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 63
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Quantrill did not return the way he came, for he had information that Maj. Plumb was approaching from the east with a body of troops. After four hours' horrible work all ceased their work of plundering and assembled for departure. To avoid Maj. Plumb they went south, crossing the Wakarusa at Blanton's bridge. They kept up their work of destruction as they went away, burning nearly all of the farm houses they passed. Gen. James H. Lane with a few followers pursued them, as did the regular troops, but the raiders finally escaped to their hiding places along the border. Lawrence spent the following week burying its dead, of which there were 142, as nearly as an estimate could be made. For some time the intense gloom and grief forbade any thought of the future, but the day came when they rallied their spirits and rebuilt their town and homes.
In 1875 the legislature of Kansas appointed a commission "to examine and certify the amount of losses of citizens of the State of Kansas by the invasion of guerrillas and marauders during the years 1861 to 1865. The towns molested had been Lawrence, Olathe, Humboldt, Altoona, Paola and Fort Scott. In 1887 the legislature enacted a law providing for its assumption and payment of these claims for losses. (See Claims.)
Quenemo .- According to a tradition of the Sauk Indians, some of the northern tribes, at some period far back in the past, raided their country and carried seven Sauk women into captivity. After carry- ing the prisoners far to the northward they liberated them to find their way back as best they could through the trackless forests and inhospitable snows. One by one they perished, the survivors subsist- ing upon the flesh of their dead sisters, until but one woman was left. That one gave birth to a male child, and in her anguish exclaimed, "Quen-e-mo!" the nearest English equivalent of which is, "Oh, my God!" Other translations are "Something hoped for," and "I am lonely."
The expression was adopted by the tribe as a name for one of the leading chiefs. The first to bear this name was born at Milan, Ohio. Altogether there have been six chiefs of this name, two of whom lived in Osage county, Kan., but there has never been but one Quenemo at a time. A town in Osage county bears this name. (See Quenemo.)
Quenemo, one of the incorporated towns of Osage county, is located near the eastern line at the junction of the Missouri Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. The latter diverges at this point, one branch going to Osage City and the other to Em- poria. Quenemo is also on the Marais des Cygnes river, in Agency township, II miles east of Lyndon, the county seat. It has a weekly newspaper (the News), 2 banks, all lines of mercantile enterprise, good schools and churches, telegraph and express offices, and an international money order postoffice with four rural routes. Quenemo is an impor- tant shipping point for live stock, grain and farm produce. The popula- tion, according to the census of 1910, was 556.
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For more than ten years before the founding of the town the Sac and Fox Indian agency was at this place, and the name Quenemo was the name of a celebrated Indian chief of those times. George Logan. the first white man at the agency, came in 1858. He was followed by William Whistler. The first building was erected by the government in 1860. It was located on what is now Third street and was used as a trading post, in which Perry Fuller did a profitable business. The next two buildings, which were residences, were built the same year and are still standing. In 1862 some 4,000 Indians, belonging to the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees and Kickapoos, who were driven out of the Indian territory on account of their loyalty to the government, joined the Sacs and Foxes at the agency. This made trade brisk for the few merchants there. E. Olcott was at that time bookkeeper; Gov. Anderson, gunsmith; H. Huggins, government blacksmith; E. B. Fenn, physician; N. S. Brian, superintendent of the boarding house ; Mrs. Craig was school teacher, and Rev. R. P. Duvall the missionary. In 1869 the lands were opened for settlement and a large number of claims were taken. New stores were opened by John Whistler, John C. and Alexander Rankin. Rev. Jesse Watkins organ- ized a Methodist church. The next year the agency lands were laid off into lots and a town started. Among the promoters were Dr. Alfred Wiley, Warner Craig, John C. Rankin and William Whistler. They tried to secure a railroad, but the project fell through and the town was without shipping facilities until 1884, when train service was begun on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe between Kansas City and Emporia. A depression followed the failure to secure a railroad, many people moved away and business houses failed. In 1878 a fire swept away nearly all that remained. Growth began again with the estab- lishment of railroad connections and today Quenemo is a prosperous little town. The first newspaper, the "Quenemo Observer," was started in 1883 by George Rodgers. The first school was opened in 1871 in a fine brick school house and was taught by Miss Saylor.
Quickville, a hamlet in Thomas county, is located in Barrett town- ship, 15 miles northwest of Colby, the county seat and usual shipping point, and about the same distance from Brewster, the place from which it receives mail.
Quincy, a little town of Greenwood county, is a station on the Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., and is located on the Verdigris river in Quincy township, 20 miles northeast of Eureka, the county seat. It has banking facilities, all the main lines of mercantile enterprise, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. All the leading religious denominations are represented and have houses of worship, and the public schools are unexcelled. The population in 1910, according to the census report, was 250.
Quindaro, one of the old, historic towns of Wyandotte county, is situated on the south bank of the Missouri river 6 miles above Kan- sas City. In 1856, when Atchison, Leavenworth and Delaware City
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were practically closed to free-state settlers, several fugitives from these towns were assisted down the river to safety from this point by Mr. Guthrie, who owned much of the land in the vicinity. The place was then selected by a number of free-state men as a location for a town. Mrs. Guthrie was a Wyandot Indian, and through her influ- ence land was purchased from members of that tribe. In Dec., 1856, the town was surveyed by O. A. Bassett, and named in honor of Mrs. Guthrie, whose first name was Quindaro. The town company was organized by electing Joel Walker, president; Abelard Guthrie, vice- president ; Charles Robinson, treasurer ; and S. M. Simpson, secretary. The first ground on the town site was broken on Jan. I, 1857, but little building was done until spring opened. Three or four buildings were completed by April I, among them the Quindaro House, the second largest hotel in the territory, which was opened in Feb., 1857. In May a large force of men began to grade the ground near the levee and Kansas avenue, also the main street running south from the river. The first newspaper, the Chin-do-wan, appeared on May 13, and at once began to advertise the new town. Professional men came in and real estate agents did a good business. F. Johnson and George Veale opened a general merchandise store, and were followed by other firms in the same line. Simpson, Macaulay & Smith, forwarding and com- mission merchants, opened a store. Charles B. Ellis, a civil engineer and surveyor, opened an office, and Quindaro soon gave promise of becoming one of the largest towns on the river. A large steam ferry was put in operation that summer, one of the largest sawmills in the territory was erected and in operation by fall, and the Methodist church was built.
Shares of the town company had risen to an exorbitant price, money was plentiful, every one was hopeful, and the town seemed well started on the highway to assured prosperity. All the citizens were cordial and friendly and the name of the town and that of the newspaper which, when translated, mean "in union there is strength," seemed about to be realized. A stage line was put in operation between Quin- daro and Lawrence, building continued and by 1858 the town boasted 100 business houses and dwellings. A second newspaper, the Kansas Tribune, was issued in the fall of 1858 for the benefit of the town com- pany. But Kansas City, Atchison and Leavenworth were rapidly becoming centers of population and trade, and as they were the natural gateways of the territory, Quindaro began to decline. Business houses moved to the more prosperous settlements, the population gradually dwindled and in 1861, at the opening of the war, when the troops under Col. Davis handled the town so roughly, most of the remaining citizens left, so that by 1870 only a few buildings and the station were used. Subsequently the town began to pick up, the Freeman's Uni- versity (now Western University), an industrial school for negroes, was established there, general stores, mercantile establishments and a drug stores were opened, schools and churches were again started, (II-34)
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and Quindaro awoke to a ghost of its former life. It is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., a sub-station of the Kansas City postoffice, has telegraph, express and telephone facilities, and in 1910 had a popula- tion of 500.
Quinter, an incorporated city of the third class in Gove county, is located in Baker township on the Union Pacific R. R. 17 miles north- east of Gove, the county seat. It is the largest town in the county, has a bank, a hotel, a number of mercantile establishments, good pub- lic school, churches, a weekly newspaper (the Gove County Advocate), telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 450. The town was platted in 1885 under the name of Familton, by the Familton Town company, which built a hotel. The first house was built by R. W. Cook, the first store was opened by John K. Wickizer, and the first hotel was kept by J. H. Baker. The first newspaper (the Settler's Guide), was established in 1886.
Quinton Heights, a suburb of Topeka reached by street railway. (See Topeka.)
Quivira .- As early as 1530 the Spanish authorities in Mexico heard reports of the "Seven Cities of Cibola," which were reputed to be exceedingly opulent, but it was not until ten years later that any sys- tematic attempt was made to find them and exploit their wealth. The Coronado expedition (q. v.) was sent out from New Spain for that purpose in 1540, and while in winter quarters near the present city of Aubuquerque, N. M., Coronado learned from an Indian slave of a province teeming with wealth somewhere in the interior. This province subsequently became known as Quivira. There is some question as to whether the name "Quivira" is of Indian origin. Shea suggests that the original name might have been "Quebira," from the Arabic word "quebir"-meaning great-and that it was probably first used by the survivors of the Narvaez expedition who found their way to Mexico in the spring of 1536.
The province of Quivira has been claimed by nearly every state in the Missouri valley, and it is only within the last twenty-five years that it has been given anything like a definite location by archaeologists. Acting upon the information received from the Indian, Coronado set out in April, 1541, for the province, which he finally reached after wandering. over the plains for more than two months. As the season began to wane he returned to his quarters of the preceding winter, where on Oct. 20 he wrote to the king of Spain a letter, in which he said :
"The province of Quivira is 950 leagues from Mexico. Where I reached it is in the 40th degree. The country itself is the best I have ever seen for producing all the products of Spain, for besides the land itself being very fat and black and being well watered by the rivulets and springs and rivers, I found prunes like those of Spain, and nuts, and very good sweet grapes and mulberries. . I had been told
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that the houses were made of stone and were several storied; they are only of straw, and the inhabitants are as savage as any that I have seen. They have no clothes, nor cotton to make them of; they simply tan the hides of the cows which they hunt, and which pasture around their village and in the neighborhood of a large river. They eat their meat raw like the Querechos and Tejas, and are enemies to one another and war among one another. All these men look alike. The inhab- itants of Quivira are the best of hunters and they plant maize."
Jaramillo's account confirms the description given by Coronado and says the only metal found in Quivira consisted of some iron pyrites and a few pieces of copper. As the main object of the visit was to find gold and silver, the disappointment of the Spaniards can be readily imagined.
The "prunes" mentioned by Coronado were no doubt the wild plums that abound along the streams in central and western Kansas; the "fat," black and well watered land answers the description of the soil about the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers; and the statement that Quivira was in the 40th degree bears out the belief that the ancient province was somewhere in central or northeastern Kan- sas, as the northern boundary of the state is the 40th parallel of north latitude. Castaneda, the historian of the expedition, bears out the description of the houses given by Coronado. He says: "The houses are round, without a wall, and they have one story like a loft, under the roof, where they sleep and keep their belongings. The roofs are of straw."
From the fact that the people lived in straw houses, or at least in huts with roofs of straw, Hodge identifies the inhabitants of Quivira as the Wichita Indians, which tribe, of all the plains Indians, were accustomed to thatch their huts with straw.
Bandelier, in his "Gilded Man," after a careful analysis of the various accounts of Quivira, sums up the results of his research as follows: "I have shown that Quivira was in central Kansas, in the region of Great Bend and Newton, and a little north of there. It is also clear that the name appertained to a roving Indian tribe, and not to a geographical district. Hence, when I say that Coronado's Quivira was there, the identification is good for the year 1541, and not for a later time. The tribe wandered with the bison, and with the tribe the name also went hither and thither."
If Bandelier is correct in his deductions, as he probably is; the fact that the name wandered with the tribe may account for the various locations of the province of Quivira, though, as he shows, the Quivira visited by Coronado in 154I was unquestionably somewhere within the present limits of the State of Kansas. Bandelier also says: "With the return to Mexico of the little army that Coronado commanded, the name of Cibola lost its fascination. But Quivira continued to exercise an unperceived influence on the imagination of men. Notwithstanding, or perhaps because Coronado had told the unadorned truth concern-
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ing the situation and conditions of the place, the world presumed that he was mistaken, and insisted on continuing the search for it."
Although many of the Spaniards in Mexico held to the view that vast wealth was to be found in Quivira, no attempt was made to visit the province for more than half a century after the expedition or Coronado. Then came the expedition of Bonilla in 1595 and Oñate in 1601 (q. v.), but both these were undertaken without adequate preparations and conducted in such a lax and desultory manner that. nothing was accomplished.
After the insurrection of 1680 and the reconquest of New Mexico by Diego de Vargas in 1692-94 the name Quivira, as applied to an interior province or the tribe inhabiting it, seems to have been lost. But the recollection of the golden stories was not allowed to perish, and the myth was transferred to some ruins in what is now Socorro county, N. M., about 150 miles south of Santa Fe, which ruins became popu- larly known as "La Gran Quivira." To quote again from Bandelier : "The treasure city had lain in ruins since the insurrection of 1680; but its treasures were supposed to be buried in the neighborhood, for it was said there had once been a wealthy mission there, and the priests had buried and hidden the vessels of the church. Thus the Indian kingdom of Quivira of 'the Turk' was metamorphosed in the course of two centuries into an opulent Indian mission, and its vessels of gold and silver into a church service. But where Quivira should be looked for was forgotten."
As previously stated it is only within comparative recent years that efforts have been made to ascertain the location of the lost Quivira. The translation of Castaneda's narrative of the Coronado expedition by Winship; the work of the Hemenway archaeological expedition ; the investigations and researches of Simpson, Hodge and others, who have studied and carefully compared the directions and distances given in the relations concerning the movements of Coronado, all point to the region between the Arkansas and Kansas rivers as the site of the ancient Indian province.
Jacob V. Brower, an archæologist of St. Paul, Minn., made three trips to Kansas for the purpose of determining if possible the location of the original Quivira. The first of these trips was made in Nov., 1896, the second in March, 1897, and the third in March, 1898. Mr. Brower explored the valleys of the Kansas and Smoky Hill rivers from the mouth of Mill creek in Wabaunsee county to Lyon creek in Dickin- son county, and also the valleys of the Arkansas in the vicinity of Great Bend. Through the testimony of stone implements-a method that has been criticised as untrustworthy-he determined the location of 65 ancient villages. Of these II were in Pottawatomie county, 10 in Wabaunsee, II in Riley, 20 in Geary, 4 in Dickinson, 6 in McPherson, and I each in Marion, Rice and Barton. On Oct. 29, 1901, the Quivira Historical society was organized at Alma, the county seat of Wabaunsee county, with the following officers: President, Jacob V. Brower of
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St. Paul, Minn .; vice-president, Elmer E. Blackman of Lincoln, Neb .; secretary, Edward A. Kilian of Alma; chairman of the executive com- mittee, John T. Keagy of Alma. One of the principal objects of the society was to erect monuments marking certain historical sites, and on Aug. 12, 1902, the first of these monuments was unveiled at Logan Grove, near Junction City. The monument was in the form of an obelisk, some 17 feet in height, and bore the inscription: "Quivira and Harahey, discovered by Coronado 1541, Jaramillo, Padilla, Tatar- rax. Rediscovered by J. V. Brower 1896. Erected for Quivira His- torical Society by Robert Henderson 1902. John T. Keagy, Chairman, Edward A. Kilian, Secretary. Kansas, U. S. A." The unveiling was attended by appropriate ceremonies, the Sixth field battery, K. N. G., firing a. salute, and the Ninth artillery band furnishing the music. Monuments have also been erected in Dickinson, Riley and Wabaunsee counties.
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Rago, one of the thriving little villages of Kingman county, is located in Valley township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 17 miles southwest of Kingman, the county seat. It has a local retail trade, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 125.
Railroad Commission .- Several years before a railroad commission was established in Kansas, attempts had been made at state control of railroads and considerable progress had been made along that line. Gov. Anthony was the first executive to recognize the importance of state legislation and control of the roads, and in his message to the legislature in 1877 recommended the passage of a law to protect the rights of the people in the matter of railroad rates, etc. Several bills were introduced, but nothing came of them and the matter rested until 1878 when railroad legislation was made an issue of the cam- paign. Gov. St. John reopened the question in his message and the railroad war was on. The champion of legislation looking toward state control was Samuel A. Riggs, who introduced a bill entitled "An act to establish a board of railroad commissioners, to prescribe their powers and duties, and to prevent and punish extortion and unjust discrimina- tion by railroads in the transportation of passengers, freights and freight cars." It was nearly identical with the Illinois law, and its operation might have resulted in advantages to both the railroads and the people, but the bill failed to pass. In 1881 the Riggs bill was introduced in the senate, read the first time and reported back with the recommenda- tion that it be rejected. Another bill on railroad legislation was intro- duced in the house and passed by that body, but was killed in the senate. Gov. Glick, who had introduced the bill in the house, when elected governor of the state devoted a large amount of his message to the matter of state control of railroads, with the result that eleven bills were introduced into the house, but the committee reported
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adversely upon all of them and recommended a substitute of its own, which, after modification in the senate, was passed and signed on March 8, 1883.
This law provided for a commission of three men, not more than two of whom should be of the same political party, to be appointed by the executive council before April 1, 1883, and to have general super- visory powers over the railway, express and sleeping-car companies doing business in the state. The commission was authorized to examine the physical condition of the roads at least once each year, in order to suggest changes with regard to stations, yards, improvement in service and other matters necessary to have the roads fulfill all their obligations to the public, as common carriers of the state. It was also given power to revise and establish rates, adjust disputes and perform the functions of arbitrators between the roads and their patrons. The railroads hailed the passing of the law as a victory for them and many conceded it as such, but time and the working of the commission have since changed that idea. The first commission was appointed in April, 1883, and consisted of the following members: James Humphrey, L. L. Turner and Henry Hopkins, who died on Dec. 18 of that year. According to the provision of the law "no person owning any bonds, stock or property in any railway company, or who is in the employ- ment or who is in any way or manner interested in any railroad," can be eligible to the office of commissioner or any other officer of the board.
When the board came into existence there were 29 lines operating . in the state. Within six months after assuming the duties of office the commissioners had inaugurated such a vigorous policy that public sentiment regarding the efficiency of the law had radically changed, the railroads discovered that they were confronted by unexpected con- ditions and made an attempt to break down the law, but signally failed. This was the first and last attempt of the kind made by the rail- roads, and the rulings and decisions of the board in thousands of cases that have been brought before it have been accepted by the rail- ways of the state the same as though they were decisions of the court. These decisions deal with every form and kind of complaint, and an idea of the vast amount of business carried on by the commission may be estimated from the fact that in 1908 alone over 730 cases were tried and decisions rendered. Some cases are trivial, others of vast impor- tance to the interests of the entire state, but the most important have been those with regard to the reduction of freight and passenger rates. It is doubtless true that, with an increase in the volume of business, rates would naturally have fallen, but it is doubtful whether they would have been reduced 50 per cent. during the first eight years had there been no commission. Gov. Martin said in 1886: "The saving to the people of the state by the reductions in freight rates, secured chiefly by the board of railroad commissioners, aggregates for the fiscal year ending June 3, 1885, over $200,000."
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In 1889 and 1901 acts were passed relating to railroads and in 1905 the general railroad law was amended so that the members of the board of railroad commissioners were elected at each general biennial election "in the same manner as the other state officers," but in case of a vacancy the governor was given the power to appoint a man to fill the unexpired term. The commissioners were not allowed to hold any other office in the state or under the general government and could not engage in business which would interfere with their duties as commissioners.
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