, 221/2; Big Rock creek, 20; Diamond Spring, 16; Lost Spring, 16; Cottonwood creek, 1534; Turkey creek, 22; Little Arkansas, 23; 'Big Cow' creek, 20; Big Bend of the Arkansas, 20; Walnut creek, 7; Head of Coon creek, 21; Arkansas river, 18; Arkansas river at Fort Atkinson, 19; Arkansas river, 1834; Arkansas river, 191/4; Arkansas river, 22; Arkansas river, 22; Arkansas river, 24; Arkansas river, striking the Big Timbers, 20; Arkansas river, 13; Arkansas river, pass Bent's Fort, 24; Arkansas river, opposite mouth
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of Apishpa creek-Cherokee trail comes in from Arkansas near Bent's Fort, II; Arkansas river, opposite of Huerfano creek, 9; Arkansas river -Cherokee trail bears to right and leaves the river, 12; Fontaine qui Buille, 153/4; Fontaine qui Buille, 171/2; Forks of the Fontaine qui Buille, the road to Cherry Creek here leaves the Fontaine qui Buille and bears to the right. (There is a large Indian trail which crosses the main creek and takes a northwest course towards Pike's Peak. Two miles up this trail is a spring of mineral water that gave the stream its name 'The Fountain that Boils') ; Black Squirrel creek, 171/2; near head of Cherry creek, 14; on Cherry creek, 7; Cherry creek, II; mouth of Cherry creek, at the South Platte, at city of Denver."
Thousands of gold seekers reached the mountains by this route, and the rush only ceased with the collapse of the boom.
Pioneer, a hamlet in the central part of Johnson county, is located on one of the creeks tributary to the Kansas river, about 7 miles north- west of Olathe, the county seat, from which it has rural free delivery.
Piper, a post village in the western part of Wyandotte county, is on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 19 miles west of Kansas City. It has several general stores, a school, a money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities, and in 1910 had a population of 75.
Piqua, a little town in Woodson county, is at the junction of the Mis- souri Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads, near the east line of the county, 13 miles east of Yates Center, the judicial seat, and 7 miles west of Iola, the nearest large town. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population according to the census of 1910 was 150. The town sprang up in 1882 after the building of the railroad, and was a successor to Bramlette, which was a trading center about a mile below, but was abandoned by the railroad at that time. The postoffice was established in 1882 with M. Street as the first postmaster.
Pittsburg, one of the important cities of southeastern Kansas, is located in Crawford county, II miles southeast of Girard, the judicial seat. It is 3 miles from the Missouri line and 134 miles from Kansas City, at the junction of four railway systems-the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Missouri Pacific, the Kansas City Southern and the St. Louis & San Francisco. The main shops of the Kansas City South- ern are located here and give employment to 1,600 men. It is in the mineral and oil district and the zinc smelters give employment to 1,200. Coal is extensively mined and shipped. Other important industries are the foundries and machine shops, cornice works, flour and planing mills, tent and awning factory, boiler works, paving and building brick plant, sewer pipe works, factories for the manufacture of gloves, mittens, garments and cigars, stone quarries and packing houses. There are 4 banks, 4 newspapers (the Headlight, the Kansan, the Labor Herald and the Volkesfreund), and a monthly fraternal paper (the Cyclone). The city has electric lights, fire and police departments, sewer system, waterworks, paved streets, electric street railway, a $60,000 opera house
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and fine school and church buildings. This is the seat of the manual training branch of the state normal school, a Catholic academy, and a German Lutheran school. There are telegraph and express offices and an international money order postoffice with eight rural routes. This is one of the points designated by the government for a postal savings bank. The population in 1910 was 14,755.
Pittsburg was laid out in 1876 by Col. E. H. Brown for Moffett & Sargent. The postoffice was established that year with George Richey as postmaster. The first dwelling was built by J. T. Roach in July, and the first business house was erected about the same time by G. W. Seabury & Co., who started a general store. By fall there were 100 inhabitants. In 1879 the town was incorporated as a city of the third class and the first officers were: Mayor, M. M. Snow; councilmen, J. R. Lindburg, W. McBride, F. Kalwitz, P. A. Shield and D. S. Miller. The Girard & Joplin R. R., which had been built prior to the founding of the town connected it with these two points. In 1880 the railroad was sold to the St. Louis & San Francisco company. A new addition of 40 acres was platted about that time and in 1882 another addition of like extent. The first newspaper was the Pittsburg Exponent, estab- lished in June, 1882, by L. C. Hitchcock. By 1884 the population was 4,000, six years later it was 6,697, in 1900 it had grown to 10,112. In 1891 there were 29 corporations doing business in Pittsburg with a combined capitalization of nearly $10,000,000. In 1904 there were 55 coal companies employing 11,835 men in addition to many small opera- tors, and 44 new coal mines were opened. During the year ending in Sept., 1904, about 700 new dwelling houses were built and $3,000,000 spent in public improvements.
Plains (formerly West Plains), a little town in Meade county, is located in West Plains township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. 16 miles west of Meade, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Journal), a mill and elevator, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 350.
Plains, Great .- (See Desert.)
Plainville, an incorporated city of the third class in Rooks county, is located in the township of the same name on the Union Pacific R. R. 16 miles south of Stockton, the county seat. It has electric lights, a public library, an opera house, 2 banks, 2 weekly newspapers (the Gazette and the Times), a mill, 2 grain elevators, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with three rural routes. The popu- lation in 1910 was 1,090. In May, 1911, it is said there were 40 of the residents who owned automobiles, which was one to every 27 inhabi- tants. The first settlers came to Plainville in 1877. The postoffice was established in 1878 with W. S. Griffin as the first postmaster. The first school was taught and the first sermon preached in the same year. The town owns a $25,000 water plant, a school house which cost the same amount, a new public library building is about to be erected and prac- tically every house in town has a telephone.
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Platte Purchase .- The original western boundary of Missouri was a line drawn north and south through the mouth of the Kansas river. Soon after Missouri was admitted into the Union, however, the project of attaching to that state, what afterward became known as the "Platte Purchase," was persistently urged by the citizens. The agitation began in 1835 (Col. William F. Switzler, in his "History of Missouri," p. 230, says Gen. Andrew S. Hughes started it in a speech which he delivered at a militia muster near Liberty, in Clay county, in that year). The territory included in the purchase lies between the Missouri river and the original state line. The idea of annexation met with immediate favor throughout the State of Missouri, and a memorial asking for it was sent to Congress in 1836. One difficulty in the way was that to comply with this request would make still larger a state which was already one of the largest in the Union, and a second difficulty was to remove Indians from a possession which had just been assigned to them in perpetuity.
Nevertheless, success came quickly. Senator Benton introduced a bill reciting that when the Indian title to that territory should be extinguished the jurisdiction over said tract should be "ceded to the State of Missouri." Benton's vigor, Senator Linn's adroitness and per- sonal popularity, and the enthusiastic aid of Missouri's representatives in the other branch of Congress, did the work. No serious opposition was offered in either branch and President Jackson signed the bill on June 7, 1836. Missouri's legislature assented to the act on Dec. 16, the Sacs and Foxes had agreed to the terms for the relinquishment of their lands on Sept. 17, and on March 28, 1837, President Van Buren pro- claimed the territory a part of the State of Missouri. Benton exultantly declared that the area of Missouri had thus been expanded "by an addition equal in extent to such states as Delaware and Rhode Island, and by its fertility equal to one of the third class of states."
The new territory, which is one of the richest parts of Missouri, com- prises the counties of Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte. The "Platte purchase" also contributed St. Joseph, the third city in Missouri in population and wealth. Had it not been for this act of Congress, and had the western boundary of Missouri remained as stipulated in the organic act, the city of St. Joseph would today be in the State of Kansas, which would be a perfect parallelogram. But in 1836 the white man had not claimed dominion over the plains of Kansas and there was no one from this region to object to the annexa- tion movement.
Pleasant Green, a hamlet in Phillips county, is located 16 miles north- east of Phillipsburg, the county seat, and II miles north of Agra, the nearest shipping point. It receives mail from Naponee, Neb.
Pleasant Grove, a hamlet of Douglas county, is located in the cen- tral portion, 8 miles northwest of Baldwin, from which it has rural free delivery, and 6 miles west of Sibley, the nearest railroad town. It had a population of 45 in 1910.
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Pleasant Hill, a hamlet in the northwestern part of Franklin county, is situated in the valley of Appanoose creek, 4 miles east of Michigan, the nearest railroad station, and 6 miles north of Pomona, from which it has rural free delivery.
Pleasanton, the second largest town in Linn county, is situated in the eastern portion on the St. Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri Pacific railroads, 6 miles east of Mound City, the county seat. The town was started in the summer of 1869, when the building of the Kan- sas City, Fort Scott & Gulf R. R. was assured. No town company was ever organized and the town site, which was owned by several per- sons, seems to have been selected by common consent as the best location for a settlement. The first town lot was sold in Aug., 1869, and within a short time a hotel was built on Main street by John Butler; William E. Talbott started a general store; a hardware store followed; Dr. Bender opened a drug store, and other lines of business were introduced before the railroad was completed to the town, which grew very rapidly for several years and by 1878 had a population of 800.
On Oct. 29, 1869, Pleasanton was incorporated and in 1870 it was organized as a city of the third class, D. W. Poak being elected the first mayor. The Presbyterians perfected an organization in Oct., 1869; the Methodist church was established in April, 1870, and other denomina- tion have built churches at Pleasanton. The first public school district was organized on Feb. 19, 1870, and the school opened with three teachers in April of that year. A school building was completed in 1871 at a cost of $10,000. Today Pleasanton has an excellent graded school system and a high school. A bank was opened in 1870, and in 1881 the library association was organized. One of the first indus- tries of the town was a steam flour mill, erected in the summer of 1869. The next year a second mill was erected, and for some years Pleasan- ton was a milling center. The first newspaper in the town was the Linn County Press, which appeared in 1869. It was followed by the Pleasanton Observer. With the opening of the coal beds and the development of the mineral resources of the southeastern part of the state, Pleasanton became a shipping point for such products, as well as grain and cattle. The discovery of oil and natural gas in the vicinity has also helped the town and today it is one of the thriving cities of eastern Kansas with a population of 1,373.
Pleasantview, a hamlet in Cherokee county, is located II miles north- east of Columbus, the county seat, and 6 miles from Weir, whence it receives mail by rural route.
Plevna, a little town in Plevna township, Reno county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 22 miles southwest of Hutchinson, the county seat. It has a good graded school, several general stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post- office with two rural routes. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 200.
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Plum Buttes .- A little southwest of the present station of Silica, on the old trail between Atlanta (now Lyons) and Ellinwood, were three sand hills known as Plum Buttes. They were about 120 feet higher than the surrounding prairie, but only about 25 feet higher than the sand hills still a prominent feature of that locality, and were once cov- ered with the common sand hill plums. Prof. Bernard B. Smyth, a former resident of that section and the authority for this statement, says that between the years 1865 and 1884 a gradual "blow out" occurred, which resulted in leveling the buttes and even creating a wide channel or valley in the hills upon which they stood. The site of these sand hills covered the greater portion of townships 19 and 20 in Rice county, and is now occupied by productive farms.
Plumb, Preston B., lawyer and United States senator, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, Oct. 12, 1837. He received a common school education and attended an Episcopal institution in Union county for a time. While there he learned the art of printing and worked on papers in Springfield and Xenia. He aided in establishing the Xenia News, in which he was financially interested. There he imbibed his first political opinions, which were born of the Kansas contest. Not satisfied by merely hearing of the abuses heaped upon the struggling people of the territory, he came to Kansas to see for himself, and returned to Ohio in two months a changed man. He had become a devoted and radical anti-slavery convert. He removed from Ohio to the territory, and in 1857 started a paper at Emporia called the Kan- sas News. He immediately allied himself with the free-state party and soon became a recognized leader in its councils. He was elected to the Leavenworth constitutional convention in 1859 from Brecken- ridge (now Lyon) county. Having meantime read law, he was admit- ted to the bar in 1861. The same year he acted as reporter for the state supreme court, but soon resigned. The following year he was elected to the state house of representatives and became chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1862 he entered the service of the Union army as second lieutenant in the Eleventh Kansas infantry and served successively as captain, major and lieutenant-colonel of that regiment. He took an active part in the running fight during Quan- trill's retreat from Lawrence and all other engagements of the regi- ment, which saw much hard service and was held for duty on the plains as protection against the Indians, being one of the last to be mustered out of the service. Mr. Plumb returned home after the war and engaged in the law practice which he had dropped when he had enlisted. He soon became prominent in his profession and in politics; was elected to the state house of representatives in 1867; and was reëlected in 1868, when he served as speaker of that body. He was forced to give up the law because of failing health and became presi- dent of the Emporia national bank in 1873. Four years later he was elected United States senator to succeed James M. Harvey, and took his seat March 4, 1877. One of his first official acts was to secure
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an order allowing actual settlers to enter the Osage ceded lands, cov- ered by railroad contracts. Mr. Plumb was twice reelected to the senate, and at his death had held nearly two years of his third term, having served nearly fourteen years continuously in the senate. His last election was practically without opposition. Mr. Plumb died on Dec. 20, 1891, at Washington, D. C.
Plymouth, a little town in Lyon county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 8 miles west of Emporia, 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, was 100. This is one of the early settled places in the county, having been founded in 1857. The postoffice was established in 1858 with D. McMillan as postmaster. The next year C. Humphrey, the first settler, opened a store. The first school was a private one taught in 1862. by Mary Hammis. In 1864 the first religious services were held. A sawmill was built in that year and a little later a grist mill, which made Plymouth an important trading point. At present it is a ship- ping and receiving point for a large farming area.
Plymouth, Brethren .- Early in the 19th century there appeared in England and Ireland a spirit of restiveness with regard to church con- nections. This was occasioned by the close connection between church and state, and in both England and Ireland a number of religious gath- erings sprang up, in which the people who were desirous of a "spiritual communion based on New Testament religious principles" met for "the breaking of bread" and prayer. One of the most important of these gatherings was at Dublin, Ireland, in the spring of 1827, but it was not until 1829 that the first permanent meeting was formed, under the leadership of John N. Darby, a minister of the Episcopal church of Ireland. The system adopted was practically Evangelical Calvinism. Meetings of importance were held at Plymouth and Bristol, England, and the fact that the meeting at Plymouth became very prominent because of its members gave rise to the name of Plymouth Brethren, which became the popular designation of the sect, although it has never been adopted by the different communities, who call themselves Believers, Chris- tians or Brethren.
The movement came to America as the result of the emigration of a number of the members who located in the United States and Can- ada about the middle of the 19th century. Mr. Darby made several trips to this country and a number of congregations were formed. Since that time meetings have multiplied and the church has been estab- lished in several states.
This church was not established in Kansas, however, until a late date, for in 1900 there was but one organization, located in Wood- son county, with 16 members. During the next fifteen years rapid progress was made, as 17 organizations were reported in 1905 with a total membership of 308.
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Poe, a country postoffice in Logan county, is located in Augustine township 22 miles southeast of Russell Springs, the county seat, and about 18 miles northwest of Leoti on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., the nearest shipping point. The population in 1910 was 12.
Poetry .- (See Literature.)
Point Rocks, a country postoffice in Morton county, is located on the Cimarron river 16 miles southwest of Richfield, the county seat, and about 65 miles south of Syracuse on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., the nearest shipping point. The population in 1910 was 24.
Point View, a country postoffice in Pawnee county, is located in Logan township II miles southeast of Larned, the county seat, and 5 miles from Ray, the nearest shipping point.
Pollard, a hamlet in Rice county, is a station on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R. in Victoria township, 7 miles north of Lyons, the county seat. It is a grain shipping point and has an elevator. It has an express office and a postoffice. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 21.
Pomeroy, a hamlet of Wyandotte county, is situated on the Missouri river and the Missouri Pacific R. R. 14 miles southeast of Leavenworth. It has rural free delivery from Bethel.
Pomeroy, Samuel Clark, pioneer and United States senator, was born at Southampton, Mass., Jan. 3, 1816; was educated at Amherst Col- lege, and in 1840 became an enthusiastic opponent of slavery. He was present when President Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and remarked to the president: "Your victory is but an adjournment of the question from the halls of legislation at Washington to the prairies of the freedom-loving West, and there, sir, we shall beat you." To · assist in carrying out his prophecy he left Boston in Aug., 1854, with 200 people bound for Kansas, and upon arriving in the territory located at Atchison. He canvassed the Eastern states in the interest of the free-state cause; was one of a party arrested by Col. Cooke on the Nebraska river in Oct., 1856, but was released by Gov. Geary upon his arrival at Topeka; was a member of the Osawatomie convention in May, 1859, that organized the Republican party in Kansas, and served on the first state executive committee of that party. In con- nection with his management of the aid committee for the relief of the people of Kansas in the great drought of 1860 he was charged with irregular conduct, but was exonerated in March, 1861, by a com- mittee composed of W. W. Guthrie, F. P. Baker and C. B. Lines. On April 4, 1861, he was elected one of the first United States senators from Kansas, and was reelected in 1867. During the troubles over the Cherokee Neutral Lands many of the people of the state lost con- fidence in Mr. Pomeroy, and in 1873 he was defeated for reelection to the senate by John J. Ingalls. It was in connection with this cen- atorial election that State Senator A. M. York of Montgomery county made his sensational charges of bribery against Senator Pomeroy. The
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