Barton County KS Archives History - Books .....Introduction To Kansas 1912
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Book Title: Biographical History Of Barton County

INTRODUCTION TO KANSAS
By Edward J. Dodge of Great Bend

I LEFT Wisconsin on the 5th of May, 1871, to settle on a piece of government
land in some part of Kansas; and arrived in Kansas City on the morning of the
8th.   Alter stopping in the city until the 12th, and posting up as best I could
in regard to different points in Kansas, I left by the afternoon train on the K.
P. road bound west.

JUNCTION CITY.

   I stopped at Junction City, where there was a land agent named Pierce, who
was a wonderful man to advertise the broad acres of Kansas which could be had
for little or nothing, and it would cost nothing to look. I thought he would be
just the man to advise with, so I soon bowed myself into his office. I found the
gentleman in, and after half an hour's conversation with him, I made up my mind
he was willing to help a stranger in more ways than one, as he very kindly
offered to take me out in the country three or four miles the next morning, and
show me some of the most beautiful land in Davis county all for the trifling sum
of $20, assuring me that if I would get some one to go with me and get him to
pay half of the amount he would let me off for $10, seeing it was me and I had
come so far. Thanking him for the interest he had taken in me, I told him if I
concluded to go I would be on hand early the next day.

STILL GO WEST.

  That night I put up at the Hale House or "Bedbug Corral," just across the
street. Next morning I arose early, though not until some of the boarders
(bedbugs) had been to breakfast, of which I was a smarting witness. Thinking my
old correspondent was more eager to get my $20 than he was to find me a good
location; and not caring to ask him what his charges were for advice, I left on
the morning train for the west, and stopped at Ellsworth.

ELLSWORTH.

   Ellsworth, having been the terminus of the K. P. road for some time, had
become notorious for its rushing way of doing business, its cattle trade, and
for being one of the roughest and most desperate cities in Kansas. I secured
lodgings at one of the best hotels in the city, and next morning rambled about
and witnessed the off-hand way in which all business was done.

MAN FOR BREAKFAST.

   At the ringing of the bell I walked in to breakfast, and sat at the table
alone. Presently another gentleman walked in and took a seat directly opposite
me, placed a heavy revolver by his plate, and inquired of the waiter what kind
of meat he had for breakfast. "Beef and pork," said the waiter. At this the
boarded swore and said "That will not do for me; I will have a piece of a man!"
and suiting his action to his words, he gave me a terrible demoniac look; but
only for a moment. I met his gaze with a steady countenance, and he quailed. He
got up, with revolver in hand, stepped to the door, and shot dead the milkman,
who was just then passing and whom this fiend had never seen before. In five
minutes a crowd had gathered about, placed a rope around his neck, run him
across the street, and stood him upon a barrel under a tree, with the rope
thrown over a limb.

LAST SERVICE.

  As the mob came up, "Rowdy Jo," a German who was keeping saloon near by,
inquired what they were going to do with that man, saying that their prisoner
owed him $2 for whisky, and that they must make some arrangement to pay that
before they fixed him. They frankly told Jo that their prisoner had killed a man
without cause and they were going to hang him for it. Jo simply said, "Hold on
then; I won't let anybody hang on my tree midout I say sometings," and at the
same time ran into the house and brought out an English bible, and undertook to
read a verse in English; but made a poor job of it, and, throwing the bible down
on the ground, said it was "no use making so much fuss and trouble over such a
little thing as dat," and immediately ran up and kicked the barrel from under
the wretch and sent him swinging into eternity. And the executors of the law and
justice adjourned to the nearest saloon (Rowdy Jo's) to congratulate each other
on their prompt, willing and ready way to punish crime.

DIDN'T WANT A CLAIM.

   After a little review of the morning's exercises I concluded I did not want a
claim just around there, as I did not like the way they did business quite as
well as I thought I should.

WESTWARD HO! AGAIN.

  The next train bound west took me to Wilson station where I stopped off a
couple of days to look up land; then went to Fossil, at present Russell. This
was the 16th day of May. At this time, aside from railroad buildings, the county
of Russell contained only three houses and not more than twenty-five
inhabitants. Here I was convinced that I had gone far enough west if I wanted to
make farming a profession in Kansas. The land was high and dry. I couldn't make
up my mind that Russell County looked like a farming country.

MEET AN OLD SETTLER.

   While looking about, a gentleman that afterward proved to be Lo. Reynolds,
came up to me and with a "how are ye? are you going to stop wih us?" waited for
an answer. I told him I was, at least until the train went east. He very
politely asked me if I would stop at his house. Not knowing his house from any
other I said "Certainly, I would as soon stay with you as anybody." So saying he
picked up my valise and walked to a small shanty made of rough lumber. I asked
him if that was his house.

   "It is. How do you like it?"

   "First rate. How long have you been here?"

   "Eight days. Sit down, sit down, sir; my wife has gone out on a buffalo hunt;
she will be home in a couple of hours, and we will have some supper."

   "Where did you say she had gone?"

   "Out on a buffalo hunt, sir. We have lots of fun hunting buffalo in Kansas,"
saying which he walked out doors, leaving me alone to consider the consistency
of Kansas fun.

LADY BUFFALO HUNTER.

   I reasoned thus: "A lady out on a buffalo hunt! A new thing to me!" Having
never seen my mother, sisters or neighbor women engaged in that kind of sport,
it really seemed novel to me. This was my mental picture of her. "A large,
masculine, red-headed, freckled woman; voice gruff and harsh; gray eyes; thin
lips; and uneven tusky teeth." A good description of a female buffalo hunter.

   I had not much more than completed my fancy picture when in walked a lady of
more than ordinary beauty; she was small and graceful; had a full black eye,
which bespoke good language, modesty, and refinement; easy in her manners; and a
very pleasant conversationalist. This was the woman I had so misjudged in my
idea of a female buffalo hunter.

   I afterward learned it was the common custom of this country for ladies to
join in the sports of hunting buffalo, elk, and antelope, in which the western
part of Kansas abounded.

IN SEARCH FOR A HOME.

   On the 17th. I got a livery rig of a young man by the name of Flack and drove
northwest from Russell, in company with a couple of gentlemen from Baltimore 23
miles and back the same day, found the country hilly, rough, and stony. Shot a
buffalo and brought home the hams, out of which the whole city of Fossil had
beefsteak the next morning. Every man would come and cut off a piece without a
word.

TRY AGAIN.

  Having a curiosity to visit the Valley of the Arkansas, I started, the morning
of the 18th, in company with Rev. Mr. Annis, a Baptist minister from Omro, Wis.,
in a two-seated buggy. We started south at a rapid rate, making Smoky Hill river
in less than two hours, a distance of ten miles. At this time the river was
quite low being only eleven feet wide and three inches deep. At 12 in. we found
ourselves at the head of South Fossil, a brook skirted with elm, ash and
cottonwood. In a few minutes our dinner was ready. This consisted of dried
buffalo meat, crackers, coffee, and canned fruit. After resting about an hour we
resumed our course, traveling over a beautiful country of rolling prairie a
distance of about ten miles, to Blood creek, one of the pleasantest valleys in
Kansas.

VIEW OF PROMISED LAND.

   Keeping our course we soon came in sight of the valley of the Walnut creek. 
 I can say I fell in love with it at first sight The broad extent of beautiful
prairie it contains—level without being low, flat, or marshy; undulating without
being hilly, rough, or stony; and about equally divided by one of the most
beautiful streams of water that ever coursed its way over the green prairie—the
"Walnut creek. The banks are fringed with elm, hackberry, ash, cotton wood, and
black walnut; the very sight of which made the traveler feel like pitching his
tent and possessing himself with as many acres as Uncle Sam would allow him to own.

FIND AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE.

   We reached Walnut creek at a point a few rods east of where the upper iron
bridge now stands. Seeing a young man and a small house on the south side, we
made direct for it; and I was not a little surprised to find G. F. Mecklem, an
old Wisconsin neighbor its inmate and possessor. I felt comparatively happy that
night. I felt as though I had found a paradise in the house of a friend, he
being the first settler and built the first house in Barton County. May 19th, we
took leave of this frontier hermitage and found our way down to Fort Zarah, a
distance of about ten miles.

FALL IN WITH ROBBERS.

   Fort Zarah was at this time occupied by outlaws. We came to the fort about
noon, and found a man known as Jo Bowers dead drunk, lying on the dirt floor.
Within thirty minutes there came in six other young men, well dressed, and fine
looking. They seemed to be well supplied with whiskey, and the bottle passed
around quite freely. They soon got quite lively and musical, and turning Jo over
on his back commenced playing cards on his stomach, asking us our business and
if we had money to buy land. Elder Adams, not feeling at home in just such a
meeting as that, remarked to me "I guess we had better go and run that herd of
buffalo across the river." I consented and told Paddock to hitch up, and in five
minutes we were ready.

   "Where are you going?" said one of the gentlemen.

   "To run that herd of buffalo over the river."

   "How long will you be gone?"

   "It will not take us long."

   "Will you be back here tonight?"

   "Most certainly; where else should we stay? You keep the only hotel in Barton
County."

   "Ha! ha! That is so! But don't forget to come back as we have something to
say to you that will interest you more than anybody else."

   "What time will you have supper?"

   "Early. Don't fear, you shall hear the second bell before you go to sleep."

   "All right! Drive on, Paddock! How many miles can you drive before dark?" 

   "Thirty, if necessary."

   A herd of buffalo was feeding near where now stands the school house three
miles west of Ellinwood. We soon came up to them, and a few shots stampeded them
across the Arkansas river, after which we returned to the buggy.

SLIP AWAY.

   "Well, Dodge, which way shall we go now? Are you anxious to go back to the
Fort?"

   "Not at all anxious, Elder; my advice is that we leave that range of bluffs
to the left, and go north as fast as those two bronchos can take us."

   "That is my mind, exactly."

   In less than three minutes we were driving at the rate of ten miles an hour,
toward the east side of Cheyenne Bottoms. Leaving the hills to the left, and
running into a clump of timber now known as Dalziel's grove, we soon fed and
watered our ponies and made coffee for ourselves. As soon as possible we were on
our way again, expecting that every hill we passed over we would be able to see
some of the Fort Zarah outlaws on our track.

SAFE AT LAST.

   Evening came and we found ourselves camped on Coal creek in Russell County.
We drove back to Fossil the next morning, it being the 20th day of May, thus
making a running trip through Barton County. I saw enough of the broad and
beautiful valley of the Arkansas and Walnut creek, blended together as they are,
to make such an impression on my mind as prompted me to return.



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