USA > Kansas > Smith County > Smith Center > The history of Smith Centre, Kansas, 1871-1971 > Part 9
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THE HENRY AHLBORN HOME across the street east of the Presbyterian church. Built in 1904. West Kansas Ave. to the left.
Some Stores of the Middle Years
Barger's Men's Clothing
E. B. Stevens, Drugs
P. E. Curtis, Drugs
Morrison-Steele, Drugs
Cecil Rugger, Jewelry
Fred Pease, Jewelry
C. R. Peyton, Jewelry Ellis Jewelry Store
Wilson & Hughes, Furniture Lowery Furniture Simmons-Rice, Furniture Simmons-Olliff, Furniture Agnes Morris, Millinery
Henderson & Luse, Hardware J. C. Penney
J. D. Flaxbeard, Hardware
Clint Howe, Grocer
Julius Tillman, Hardware Walter Hammond, ready to wear Ahlborn & Stone, Hardware Burr's Grovery Safeway
Jack Jackman, Barber
Jude Korenke, Barber
Ehly Bakery
Luse Implement Co.
Clark's Studio
Eply Coal Co.
McCammon Studio
James & Lyall, Barbers
Wolf Cleaners
Edell Creamery
Strieby Plumbing
Hannan Hatchery
Arnold Plumbing
Kirkendall Shoe Repair
Blair Theatre Western Auto
Hays Blacksmith Firestone
Walker Produce Co.
Stephenson Men's Shop
R. L. Brown, Auctioneer
Eleda Dress Shop
Mackey Real Estate Elsie's Shop
Mahin & Mehin, Car Dealers
The Style Shop
Tom Robertson, Car Dealer
Bolton Gas & Electric
G. E. Wineinger, Car Dealer
Kansas Power Co.
The first tandem cycle in the city came in 1896.
Do you remember the street sprinklers that settled the dust before the streets were paved?
Smith County Veterinary Service
Dr. Hiram "Hi" Faubion, D.V.M., opened the Smith County Veterinary Service in Smith Center in 1958. All business was conducted from the garage and basement of a rented residence until 1960. This was the year the Veterinary Hospital was completed and opened. In 1964 Dr. Kenneth Rundle, D.V.M., was added to the staff and the business and services expanded. In 1968 Dr. Sam McDowell, D.V.M., was added and the staff now includes three Veterinarians and a full time kennel man. The facilities are still expanding and everyone at the Smith County Veterinary Service hopes the services are increasing for Smith County.
Alkar Tire Service
In November 1965, Al Zorn and Gene Karsting came to Smith Center and started a Tire Retread Business in the VFW Building. In 1970 they moved their business to a new building on U.S. 36, put in more equipment, added tire sizes and today their truck covers a wide area with local products. They have two employees and are planning for another.
Arlwin Manufacturing
Arlie and Wendell Peterson, father-son team who formerly operated Pete's Restaurant, started a fiber glass manufacturing plant in the former restaurant on Highway 36, in April 1970. They began on holding tanks and shower stalls for campers and trailers. Today they have several other products, toppers for pickups, milo boxes for drills, fertilizer boxes, front sections for some trailers and an accessory item for motorcycles. They have one employee besides themselves at present but they're talking assembly line production in the near future.
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Dudley Shoe Repair
Mason's Bakery
Baldwin Monuments
Geo. Hammond, car dealer Peterson Motor Co. Blaylock Tire Store
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SMITH CENTER COUNTRY CLUB with players on fifth green. Photo was taken during a tournament.
Organizations
Organizations have played an important part in the history of Smith Center, since the settling of the town until the present time. It is impossible to name all of the organizations or to tell of the numerous projects. Humorous incidents are recorded concerning several clubs. The Dec. 19, 1889 issue of the paper called for an important meeting of the Woman's Temperance Union. In the Jan. 23, 1890 issue it stated that a local library was needed so the young people could have a place to loaf and read and it would keep them off of the streets and out of the local beer parlors. It was also in 1890 that the Smith County Teachers Association was organized here in Smith Center with all of the local teachers joining. The following clubs were organized through the years:
Eastern Star - 6-23-1893 Pres. Mrs. D. W. Relihan Rebekah Lodge - 10-15-84 Fortnightly - late 90's
Domestic Science - 2-3-1903
P.E.O. - 4-1911 now celebrating their 60th year
D.A.R. - 4-18-31 Regent: Mrs. Nettie Douglas
Social Twenty - 6-1902
American Legion Auxiliary - 7-20-1920 V.F.W. Auxiliary
B.P.W. Club - 1924 K. Club
Zend-Avesta - 1934 Florence Moorman
Round Table - 1935 Alois Ryan
Entre Nous - 1951
Picnic Club - 1906
Extension Units - three in S.C.
Civic League - 1911
Art Club - 1954 Helen Nickell Tops Club - 1970
Garden Clubs - three in Smith Center Girl Scouts
Hospital Guild - organized, met several years, disbanded Men's Organizations:
Chamber of Commerce (first called Business Mens Club) organized in Feb. 1889 with Henry Ahlborn, President and Lair Dean Secretary.
Masonic Lodge - organized 1875 - Western Star AF and AM
1.O.O.F. Lodge - organized 1878 - Vesta Lodge 153 American Legion -organized 1919-U.S. Center Post 220 Veteran's of Foreign Wars- organized 1913-Kingsbury- Chase Post 1141
Rotary International - Organized 1936 - Home on the Range chapter
Lions International - Organized 1946 - District 17NW Junior Chamber of Commerce-Organized 1964-Chapter 105
Smith Center Golf Club - Began in 1916 - present location-1918
Boy Scouts - Organized 1946
Marine Corps League - Mt. Suribachi Detachment - organized Feb. 9, 1955
Do you remember following the ice wagon in hopes that you could get a small piece of ice?
Swimming Pool
The Smith Center Swimming Pool, the first in the county. was opened May 28, 1956. A. W. Relihan, native son and lifelong booster, gave the address at the formal opening for the improvement. The pool runs from three feet deep at the shallow end to ten to twelve feet, and also there is a shallow pool for the kiddies.
Smith Center Airport
The Smith Center Airport is located one mile south- west of town. A favorable bond issue was passed in 1944 to construct the airport. The first hangar was constructed in 1947. Later in 1961 four more hangars were added with four more following. At the present time there is space for eleven planes. There are nine planes on the field at the present time. There are at present 45 pilots residing in the area with six of these being women. The present airport has three excellent sod strips with the north-south strip, half mile in length, equipped with runway lights.
Shades of the Dalton Gang! The Smith Center Airport has had a robbery in 1971. A strange plane flew into the airport the morning of April 30, 1971, the pilot had his plane filled with gas and then held-up Marion Morgan and robbed him of $100. Marion Morgan and Star Barron, partners in an Aerial Spraying Business, were at the airport spraying the runways for weeds when the robbery occurred. The suspected robber was caught a week later in Arkansas; he hanged himself in a jail cell in Arkansas on May 12, 1971.
WOMEN PILOTS painting directional guides on top of local hangar several years ago.
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NATIONAL GUARD was organized in 1954 and the Armory was erected in 1960.
National Guard Armory
The National Guard Unit was organized in Smith Center in May. 1954 and was activated in July of 1954. The first Commanding officer was Capt. Max Kern. Other officers were Liet. Jack Ayres .. Don Porter, Jack Tillman, First Sergeant LaVon Ayres. The first armory was housed in the present Pounds Motor Co. Building on North Main. The present Armory located at the edge of the fair grounds was constructed in 1960.
Commanders of the local unit started with Max Kern followed by Byron F. Miller, Richard A. Nelson, Ralph K. Collier, Denis L. Sweat, Darrel D. Gale, Hubert R. Teachen and now CWO Tuxhorn.
The National Guard Armory is one of the best looking and best kept in the state. This is due to Commander Tuxhorn and the Guardsmen. The Armory provides a place for recreation and physical exercise for many young men and children of the community.
The Armory is supported by rentals and donations with labor to keep the Armory open and cleaned up donated by the Guardsmen.
The unit now carries an authorized strength of 68 enlisted men and is kept at full strength at all times.
Peterson Industries
Leonard Peterson sold a successful implement business and later closed out a furniture store located at the North east edge of Smith Center on Highway 36. In the furniture store building. Leonard and his son Vaughn started a Excel Camper Mfg. Plant. This has grown rapidly and the buildings have been increased in size to accommodate the manufacture of campers and travel trailers from economy right up through luxury models. At the present time 70 people are employed and they delivered 125 units from the local plant the first week of April.
Besides building and assembling the camper and trailer bodies they also make mattresses and cushions. The curtains and draperies are also made and installed at this factory.
MINI-MAX FOOD
MINI-MAX OFFICE SECTION of local warehouse which covers a half block and services stores in over fourth of Kansas and some in Nebraska.
Mini-Max
Under the direction of Dick Boogaart, Milton Sorem with Dick Simpson as President, Mini-Max Wholesale Food firm was started in Smith Center in November 1951. This firm handled fresh fruit and vegetables and frozen food for Boogaart Stores thru out North Central Kansas. This business is housed in the former Seymour Packing Plant located just north of the railway tracks on North Main. Then came milk distribution. The plant was increased in size and the former garage building was bought and this too remodeled. Along the way somewhere the two buildings were connected and the business expanded by adding a bakery and an ice cream plant. Also for several years an egg plant was operated but this operation was discontinued.
In recent years the Boogaart firm merged with Scrivner of Oklahoma to form the Scrivner-Boogaart firm and the firm is still expanding, locating new stores and increasing local volume. At the present time Mini Max employs 75 people. 14 semi-trucks service 76 stores in North Central Kansas.
The Conger Football Era
Smith Center high school played its first football game in 1899 with visiting Phillipsburg. Smith Center won 17-5. A note in Football Review (1962) says this was the first football game ever played in Smith Center. Players were: Melvin Rinehart, Riland Criss, Charles Ashbaugh, Frank Relihan, Clyde Moore, W. Dannenbarger, Harry Relihan, Dunreath Bryam, Fred Uhl, Rae Moore, Otis Burgess and Art Relihan.
Although there have been many fine athletic teams in Smith Center, the football teams during the Conger era, 1927-1937, when Ralph Conger was coach, deserves special mention. During those years his teams won 73 games, lost 10 and tied 7. They scored 1543 points to their opponents' 228. They were undefeated and unscored on in 1936, scoring 220 points to none for their opponents.
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Wagner Park
Smith Center has a beautiful little park at the north end of Madison Street. For years the acreage had been just a weed patch and in 1940 Sam Wagner, a landscape gardener, was employed by the city to take charge and develop a park. There are beautiful trees, flowers and vines plus picnic tables, a large fire place and grills. There is a tennis court, croquet grounds, swings, a merry- go-round and a swinging bridge. In 1938 the Old Dutch Mill from Reamsville, owned by the Schwarz family, was given to Smith Center largely through the efforts of Elmer Pounds.
Members of the City Council and the Rotary Club gave a surprise dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Sam Wagner and Harold Hill, Park Commissioner of the City Council, read a resolution giving the name "Wagner Park" to the former City Park in 1955.
The original Mill caught fire and was badly damaged in March, 1955. The Civic League proclaimed "Mill Day" and enough donations were collected to repair the damage. The main floor of the Mill is equipped with long tables, benches, cook stove and gas heat. Two of Mr. Schwarz's grandsons, Arnold Hohner and Elmo Bennet, electricians, donated the wiring and labor for the repairing of their grandfather's Mill. Elmo Bennett is the present Mayor of Smith Center.
Smith Center Business in 1971
A and W Drive In
Alkar Tire Service
Alma's Tastee Treat
Arlwin Manufacturing
Barron Body Shop Bennett's TV and Electric Bolton Gas and Electric
Bonecutter-Hill Chevrolet Boogart Supermarket Bush Insurance Agency Buss Shoe Repair Car Parts, Inc. Carpenter Manor Carpenter Sand and Gravel Casey's Gambles Cates Cleaners
Center Equipment Co. Center Glass and Supply
Center Lanes Bowling Center Theaters Central Motor Tuning
Chance Stockyards Chandler Livestock Auction Cinderella Beauty Salon Coast To Coast Store Cole Farm and City Distrib. Cole Machinery and Auto Supply Collier Abstract Office Conaway Repair Shop Creamer Motor Co. Cy's Drug Store Drieling Dep't Store Duckwall Store Dinah's Beauty Shop Dick's Rest Home Easy Wash Launderette Flint's Steering Service
Frank's Conoco G and J Cycle Shop Gas Service Co.
McDonald Co. Mel's Maytag Mini-Max Modernaire Motel Moine's Texaco
Mongtomery Ward Myers Tax Service Nichols Jewelry Ormsbee Hotel and Cafe
Patzel, John, Optmtrst Paul's Cafe Peterson Industries Peterson Radio and TV Phillips Service Pioneer Printing Office Pizza Place Pounds Motors Raymond's Skelgas Schamp's Auto Service Sealock Auto Repairs Sears, Roebuck Co. Seems Oil Simmons Flowers Simmons Furniture Simmons Mortuary Silver Saddle Motel Smith Cennter Apco Smith County Tractor Co. Soapes
The Style Shop State Farm Insurance
Thompson Texaco Uni-Pork, Inc. U.S. Center Motel W-H Motel
Wertz Fairmont Foods Western Power-CTU Williams Standard Oil Wanner's Repair Shop White-Elna Sewing Machine Co.
THE OLD DUTCH MILL in Wagner park moved to Smith Center in 1938 from the original site at Reamsville where it was erected by Charles Schwarz.
Gene's Sinclair
Hawes Drugs Heide-Christolear, Inc.
Home Oil Co. Center Boutique Humrich Bros. Grain Ideal Truck Line Copper Insurance Gibson Chirprtr. Oso-Brite Mfg. Co. Rock Island Lines
lke's Mobil Service Ingleboro Rest Home Jenkins Oil Co. House of Valentine Keith's Hair Fashion
Johnson Trucking Co.
Jones Tractor Sales McColey's Insurance Mark's Market
Kelling Trucking Co. Kuhlman Yards Lumpkins 1GA
Kut and Kurl
Lucille's Diner
Rothchild Barber Shop Seeman Barber Shop Bihlmaier Insurance
Lee Bros. Fina Station
The businesses, who have stories written about them in this booklet, are not included in the above list.
These firms were listed as businesses in the Smith Center Telephone Directory.
Several other businesses, such as craftsmen and skilled workers, are known to operate in Smith Center but are not listed in the Telephone Directory.
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ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD bridge two miles east of Smith Center showing the dam beneath with water running over it from the Rock Island lake. This body of water furnished a boating, swimming and recreation area for many years.
Rock Island Lake - Resort Area
Rock Island Lake was built by the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway Company, which is more generally known as the Rock Island Company. It was built to hold a big supply of water for use by the railroad company. The exact date of the building of the dam is not known but it is thought to be about 1893.
The dam was built north of the railroad bridge that spans Spring Creek. The dam was about where the roadway is now. The creek bed was dynamited and the banks widened so that when it was finished it resulted in a large lake. The water was claimed to be 60 feet deep at the dam and the lake extended north to the bridge on Highway 36. In 1911 this dam washed out in a flood and was replaced in its present location.
The lake became a pleasure resort. Several Smith Center people had boats on the lake. Schuyler Stevens had 3 boats - a small sail boat, a small raft anchored for deep-water fishing and a boat on which he built a Small cabin. His boats were known as "Schuyler's Fleet".
The lake had been stocked with fish and a group of men built a raft of wide boards nailed onlogs. Around the sides were boards for seats with a smaller board placed about right for a back rest. Young folks used this raft for moonlight dances with music played on a phonograph.
Smith Center citizens used this area for picnics. Ice skating was a popular sport on Rock Island lake for many years.
Rock Island Lake was a popular place until the drouth of the 1930's when the lake dried up and filled with sediment and once again it is Spring Creek.
The city sewer lines were laid in Smith Centre in 1918- 1919.
Changes in Agriculture
The changes in agriculture that came with power farming have reduced the number of farms to a marked degree during the last 100 years. Once a family lived on nearly every 160 acres of ground, some even on 80's. They raised their own pork and beef, milked cows and raised chickens to provide their own food supply for extra income.
The population of the county in 1907 was over 16,000 people in comparison to less that 7,000 in this centennial year. Those extra people were out there on the farms.
Farms have gotten bigger and methods have changed.
The change in farms is also reflected in the livestock industry. Once every farmer raised hogs, cattle and chickens. Now it is more specialized. Examples are Uni- Pork and other large swine plants like those owned and operated by Gary Kingsbury, Gene Arment, the Haresnape brothers and several others and cattle operations like those of Duane and Victor Jacobs, Ormal and Eldon Martin in this vicinity, and many other in the county.
Home Talent Play - "The Spy of Shiloh"
"The Spy at Shiloh" was presented at the Tabernacle in Sept. 1884, and repeated several nights to accommodate ticket buyers. According to Henry Stone, an early settler, 40 local people took part. Several groups of children and young folks appeared in different scenes. It was a real war drama, all of the men who took part were veterans of the Civil War and several had actually participated in the Battle of Shiloh. Two of the songs rendered were: "There Will Be One Vacant Chair" and "Goodbye Mother, I Must Leave You". The cast had a colored southern "mammy" and her large family of children, all in black- face. The play was a huge success.
Old Mormon Trail One Mile South of Smith Center
This article was published in the Smith County Pioneer on January 27, 1876: "The old Mormon or Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon State and to Salt Lake City, Utah, passed through the center of Smith County going only about a mile south of Smith Centre. The Trail was still plainly visible for years afterwards."
In the years between 1843 and 1850 there was much travel through Kansas. The prairie schooners entered Kansas near Atchison and Leavenworth and wound their way across the plains. The Trail of those going northwest turned north about 100 miles west of Smith Centre and crossed the border into Nebraska.
The emigrants were the Mormons going to Utah, settlers going to Oregon and gold-seekers going to California.
Gas service was brought to Smith Centre in 1929.
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FLEMING PAARMAUI.
NEWS
Soldiers
Reunion
1900
SOUTH MAIN STREET in 1897 with a parade underway during the Old Soldiers reunion.
Old Soldiers Reunion in 1897
A big four-day Old Soldiers Reunion was held in Smith Centre on October 4-5-6-7 in 1897. It was largely attended and most of the veterans of the Civil War and their wives who had moved to this vicinity were camped here during the entire time.
The camp grounds covered an entire block of ground directly north of the Courthouse, where the Tabernacle was located. Small tents practically covered the grounds, mostly engaged previously by those who wished to camp there during the event. Much praise was given by the visitors for the splendid reception and interest shown by the town people. It is recalled that many of the city folks sent cakes, pies and other prepared foods to the campers during their stay.
There was a large tent where the soldiers could gather to visit and for the programs provided for entertainment. This is the description of the affair as published in the Smith County Pioneer on October 7, 1897: "Smith County veterans of the Civil War and many of their wives are attending the second annual Old Soldiers Reunion which opened here Monday and will close this Thursday evening. There has been four days of fine weather and much enjoy- ment in visiting and in listening to programs and music. The town band has been present every day and there has been singing of war songs, speeches and recitations. The Rev. Dwight Platt, pastor of the Congregational Church
and a veteran's son led the devotions each day. On Tuesday night the children of the city schools provided the enter- tainment. They marched to the grounds and to the platform headed by Boy's Drum Corps. During the Reunion town people could ofter hear the veterans singing "March- ing Through Georgia" and "The Sword of Bunker Hill" and "The Dutch Volunteer".
The veterans registered according to the State from which they had enlisted to serve in the Civil War. Of interest to our readers the following list tells of the States from which , Smith County settlers came and the number registered from each State:
Iowa - 41
Vermont - 1
Illinois - 40
Tennessee - 2
Michigan - 4
Kentucky - 2
Ohio - 23
W. Virginia - 4
Missouri - 19
Minnesota - 1
New York - 9 California - 3
Indiana - 26
Nebraska - 1
Pennsylvania - 10
Rhode Island - 1
Wisconsin - 16
Connecticut - 1
New Hampshire - 3
Kansas - 1
Massachusetts - 2
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OLD SOLDIERS REUNION in 1897. These reunions were held annually for several years. The Civil War veterans would come to town, camp in tents and stay several days. These tents appear to be in the block one block east of Main street. In the left background is the frame school building and at the right the old courthouse. The famed tabernacle is in the upper center. It was the town gathering place at that time with a stage. Dances and roller skating were also held there.
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CHAP IBER
OF COMMERCE BAND SMITH CENTER KANSAS
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BAND in 1930's. Front row - Royal Lattin, Ralph Elson, Altis Lowery, Marion Paul Hays, Forrest Watts, Gerald Wineinger, Frazier L. Brown, Phil Rutter. Second row - Harry Scanlon, R. A. Samuelson, Jerry Pattee, Glenn Morrison, Virgil Walker, Myron Reed,
R. G. Lawrence. Third row - first two unknown, Walter Nye, Gerald Lattin, Paige Mizer, Elton Pounds, Clarence Lambert, Ki Wolfe. Back row - Unknown, Verne Wolfe, Arthur Ifland, G. E. Wineinger, Clare Wall, Raymond Thomm, Unknown.
The Story of Captain J. S. McDowell And His Sword
J. S. McDowell enlisted in the Union Army, at the age of 21, right after Fort Sumter was fired upon in 1861. He was in Company F. 77th Pensylvania Volunteer Infantry. He entered the army as a sergeant and was promoted to captain in 1863. In September of 1863 he was taken prisoner during the battle of Chickamauga by N. Q. Adams of Sturges, Mississippi. Captain McDowell was held prisoner at the Andersonville, Georgia, for 2 1/2 years. In late 1865 he was released and mustered out of the army.
Captain McDowell came to Smith Centre in June of 1873. He clerked in a store then bought the store and in 1880 he built his own building on the east side of Main Street about where the Montgomery Ward Store is now located. He was a Director of the First National Bank from its organization until his death. He was mayor of the city, on the Kansas Penitentiary Board and in 1899 he was appointed a Regent of Kansas State University.
In the Pioneer of May 10, 1900 it was reported that Captain McDowell had received two copies of the New York Journal. One copy was from A. U. Sheldon, former officer of the Smith County State Bank, and one copy from Mrs. Bertha Corn Brown, who was the first graduate of S.C.H.S. in 1891. The following story was in the New York Journal.
W. R. Hearst, Editor of the New York Journal:
"1, Charles A. Beauchamp, mayor of Jackson, Georgia, have a sword given me by myfather. It had been presented to Capt. John McDowell, a gallant hero of the 77th regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers by the members of Company F of that regiment for meritorious services upon the battle- field, April 1, 1863. The sword was picked up on the camp field near this city in November, 1864, after the regiment had decamped on their way to Savannah. It was afterwards purchased by my father.
Though i prize the sword very highly, yet if the Captain is living, it will give me great pleasure, as one of the youngest mayors in the Empire State of the South, to return it to him or his family, the sword of honor and bravery, to keep as a precious souvenir of his brave deeds in the bloody war between the States. The hatred that once existed between the States involved in that terrible war is now dead. We are united again and all stand ready as a unit to defend the glorious Stars and Stripes from any foe that may seek to destroy the Union.
The following is the inscription on the scabbard of the sword: "Presented to Captain John S. McDowell by the members of Company F. 77th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, as a mark of esteem and reward for meritorious service, April 1, 1863."
1 trust the New York Journal and the press of Pennsylvania will assist me in finding Capt. McDowell, so 1 can return the sword to the rightful owner, the priceless gift of his men."
Charles A. Beauchamp
It had been 37 years since J. S. McDowell had given up his sword and he sent a telegram to the Georgia mayor immediately. The sword came by express about 2 weeks later on May 22, 1900. On June 10, 1900 Capt. McDowell received a letter from the man who captured him at the battle of Chickamauga. It read:
J. S. McDowell Smith Centre, Kansas Dear Friend:
A few days ago 1 learned that you had, after a long time, received your sword which you handed me on the battlefield of Chickamauga. 1 am truly glad you have lived until the present time and have the sword in your possession, for 1 know from what you said at the time, no living man could prize it more highly than yourself.
1 would gladly have returned it to you after the war closed but 1 did not have it in my possession. I had given it to my Brigadier General and he had lost it. 1 do not suppose we will ever see each other on earth again but we could now meet under the same flag not as enemies but as friends and we would enjoy exchanging war stories. Thirty seven years have passed and of course we both look older. 1 came through the war all right except that 1 lost my left arm at Atlanta on July 28, 1864.
1 am respectfully yours, N. Q. Adams, Sturges, Miss.
Indians and the Battle on Beaver Creek
The Pawnee Tribe lived in the north-central section of Kansas where we now live. They roamed the plains hunting and fishing for their food. The buffalo meat was good eating and the hides were large and easy to dry for clothing and made good covers for the wigwams. Fur bearing animals were plentiful on the Kansas prairies. Besides the huge herds of buffalo there were the wolf, fox, deer, elk and antelope and along the streams the beaver, otter, mink and muskrat. Fur traders came into Kansas and the Indians learned that there was such a thing as a "trade" - furs could be traded for weapons and merchandise. Trouble started when the fur traders began hunting for themselves. This stirred up hatred for the white man and the Indians watched for every opportunity for revenge. Settlers came into the State soon and the Indians resented the taking of their lands.
The Indians fought the Emigrants for the land and among themselves in revenge for grievances, either real or imagined. They fought with treachery and cunning, the fighting was mostly limited to ambush and massacre. Their weapons were the bow and arrow and a hatchet made of stone. In the earliest days of the settling of Smith County it is known that there were at least 2 stockades built by the emigrants. One of them was one half mile north of the Womer community built by the Daniel Womer family. The other known stockade was in the Independence vicinity built by the McCall family. Pioneers have often told of Indians coming to their homes and taking all of the food they had and then they would leave. It always "seemed best" to either give the food or prepare a meal for them. Of course, the families would be scared, fearing that the Indians would return. In another section of this book a tale is told of the Indians robbing the J. R. Burrow Store in Smith Centre.
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There is alleged to have been published in an 1876 issue of a Smith Centre newspaper the story of a desperate Indian battle fought at the fork of Beaver Creek, 3 1/2 miles southwest of Smith Centre. The tale was told years later by an old warrior of the Pawnee tribe and also recalled by an old French trapper and hunter. This Indian battle was between the Pawnee and Omaha Indians on one side and the Cheyennes and Arapahoes on the other side.
The Pawnee party was supposed to have numbered some 7,000 warriors and the Cheyenne party about 9,000' warriors. The Pawnees Iost about 2,000 on the battlefield. The Cheyennes Iost 3,000 killed outright and some 700 were taken prisoner and burned at the stake. The fight Iasted for 3 days and was one of the most bloody conflicts in Kansas and resulted in victory for the Pawnee Tribe.
In 1861 when Kansas became a State, and most certainly by the time Smith Centre was settled in 1871, most of the Indians had moved south and west to better hunting grounds.
Republican Ticket 1888.
FOR PRESIDENT, BENJAMIN HARRISON,
FOR VICE PRESIDENT. LEVI P. MORTON.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS: JOUN L. WALLER.
EUGENE F. WARE.
ALONZO W. ROBINSON.
FRANK R. OGG.
THOMAS P. ANDERSON. JOHN MADDEN.
DELBERT A. VALENTINE
JAMES B. MCGONIGAL.
WILLIS G. EMERSON.
For Congressman, 6th District, E. J. TURNER.
KANSAS STATE TICKET.
ka Governo!, LYMAN U. HUMPHREY.
For Lieutenant Governor, ANDREW J. FELT.
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1
For Mulitop of the. TIMOTHY MALARINY.
JAMES W HAMILTON.
LB KELLOGG.
For Superintendent of Pasta Instruction. GEORGE H H . IN.
For Aproclato Justice af -supreme Court. WILIAM A JOHNSTON,
For State senats. It upstrtet, F. M. LAKOKARD.
Smith County Ticket.
Far Representante, minh District, LEMUEL FAULKNER.
For Probate Jn J. W. HENDERSON.
For County Attorney. W. R. MYERS.
For Clerk of the District Court, D. M. RELIUAN.
For superintendent, Public Instruction, V. M. NOBLE.
Fur Cosamts dover, 24 District, D. W. WELTMER.
Centre Township Ticket.
For Trustee, U. A. HESTER.
Fur Clerk, J. W. HARWOOD.
For Trenanret. J.M. STEVENS.
For Justices of the Peace,
W. P. ELWELL.
HI. HI. REED.
For Constables, T. C. COOK.
S. D. CUMMINGS.
For Road Overgeer, Dlatrlet No ..
For the amendment to section on+. witlele eight of the Constitution For .the proposition to amend av. tion seventeen of the Bill of Rights of the Con- etlution of the State of Kansas, concerning the purchase, enjnymioot aun deveeat of projunty
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SECOND GRADUATING CLASS of Smith Center high school, 1892. Standing May Hoffman, Fred Macy, Gertie Mullen, Ethleen Macy (?); Seated - Mattie Wherry, Ida Lanman (?); Nettie Ferris, Minnie Ferris.
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