USA > Kansas > The northern tier: or, Life among the homestead settlers > Part 2
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Out of the Mission grew the Highland University, an in- stitution of learning at Highland that has been an ornament to the town, and of great benefit to the surrounding country. The town of Highland was selected as a literary point, and its healthful location, beautiful surrounding scenery and lovely landscape stretching away in a level plain on either side, dotted here and there with beautiful groves of timber, have proved the wisdom and judgment of those who chose that spot for the University. The excellent moral society in and about Highland, the enterprise of the people, the handsome residences, the well-improved farms surrounding the town, the
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evidences of taste and neatness, the refinement and culture of the people, their genuine hospitality to strangers and visitors, and their worthy example to the students, make Highland an attractive place for those who desire a classical education.
Closely identified with the early history of the Northern Tier was the establishment of the line between Kansas and Nebraska. The 40th parallel was established by Capt. Thos. J. Lee, of the Topographical Engineer Corps, U. S. A. His observations to establish the parallel were made on a sand-bar or beach on the east bank of the Missouri river, in the autumn of 1853; from which point John P. Johnson, now of High- land, fixed the initial or starting point on the west bank of the Missouri river, where he planted an iron monument. From this point he surveyed the line from ninety to one hundred miles west, erecting monuments of earth or stone. About the same time, Daniel Vanderslice was establishing the boundary lines of the Iowa and the Sac and Fox reservations. Vanderslice was an Indian agent, and his surveyor took observations on Roy's creek, and fixed the 40th parallel within a rod of the line surveyed from the iron monument west. There were three lines run a distance
of thirty-two miles west, all close together. The line run by order of Mr. Vanderslice was the first that was surveyed, which, after passing through the new Iowa reservation,
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formed the southern boundary of the Sac and Fox reserva- tion. The line run by Johnson was a little south, and the line that was finally adopted was very near the line run by Mr. Vanderslice. These lines all came in contact with each other, and Mr. Johnson continued the main line for ninety miles west. In running that line, the men under the employ of Mr. Johnson had rare sport. The timber along the streams abounded with wild-turkeys, and deer were numerous on the prairie; and as the men gathered around their camp-fires at night, they feasted on roast turkey and venison, and spent many pleasant evenings in story-telling, singing songs of by- gone times, and in the usual rollicking, fun-loving manner that attends camp life on the prairie.
Mr. Johnson still resides at Highland, and can relate many amusing incidents that transpired during that survey.
Mr. Vanderslice, though aged, still retains a distinct recol- lection of the scenes and incidents of those early days, and his labor in establishing the boundary lines of the Indian res- ervation, the incidents attending his agency, and the first set- tlement of that part of the State. An hour spent with the old gentleman discussing those early times is an hour of gen- uine pleasure.
The report of the expedition of Lewis and Clarke up the Missouri river describes the headlands, promontories and
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beautiful scenery that still existed within the boundary of what is now Doniphan county when Mr. Irvin assumed his duties at the Mission. Though surrounded by the untutored aborigines, his lonely hours were made pleasant by the con- soling reflection that he was performing a great moral. duty in his endeavor to instruct the wild inhabitants of the plains ; while his admiration of natural scenery was gratified for long years by the most beautiful landscape, which he has been per- mitted to live to see subjected to cultivation, and transformed into fields of grain and orchards of beauty. Hence, when the Kansas- Nebraska bill became a law, and immigrants began the erection of their cabins within sight of the old Mission, Mr. Irvin was rejoiced by the evidences of civ- ilization, and rendered material aid in making the settlers comfortable, and assisted in developing the country. His in- valuable services in establishing educational, moral and reli- gious society in that early settlement in and about Highland, secured for him the high esteem in which he is held by the people-the greatest earthly reward in his declining years for a long and well-spent life.
The period from 1854 to the close of the war was an eventful one for the Northern Tier. Seventy miles of river border bounded Doniphan county, only separated from the State of Missouri by the Missouri river; while Lane's trail
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for the exit of fugitive slaves and for the arrival of Free-' State settlers crossed the western part of Brown county. The anxiety of the settlers during those long years of doubt and distrust was at length dispelled by the establishment of peace, and enterprise soon secured prosperity and a progressive civ- ilization.
Since the State has been dissected by railroads, it has be- come a matter of historical interest to know in what locality the first railroad was constructed. The first locomotive that ever blew a whistle on Kansas soil was on the Elwood & Pal- metto Railroad, on the 4th of July, 1860. The name of this road was subsequently changed to the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad. The eastern terminus was at Elwood, oppo- site St. Joseph. M. Jeff. Thompson, of St. Joseph, was president, and having graded the road nearly to Troy, and laid down the iron to Wathena, a distance of four miles from the Missouri river, on the 4th of July, 1860, a locomotive and coach conveyed an excursion party to Wathena. The early settlers of Elwood and Wathena well remember the wild excitement and enthusiasm over the marvelous event of seeing the locomotive speeding westward through the dense forest on the wide bottom between Elwood and Wathena, conveying the first excursion party on the first railroad track built in Kansas. My memory traverses the past to a vivid
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recollection of that occasion, when I cut short a 4th-of-July oration at the village of Columbus, and with a party of friends on horseback galloped across the hills to Wathena to witness the excursion party arrive at that town. I had the pleasure also of witnessing the ceremonies attending the lay- ing of the first rail in Atchison on the Atchison & Pike's Peak, now the Central Branch U. P. Railroad; but as there are abler pens than mine within the limits of that enterpris- ing city, I leave the history of its growth and prosperity to them.
Another feature of enterprise in the early times was a small steamer that plied between the village of Bellemont and St. Joseph, upon which many pleasant boat-rides and excursions were had.
During the war, of the sixteen gallant regiments Kansas furnished to battle for the perpetuity of the Union and the Government, the "Northern Tier" furnished a large propor- tion, and many of the survivors of those different regiments are now among the thrifty farmers, mechanics and merchants of Northern Kansas. At their country's call they periled their lives in its defense, and upon the return of peace threw aside the trappings of martial array to assist in developing the fertile plains of Kansas. As their services in time of war form a material part of Kansas history, so their industry
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and enterprise in time of peace afford the best evidence of the stability of a republican form of government-evidence that the people in time of danger will volunteer to defend their country, and when peace returns, retire from the mili- tary ranks with honor, to the pursuits of agriculture and the various avocations that tend to develop the resources of the nation.
Nature did a good work for Northern Kansas when she made the soil, and checkered it with meandering streams of pure water, and covered the ground with nutritious grasses. The climate, though variable, is one to be admired. The vernal beauty, enlivened with refreshing showers and sun- shine; the heat of summer moderated by salubrious, pleasant breezes; the mild, hazy days of autumn, with the absence of rain during winter, and an invigorating atmosphere, make the climate healthy and inviting.
The hot winds and occasional drouths that were observed before the country was settled are things of the past. Settle- ment and cultivation, with tree-planting, have removed the cause. Before the prairie-sod was turned with the plow, a large portion of the rain that fell flowed into the ravines and streams, and but little penetrated the soil. In a few hours the sun-dried earth contained no moisture to create vapor ; hence the long intervals that clapsed without rain. Many
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of the small creeks and ravines that were then dry, except during a fall of rain, have since become streams of running water, and springs are found in localities where water was not discovered when the country was first settled. The cause is the fact that, after the prairie-sod was broken, a large por- tion of the rain that fell penetrated the ground. This I have observed in Northern Kansas, and it is doubtless true in other portions of the State, where settlements have existed for a few years. The cultivation of fruit and forest trees doubtless contributes materially to the increase of rainfall; and when prairie-fires cease, and the land is cultivated and trees are planted, hot winds and drouths will entirely cease. When Northern Kansas was first settled, it was feared by the settlers that fruit-raising would be a failure, but after the soil became cultivated fruit trees flourished, and no better fruit is raised in the United States than in Northeastern Kansas.
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CHAPTER 3.
TOWN SITES AND NEWSPAPERS.
The desire to speculate in town lots induced the laying-out of some fifteen town sites along the Missouri river, within the boundary of Doniphan county, and a number in Brown county ; and the dilapidated remains of Geary City, Palermo, Elwood, Bellemont, Columbus, Charleston, Lafayette, and other towns in Doniphan county, once embryo cities, are the relics of lost opportunities for greatness, transmitted to us on the elaborate delinquent tax-rolls of the connty, or through the indulgent and loose legislation of the law-making power by which the streets and alleys have been vacated, and the sites changed into small farms.
Those were stirring days when these now defunct villages were in a flourishing condition, the price of town lots ad- vancing, swapping horses an inalienable franchise, and assault and battery the code of honor. Each of those villages, being the head center of a township (except the townships that con- tained more than one village), had a justice of the peace and constable, and one or more pettifoggers who volunteered to conduct all the cases brought by parties, besides inducing
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people to bring suits for every imaginable grievance, until the practice before justices of the peace assumed such propor- tions that the lawyers were often called from the county seat to meet and combat the technical, surface acumen of petti- foggers; and a large per cent. of the practice in the district court was appealed cases from justices of the peace in those several villages.
Many amusing scenes and incidents transpired in the jus- tices' courts in those early days, but to give them in detail would require more space than is designed for this chapter.
An early indication of prosperity in many of those villages was the establishment of weekly newspapers by enterprising editors, who desired to assist in shaping the destiny of the Territory and future State. Who can estimate the benefit which the Territory, and subsequently the State, derived from the enterprise, the vigilance and industry of the publishers of newspapers? Their task was an ungrateful one at best, and their patient endurance unequaled. They were expected to publish every communication sent them by whimsical scribblers in prose, and meaningless poetry indited by preco- cious genius, or incur the displeasure of the writers. They were obliged to clip with incessant industry from their ex- changes the little items that together formed so large a fund of interest in the news department. They were expected to
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answer all questions of subscribers and correspondents on history, religious and political, from the first chapter of the Pentateuch down to the last article of the constitution of the last State admitted into the Union. In short, as the popula- tion was from nearly every State in the Union, the editors were expected to please every one, pitch into every one's personal and political enemies, puff every office-seeker gratis, and insure the success of the party at the elections. To be neutral in those early days and stirring times was impossible, hence each editor was a member in good standing of one or the other of the political parties, and their papers were either designated as Free-State or Pro-Slavery in politics.
No class of men were harder worked in their profession, with less remuneration for their services, than the editors and publishers of newspapers in the early days of Kansas. It was almost a miracle if they secured their bread and but- ter without incurring debt, and the uncertain, gloomy pros- pect of laying by an extra dollar for a "rainy day" or old age was dispiriting in the extreme. The only exhilarating exercise was slashing the name of some "dead-beat" from their books of subscription, or ventilating in an editorial the shortcomings of a political demagogue during the excitement of a campaign.
Where is the early settler of Kansas who has not felt a
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pride in the success of the newspaper of his adopted county that reflected his political views, and assisted in causing a rapid development of the country? The press in those early times had a powerful influence, not only in inducing immi- gration to the Territory, but the Free-State papers and those that advocated a "free soil" and "free homes for a free peo- ple," did much toward establishing the institutions, and the civil and religious liberty, that adorn our progressive young State.
Those editors and publishers who, during the troublous times, did so much to advance the interests of the Territory and State, deserve not to be forgotten; and as the incidents contained in this book are limited to a certain portion of the State, and as perhaps no county in the State has had as many newspapers established within its borders as the county of Doniphan, it was the design of the author to publish a list of them, which was kindly furnished me by the editor of the Chief, and also the newspaper history of the counties of Brown, Nemaha and Marshall, as a part of the history of the "Northern Tier," but as that history is contained in the "First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture," it is omitted. Some twenty-five newspapers have been pub- lished at various periods in Doniphan county, some of which flourished for a few months, and then suspended, and others continued for years.
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The Kansas Chief, one of the first papers published in the county, is the oldest paper now published in the State, and its editor the oldest in continuous service. In May, 1857, he landed at White Cloud, and at once commenced the pub- lication of his paper. The storm-cloud of 1856 yet hung over the border, when "Free-State" men sought refuge by night in the timber, and brave women with sleepless vigilance watched over the slumbers of the children in the cabins. Brock and Harding and others had been indicted and arrested on a charge of treason, for acting as judges of a Free-State election. The so-called " bogus code" of 1855 was the law of the land. When the Free-State party along the seventy miles of river border were in need of some bold advocate of their rights by the press-when the timid were frightened, and the brave were serious and doubtful-it was then that the editor of the Chief, on the 4th of June, 1857, sent forth his paper, devoted to the championship of Free-State prin- ciples. His keen observation of men and measures, his bold advocacy of what he deemed right, his fearless denunciation of what he thought wrong, and his bold defense of the Free- State party, made his paper a valuable one, and from its columns the oppressed received courage and renewed hope for better days. He had a powerful memory, that went back to the distant past, and vividly sketched the shortcomings of
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politicians who supposed their past acts were buried in obliv- ion, far beyond the reach of any newspaper editor. It may have been thought by the readers of his paper who had not the pleasure of his acquaintance personally, that he was selfish and sarcastic at all times and under all circumstances. Ou the contrary, he was a warm and generous friend; a genial, social fireside companion, fond of telling stories, and if some of his stories and editorial paragraphs were in questionable taste, they were regarded as harmless, the outburst of his mirth-loving, genial spirit. But the pungent paragraphs in his paper were a warning to his personal and political enemies that, if they attacked him, his ammunition was inexhaustible and his warfare relentless. His wit and anecdotes were pro- verbial, flashing out brilliant and pungent, in brief para- graphs; while the vivacity displayed in the columns of his paper and in his social intercourse with his friends clearly indicated that day-dreams never interrupted his well-known industry. The printing office was and is his cherished home, and the Chief his household idol.
CHAPTER 4.
A DAY'S FISHING AND HUNTING ON THE TARKIO.
"What is that, Joe?"
"Medicine!" exclaimed Joe, as he deposited a demijohn in the wagon-box, among the camp equipage, boxes of provi- sions, fishing-tackle, etc.
"The pint o' the business is," said Joe, "the water is bad in the Tarkio bottoms, and to prevent agur, I thought I would take along suthin' as a counter-irritant, as the doctors .. call it, against chills and bad water; and the snakes are crawl- ing out of their holes this warm weather, and some on us. might get bit, and it's best to have a little of the counter- irritant along, for you know 'an ounce of preventive is worth a pound of cure,' as the almanacs have it."
"I will warrant a little of that in the demijohn will pre- vent 'agur,' banish 'muskeeters,' and cure snake-bites."
The above dialogue occurred between Joe and the author, on a bright May morning during the early settlement of Kan- sas, while engaged in loading a wagon with provisions, hunting material, and fishing tackle, consisting of a seine, fishing-boat,
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A DAY ON THE TARKIO.
and other appliances, preparatory to starting on a hunting and fishing excursion about the Tarkio and Nodaway rivers, some- fifteen miles north of Troy, Kansas, and across the Missouri river. At that time there were numerous ponds along the shores of the Tarkio and Nodaway, on and about which wild ducks lingered late in the spring, and the still water at the mouth of those streams abounded in fish. The party con- sisted of a lawyer of Quaker descent, whom I shall designate as Judge, as he afterward wore the judicial ermine; Uncle Charley, the inn-keeper; Joe, the proprietor of the seine and the boat; and the author.
It was the first week in May. The wild geese and brant had gone north, but a large number of wild ducks still re- mained about the ponds and creeks, and, to use Joe's expres- sion, "The fish were running up stream, and it was a good time to cast the net." The "outfit" consisted of a light. wagon, loaded with sundry hunting and fishing material, boxes of "eatables," and Joe's demijohn of drinkables. As none of the party were technical or strict constructionists of the rules and obligations of the temperance societies, or fully up to the standard of total abstinence, we did not demur to Joe's last addition to the cargo.
We set out shortly after sunrise, and it is needless to de- scribe the journey to the Missouri -the stopping of the wagon
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for the Judge and Charley to alight and reconnoiter a thicket into which they protested they had seen a rabbit run, or to climb a rugged side-hill in pursuit of some truant squirrel, whose agile movements among the branches of a tree had attracted their attention, while Joe meanwhile manifested his impatience to cast his net by sundry expressions of question- able moral import.
Arriving on the bank of the Missouri, we dismissed the teamster, with instructions to meet us at a certain spot, in two days, and then launched Joe's boat. We landed on the op- posite shore, two miles above the Tarkio, and the Judge and I disembarked, with the understanding that we were to hunt through the woods to the stream, while Joe and Charley rowed the boat down to the mouth of the stream, moored it, cast the net, put out the lines for fish, and waited until we joined them. The Judge made a circuit through the woods to the left, towards the ponds along the Tarkio, and I hunted through the woods at a convenient distance from the river, managing to bag several fox-squirrels on my way. I had arrived on the bank of the Tarkio, when the roar of the Judge's gun up the creek indicated that he was among the ducks; and a flock of mallards came flying down the creek, one of which I killed on the wing, and as it fell into the shallow water I undertook to secure it, the water not being
.
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above my boots in depth. As I neared the duck I became conscious that I was sinking in the quicksand at each step, and was scarcely able to extricate my feet. In this situation I halted, and called loudly to Joe and Charley for help, still sinking lower in the sand. I threw my gun and equipments on shore as Joe arrived on the scene, and, notwithstanding his anxiety for my safety, he could not forego the pleasure of placing his hands upon his knees (a position he usually assumed when pleased ) and enjoying a hearty laugh at my expense, while I was settling down in the sand and mud, and calling lustily for help. Joe, becoming alarmed, cut his mer- riment short by procuring a fence-rail from a pile of drift, and placing it alongside of me, assisted me to extricate my limbs; and as soon as I was on shore he commenced his up- roarious laughter at my expense, occasionally throwing in some Western phrases, to add to my mortification, while I sorrowfully viewed my mud-covered garments. Charley had left the net and arrived on the scene just as Joe and I had reached the shore; his good-natured laughter, added to Joe's merriment, increased my chagrin at my situation.
Soon after, the Judge appeared, and after silently viewing me for a few moments, contributed some long-drawn-out sentences of comment, from which any one could infer that he was of Quaker descent. I could not laugh, and I was too
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old to weep; but upon Joe remarking that I should be more thankful to him and the fence-rail than to Providence, and that I should not be so serious, I finally half-way enjoyed the scene and situation, barring the sight of the mud armour that encased my limbs.
We then repaired to the mouth of the creek, where Joe and Charley already had a fine fish dressed for dinner. The Judge moved that I should seek a secluded spot in the sun- shine, and dry my garments as best I could, while they pre- pared dinner. Charley seconded the motion, but Joe ex- pressed a desire to debate the question, though he could not repress his laughter at my situation long enough to indulge in the classical expressions usual to him on such occasions.
Joe was steward of the party, and I must admit that he could prepare the best meal while in camp of any one with whom I have camped, and I was somewhat familiar with such matters in the early settlement of Kansas. While Joe was preparing dinner, as often as he looked at me his culinary preparations were interrupted with one of his uproarious spasms of laughter.
After dinner, it was agreed that Joe and Charley should take the boat down the river to the mouth of the Nodaway, ascend that stream as far as the "back water" extended, cast the net, and select a camping place for the night; while the
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Judge and I should cross the wooded heights, until we arrived at the Nodaway, and hunt down that stream to the camp. Joe and Charley embarked, and the Judge and I took up our line of march across the hills. The country consisted of an irregular range of hills, forming the bluffs bordering the Mis- souri. The trees were expanding their buds into leaflets; violets and other wild flowers beautified the ground; chip- muncks chattered from decayed logs, or leaped across our pathway; and occasionally a ruffed grouse whirred away, as the Judge risked a long shot after him, through the brush and branches of the trees.
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