Lincoln County KS Archives History - Books .....Pages 1 - 47 1908
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Book Title: A Souvenir History Of Lincoln County, Kansas


  It is to the makers of history that the writers of it can most fittingly
dedicate their work. So, here’s to the Pioneers of Lincoln County. Some of them
builded better than they knew, others worse than they intended; but all things
have worked together for the good to those who love the right.

ELIZABETH  N. BARR.

PREFACE

  This book has been compiled from the written and verbal accounts of those who
ought to know the history of Lincoln County. Personally 1 knew nothing of this
history when 1 began gathering the material, and when stories conflicted 1 was
not prejudiced to either opinion but tried in all possible ways to ascertain the
actual facts in the case. 1 have interviewed most of the early settlers and
those to whom I am most indebted are: J. J. Peate, Richard Clark, and Chalmer
Smith of Beverly; John S. Strange, N. B. Rees, Anna C. Wait, Fred Erhardt,
Adolph Roenigk, E. M. Harris, Martin Hendrickson, Daniel Day, Cris. Bernhardt,
C. M. Heaton, Tone Bishop, Ogden Green, Myron Green of .Lincoln; William Baird
of Vesper; Mrs. Morgan and A. R. Buzick of Sylvan Grove.

  Those from a distance who have contributed letters and articles are: F. A
Schemerhorn, Eli Ziegler, and A. T. Biggs. Others have been kind enough to loan
clippings. Among these clippings were articles by J. R. Mead, J. J. Peate,
Thomas Strange, Washington Smith, Gen. Geo. A. Forsyth, also several important
articles by unknown parties. Besides getting the statements of these people I
have read the files of at least one newspaper from '73 down to date and searched
the archives of the State Historical Society diligently and gleaned all I could
from that source.

  A special vote of thanks is due the newspapers and others who have loaned cuts
and pictures.

  I wish to make special mention of those who have advertised in this book. They
are the fellows who are up-to-date and progressive or they wouldn't be here. And
it is the man who is public spirited, liberal, and broad minded with whom you
want to deal, not simply because he will do the best for the community but
because he will do the best by you. As you read this book just notice who these
men are.

  I have done my best to give a true account of the happenings of Lincoln
County. I know there will be some mistakes, and I do not anticipate that
everybody will agree with even that part of my story which is correct, if you do
not agree with me do not ask me to change it now. If there is anything left out
which you think ought to have been put in you should have spoken of it last
summer. In case this book meets with your approval I shall be happy. In case it
does not I refuse to worry.

ELIZABETH N. BARR. [photo]


KANSAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE. [photo]

p. 7


Geology of Lincoln County

  Lincoln County lies directly under the ancient coast line of the Triassic age,
along which were deposited enormous beds of salt, ranging from seventy-five to
two hundred fifty feet in thickness, at depths ranging from four hundred fifty
feet at Hutchinson, Kans., to nine hundred twenty-five feet at Anthony, these
depths being the least and greatest which have been found. So much for the salt.

  Stone was found in the neighborhood which when polished made a very handsome
marble surface. The Lincoln Board of Trade then sent for Robert Hay, a
geologist, who reported on the geology of Lincoln County as follows:

  "The Geology of Lincoln County, Kansas, is mainly connected with two
sub-divisions of the Cretacious group of formations. These in descending order
are Benton series and Dakota series. There is some good building material in the
Dakota, formed during the epoch. The marble found in some limited districts may
be looked for in other areas. It is quite likely that the Dakota sandstone will
yield gas under favorable conditions. These conditions are most likely to be
found under the high land forming the divide from Lost Creek around the head of
the Prosser and Rattlesnake Creeks. It is possible that similar conditions may
be found in the southwest part of the county, and on the west line between Wolf
and Spillman. Gas must not be sought near the outcrop of the strata, hence the
localities indicated here.

  "The lignite at every place we visited was at the same geological horizon,
very nearly at the top of the Dakota. It is useless to look for this bed low
down in the Saline Valley. The best guide to its position is the .lowest layer
of Benton limestones. If the boring is begun at some twenty feet below that, the
horizon of the lignite will be reached at less than one hundred feet. It will
probably pay to test it on the slopes of Lost Creek, Beaver, Rattlesnake, Upper
Bullfoot, and West Elkhorn. The Dakota may yet yield another lignite horizon,
and if so, it will be better, being farther below the surface."

  J. R. Mead gives an account of a legendary tin mine in the vacinity of Elkhorn
or Elm Creek. So far it has never been discovered.

  Among the valuable materials which have been found and used are coal, which
was first discovered in wells; marble, red, brown, and purple, streaked with
white; salt and building rock, which is still extensively quarried.

p. 8

QUARRY ON W. D. MORGAN'S FARM. [photo]
One of Lincoln County's best quarries. Produced one flagstone weighing 4,748
pounds, and two others almost as large, also rocks 30 by 40 feet. It is worked
by Walter VanValkenberg, who is an expert quarryman.

p. 9 [photo]

  The above is a picture of Table Rock, for which Table Rock Creek was named.
For many years it was a great curio to travelers who came through this section,
but was destroyed by unknown parties some years ago.

[p. 10]

Pre-Historic

  Geographically speaking Lincoln County is in the central part of Kansas, and
Kansas is in the center of the Universe, hence the importance of what shall
follow. It is watered and drained by the Saline River, and by its tributaries,
the creeks, Wolf and Spillman, Lost, Beaver, Twelve Mile on the north and Twin,
Bull-foot, Spring, Elkhorn, Owl and Table Rock on the south, also by Rattlesnake
and Battle Creek, which flow into Salt Creek in the northwestern part of the
county. There are seven hundred fifty sections of arable land, most of which is
under cultivation. The landscape is just rolling enough to be beautiful, but not
to interfere with tillage. The air is so clear that the eye may span many miles,
and looking from any high point one may see comfortable and thrifty farm-yards,
shaded by beautiful trees and surrounded by fertile well-kept fields. One can
trace the streams by their wooded banks, and perhaps see the spires of a village
in the distance.

  Withdraw these evidences of civilization from the scene, people it instead
with occasional herds of buffalo, deer, elk, antelope, towns of prairie-dogs,
packs of gray wolves, flocks of wild turkey and prairie-chickens, with perhaps a
band of Indians mounted or afoot, and you have the proper scene for the
beginning of these chronicles.

  Some of these herds of buffalo and deer were surprisingly large sometimes,
containing tens of thousands. We have it on good authority that a single herd of
buffalo crossing the railroad track some time in the sixties held up a train
from nine o'clock in the morning till five in the evening. Mr. Erhardt tells of
starting out from his home with a friend to get some tallow and killing
ninety-two buffalos in one afternoon. This must have been before the year 1870.
In ten years from the time the first settlers came, buffalo began to be very
scarce in the county, very few were seen after 1877.

  Mr. J. R. Mead, in a letter to Miss Clara Green, speaks of seeing a herd of
elk between five hundred and a thousand, in number, coming down the valley from
Spillman Creek. They crossed the Saline where the town of Lincoln now stands. A
hundred great bucks were in the herd, their immense horns looking like a forest
of dry cotton wood limbs, as they walked through the sunflowers with their
bodies partly hidden by the grass and weeds.

  Mr. Mead also tells of a great herd of deer which he saw in this county. He
has given a complete description of this section of the country in its natural
state. We quote in brief:

  "In the lowlands along the river the sunflowers grew a dense thicket ten feet
high. Along the bluff was a line of drift showing the valley had been covered
six feet with water, This line of drift extended far up the river, and the
valley above where Lincoln now stands must have been covered, judging from the
drift ten to fifteen feet deep, occasioned by the bluffs on either side and the
thick timber forming a gorge."

  In his letter he says further: "I and my party were nearly drowned on Wolf
Creek in 1861. The water rose thirty feet in an hour. Big logs and trees were
left at the foot of the bluffs a quarter of a mile from the creek."

  Besides the animals above mentioned there were many beavers, ravens, eagles,
badgers, squirrels, porcupines, raccoons, foxes, otter, and wildcats.

  The famous Pawnee road which extended from Nebraska to the Big Bend of the
Arkansas, thence wherever opportunity afforded, came through what is now Lincoln
County and crossed the Spillman five or six miles above its mouth. This
well-watered, well-wooded country, full of big game, offered a happy
hunting-ground, and with its ridges and rocks was a bonanza for primitive warfare.

  Of the tribes which frequented this country, the writer has learned very
little except that Pottawatomies, Cheyennes, Sioux, Delawares, Kaws, Otoes, and
Pawnees were all seen by early hunters in the valleys of the Saline and
Spillman. It seems that these Indians were seldom dangerous if they knew a white
man was armed and had the will and ability to defend himself. But J. R. Mead has
well said: "The timid and weaklings had no business in that country." The
Pawnees in particular were capable of being docilized, and the superior keenness
which ages of thieving had taught them, made them valuable government scouts in
the border warfares. They were excellent horsemen, and had a thorough knowledge
of the country over which their raids extended, hundreds of miles in width and
from Nebraska to Mexico.

  The Pawnee road above mentioned was no defined path, but just a route within a
strip of country a mile or so in width. They made semi-annual buffalo hunts with
this road as a basis. Next in importance, as a means to wealth and honor was
their thieving expeditions. J. R. Mead describes the equipment of one of these
parties: "The Pawnees invariably went on these expeditions afoot in parties of
from two to thirty-five, composed mostly of young men. They were lightly armed,
all had a very serviceable bow and quiver of arrows, and a knife. Each Indian
carried from four to six extra pair of new moccasins, one or more lariats,
twenty pounds of dried meat, some pieces of strap to repair their clothing also
a pipe and tobacco, an occasional light squaw axe and a few trifles. This was
all that was necessary for a thousand mile journey. Although they went afoot
they expected to come back mounted for when they raided another tribe they
depended' on stealing enough horses to get away on. A piece of tanned hide
looped around the lower jaw of the horse was bridle enough. They were so
successful that they were hated by all other plains tribes. Their hand was
against every man and every man's hand against them. All tribes were united in
their effort to exterminate the thieving Pawnees."

  Mr. Mead says further: "Periodically the Cheyenne warriors spread out like a
net, swept over the rolling country of hills and streams and valleys between the
Solomon and Saline in eager search of the detested raiding parties."

  The Pawnees avoided conflict wherever possible as it interfered with their
business, they were out to steal ponies and not to pick quarrels, but once drawn
into battle they were among the bravest and most skilled warriors of the plains.

  The Pawnees followed the same program after the coming of the whites. They had
once occupied all the territory of Kansas and still claimed it, and thought they
had a right to gain their living from it. This worked a great hardship on the
settlers, which, with other hardships of pioneer life, prompted Wasshington
Smith in his history to ask what motives "impelled men to leave the scenes of
childhood, the surrounding of youth, the love of kindred and associations of
home, the tender ties of friendship and the graves of their ancestors to contend
with the inclement skies and inhospitable shores of an unknown country"

  Their motives were various, but in any case it was not dangers, hardships,
privations, calamity, war and death which filled the minds of those who laid the
foundations of our present commonwealth. It was rather the opportunity of a new
country, a veritable new heaven and new earth, which attracted them. Here was an
opportunity to transfer the best of what existed in older settled places and to
build to that something more advanced and better, and economically an
opportunity to gain new and richer estates for themselves, and better advantages
for their children.

  Those who looked on the right and not the wrong side of the picture had
strength, and faith to endure all adversity and were permitted to see with their
own eyes all these things come to pass. Such is the reward of the hope that
"springs eternal in the human breast."

[photo of American bison]


p. 14

Coming of the White Men

  It is not possible to go very far back in the history of Lincoln County,
although our introduction has shown that prehistoric times in this section of
the country must have b«en full of interesting events. We have seen that with
its superior advantages for food, war and sport it was the favorite stomping
ground of several tribes of Indians. It was claimed by more than one tribe, even
after it had become government land by treaty. The Pawnees, especially, still
considered it theirs and thought they had a right to gain their living from it
by raids.

  The first white man on record to visit what is now Lincoln County was
Bourgmont and his party in 1724. His line of march has been traced through the
county going from east to west. Pike and his party came through in 1806. His
line of march extended from the north, and the two routes intersected about the
place where Lincoln Center now stands.

  In the fifties hunting parties going up the Saline and Solomon Rivers operated
in the territority which is now Lincoln County. Few of them left any record of
their findings or their experiences.

  Some of Mr. Mead's adventures appeared in Vol. IX of the State Historical
collections from which the following quotations are taken:

  "There was a battle fought on the plains north of the Spillman Creek in June,
1861. The Otoe tribe from the north, with their families and a letter from their
agent, came down for a big hunt. They camped in the valley along the creek. The
Chey-ennes found them and sent three or four hundred warriors to drive them out.
The Cheyennes were afraid to charge the camp as the Otoes had guns. Both sides
fought on horseback with bows and arrows and after the battle arrows could be
picked up everywhere. In one instance two young men rushed together at full
speed, seized each other with their left hands, stabbing with their right till
both fell dead without releasing their hold. The Otoes finally retreated down
the river to my ranch with scalps, ears, fingers and toes of their enemies,
trophies of the fight, tied on poles.

  "Once I left a young fellow at a camp I had established while I went over to
Wolf Creek to hunt a few days. On returning I found my man hidden out in the
brush nearly frozen, with nothing to wear but his under clothes. Two Indians
came along with some stolen horses, saw he was scared, made him cook all they
could eat then took off his clothes or whatever else they wanted and leisurely
packed their ponies. Back of the camp shelter was my young man with two loaded
guns hid under some skins. He was too badly scared to use them. He could easily
have gotten away with both Indians, but he lacked grit.

  "On another occasion (December, 1861), I established a camp on Spillman Creek
and after collecting a quantity of furs left one man in the camp and went to
hunt with my other man and team. It was very cold and snow deep. In a day or two
the man I had left came to my camp; said he heard shooting around, was scared
and skipped in the night. I drove back and found my camp plundered and a big
trail in the snow leading down to the river. Directing my men to follow I
started after them on my pony. In a few miles I saw them ahead on foot. Each one
had a big wolf skin of mine hanging down his back, a slit in the neck going over
his head. There were thirty-three of the party. I followed them unseen for some
distance and saw I could not possibly get around them as my pony could hardly
stand, her feet were so smooth; but I had to get to my ranch ahead of them, so I
rode into them and was surrounded and captured. I found they were a party of
Sioux on marauding expedition, some of them, the most villinanous-looking beings
I ever saw. I gave them a good talk, let on I was glad to see them, proposed we
all travel together to which they agreed, had a jolly time for half a day, by
which time I had so ingratiated myself with the chief who was a fine fellow,
that I was allowed to go on alone. Our conversation was carried on in sign
language. I had two men at the ranch and my men with the team got in that night.
The Indians came to my place the next morning and built a fortified camp in the
timber back of the house. I treated them nicely, gave them tobacco and got all
my furs back except an otter skin."

  "Uncle Mike" Sterns, as he is familiarly known here, used to hunt in this
country with Uncle Tom Boyle, Ade Spahn, and a man by the name of Dean, in
fifty-eight and fifty-nine. He says that the Moffit ranch house was located
about 150 yards down the Saline River from Rocky Hill bridge on the north bank.
The evacuation may be seen there at this time.

  On one of these hunting trips the party camped near the mouth of Beaver Creek
under a large oak tree that is familiar to all of the old settlers and on going
to the creek for water found it dry. Spahn, being an old hunter, led the party
up the creek very cautiously and when near where the Dan Day's barn now stands,
they came upon a beaver dam where several hundred beavers were busily engaged in
enlarging it. Uncle Mike says that it was one of the most beautiful sights he
has ever seen.

  On another of these hunting expeditions they pitched their camp on the Elkhorn
bottom south of Rocky Hill. One of them carelessly threw a quarter of buffalo
meat on the picket pins. That night when they staked the horses out with the
pins the wolves were so ravenous that they gnawed the pins to pieces, the horses
escaped and they never recovered them, one of the number walked to their home in
Salina and brought up a team of oxen with which they continued the hunt. On this
trip they saw some wolves surround a cast off buffalo and make a circle around
him with relays and after chasing him till he was exhausted they hamstringed him
and devoured him. This took place around the bluff near where Sam Weigert now
lives, southeast of Lincoln.

  At one time when camped on the J. W. McReynolds farm in what is now Franklin
township, the others of the party went away for the day, as was their usual
custom, and left Mr. Sterns in charge of the camp. A party of Indians came up
and asked for coffee. He refused to get it for them and after repeatedly asking
for it they grew angry and one of them picked up a loaded musket, cocked it and
placed the muzzle at his breast. He then pointed to the bucket and to the spring
up the hill and told them to go. He did so, and upon returning found the Indians
gone and all of the camp supplies stolen.

  The accompanying illustration is the scene of a battle-ground of the
Pottawatomie and Pawnee Indians, on Bullfoot. Indian bones were found in the
cave shown in the picture and various opinions have been advanced as to how they
came there. Mr. F. A. Schemerhorn says in a letter: "As to the battle between
two Indian tribes on Bullfoot, I went over there in 1867 and gathered up a sack
full of skulls and gave them to Dr. T. B. Fryer then post surgeon at Fort
Harker, and nearly every skull had a bullet hole in it, showing that they were
killed by bullets and not with arrows. It was generally believed then that those
Indians were killed in a fight with some buffalo-hunters in 1865, I think on
Beaver Creek. I think Dan Day now owns the place where the fight occurred. As it
was the custom of the Indians to bury their dead by placing them upon scaffolds
in some out-of-the-way place and on some high point generally, we supposed they
carried their dead from the fight on Beaver Creek over to the point of the rocks
on Bullfoot, which was at that time an out-of-the-way place, as the hunters and
trappers going up the river generally traveled up the north

side of the stream. There was no travel to amount to anything on the south side
of the river when I went there in 1867."

[photo] Indian Battleground.

  Mr. Ferdinand Erhardt, who came to live on Bullfoot in 1867, found a number of
skeletons in the cave before mentioned but gives a different explanation.

  One day in 1S6S Mr. Erhardt was walking along the ridge on the south side of
Bullfoot when his dog, prowling among the rocks, came up with a skull. Mr.
Erhardt followed the dog back and found an open cave filled with Indian
skeletons. He reported his find to Fort Harker, and the soldiers sent a
conveyance to remove the skeletons to that place. There were sixteen whole
skeletons in the cave, and they were sufficiently preserved to be moved without
going to pieces. Mr. Erhardt at 1hat time shared the belief spoken of by Mr.
Schemerhorn, namely, that these were the remains of Indians killed by the Moffit
boys on Beaver Creek.

  But about the year 1880 a band of Pottawatomie Indians camped on Bullfoot and
laid out the battle-ground for Mr. Erhardt, and also left the story of the
affray in characters on the wall of the cave. It seems that the Pottawatomies
and Pawnees had been quarreling about their hunting-ground. The Pottawatomies
drove this band of Pawnees in from the west, who, being hard pressed, took
refuge in this cave and were massacreed by the Pottawatomies. A Pottawatomie was
killed by a Pawnee who shot up from the cave. Those who do not believe that such
a battle occurred, and that this was a burying-ground instead of a
battle-ground, base their opinion on three things.

  First, that the Indians were killed by bullets and not by arrows.

  Second, that there were no remains of horses found near the place, and that
Pawnee ingenuity would scarcely permit them to take refuge in such a death-trap
as this cave proved to be.

  Third, that both the Pottawatomie and the Pawnee Indians were peaceful and
never had any fights.

  The writer is inclined to credit the story of the battle. If was learned by
Mr. Erhardt direct from the Pottawatomie Indians themselves. Mr. J. R. Mead is
authority for the statement that in the year 1861 a large band of Otoes who
camped on the Spillman were armed with guns. So the Pawnees and Pottawatomies
might have had them two years later.

  Indians were often, but by no means always, mounted on horses. According to
the record left on the rocks the pursuing party was mounted. Mr. Sol. Humbarger
says the Pawnees were likely on one of their thieving expeditions on foot. They
were driven in to the rocks from the north or northwest.

  The fact that their enemies were mounted and they were not will probably
account for the Pawnees taking refuge in the first stronghold which presented
itself instead of choosing a better place to defend.

  The Pottawatomies that camped near the battle-ground in 1880 had an
interpreter with them, who talked with Mr. Erhardt.

  Authorities do not agree on the peaceful qualities of these Indians, and Mr.
Mead says in a letter: "I left in the spring of 1863, so I know nothing
personally of the battle between the Pottawatomies and Pawnees. Usually the
Pawnees did not wish to fight." He says in another place: "These raiding parties
of Pawnees were the especial objects of hatred of all the tribes of the plains
both north and south, who fought and if possible killed them wherever found."


p. 18

THE MOFFIT BOYS.

  In spite of the fact that the country up the Saline River was not considered
safe, a settlement was attempted in 1864 which ended disastrously. In March six
persons, Charlie Chase, William Chase, Marion Chase, and John Moffit, Flave
Moody and an unknown party, who wrote the story for the "Salina Journal,"
started westward from their camp near where the Saline bridge now stands, to
start a settlement on Spillman Creek. They halted and pitched their camp between
Beaver Creek and the Saline River, in the second bend below the mouth of the
Beaver. This camp was blown up by the explosion of a keg of powder. The boys
then built a log-house and stable. Charles Chase and John Moffit went to Salina
for provisions. During their absence the rest of the party had to live on
parched corn. After three days of this exclusive cereal diet Flave Moody and
Marion Chase started to walk east and the other two stayed by the goods. When
the provisions arrived they baked biscuits and bachelor-like forgot to put
either soda or baking powder in them. The next move was to buy three cows. They
had four horses and one yoke of oxen. Although they had not filed on land they
fenced in and planted twenty acres of corn. About the last of May they were
driven off by an Indian outbreak. They all arrived in safety at their former
camp near the Saline bridge.

  About July 1, against all protests, John Moffit and his brother Thomas, with a
Mr. Hueston and Mr. Taylor, came back to the ranch. In August, while out on a
buffalo hunt, they were surprised by the Indians. Settlers who lived about
Salina fail to agree in regard to the particulars of this incident. The
following is a part of an official report to the Government from the
headquarters of the Eleventh Volunteer Cavalry at Salina by Capt. Henry Booth,
of Company L:

  "Saturday evening, August 6, 1S64, four men, two men (brothers) Moffit, one
Taylor, and one Heuston, started from their ranch to kill a buffalo for meat,
taking a two-horse team with them. Upon reaching the top of the hill about
three-quarters of a mile from the house, the Indians were discovered rushing
down upon them. The horses were turned and run toward a ledge of rock where the
men took position. They appear to have fought desperately and must have killed
several Indians, but one of the scalps was left on a rock close by. The horses
were both shot through the head. This was probably done by the ranchmen to
prevent them from falling into the hands of the Indians. The wagon was burned.
The Indians made a descent upon the house in which were an old man and a woman.
The man shot one of the Indians through a hole in the wall whereupon they all
fled. They judge the number of the Indians to be about one hundred. The Indians
retreated up the Saline River."

  There is a letter written to Robert Nichol Moffit, of Illinois, by his brother
John, dated May 13, 1864, which says: "We came here March 16. We are twenty-five
to thirty miles from Salina up the Saline River. We are now thirteen miles from
the nearest house. We put up a stable thirty-five feet in length and a house
twenty-two feet of logs."

  This ought to prove that the Moffit boys really had a house and not merely a
dugout. The writer to whom we are indebted for the account of the trip in the
early spring, says they built a log house and stable. He also says that the
woman in the house was Mrs. Hueston, and that she had her two children with her
at the time.

  They stayed all night in the house, and all the next day watched for Indians.
The second night they dug a hole under the back of the house and escaped without
coming out at the door. They wandered all night on the Elkhorn and the next
morning found their way to the settlements.

  A party of twelve men went to look for the bodies and found them in the place
described. There was sixteen arrows in Jonn Moffit and fourteen in Tom. The
bodies were temporarily on the scene of the battle.

[photo] Scene of the Battle Between the Moffit Boys and the Indians.

  The place of the tragedy is described as being the rocky ledge upon the
northeast quarter section nine, township twelve, range seven in Elkhorn township
of what is now Lincoln County.

  Robert Nichol Moffit came from Illinois to recover the remains of his two
brothers. He is said to have left Salina September 20, with an escort of
soldiers and gone up the Saline to where his brothers were buried, to have
disinterred the remains and taken them to Wetherfield, Ill., where they were
laid to rest.

p. 21

Settlements

  The first permanent abode of white men was built in the bend of the river, not
far from where Beverly now stands, by the Colorado boys. The "Colorado boys"
belonged to the First Colorado Cavalry, and while stopping at Salina in 1865
came up the Saline and filed on nearly all the river lands from the mouth of the
Beaver, east to where the county line now is. Six of them returned between
Christmas and New Years the same year, with government cattle to occupy their
claims. They were Richard B. Clark, of Indiana, who is now the only survivor,
and still lives at Beverly; Jas. M. Adams, of the British Isles. Isaac De Graff,
of New York, nicknamed General De Graff on account of his good judgment, Edward
E. Johnson, of Massachusetts, Wm. E. Thompson, of Maine, who had been educated
for a Catholic priest, and who was killed by Indians in the Black Hills in 1876,
and Darius C. Skinner, of Ohio, whose family is prominent in Lincoln County.
These men had crossed the plains prior to the war, and had been in turn miners,
and soldiers until they got tired and settled down. They lived in the one dugout
for mutual protection until it was safe for each one to live on his claim.

  The next spring a number of settlers were added to this nucleus. As many names
as could be collected are here given without any attempt at giving the order of
their coming.

  Geo. Green and wife, of Massachusetts, whose daughter Lizzie, born October 18,
1866, was the first white child born in this county. She married David Parker.
W. T. Wild, of England, and John Dan, of Connecticut, with their families, J. J.
Peate, Wm. Gaskill, the Haleys, M. D. Green, Michael Ziegler, John S. Strange,
Washington Smith, Martin Hendrickson, David G. Bacon, Volney Ball, J. C. Parks,
Thomas Moon, Chalmer Smith, Marseilles Smith, Caning Smith, Nicholas Whalen,
Thomas E. Skinner and wife, Mary M. Skinner. These people all came in 1866. It
has been impossible to find out all the people who came the next year, but Louis
Farley Andrew, DeGraff, and Ferdinand Erhardt, M. S. Green were among the number.

  The first year the settlers had to buy all their provisions at the following
rates: Sugar, 18 to 20 cents per pound; coffee, 50 cents per pound; bacon, 25 to
30 cents per pound; flour, $7.00 to $11.00 per hundredweight; corn, $1.00 to
$2.00 per bushel.

  They killed buffalo and other game for meat, and might have lived pretty high
for pioneers if it had not been for the difficulty of getting these provisions
to the settlements. One party would go east after bread-stuffs and other
necessities, while another would go west after meat. Sometimes these expeditions
were delayed on account of the weather and the people ran out of bread. At such
times they would supplement their diet of prairie chicken or fish with their
precious seed corn. This corn was often ground in a coffee mill or prepared in
an old fashioned hominy mortar. This was made of a log about three feet long
stood on end, and a hole hewed in the top to hold the corn. A wedge was fastened
in the end of a stick about the size of a pick handle. The corn was cracked with
this wedge. The finest was used for bread and the coarse for hominy.

[photo] A Pioneer Home.

  The old fashioned whip saw was used to saw the first lumber. A scaffold was
built and the logs rolled on it. One man stood on top to pull the saw up and one
stood under to pull it down.

  But in spite of these things the lot of the pioneer in this section of the
country was not so hard and his sufferings were not so severe as in many of the
earlier communities of the State. It is true that they were in danger of Indian
raids and were often driven from their homes, but they never faced actual
starvation, and there are no records of anyone dying from want. They got their
mail with comparative frequency and were obliged to haul provisions only forty
miles instead of from a hundred to two hundred as some other communities did.

  And above all this section offered its adopted children plenty of wholesome
water, pure air and a healthful climate generally.

  Sometimes money was earned by hauling buffalo bones to market or by killing
wolves and buffalo for their hides. F. A. Schemerhorn has the honor of being the
first bone-picker. Several other honors are due this gentleman, which will be
spoken of as occasion permits. The first postoffice was at his ranch.

p. 23

The Medicine Man

  Among the tribes of the plains the medicine man has always been next in
importance to the chief. He is usually the best educated man in the tribe and
his wisdom is consulted on all occasions, not only in things pertaining to his
profession, but in affairs of war and diplomacy.

  In our civilized life the medical man (who is often a woman), is even more
important. He is a specialist and has his work down to a fine point. He plays
such worthy role in the affairs of men that no history can leave him out of
account. No story of the human race is complete without giving due credit to
those who help us in and out of the world—these toll collectors who stand at
both the front and the back doors of life.

  It is all right for one who is not sick to joke about the doctor, for he that
is well needeth not a physician; but anyone who is suffering wants a doctor at
once, and there is no greater blessing to a community than a sufficient number
of physicians, who understand their business. There is hardly a person who gives
up more personal pleasure and works harder in his profession. The pioneer doctor
in Lincoln Center was Dr. Vernon. Dr. Gilpin came soon afterwards.

  Dr. Sarah Goff was the pioneer lady doctor. She began practicing in Lincoln in
1885 and was successful from the start. Her medical instruction began under Dr.
Holloway, of Lincoln, and in 1886 she graduated from Hanneman Medical College of
Chicago.


p. 24

[photo] DR. H. M. HALL


  Is the oldest practicioner in Lincoln at present. He was born near London,
England, in 1835, and came with the family to Illinois the next year and lived
in Toulson.

  His education was received in the schools of Illinois and the Knox Seminary in
Galesburg. He graduated from the medical department of the Iowa University, re
ceiving his degree in 1858. After practicing medicine in Stark County, Illinois,
for a number of years he entered the Chicago Medical College, which is now the
medical department of the Northwestern University, and graduated in 1881. He
came to Lincoln in 1885 and has practiced here ever since.

  Ten years ago he went into the drug business in connection with his practice.
Doctor Hall was made a Mason in 1862 and is now one of the oldest Masons in the
State.


[photo] DR. JAMES  LOUGHRIDGE.


  Dr. James Loughridge was born and raised in Appanoose County, Iowa. He
received his common school education in a little school house with a red door.
He went to Amity College, at College Springs, Iowa. His medical education was in
the University Medical College, at Kansas City, Mo., where he took his degree in
1889. He has had a great deal of hospital and clinical work.

  Ever since his graduation Doctor Loughridge has practiced in Lincoln, where he
has a large and lucrative practice. He has a large, well-equipped office,
containing among other things an operating table and ex-ray room. He is
especially prepared for eye work.

[photo] DR. ALFRED HULTNER.

  This remarkable man was born in Sweden, in the Province of Osterysthland, city
of Lindkoping. His early education was in the government schools of his native
city. He attended college at the University of Upsala, and studied medicine
first at the Karolinska Medicuska institution in Stockholm, later at the
University of Heidelberg in Germany, spending five years in the study of
medicine in these two schools. Doctor Hultner practiced medicine first in
Spanish Honduros in the city of Puerto Cortez, in the year 1893. The next year
he was registered to practice medicine in Iowa. The next year he came to Kansas
and practiced at Wellsford. In 1896 he attended the University Medical College
at Kansas City and took his degree.

  In 1897 there was a private hospital of considerable size at Lawrence owned by
Bunn & Hultner, in which our friend was a full partner.

  Doctor Hultner has been practicing in Lincoln since 1898. His specialties are
surgery and diseases of women and children. Among his other accomplishments he
speaks five languages, Danish, Swedish, German, Spanish, and English.

[photo] DR. PAUL NEWLON.

  The youngest member of the medical fraternity in Lincoln, is a home product.
He was born here and received his common and high school education in the home
schools.

  He attended the University. Medical College in Kansas City, Mo., and while in
Kansas City he had considerable hospital work. He was eight months at the
University Hospital, at the City Hospital two years, and has a diploma from that
institution. He was an Inturn for several months. For four months he was on the
police ambulance staff.

  Last May he graduated and came to Lincoln to practice, has been busy ever since.

[photo] DR. SARAH A. COLE.

  Dr. Sarah A. Cole is the second lady physician to locate in Lincoln County,
and the only practitioner of the Homeopathic school in Lincoln.

  She was born on the Atlantic Ocean, and received her early education in the
schools of West Virginia. She came to Lincoln County in 1882, and taught school
here for a number of years. Her medical education began under the preceptorship
of Dr. Sarah A. Goff, with whom she studied two years. She graduated from the
Iowa University in 1889, and located at Port Austin, Mich. During her eight
years practice there, she was city health officer for three years, and medical
examiner for the Ladies of the Macabees.

[Photo] Dr. Cole's  Sanitarium.

  In 1898 she went to the Hanneman Medical College in Chicago, took a full
year's course and graduated. Having friends in Lincoln, she decided to locate
here. Eight years ago Doctor Cole began building a sanitarium for the
accommodation of emergency cases. At the present time it has a capacity of ten
patients with hospital facilities and all modern improvements. A new bath house
annex is nearly completed. It will contain the apparatus for all kinds of water,
electric, vapor, and sun baths.

[photo] MISS HANNAH  R. COLE.

  Miss Hannah R. Cole is a sister of Doctor Cole. She is the trained nurse of
the sanitarium, and also gives Osteopathic massage.

p. 30

Indian Troubles of 1868

  The Saline and Solomon Valleys were often visited by maruding bands of Indians
who killed or carried away the settlers, and destroyed property. The territory
which is now Lincoln County was considered unsafe and the settlers lived in
constant alertness for their red foes. While the primary object of these raids
was to get food and plunder, the savage, nature of the Indian would not let him
stop merely with compelling settlers to cook for them and to give up their
valuables.

  During the raids of August, 1868, the neighbors were gathered at Wm.
Hendrickson's place on account of the Indiana, Word came that the Indians had
hoisted a black flag on Bullfoot. They were badly in need of food. But the women
that had charge of the citadel would not allow them to go out while the danger
lasted.

  Among the people were Martin Hendrickson, John Strange, Tom Alderidice, Fred
Erhardt, Phil Lantz, and a Mr. Shaw. The married men had their families there.
Finally Martin Hendrickson and Fred Erhardt managed to get away and they rode
around to see what they could find. They went south, crossed the river at the
Thieman place, went on till they crossed Bullfoot and found the black flag on
the south side of the creek a mile from Erhardt's place. It proved to be a piece
of calico put up by some white man for a joke. They then dismounted, and,
leading their horses, began to look for Indian tracks. They came up the river to
the mouth of the Spillman, crossed to the north side, and came toward home. They
saw two people with handkerchiefs on their heads and thought at first they were
Indians, but on coming nearer found then to be two little girls, aged six and
eight. The elder said, "The Indians have had us." The younger said, "I wish I
had a piece of bread and some water."

  These children were captured on the Solomon in Beloit and carried away by the
Indians who, when surprised by the soldiers, dropped them on the heights
northwest of Lincoln. They had spent the night in a deserted house and when
found thought they were still on the Solomon. The circumstance was reported to
Fort Marker. A rumor was out that two children had been taken from Beloit. A
telegram was sent from Fort Marker and their father, Allen Bell, came and took
them home. They remained a week at Wm. Hendrickson's.

  A few days before this, about August 8, three women, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. David G.
Bacon, and Miss Foster, were captures in a raid on the Spillman. Mrs. Bacon had
her baby with her. The women were abused terribly and bound with ropes. Mrs.
Bacon became insensible by a blow on the head which cut to the bone, and was
left on the prairie for dead. Later in the day she was picked up again by the
Indians. At night they placed the women on ponies and told them to go to their
wigwams. Mrs. Bacon was so nearly exhausted that she fell off her horse and the
other women were obliged to go on without her. She was found the next morning by
Martin Hendrickson, who was the advance guard in the searching party. She still
had her baby, but both were suffering intensely.

  In connection with this raid Mr. F. A. Schemerhorn says: "Our first child was
born August 8, 1868. The Indians made a raid in there that day."

  The timely arrival of Colonel Benteen with his troops of the Seventh Cavalry,
which was Custer's regiment, no doubt saved a general massacre. It is the
opinion of many of the old settlers that Colonel Benteen just happened to be
coming through here. We quote from Mr. Schemerhorn on this point:

  "About three P. M., August 8, 1868, Colonel Benteen with his troops, A and G
of the Seventh Cavalry, came to my ranch. The Colonel, being an old
acquaintance, came in to call on me, and asked if there were any Indians to
shoot. I said I thought not, as they had made a raid a few days ago, and I
believed had left the vicinity as usual. He said the Government scouts reported
quite a large body of Indians in our vicinity and that he had made a forced
march from Fort Zarah, seventy-three miles, since two P. M. the day before. The
horses had not been unsaddled since starting. He mounted his horse and said he
was going over to the river about a mile and a half to await supplies which were
coming to him from the fort. In about a half hour I heard a lot of shooting and
yelling and knew it was the soldiers.

  "Pretty soon a young man, Insley, I think was his name, came running his
horse, and yelling at every jump that the Indians and soldiers were fighting.
'Give me your revolvers,' he cried. He repeated the request several times but I
told him under the circumstances I thought I had better keep them myself. I
asked him where he was going and he said down the river after more men to fight
the Indians. In about an hour a sergeant and four men came saying Colonel
Benteen sent them to tell me that everything was O. K., that they had driven the
Indians across the Saline and there was no further danger at present." It seems
hardly possible that this engagement was on the John Hendrickson place. The
Indians are known to have attacked his house which was near Lincoln, and which
was afterward occupied by soldiers, and now forms the corner of the Pioneer House.

[photo] The Pioneer House of Lincoln, which contains some historic logs.

  It is known that during this attack some soldiers appeared on the scene and
drove them away.

  It is hard to reconcile dates given by different people. Mr. Schemerhorn says
the raid on the outskirts of the settlement occurred on 2d and 3d, of August,
and that the troops came on the 8th, but if the soldiers drove the Indians out
on the 8th, how did they become bold enough to come back and raid again between
the 1th and 13th, as we shall note later in E. E. Johnson's diary? We leave the
question for a later historian.

  It seems probable that some of Black Kettle's men were on the Spillman about
this time and may have been the party to attack the Hendrickson place.

  Black Kettle's territory was invaded by Custer a short time afterward, and his
whole village was destroyed. One hundred thirty warriors were killed, and the
squaws taken captive.

  Mr. Schemerhorn says further: "General Sully came a few days after and
established his headquarters and it was then that the blockhouse was built."

  General Sheridan, who was in command of this department, came to the
headquarters from Missouri. He met Mr. J. J. Peate (August. 1868) at
Schemerhorn's store on the Elkhorn. As Mr. Peate was a Government scout for
Sheridan, and a good Indian fighter, the General selected him to help gather
together and organize a company of volunteers from among the settlers and
hunters to protect the frontier. Sixty men were enlisted, of which number
twenty-three were from the Saline Valley. These were J. J. Peate, Chalmer Smith,
E. E. Johnson, commander of the volunteers, D. C. Skinner, Fletcher Vilott,
Louis Farley and his son Hutchison, Thomas Alderdice, Thomas Boyle, Eli Ziegler,
Geo. Green, John Lyden, and John Haley, of the section which is now Lincoln
County, and G. W. Culver, Frank Herington, Howard Morton, G. H. Tucker, G. B.
Clark, A. J. Eutsler, E. E. Tozier, R. R. Tozier, Wm. Stubbs, and J. E. Green,
from Ottawa and Saline Counties.

  The operations of this body of scouts were not in Lincoln County, and it may
seem far fetched to include an account of their campaign in this history, but
the writer believes that it belongs here for various reasons.

  The campaign ended with one of the greatest Indian battles ever fought on
American soil, and the most important part in this battle was taken by Saline
Valley men. The battle accomplished results important to Lincoln County, which
was scarcely habitable and at least not attractive for settlement so long as the
"dog soldiers" remained unchecked.

  The battle of Beechers Island, on the Arickaree River, was the salvation of a
large section of the country which included Lincoln County, and it is only right
to acknowledge the debt we owe to those who made the future development of our
county possible and drove out the enemy that we might possess the land.

  E. E. Johnson had the fortunate habit in those days of keeping a diary. The
following are some of the entries:

  "Tuesday, August 11.—Went on an Indian scout up to the head of Spillman Creek,
rode about sixty miles. Got back at eleven o'clock at night, pretty well used
up. The Indians had ravished two women and tried to burn one house."

  "Thursday, August. 13th.—Had another Indian scare. The Indians came in eleven
miles above here and commenced firing on the settlers, but luckily enough just
then there was a party of soldiers coming over from Fort Harker and happened on
the ground just as the Indians commenced firing, and gave chase."

  Some authorities say this firing was done at the home of John Hendrickson, the
blacksmith, who lived near Lincoln, where the soldiers were quartered, if so,
they did not attack the place on the 8th.

  "Friday, August 14th.—Went up as far as Mr. Berry's last night and stayed till
morning. The settlers kept coming in all night. Got breakfast and struck out on
the trail and followed it about eight miles. Met some of the soldiers coming
back; learned from them that they ran the Indians fifteen miles, and it came
dark on them and they had to quit."

  "Saturday, August 15th.—Went up the Spillman Cieek to where the command was
camped. The Colonel sent back to Fort Harker to know what he should do. Sent out
scouts to find the Indians. They came back at night, having found nothing of
note. Boys elected me captain to take command of the citizens."

  The scouts were soon on their way west, but eight of them were delayed at Fort
Hays, by a mistaken order until it was too late to meet General Forsyth at Fort
Wallace, who, with fifty-one men besides himself, was soon pushing ahead into
the heart of the enemy's country. Forsyth left Fort Wallace September 5, and
followed the Indians trail till the afternoon of September 16, when he camped,
expecting to meet the Indians the next day.

  The Indians who were gathered in this region and had been retreating to get
the scouts where they could easily annihilate them, planned a daylight surprise.
They were in the beautiful valley of the Arickaree and not far away was an
island in the river. The attack was made the next morning before the light was
clear.

  This little band of fifty-two men were surrounded by over a thousand warriors,
who were armed with Springfield breechloaders, Spencer and Henry rifles. Their
successful campaign and ultimate victory over these skilled warriors, their
breaking of the brilliant charge of Roman Nose, and their endurance and courage
during the terrible days and nights which followed form a chapter scarcely
excelled in the annals of warfare the world over.

  Their first move was to .retreat mounted to the little island where, after the
first charge was repulsed, they threw up sand heaps and dug little trenches for
defense. Charge after charge was made upon them, but coolness and discipline
battered the ranks of the enemy, and won the day. The most notable charge was
the one lead by Roman Nose, the dog chief, who planned to ride right over the
island, protected by the Indian sharp shooters, who were to engage the fire of
the scouts. In this he was unsuccessful, as the scouts paid no attention to
anything but the charging cavalry. Roman Nose was killed and his ranks badly
shattered. Colonel Beecher, the man for whom the island was named, received his
death wound during this charge.

  This was the last charge which amounted to anything. Eight days of the most
intense suffering from wounds, from day's heat and night's cold, from the stench
of the dead horses and the lack of food and attention followed before the rescue.

  Scouts sent out the first night succeeded in getting to Fort Wallace. Colonel
Carpenter, who was in camp on Goose Creek, near the Kansas line, and with whose
command the remaining scouts were at this time, was ordered to the relief.

  They reached Beecher's Island the morning of the ninth day. J. J. Peate, of
Beverly, was the first one to reach his wounded companions. Half the men were
either killed or wounded. If there was anyone who deserved special praise it was
Louis Farley, who saved the day by lying with two others near the edge of the
island and killing Indians who were trying to creep up unseen and gain the
island. He died of his wounds shortly afterward in a temporary hospital.

  Now for the results to the border country. Louis A. McLouthlin, who was in the
battle, and afterwards discussed the situation with the Indians, says:

  "The Indians told me they were concentrating for a grand raid, and at the full
of the moon they intended to be in the settlements. They expected to have two
thousand warriors, and they intended to spread out on both sides of the
Republican and go east until troops drove them out." Spreading, out as they do
and covering a large territority, they would have come into the Saline Valley,
but this defeat at Beecher's Island settled the question of a raid. Besides
seventy-five killed, there were a larger number wounded, and they were thrown
into confusion and disheartened.

  The raid of May in which they had not lost a man had encouraged them and
prompted them to plan this large expedition, but now they were completely crushed.

p. 36

The Mulberry Scrap

  This is the name of an encounter which occurred the 2d of February, 1869, on
the Mulberry between the Indians on one side, and some Lincoln County settlers
and soldiers on the other. Of course, the Indians got the worst of it as usual,
and this is how it happened:

  The Kaws from Council Bluffs, and the Pawnees from Nebraska, used to pass back
and forth and steal horses from each other. Sometimes they annoyed the settlers
too much, to their everlasting undoing. On the occasion of which we are
speaking, a band of about a score of Pawnees were coming through the
neighborhood, and stopping at Tom Skinner's home, compelled Mrs. Skinner to cook
for them.

  When the settlers heard of this they gathered together to see what had best be
done. Several suggestions were made, but it was decided to go for the troops
that were camped not far from the present site of Lincoln. John Alverson, Eli
Ziegler, and Chal. Smith went. The captain told them to have the settlers ready
by daybreak and he would have some soldiers there at that time.

  Accordingly, a lieutenant with about a dozen soldiers, took up the trail with
the settlers the next morning. They followed the Indians to Table Rock Creek,
where they found their camp fire, and from there to Mulberry, where they
overtook them. The Indians had stopped at the home of Chas. Martin to get food
and tobacco, but the advance scouts did not succeed in holding them until the
main body of men came up.

  The red men scattered and the settlers began hunting them up and down the
creek. Some of them went south across the stream to a high bluff. As they stood
looking four Indians raised up side by side. They had discharges from the army,
and one of them handed his discharge to the whites. It was passed from one to
another. While this was going on Alverson, who was in the crowd, slipped off his
horse and shot the Indian leader dead. The Indians began firing, and the troops
soon appeared on the scene. There were two or three more Indians killed.

  The lieutenant wanted to take them to Fort Harker und civilize them. Gen.
Isaac DeGraff sat down on the ground and also on the lieutenant's proposition,
saying they coul.d make good Indian's of them right there. The men dismounted,
and, leading their horses, followed the Indians down a ravine. The redskins were
shooting arrows, and one of them hit the lieutenant's horse, causing the animal
to jerk loose and got away. The lieutenant then said he would kill every Indian.
They followed the red men to a rocky gorge where sixteen of them took refuge in
a cave.

  One of the soldiers who was not careful to keep out of range was shot by an
Indian and died at Martin's house two hours later. Eli Ziegler sustained a
slight wound.

  Finding no other way to get the Indians it was decided to throw hay into the
mouth of the cave and fire it. Seeing what was about to be done the Indians
dashed out of the cave under a rain of shot. All but three were killed before
they get out of range. The men quickly mounted and persued the remnant. Richard
Clark and Vollany Ball shot two of them at one hundred fifty yards range. The
other was captured and the lieutenant took him to Fort Marker.

p. 37

Raid of 1869

  The battle of the Arickaree, or Beecher's Island stopped at least one great
raid and relieved the people of the Saline and Spillman Valleys from the menace
of the Dog Soldiers. Custer had settled Black Kettle and his tribe forever.
Troops were stationed at different points within the present bounds of the
county, yet for the settlers the worst was yet to come.

  Referring to the soldiers it might be mentioned that a body of them were
stationed at Schemerhorn's ranch south of Rocky Hill in 1868. The first
Battalion of State troops under Captain Baker was stationed near the present
site of Lincoln, some of them at the home of M. D. Green.

  State troops were encamped in-the same place in 1869. This was part of Company
C of the 2d Battalion under Lieutenant H. H. Tucker. The headquarters of this
encampment wa-s at the mouth of Lost Creek, west of where Christian College now
stands. This was the place where John Hendrickson lived, and was attacked by the
Indians in 1868. The place where the log building stood can be found yet. The
old pioneer Mouse, a picture of which has been given, contains the logs of the
main building. There were some dugouts and a corral. About fifty-six men were
quarteded here in 1869.

  There was a third encampment near Pottersburg. Company A of the 2d Battalion,
under Sapt. H. A. Pliley, occupied the blockhouse, which was built in the bend
of the creek on the north side of Spillman, just below the mouth of Bacon Creek.
It was built after the raid of 1868, and was occupied by the troops that year
and the next. It was burned in 1871 or 1872 while unoccupied.

  It happened that in May of 1869 there were no troops at any of the above
mentioned quarters and the Indians saw an opportunity for a raid. This raid was
probably the most horrible thing which ever happened to the settlers of this
section of the country.

  It has been impossible to ascertain what tribe of Indians made the raid. The
Cheyennes get the blame for it, but it seems probable that the Dog Soldiers and
Sioux were there also, as the captives were held by the Sioux and were in the
tent of the Sioux chief Tall Bull when rescued. Although Tall Bull was a Sioux,
his band was in part made up of outlaw Cheyennes.

  This raid occurred on Sunday, May 31st. The Indians came without warning, and
caught the settlers off their guard

  Eli Ziegler and John Alverson, going up Spillman Creek to a claim, saw what
they thought to be a body of soldiers, which really was Indians in blue blouses,
marching four abreast. They escaped by driving to the nearest timber and gaining
the shelter of the banks of the stream. The Indians attacked the settlement of
Danes, near the mouth of Trail Creek, killing Lawritzen and his wife. A young
man named Peterson, who was staking off a claim, was killed and his face
mutilated with a hatchet. Mr. and Mrs. Wichel and their friend Mayershoff were
walking over their claim about 3 P. M. when they were attacked by the Indians.
The men defended Mrs. Wichel until their powder was all gone, when they were
killed and she was captured.

  During the fight they advanced considerable distance down the valley and were
a mile and a half west of Lincoln when the tragedy occurred. They were Germans
of Hanover. They were buried where they met death.

  On the same evening Mrs. Alderdice was visiting Mrs. Kline, a mile and a half
west of Lincoln. The two women, Mrs. Alderdice with four children, and Mrs.
Kline, with one, started down the river to seek safety. In crossing a strip of
prairie two Indians were seen. Mrs. Kline crossed the river, which was up to her
shoulders, with her child. Mrs. Alderdice, overcome with terror, sat down on the
ground, as she could not escape with her children. The Indians shot the three
little boyst killing two and leaving the third wounded in the back. They took
Mrs. Alderdice and her child and camped that night on Bullfoot Creek, where they
choked the child to death, and hung it to a tree.

  The same evening Harrison Strange, aged fourteen, and a thirteen-year-old boy
named Schmutz, who were about a thousand yards southeast of Lincoln, saw two
Indians riding toward them. The old Indian made friends with them by saying
"Good Pawnee," and calmed their fears by tapping them gently with a spear. The
young stripling rode up, raising himself high in his stirrups and hit young
Strange a blow with a club. The lad saw the blow coming and with the words "Oh,
Lord," half expressed he fell dead.

  The club was broken. Schmutz ran, but was shot with an arrow. It lodged in his
side. He pulled it out, but the barbed end remained. Young Strange's two
brothers came to the relief and Schmutz was taken to Fort Harker, where ten
weeks later he died in a hospital.

  The next day a posse found, the dead and wounded of Mrs. Alderdice's boys. The
live child had an arrow in his back. The arrow was drawn by Phil Lance and
Washington Smith with a large pair of bullet moulds, and he recovered at the
home of Wm. Hendrickson. The two captured women, Mrs. Wichel and Mrs. Alderdice,
were unable to plan an escape because one talked German, the other English.

  Mrs. Wichel was about 20 and Mrs. Alderdice about 28. Both were beautiful,
refined women.

  The Wichels were brewers of Hanover, and were quite wealthy. It is reported
that Mrs. Wichel had forty silk dresses. They had quantities of fine linen and
other elegant household goods. They were both well educated and refined people.
Wichel was about thirty. All the Germans were killed, and only three Danes
survived. They also plundered and stole among others things, $1,500 in money
from Wichels, belonging to Mrs. Wichel's father.

  The escape of Mrs. Kline was almost miraculous. She hid for a time in a clump
of dogwood. The Indians, in their search, walked around and around her so near
that she could have put out her hand and touched them. She could see their
moccasins, but fortunately they did not see her. Her baby was awake but kept
very quiet, though it smiled, as it was unaware of the danger. This child grew
up and lives at the present time in Lincoln. Her name is Mrs. Linker.

  The next day (Monday, June 1), Mr. Alderdice, with a few neighbors, including
Myron Green and Martin Hendrickson, were searching for Mrs. Alderdice. After
dark they came upon Wm. Earl and learned that a party of Saline Valley men had
been surprised by the Indians at their hunter's camp beyond Wolf Creek the
Saturday before. It was a rainy day, and the men were at the camp when the
Indians came. They all jumped into the brush for shelter. Sol Humbarger was
wounded. They kept in the brush and made their way to the third branch of Wolf
Creek, where Karl left Humbarger with Dick Alley and Harry Trask, while he came
on for help. He had not eaten anything for two days.

  Myron Green started at once for Salina, and the next day came back with a
number of volunteers to the rescue. About five that evening a party of twenty
started out to find Humbarger. They camped on the Spillman that night. Wednesday
noon they met a crowd from the Colorado neighborhood who had already rescued the
hunting party. "Jack" Peate and Dayhoff were among the number. Humbarger had
been wounded in the hip with an arrow.

  For some days after the raid the settlers kept indoors, as they were afraid to
go abroad even to get food. When Harrison Strange was buried the whole funeral
procession was armed. The funeral was at Wm. Hendrickson's, and the cemetery was
on the Schemerhorn place, south of the river. When the body was lowered into the
grave and the ceremony over, a buffalo was seen coming from the south. Those who
had guns gave chase, killed the animal, and divided the meat among the settlers.
The neighborhood was found to be short of ammunition, and Phil Lantz rode to
Salina and back seventy-two miles in one day, bringing with him six Spencer
carbines and a large amount of ammunition.

  After the raid the Indians retreated with their captives and plunder to their
village on the sand hills between the Platte and Frenchman Creek, whither they
were followed by General Carr, the same summer.

  While on the Republican River General Carr struck a large Iindian trail which
had been freshly traveled. At each recent camping place there was the print of a
woman's shoe. An article entitled "The Adventure of Maj. Frank North," by Alfred
Sorenson, in the Nebraska Historical Collections, given an account of the
recapture of the women.

  It is from his article and from letters by Hercules H. Price, who was with
General Carr that this account of the recapture is compiled.

  As General Carr, with Major North and his Pawnee scouts were pushing on north
they came across a bit of torn dress, and later found a note saying, "For God's
sake, come and rescue us."

  Detachments of the best mounted men from the five companies were selected for
a forced march. The wagon trains were left to follow. The next morning, July 11,
an Indian village was sighted near the valley of the South Platte. After a
careful survey it was decided to attack from the north. However, while making
the circuit described by Major North, the command keeping a mile and a half from
the village, and swinging around the east side, General Carr became afraid that
they had been observed by the Indians, and ordered a charge.

  The Indians, lazy with feasting, and satisfied with booty, were resting in the
shade of their tents, and were taken completely by surprise. The charge of the
cavalry threw everything into instant confusion. The village was admirably
situated for a defense had it not been too late.

  As the cavalry came riding down the streets of the village, firing volley
after volley, the Indians fled in all directions to ravines and rocks. Their
ponies were grazing on the prairie, but very few succeeded in reaching them. The
soldiers began hunting them down in their hiding places and slaughtering them on
every hand. Tall Bull, with his squaw and child and eighteen warriors were
surrounded in a narrow ravine. He and his followers were all killed and the
squaw and child was taken captive.

  Meanwhile an active search for the white captives under Captain Cushing had
resulted in finding Mrs. Alderdice und Mrs. Wichel, both badly wounded, in the
tent of Tall Bull, who had taken them as wives. Seeing it was impossible to keep
them longer he had shot them. Mrs. Alderdice was lying on the ground
unconscious, and just as Major North came in with the captive squaw and child of
Tall Bull, Mrs. Alderdice drew one or two long breaths and died.

  Mrs. Wichel was sitting on a mat conscious and suffering-intensely from her
wound. She wept for joy at the sight of the white men. After soldiers and
Pawnees had finished with the Sioux her wounds were tended and she was made
comfortable as possible. Nine hundred dollars of the money was recovered and
returned to Mrs. Wichel. Her gold watch and some other things were also
recovered. The village, which was rich in Indian property and booty taken from
the whites, was plundered and burned. The place was called Susannah, which was
the Christian name of Mrs. Alderdice. She was buried on the battleground.

  The suffering of these two women and their cruel treatment is a pathetic and
shameful story which we will not go into in detail. During the absence of Tall
Bull they were beaten by his squaw through jealousy. The women were not allowed
to see each other above half a dozen times during their captivity.

  Mrs. Wichel married later, but it is not definitely known at this time whether
it was a soldier, a blacksmith, or an army surgeon.

  This was the end of the Indian troubles so far as this section of the country
was concerned. The Sioux were crippled as the Dog Soldiers and Black Kettle's
followers had been the year before. Indians were seldom seen in Lincoln County
after that, although it is plain from the attitude of the early newspaper that
the people took a keen interest in the warfare against them in other places, and
favored the extermination of the Modocs.

  In 1873 a party of Indians with their squaws, were seen on the Elkhorn. They
were advised to move on, and did so. The last Indian seen in bands in this
vicinity was in 1879 or 1880.


p. 43

County Organization

[photo] Ruins of John S. Strange's House Showing Fireplace by Which the First
Commissioners Sat.

  The second epoch of Lincoln County history begins with its organization into a
county in 1870. In spite of the drawbacks and dangers of pioneer life, in spite
of the fact that Kansas had not yet out-grown her reputation for being a desert
place with hot winds, and the fact that our county was at that time open
frontier, exposed to hostile Indians, in spite of famine, flame, malaria and
fever, people came, and kept coming. The valleys filled with settlers, and the
hills with herds, till four years after the first claim was staked, there were
five hundred and sixteen people here.

  The Legislature defined the boundaries of Lincoln County in 1867, and it was
first a township of Ottawa and later of Saline County. A petition headed by Tom
Boyle, Martin Hendrickson, Geo. Green, H. J. Wisner, and Isaac DeGraff, asking
for separate county organization, was sent to Topeka.

  Governor Jas. M. Harvey proclaimed separate county organization and
established a temporary county seat on the northwest quarter of section 35,
township 11, range 8, about where Lincoln Center now stands. He appointed
temporary officers as follows: Isaac DeGraff, Washington Smith, and John S.
Strange, County Commissioners, and F. A. Schermerhorn county clerk, on October
4, 1870, and on October 6, the Commissioners met at the house of Jno. S. Strange.

  They named the county Lincoln in honor of Abraham Lincoln, and divided it into
four townships, Colorado, Elkhorn, Salt Creek, Indiana. They also turned down a
petition to have the county seat moved three miles east and one-half mile south
of where it was. This was near the place which afterwards became the Abram
townsite. The petition was headed by M. D. Green, Dick Clark,-Jacob Harshbarger,
and Harmon Kingsley.

p. 44

County Seat Contest

  Few counties have managed to get along without a county seat contest, and this
was the beginning of the one in Lincoln. The election in November resulted as
follows: Representative, I. C. Buzick; Commissioners, Cornelious Dietz, Jas.
Wild, John S. Strange; County Clerk, A. S. Potter; Treasurer, Vollany Ball;
Probate Judge, D. C. Skinner; Register of Deeds, T. A. Walls; Sheriff, R. B.
Clark; Coroner, Francis Seiber; County Attorney, Myron Green; District Clerk, J.
A. Cook; Surveyor, P. Lowe. This was a victory for those in favor of changing
the county seat, so it was picked up bodily and taken over the hill, where, in
order to make business legal, the county officers met and organized court on the
bare and bleak townsite of Abram one cold January day in 1871. They then
adjourned to the house of Ezra Hubbard, where the new County Commissioners met
in February, 1871. A license to sell liquor was granted, Mr. Strange casting his
vote against it. Three petitions for county roads were accepted. The first was
to run from section 12, on the east line of the county, to the county seat, the
second from Pottersburg to the county seat, and the third was to begin between
section 24 and 25, on the east line of the county, and go to Elkhorn Creek, and
thence to a point about a half mile west of Twin Groves, corner of section 28.
The clerk was instructed to procure seals for the Probate Judge and Register of
Deeds, and advertise for proposals to build a court house. The bids were to be
filed in the clerk's office up to 12 M. on Saturday, April 1, and the court
house was to be completed by July 1. In March, 1871, the Legislature provided
for court in Lincoln County. Jas. H. Canfield, of Junction City, judge of the
Eighth district, presided over court on November 6th of the same year.

  The buildings were put up the next summer. The county effects were housed in
the upstairs of Myron Green's store. A frame building 25x60 feet. County Clerk
A. S. Potter had to issue the license to sell liquor which had been granted to
Fred Buckner and John Cleary, and is mad yet because he had to.

  Two petitions were filed with the Cimmissioners that year to hold another
election on the county seat proposition. Both were rejected in June. There was
considerable agitation at this time about this question, and a tragic affair
occurred which really settled the county seat light.

  Ezra Hubbard was building a mill at Rocky Hill. Bad blood had come to exist
between him and the Haleys, who wanted to drive him off his claim. They annoyed
him a great deal, sometimes coming at night and tearing down the building. At
one time John Haley burned one of Hubbard's freight wagons. The latter suspected
Haley of stealing logs from his timber land, so on one occasion, when he and his
son-in-law, John Cook, went with their teams to haul logs, Hubbard took his
carbine with him to stop Haley from trespassing.

[photo] House in Which Hubbard Was Mobbed.

  Haley was on the Hubbard property, and when the men were about to hitch to a
certain log he claimed it, saying that it had floated onto Hubbard's place from
his. A quarrel arose and Hubbard shot Haley.


  After the shooting Hubbard managed to get away from Haley's friends and gave
himself up. He was at first put in the store building at Abram, and later
confined in a building used for a boarding house. Cook was arrested and kept
with him.

  This building has since been moved to Lincoln, and is now occupied by John
Kyle's tin shop. Sheriff Medcalf appointed four of Hubbard's worst enemies to
guard the prisoners, refusing all other help that was offered. As no two persons
exactly agree

on the names of these guards, we are not sure that we are absolutely correct in
the matter, but it seems most likely that they were John Lyden, Chas. Wilson,
John Ryan, and Tim Murphy.

  John Lyden did his best to protect the two prisoners, but to no avail. A mob
of forty men, in all degrees of intoxication, took the place. They first shot at
Hubbard through the window and later entered the building and shot again.
Suffering from nine wounds the old man crept up the cleats on the wall to the
loft. Later in the night some members of the mob beat out his brains with a
carpenter's mallet. Cook escaped.

  Several parties, including all of the guards, were arrested, but none were
brought to trial except Ira Buzick. He was acquitted. This trial cost the county
$10,000, and, of course, people grumbled and blamed the officers for not keeping
such disturbances down.

  Hubbard's body was taken to Salina for burial. Those who escorted the body
were well armed, but then, nobody was considered dressed in those days unless he
was sufficiently armed to take care of himself. Thomas Bennett bought the mill.
This is the way it looked in process of building.

[photo] The Hubbard Mill.


  Mob violence was used as an argument for changing the location of the county
seat. On February 19, 1872, an election was held at which 408 votes were cast.
Lincoln Center received 232 and Abram 176.

  The triumphant Lincolnites then loaded Abram on wheels and brought it along
with the county's archives to Lincoln. All the buildings were moved. Abram was
not allowed to die a natural death, but was given the distinguishing honor of
being translated while yet in the body.

  A building was erected for a newspaper by a deaf and dumb man, but only two
issues of the paper came out.

  This building, which was 10x22 feet, was later moved to Lincoln, and became
the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Anna C. Wait. Mrs. Wait taught Lincoln's first
school in it, and it is now used for a shoeshop.



Additional Comments:
From:
	A Souvenir History of Lincoln County, Kansas
	Elizabeth N. Barr
	Topeka, Kan.: Farmer Job Office (1908)



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