Gove County KS Archives History - Books .....The Overland Trail 1930
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Book Title: History Of Gove County, Kansas

CHAPTER IV
THE OVERLAND TRAIL

  After Fremont 14 years passed away ere white men began again to go through
Gove county. Kansas was organized as a territory and the strife between the free
soil and pro-slavery factions began to rage, but the settlements were confined
to the eastern part of the territory and did not extend as yet very far out on
the plains. Gold was discovered in California in 1848 and a big rush set in for
that state but it followed the old established routes, by the Platte and
Republican rivers on the north and the Santa Fe Trail on the south.

  It was not till gold was discovered in the region of Pike's Peak in 1858 that
an effort was made to lay out a trail along the Smoky Hill. These trails
necessarily must keep close to water, but here was a route which had all the
advantages of the older ones and was shorter to the Colorado gold field by
several days than either of the old routes.

  The first mention I can find of the Smoky Hill Trail is in Alexander Majors'
book "Seventy Years on the Frontier." Mr. Majors was a member of the celebrated
firm of Majors, Russell & Waddell, the pioneer company in the overland freight
business. He says that in the winter of 1858 W. H. Russell and John S. Jones
conceived the idea of putting on a line of daily coaches between the Missouri
river and Denver, which city was then but a few months old. Majors was offered a
share in the enterprise but declined as he felt that it would not pay.

  The company bought a fine outfit and the line was put in operation. "They
bought their mules and coaches on credit; giving their notes payable in ninety
days; sent men out to establish a station every ten or fifteen miles from
Leavenworth due west, going up the Smoky Hill fork of the Kansas river, through
the territory of Kansas direct to Denver. The line was organized, stations built
and put in running order in remarkably quick time." They made their daily trips
in six days, traveling about one hundred miles in twenty four hours. The first
stage ran into Denver May 17, 1859.

  It was looked upon as a rgeat [sic] success, so far as putting the enterprise
in good shape was concerned, but it did not pay; when the ninety days expired
and the notes fell due the company was unable to meet them. It became necessary
for Majors, Russell and Waddell to take the property; "we continued to run it
daily." 

  The new owners consolidated this line with their other lines and Majors says:
"From the summer of 1859 to 1862 the line was run from Atchison to Fort Kearney
to Fort Laramie, up the Sweet Water route and South Pass and on to Salt Lake City."

  Thus it appears that this first stage line on the Smoky Hill Trail had but a
short existence. It is to be supposed, however, that the route continued to be
used by the hardy pioneers who started out in their covered wagons inscribed
"Pike's Peak or Bust" and wanted to reach their destination by the shortest and
quickest route.

  In 1860 the citizens of Leaven-worth conceived the idea that their city ought
to have a larger share of the overland business which was at that time handled
from Atchison over the Republican river route and from Kansas City over the
Santa Fe trail. So the city council sent out an expedition to open up the Smoky
Hill route, "to point out to the public the shortest and easiest route to the
gold fields of Western Kansas." (The Pike's Peak region and all of Colorado east
of the mountains was at this time part of Kansas Territory.)

  This party was commanded by Henry T. Green and was accompanied by an army
engineer, Lieutenant Tennison, who prepared a map of the route. The party left
Leavenworth June 19, 1860. They were at Topeka June 23, Junction City June 28.
Salina July 4; they left Salina July 5th and plunged into the unknown. No
further dates are given, but the report says "Arrived at Colorado City 18th of
August, having been on the road 61 days."

  By comparing Teiinison's map with modern maps the route of the party through
Gove county can easily be traced. I give some extracts from Mr. Green's report
of the trip:

  "At a distance of fifty miles from Big Creek we came to the White Bluffs or
Chalk Regions . . . From the White Bluffs' to the forks of the Smoky Hill a low
narrow bottom will be found, hemmed in by chalk bluffs. ....We followed the
bottom as far north as North Creek from which point we followed the highlands
till we struck the old Pike's Peak road, beyond Cottonwood Creek, which we
followed "to the river, crossing numerous small tributaries to the Smoky Hill,
well supplied with water and their banks lined with good grass. At this point we
left the old Pike's Peak road, crossed the river and traveled about seven miles
on the south side, but finding it impossible to make a good road on that side of
the river we recrossed to the north side and took the old road."

  Three camping places are marked on the map within the present limits of Gove
county. There are some discrepancies between the table of distances as given in
the report and the distances as marked on the map, which has been the cause of
much worry to the historian. Perhaps the average reader is but little interested
in the account of this expedition, but individually I have a lively interest in
it, for the party is traveling through the neighborhood in which I live, before
.settlement was thought of and years before I was born. As near as I can make it
out the story of their trip through Gove county would be about as follows,
written out in modern language:

  "North Creek" is evidently the Hackberry, which has most of its course in Gove
county but empties into the Smoky in Trego county. Here they found "wood, water
and grass" as at all their camping places. Here, leaving the rough ground along
the Smoky, they came out on the great flats between the Smoky and the
Hackberry—that splendid stretch of country through which. I have al-.ways
believed, will some day be built another line of railroad parallel to the U. P.
and the Missouri Pacific. They followed this route till they came to "Cottonwood
Creek", which the map shows to be our own Plum Creek, crossing on the way, as
the notes of expedition say, "numerous small tributaries well supplied with
water." They must have passed very near the neighborhood of my own home, and for
all we know may have filled their canteens at the Indian Springs on my own farm.
Their map shows that the party camped on the west bank of Plum creek at a point
which can not be far from where I cross it when I go to Jerome to vote. There is
a cottonwood grove at that place now, on "Tommy" Garner's old homestead. Perhaps
the Leavenworth party found trees there and called the stream Cottonwood Creek
for that reason. Concerning this part of the route the notes say, "Water and
grass abundant. Road, crosses several small water courses before reaching" (the
camp on Plum creek.)

  After crossing Plum creek the party struck the old trail and followed it till
it touched the Smoky just east of Jerome, then crossed the river and tried to go
up the south side. But here they were in the roughest part of Gove county, where
many streams and canyons cut their way down to the Smoky, so they soon decided
they had better stick to the old trail and recrossed to the north side. They
camped that night on the north bank of the river close to the west line of the
county. The map shows, off to the north of their camp, an elevation-of some kind
which may have been that famed bit of scenery, the Monument Rocks. The note on
this part of the journey is, "Smoky Hill valley; water and grass; driftwood.
Camping: places, with wood, water and grass on the banks of the Smoky Hill at
convenient distances." The expedition-returned by the same route. Here are their
notes as far as they refer to Gove county:

  Sept. 17th—Left Babcock's valley this morning, traveling over the old road
four miles to Cottonwood Creek where we put up a signboard. At this point we
left the old road and traveled due east over a level bottom, crossing several
ravines, and camped1 for dinner at the head springs of a stream emptying into
the Smoky Hill. Good water and grass. After dinner we traveled over the same
character of country, erecting mounds at suitable distances and camped at night
in a ravine. .Abundance of water and grass. No wood. Distance sixteen miles."
(This camping place was probably in the neighborhood of Alanthus post office.
The distance agrees.)

Sept. 18—Left camp at seven  o’clock, bearing north of east over a broken
country. At a distance of five miles we came to a high chalk bluff which can be
seen at a great distance in all directions. This bluff is the divide between the
Smoky Hill river and North Creek. Four miles from the bluff we came to North
Creek."

  This may have been the high bluff just south of Castle Rock. The description
fits fairly well.



Additional Comments:
History of Gove County, Kansas
by W. P. Harrington

Gove City, Kan.	1930


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