THE COMING OF THE SETTLERS
=Little Known of Kansas in 1854.= Kansas in 1854 was, to most people,
only a name, a part of the great desert in the Far West, an Indian
country. Many of those who had crossed it in emigrating to California
had been impressed with the beauty and richness of the country and had
written back glowing accounts of it. Some of them had returned from
the coast, and were now numbered among our early settlers. When its
organization as a territory brought it into such prominence, knowledge
of Kansas soon became more general.
=Advantages of the South.= The people of the South felt confident that
they could make it a slave state, for they had gained many victories
in Congress, and the President, Franklin Pierce, was in sympathy with
them. Moreover, they were closer to Kansas than were the northern
people, and the only state touching Kansas was the slave state
Missouri.
=Advantages of the North.= The people of the North, however, possessed
one very important advantage. The population of the South consisted
largely of plantation owners and their slaves, and it was not an easy
matter for these men to leave their property or to take it into a new
and untried country. On the other hand, the North was a land of small
farms and shops and many laborers. Moreover, there was much foreign
immigration into the United States in those years, and since the
employment of slaves left no place in the South for white laborers,
most of the immigrants entered the northern states, and added to the
number of those who were ready and anxious to go farther west.
Consequently many more settlers came into Kansas from the North than
from the South, but the Southerners tried to overcome this handicap in
other ways.
=The Coming of the Missourians.= The plan of the South was to use
Missouri as the stepping-stone to Kansas. Immediately following the
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill a number of Missourians came over
into Kansas and took as claims large tracts of the best lands, in some
cases not even waiting for the removal of the Indians. Settlers who
asked for claims were required to build houses and to use the land for
homes for a certain length of time. While some of the Missourians met
these requirements, many of them did not come here to live. They
notched trees, or posted notices, or laid rails on the ground in the
shape of a house, or in some other way indicated their claims, and
returned to their homes in Missouri, coming back only to vote or to
fight when it seemed to them necessary. While in Kansas, however, they
held a meeting at which it was resolved that: “We recognize slavery as
always existing in this Territory,” and, “We will afford protection to
no abolitionists as settlers of Kansas Territory.”
=Handicap to Northern Emigration.= The free-state people could not
step over a boundary line and be in Kansas. They lived a long way off,
the trip out here was expensive, and little was known of the new
Territory. It was a land without homes or towns, churches, schools, or
newspapers, and the Northerners knew that people would hesitate to
start to Kansas under all these difficulties.
=The New England Emigrant Aid Company.= So it came about that even
while the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was pending in Congress a Massachusetts
man named Eli Thayer had thought out a plan for assisting and
encouraging the people to undertake the long journey. His plan was to
form a company for the purpose of inducing and organizing emigration
to Kansas and reducing the expense and hardship involved. This was not
to be done as charity, but was to be put on a business basis. Thayer
aroused public interest in his plan by constant writing and speaking,
and since the people were ready to listen to whatever promised to aid
in making Kansas a free state, money enough was soon raised to
organize a company, called the New England Emigrant Aid Company. It
gathered and published information concerning the new country and
organized emigrants into large parties in order to make the journey
more pleasant, to reduce expense, and to lessen danger. Competent
guides were sent with the parties. The company established schools,
newspapers, mills, hotels, and other improvements that tended to
lessen the hardships of the pioneers and to further the development of
the new Territory. Several similar organizations were formed, but none
of them was so well known nor so efficient as the New England Emigrant
Aid Company.
=Work of the Emigrant Aid Companies.= Hundreds of people came here
under the management of these companies, but probably the greatest
service the companies performed was that of giving an immense amount
of publicity and advertising to Kansas. Newspapers were filled with
descriptions of the loveliness, the fertility, and the future
greatness of the new Territory, and people were urged to go to Kansas
at once, both to secure the advantages of the country and to help in
saving it from slavery. In this way interest and enthusiasm were
aroused over the whole North, but for every one who came in one of the
emigrant aid parties there were many who came independently,
especially from the states farther west than New England――Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa.
=Southern Organizations.= The organizations in the North aroused much
bitter feeling in the South, and a reward was offered for the capture
of Eli Thayer. The South soon formed organizations too, some of them
being known as Blue Lodges, Social Bands, and Sons of the South.
=The Coming of the Free-state Settlers.= As has been stated, the
Missourians came into Kansas immediately after the passage of the
Kansas-Nebraska Bill on May 30, but the free-state people were not far
behind, for on the first day of August, just two months later, the
first party of emigrants sent out by the New England Emigrant Aid
Company reached the Territory. Even these were not the first
free-state men to arrive; a few who had come independently were
already here.
=The First Party of Settlers.= This first party consisted of only
twenty-nine men. It had been organized with some difficulty, for
coming to Kansas was looked upon as a dangerous undertaking. Hundreds
of people gathered to bid these men farewell as they started on their
long journey to take part in the great conflict between freedom and
slavery. There were many who would not have been surprised had the
whole party been murdered on their arrival in Kansas, but when nothing
of the kind happened others took courage and more parties soon
followed.
[Illustration: EARLY KANSAS CITY.]
=They Reach the Present Site of Lawrence.= The pioneer party reached
St. Louis by railroad, where they boarded a steamboat and came up the
Missouri River to Kansas City, then a town of only three or four
hundred people. There they purchased an ox team to transport their
baggage, and on Saturday evening set out on foot into Kansas. By
Tuesday noon they reached the present site of Lawrence, where they
pitched their tents on a big flat-topped hill. To-day the great
buildings of the University of Kansas stand on this hill, which is
still called Mount Oread,[9] the name given it by this first party of
pioneers. The weather was extremely hot; a drouth had parched the
earth and prairie fires had destroyed the grass, but the pioneers were
not discouraged. They staked out claims in the surrounding country and
began preparations for the future.
=The Second Party Arrives.= In a short time the second party arrived.
It was under the direction of Dr. Charles Robinson and Samuel C.
Pomeroy, who were leaders in the free-state cause during the whole
Territorial struggle. This party was much larger, and part of its
members were women and children. The town was now laid out, organized,
and named Lawrence.[10] On the arrival of this party a boarding house
was established by two of the women. It was thus described by a writer
of that time: “In the open air, on some logs of wood, two rough boards
were laid across for a table, and on washtubs, kegs, and blocks the
boarders were seated around it.” A short time later a hotel was
opened. It was constructed by driving into the ground two long rows of
poles, which were brought together at the top and the sides thatched
with prairie grass. The ends were made of cotton cloth, and the
building resembled the “stray roof of a huge warehouse.”
=Getting Ready for the First Winter.= The people lived in tents and
houses of thatch through the summer and fall, but in the meantime all
were busy getting log cabins ready for the winter. By the time winter
had come a number of things had been accomplished: a sawmill was
running, churches had been organized, two newspapers had been
established, and Lawrence had been granted a post office with mail
from Kansas City three times a week. The population was about four
hundred. Many of the cabins still had cloth doors and were without
floors, and altogether the people had all they could do to take care
of themselves through the winter. When two more parties of emigrants
arrived at the beginning of winter the task became much more
difficult.
=The Actual Settlers’ Association.= Besides the work of building homes
and developing the town, there was much to occupy the minds of the
pioneers. Missourians had taken claims over much of the eastern part
of the Territory. While some proslavery settlers had come to make
homes, just as the free-state settlers had, most of those who had
taken claims were really living in Missouri. When the first party came
to Lawrence, the members bought out the claims where they located
their town; later other claimants appeared, and there was much trouble
over the title to the land. The same kind of trouble arose in regard
to the land taken by many free-state settlers outside of Lawrence. It
became a common occurrence for a Missourian to come over and lay claim
to some free-state man’s land and warn him to leave the Territory.
This caused the formation of the Actual Settlers’ Association, which
helped to adjust such difficulties.
[Illustration: THE FIRST HOUSE IN TOPEKA.]
=Other Towns.= Lawrence was not the only place in the Territory that
was settled before the close of the first winter. People were coming
in from north, east, and south, settling on claims and starting other
towns. The principal proslavery towns were Leavenworth, Atchison, and
Lecompton. Free-state towns were Lawrence, Topeka, Osawatomie, and
Manhattan. Leavenworth and Atchison were both founded by people from
Missouri, and, since they were on the Missouri River, came to be
outfitting points for travelers over the California and Salt Lake
Trails. Lecompton, on the Kansas River, not far from Lawrence, soon
became the headquarters of the proslavery people, and for several
years was the Territorial capital. Topeka was founded with the hope of
its becoming the capital of Kansas. Osawatomie soon became an
important free-state center. Manhattan, on the Kansas River at the
mouth of the Big Blue, was for the first few months called Boston. On
the arrival of a party of seventy-five people from Cincinnati, Ohio,
the name was changed to Manhattan. This party made the entire trip
from Cincinnati to Manhattan by boat.
SUMMARY
When Kansas Territory was organized little was known of it,
but, because it was wanted by both the North and the South,
knowledge of Kansas spread rapidly. The South had the
support of every branch of the National Government and the
added advantage that the only State touching Kansas was
proslavery. The advantage of the North lay in the fact that
it had a much larger number of people who were free to move
to a new country. The proslavery Missourians came in at once
and took claims. A few free-state people came within a
month, and in two months the emigrant aid parties began to
arrive. The fact that many Missourians had staked out claims
and gone back home led to numerous claim disputes and caused
the organization of the Actual Settlers’ Association. By the
time winter had come four emigrant aid parties had arrived
at Lawrence, many settlers were living on their claims, and
several towns had been started by each side.
REFERENCES
Spring, Kansas, pp. 29-40.
Brooks, The Boy Settlers.
Prentis, History of Kansas, pp. 71-78.
Thayer, The Kansas Crusade.
Robinson, The Kansas Conflict, chaps. II-IV.
Mrs. Robinson, Kansas――Its Interior and Exterior Life.
Gihon, Geary and Kansas, chap. IV.
Historical Collections, vol. VI, p. 90; vol. IX, p. 144.
QUESTIONS
1. When was Kansas organized as a territory? In what ways had
the people gained any knowledge of Kansas up to this time?
Why did Kansas soon become well known?
2. What advantages did the South have in the effort to win
Kansas? The North?
3. Contrast the manner of life in the North and the South in
those days. What do you know of the conditions to-day?
4. Why did Missouri play an important part in early Kansas
affairs? Explain how Missourians took claims.
5. Why did the North organize emigrant aid companies? What was
the chief company? What did it do? Did all the Kansas settlers
come under the management of these companies?
6. What was the attitude of the South toward these
organizations?
7. When did the first emigrant aid party arrive? Tell of their
journey; their settlement. Were they the first free-state
settlers to arrive?
8. Give an account of the second party. Tell something of the
way they lived. What had been accomplished by the time winter
set in?
9. What was the Actual Settlers’ Association? Why was it formed?
10. Name several persons connected with this period of Kansas
history, and tell something of each.
11. Name and locate some of the towns settled during this period.