Emma, Yore Friday, 19th.
Silver Heels, Nanson Saturday, 20th.
Morning Star, Burk Sunday, 21st.
Polar Star, McMullin Monday, 22d.
Twilight, Shaw Monday, 22d.
St. Mary, Devenny Tuesday, 23d.
Carrier, Postal Wednesday, 24th.
Sovereign, Hutchinson Wednesday, 24th.
Omaha, Wineland Thursday, 25th.
F. X. Aubry, Glime Thursday, 25th.
Minnehaha, Baker Thursday, 25th.
John H. Dickey, Abel Friday, 26th.
White Cloud, O’Neil Saturday, 27th.
Florence, Throckmorton Saturday, 27th.
Polar Star, McMullin Sunday, 28th.
Hesperian, Lee Sunday, 28th.
Star of the West, Ollman Monday, 29th.
South Western, Dehaven Monday, 29th.
John Warner, Paterson Monday, 29th.
Sioux City, Baker Monday, 29th.
War Eagle, White Tuesday, 30th.
Ben Lewis, Brierly Tuesday, 30th.
Thomas E. Tutt, Dozier Tuesday, 30th.
J. D. Perry, Davis Wednesday, 31st.
Watossa, Richoneker Wednesday, 31st.
Alonzo Child, Holland Wednesday, 31st.
Wm. Campbell, Dale Wednesday, 31st.
Kate Howard, Nonson Wednesday, 31st.
Sky Lark, Johnson Thursday, April 1.
E. M. Ryland, Blunt Thursday, 1st.
Silver Heels, Nanson Friday, 2d.
John H. Dickey, Abel Friday, 2d.
F. A. Ogden Friday, 2d.
Every boat on the above list except eight have passed down again, making
in all, sixty landings at our wharf, in the short space of thirteen
days.
(From _Freedom’s Champion_, Atchison, April 3, 1858.)
ST. LOUIS & ATCHISON UNION LINE.
One of the following Splendid Steamers Will leave
ATCHISON FOR ST. LOUIS DAILY.
Sunday Boats, Peerless and Silver Heels, Alternately.
Monday Boats, Hesperian and Morning Star, Alternately.
Tuesday Boats, South Webster and A. B. Chambers, Alternately.
Wednesday Boats, Ben Lewis and Twilight, Alternately.
Thursday Boats, Sovereign.
Friday Boats, Kate Howard and Minnehaha, Alternately.
For Freight or passage apply to
G. W. BOWMAN, Agent, Atchison.
N. B. Tickets sold through to all the Eastern and
Southern Cities.
OFFICE on the Levee.
(From _Freedom’s Champion_, Atchison, March 27, 1858.)
* * * * *
_Squatter Sovereign_, Atchison, Dec. 5, 1857:
Omaha, Andrew Wineland, Master; J. J. Wilcox, clerk.
_Freedom’s Champion_, Atchison, April 3, 1858:
Ben Lewis, T. H. Brierly, Master; W. G. Barkley, clerk.
_Freedom’s Champion_, March 12, 1859:
Alonzo Child, D. DeHaven, Master; Stanley Ryland, clerk; H. P.
Short, clerk.
CHAPTER X.
OVERLAND FREIGHTING.
ATCHISON AS AN OUTFITTING POINT—FREIGHTING COMPANIES—PRINCIPAL ROUTES—
STAGE LINES—OVERLAND MAIL ROUTES—BEN HOLLADAY—BUTTERFIELD’S
OVERLAND DISPATCH—TIME TO DENVER—TABLES OF TIME AND DISTANCES ON
VARIOUS ROUTES—STATISTICAL.
Atchison was chosen as an outfitting point for the Salt Lake freighters,
in addition to many other reasons, because we had one of the best
steamboat landings on the river, and had the best wagon road in the
country leading west. Twenty-four miles west of Atchison this road was
intersected by the old overland mail trail from St. Joseph. Leavenworth
had laid out a new road west, over which it was planned to run the
Pike’s Peak Express stages in the spring of 1859, as well as the mule
and ox teams, for Denver and the mountain mining camps. A branch road
was also opened to intersect this route from Atchison in the spring of
1859, under the direction of Judge F. G. Adams. The expedition started
west from Atchison in the spring of that year, over what is now known
and was then known as the Parallel road, then through Muscotah and
America City, across into the Big Blue river, near Blue Rapids, and
westward through Jewell county. The object of this expedition was to
open a shorter route to the mountains than the one opened by the
Leavenworth company, and the route proposed did save sixty-five miles
distance, and almost twelve hours time. E. D. Boyd, an engineer,
measured the entire distance from Atchison to Denver. He also made an
accurate report, showing distances and the crossing of streams, and a
brief description of the entire route, which was published in the
_Atchison Champion_, in June, 1859. According to that report, the
distance from Atchison to Denver was 620 miles. But notwithstanding the
advantage of this new road, it was abandoned immediately and never
traveled by ox or mule trains out of Atchison, for the reason that the
old military road by Fort Kearney and along the Platte river enjoyed
Government protection from the Indians, and was settled at intervals
almost the entire distance.
During the period of overland freighting on the plains, more trains left
Atchison than any other point on the river. The leading firms engaged in
the freighting business were, Stevens & Porter; Dennison & Brown;
Hockaday-Burr & Company; J. S. Galbraith: George W. Howe; Brown
Brothers; E. K. Blair; I. N. Bringman; Roper & Nesbitt; Harrison
Brothers; Henry Reisner; J. C. Peters; P. K. Purcell; R. E. Wilson; Will
Addoms; George I. Stebbins; John C. Bird; William Home; Amos Howell;
Owen Degan, and a number of others.
The cost of shipping merchandise to Denver was very high, as everything
was carried by the pound, rather than by the hundred pounds rate. Flour,
bacon, molasses, whiskey, furniture and trunks were carried at pound
rates. The rates per pound on merchandise shipped by ox or mule wagons
from Atchison to Denver prior to 1860, were as follows:
Flour 9 cents
Tobacco 12½ cents
Sugar 13½ cents
Bacon 15 cents
Dry goods 15 cents
Crackers 17 cents
Whiskey 18 cents
Groceries 19½ cents
Trunks 25 cents
Furniture 31 cents
It has been said by those who witnessed the tremendous overland traffic
of the late fifties and the early sixties, that those of this generation
can form no conception of the enormous amount of traffic overland there
was in those days. Trains were being constantly outfitted not only at
Atchison, but at other points along the river. Twenty-one days was about
the time required for a span of horses or mules to make the trip to
Denver and keep the stock in good condition. It required five weeks for
ox trains to make the same distance, and to Salt Lake, horses and mules
were about six weeks making the trip, and ox trains were on the road
from sixty-five to seventy days. It was the ox upon which mankind
depended in those days to carry on the commerce of the plains. They were
the surest and safest for hauling a large part of the freight destined
for the towns and camps west of the Missouri river. Next in importance
to the ox, was the mule, because they were tough and reliable, and could
endure fatigue.
The year of 1859 was a big year in the history of Atchison, for in that
year the percentage of the growth of the town was greater than any other
year in its history. The fact that it was the best point on the Missouri
river for the overland staging and freighting outfits, brought it in
greater commercial prominence. At that time, Irwin & McGraw were
prominent contractors, who were supplying the various military posts on
the frontier. The mere fact that these Government trains were started
from Atchison, gave the town wonderful prestige.
It was nothing unusual to see two or three steamboats lying at the
levee, discharging freight, and as many more in sight either going up
the river from St. Louis, or down the river from St. Joe. It was not
uncommon for a boat to be loaded at Pittsburgh, Pa., or Cincinnati,
Ohio, going down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi and Missouri to
Atchison; it was not an unusual sight to see a whole boat load of wagons
and ox yokes, mining machinery, boilers and other material necessary for
the immense trade of the West.
The greater part of the traffic out of Atchison to the West was over the
Military road, along the south bank of the Platte, and along this road
teams of six to eight yoke of cattle, hauling heavily loaded wagons, and
strings of four or six horse or mule teams, formed almost an endless
procession.
The liveliest period of overland trade extended from 1859 to 1866,
during which time there was on the plains and in the mountains an
estimated floating population of 250,000. The greater majority of the
people on the plains produced but few of the necessities of life, and
consequently they had to be supplied from the Missouri river. During the
closing year of the Civil war, the travel was immense, most of the
emigration going into the gold mining camps of the Northwest.
While there was considerable freighting out of Atchison to the West
following the opening of the Territory, overland staging did not reach
its height until 1861. The era of overland staging from the Missouri
river to the Pacific coast lasted altogether about eight years. The
first great overland staging enterprise started in 1858, on what is
known as the Southern or Butterfield route. This route ran from St.
Louis and Memphis, Tenn., intersecting at Ft. Smith, Ark. After being in
operation for nearly three years, the route was succeeded by a daily
line on the Central route, which ran from the Missouri river five years,
first starting at St. Joseph, Mo., July 1, 1861, and then from Atchison
in September of that year. On the Central route, the through staging
came to a close after the completion of the Union Pacific railroad from
Omaha across the continent. Originally the stage enterprise was known as
the Overland Mail Company—the Southern or Butterfield line. After it was
transferred north and ran in connection with the stages to Denver, it
was known as the Central Overland California and Pike’s Peak Express
Company. After passing into the hands of Ben Holladay, it became the
Overland Stage Line, and finally the name was changed to the Holladay
Overland Mail Express Company. In 1866, the line had been consolidated
with the Butterfield Overland Dispatch, a stage company which was
organized in 1865, with headquarters in Atchison.
Atchison’s importance as an overland staging terminus was fixed by
reason of an order of the United States Postoffice Department. Before
the final change, making Atchison headquarters and starting point for
the mail, the road from Atchison westward intersected the road from St.
Joseph at Kennekuk. The distance from Atchison to Kennekuk was twenty-
four miles, while it was about thirty-five miles from St. Joseph, and
consequently there was a saving of about nine miles in favor of
Atchison. This was an important item, in carrying the mails, and
resulted in the order of the Postoffice Department making Atchison the
starting point. The distance by the overland stage line from Atchison to
Placerville was 1,913 miles, and following the abandonment of the
Butterfield or Southern route, it became the longest and the most
important stage line in America. There were 153 stations between
Atchison and Placerville, located about twelve and one-half miles apart.
The local fare was $225.00, or about twelve cents per mile, and as high
as $2,000.00 a day was frequently taken in at the Atchison office for
passenger fare alone. The fare between Atchison and Denver was $75.00,
or a little over eight cents per mile, and to Salt Lake City, $150.00.
Local fares ran as high as fifteen cents per mile. Each passenger was
allowed twenty-five pounds of baggage. All in excess of that was charged
at the rate of $1.00 per pound. During the war, the fare to Denver was
increased from seventy-five dollars to $100.00, and before the close of
the war, it had reached $175.00 or nearly twenty-seven cents per mile.
It required about 2,750 horses and mules to run the stage line between
Atchison and Placerville. It required, in addition to the regular supply
of horses to operate the stages, some additional animals for
emergencies, and it was estimated that the total cost of the horses on
this stage line was about one-half million dollars. The harness was the
finest that could be made, and cost about $150.00 for a complete set of
four, or about $55,000.00 for the whole line. The feeding of the stock
was one of the big items of expense, and there were annually consumed at
each station from forty to eighty tons of hay, at a cost of $15 to $40
per ton. Each animal was apportioned an average of twelve quarts of corn
every day, which cost from two to ten cents a pound. In the Salt Lake
and California divisions, oats and barley, grown in Utah, were
substituted for corn, but which cost about the same.
There were about 100 Concord coaches which, in the early sixties cost
about $1,000.00 each. The company owned about one-half of the stations,
in addition to thousands of dollars’ worth of miscellaneous property, at
different places along the route. There were superintendents, general
and local attorneys, paymasters and division agents, all of whom drew
big salaries. Among the stage company’s agents in the late fifties and
early sixties were Hugo Richards and Paul Coburn, at Atchison; Robert L.
Pease, of Atchison, was also for a time agent at Denver.
The mail was carried from Atchison west by Forts Kearney, Laramie and
Bridges, once a week. The schedule time from the river to Salt Lake City
was about eighteen days, and the distance was about 1,200 to 1,300
miles.
In 1861 a daily overland mail was established out of Atchison, and with
the exception of a few weeks in 1862, 1864 and 1865, on account of
Indian troubles, the overland was in operation and ran stages daily out
of Atchison for about five years. It was the greatest stage line in the
world, carrying mail, passengers and express. It was also regarded as
the safest and the fastest way to cross the plains, and the mountain
ranges. It was equipped with the latest modern four and six horse and
mule Concord coaches, and the meals at the eating stations along the
route were first-class, and cost from fifty cents to $2.00 each.
When Atchison was selected as the starting place for the overland mail,
it was not certain how long it would remain the eastern terminus of the
mail route. The Civil war was at its height, and the rebels were doing
much damage to the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, which had been
constructed in 1859. They tore up the track, burned the bridges,
destroyed the culverts, fired into the trains, and placed obstructions
along the roadbed, frequently delaying the mail from two to six days. As
a result of this condition of affairs, it was feared that Atchison would
lose the overland mail, and the Government would change the starting
point to some town further north, but because of the advantageous
geographical position of Atchison, it was decided that it would be
disastrous to make a change, so the Government placed a large number of
troops along the entire line of the Hannibal & St. Joe, to insure the
safety of the mails, and Atchison continued to be the point of departure
for the overland mail, until 1866.
The stage coaches used by the overland line were built in Concord, N. H.
They carried nine passengers inside, and one or two could ride on the
box by the driver. Some of the stages were built with an extra seat
above and in the rear of the driver, so that three additional persons
could ride there, making fourteen, with the driver. Sometimes an extra
man would be crowded on the box, making as many as fifteen persons, who
could ride on the Concord coach without very much inconvenience.
This chapter on overland staging would be unfinished, unless some
reference was made to Ben Holladay, who played such an important part in
the overland staging days of this country. Ben Holladay had a remarkable
career. In his early days, when he resided in Weston, Mo., he drove a
stage himself. He was a genuine westerner, having run a saloon and
tavern in Weston as early as 1838 and 1839. He went overland to
California in 1849, and took a train to Salt Lake City with $70,000
worth of goods. He spent some time in Utah, where he made considerable
money.
Besides operating the Overland Stage for over five years, Holladay had
other important interests in the West. Among his enterprises was a fleet
of passenger steamers, plying between San Francisco and Portland, Ore.
At the height of his career he was a millionaire, and few men in the
country accumulated wealth more rapidly. He spent his money freely, and
squandered vast sums when he was making it. After he had accumulated a
fortune, he went to New York to live, and built a most pretentious
residence a few miles out of New York, on the Hudson river, which he
called Ophir Farm. After he was awarded some good mail contracts by the
Government, he built a mansion in Washington, which he furnished
superbly, and collected a large classical library, with handsomely bound
volumes, and also was a patron of art, collecting fine oil paintings of
celebrated masters in Europe and America. He also made a collection of
fine bronzes and statuary, and paid $6,000.00 each for two bronze lions.
It was in 1860 that he came into possession of the Central Overland
California Mail Line, but subsequent trouble with the Indians damaged
his property to the extent of a half million dollars. His stage stations
were burned, and his stock stolen, and stage coaches destroyed. Finally,
in 1888, being broken in health and in debt, his Washington home, with
its contents, was sold under the hammer.
He came into possession of practically all the big overland routes by
purchase and foreclosure of mortgages, and he made his vast fortune in
mail contracts from the Government. He remained at the head of the
overland line for about five years, taking possession of it in December,
1861, and disposing of it, including the stations, rolling stock and
animals, in the latter part of 1866, to Wells Fargo & Company.
Mr. Holladay died in August, 1877, in Portland, Ore., a poor man.
BUTTERFIELD’S OVERLAND DISPATCH.
One of the interesting promoters in overland staging days was D. A.
Butterfield. He came to Atchison from Denver in 1864, and engaged in the
commission business in a large stone warehouse near the Massasoit House,
and, in addition to his commission business, he was agent for a line of
packets plying between St. Louis and Atchison. Shortly after his arrival
in Atchison he began the development of an overland stage line, which
subsequently reached very large proportions. His ambition was to be at
the head of an overland stage line, and, having selected what was known
as the Smoky Hill route along the Kansas and Smoky Hill rivers, which
was fifty miles shorter than any other route to Denver, he proceeded
with the further development of his plans. He was a smart, capable,
ambitious and aggressive fellow, with vim, and was in touch with a
number of men of large means in New York, whom he soon interested in his
enterprise. Early in 1865 the following advertisement appeared in the
_Atchison Daily Free Press_, announcing Mr. Butterfield’s project:
“BUTTERFIELD’S OVERLAND DISPATCH.
“To all points in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Montana Territory.
Principal office, Atchison, Kansas. New York Office No. 1 Vesey St.
Astor House.
“Through bills of lading given from New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, and Burlington, Iowa.
“D. A. Butterfield, Proprietor, Atchison, Kansas.
“A. W. Spalding, General Agent, New York.”
Butterfield’s consuming desire was to control the big end of the
transportation business across the plains. He maintained an expensive
office in New York City and called his line “The Butterfield Overland
Dispatch.” Conspicuous signs were displayed over the doors of his office
in the Astor House, showing caravans of great covered wagons drawn by
mules and oxen, which signs attracted the attention of all. During his
promotion of this new stage line Butterfield lived in great style and
elegance in Atchison, in a house, the remains of which still stand
(1915) at the southwest corner of Fifth and S streets. He entertained
lavishly, and “champagne flowed like water” at his home when he gave a
party.
The direct route out of Atchison to Denver, chosen by Butterfield, was
in a southwesterly direction to Valley Falls, thence across the plains
to a point on the old Fort Riley military road a few miles northeast of
Topeka. The Butterfield line was first operated with mules and oxen, but
as the road grew more prosperous, four horse stages were substituted.
“Dave” Butterfield, as he was known, was determined to make Ben Holladay
a pigmy in the overland stage business. Although it was known to many
that there was more wind behind his enterprise than real money, yet in
spite of the fact that his efforts in the staging world were more or
less looked upon as a promotion scheme, he interested considerable
capital, including the United States, American and the Adams Express
companies. He was a great believer in publicity and spent large sums in
newspaper advertising, but it required much money to properly equip and
operate a stage line, and Butterfield did not have enough. In
consequence of his lack of capital, his original company failed, but was
subsequently reorganized in June, 1865. Butterfield, undaunted, went
east again and raised more money, and before his return, he capitalized
a new company with $3,000,000.00, with one-half paid in. Branch offices
were opened in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati,
Chicago, Atchison, Leavenworth, Denver and Salt Lake City. John A.
Kinney, a pioneer business man of Atchison, who had been connected with
Butterfield from the beginning, continued in charge of the Atchison
office under the reorganization, with a salary of $2,500 per year.
Shortly after the new company was organized, Butterfield inserted
another advertisement in the _Free Press_, as follows:
“BUTTERFIELD’S OVERLAND DISPATCH.
“To all points in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho,
Montana and the state of Nevada.
“Contracts can be made with this Company through their Agents to
transport freight from all the eastern cities to all localities in
the Territories, the rate to include railroad and overland carriage
and all commissions upon the Missouri River. The Company owns its
own transportation and gives a through bill of lading which protects
shipper from extreme East to the Far West.
“EXPRESS DEPARTMENT.
“About August, 1865 the Company will have a line of express coaches
running daily between Atchison, Kansas and Denver, Colorado; and
about September 1st, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and as soon in the
Spring as possible, a tri-weekly between Denver and Salt Lake City
over which merchandise will be carried at fair express rates.
“TIME TO DENVER—EIGHT (8) DAYS.
“INSTRUCTIONS: Mark goods for cattle and mule trains: ‘But’d Ov’d
Desp’h.’ Mark goods for express: B. O. D. Express, Atchison.”
Some changes were afterwards made in the location of the route, but it
left as before, in a southwesterly direction to Valley Falls. The
business of the new company was very large from the start and grew
rapidly. Steamboats discharged great quantities of freight at the
Atchison levee for shipment by Butterfield’s line. A large amount also
came from St. Joseph by railroad. In one day during July, 1865, nineteen
car loads of freight consigned to the Butterfield line at Atchison were
received for transportation across the plains. In the following month a
train was loaded with 600,000 pounds of merchandise for Salt Lake City.
One of the early stages that left Atchison on this line made the run to
Junction City, which was 119 miles, in less than twenty-four hours, or
at the rate of five and one-half miles an hour, including all stops, but
the reorganized Butterfield line was not long in operation before it met
with many obstacles. The fact that the Smoky Hill route selected by
Butterfield was not guarded by Government troops of soldiers, as the
Fort Kearney route was, caused the Indians to make many raids upon the
overland trains. A number of severe encounters with Indians were had
from time to time, until it became necessary to operate the stages with
a mounted guard in advance. It finally became so dangerous that it was
difficult to secure messengers and drivers to operate the line. This
condition became so serious that the “Overland Dispatch,” which in the
meanwhile was becoming more financially embarrassed from day to day, was
finally obliged to retire from the field. During the short time that it
lasted, it was widely known throughout the western country, and in the
East it was known in most of the leading cities. While this company, to
some extent, cut down the receipts of the Holladay line, traffic across
the plains had become so dull in the sixties that there was not much
profit in it for anybody. In March, 1866, Holladay took over the
Butterfield line and the following announcement appeared in the
newspapers:
“NOTICE.
“To the Employees of the Overland Dispatch Company.
“The Overland Stage Line and the Overland Dispatch Company have
become one property under the name of the Holladay Overland Mail &
Express Company.
“The new Company guarantees payment to the employees of the late
Overland Dispatch Company. An agent is now en route from New York to
pay them.
“David Street, Gen’l Agt.,
“Holladay Mail & Express Co.
“Atchison, Kansas, March 17, 1866.”
The business that Butterfield had worked up was continued by the new
company, but Butterfield was hopelessly down and out. While in the midst
of what appeared to be a prosperous freight business with many tons of
ponderous mining machinery in transit across the plains to the mining
camps of Colorado, the mining bubble broke, and great difficulty was
experienced in collecting freight bills that were accumulating on
machinery that was being transported across the plains, so it was
unloaded upon the plains and there it was left to rust out. In less than
eighteen months from the first organization of the Overland Dispatch,
Butterfield was a financial wreck, and the consolidation of his company
with the Holladay line was the only action that could be taken to
conserve the property which the Butterfield line had acquired.
Butterfield subsequently left Atchison and located in Mississippi, where
he organized a railroad, which also proved a failure. He left
Mississippi for Arkansas and built and operated a horse car line in Hot
Springs. He finally got into a quarrel with one of his employees, who
struck him with a neck yoke, from the effects of which he died.
OTHER ROUTES.
Atchison was an important point for stage routes as early as 1859. There
was a line of hacks which ran daily from Atchison to Leavenworth, and
another to Lawrence, and still another by Oskaloosa and Valley Falls
across the Kansas river to Lecompton, Big Springs, Tecumseh and Topeka.
To reach Lawrence from Atchison in those days, passengers were compelled
to go by Leavenworth, until a line was opened by Mount Pleasant and
Oskaloosa, reducing the distance to forty-five miles, and the fare to
$4.50. There was a line north to Doniphan, Troy, Highland and Iowa
Point. A line was also operated by Doniphan to Geary City, Troy and St.
Joseph, and still another ran by Hiawatha to Falls City, Neb. The most
important route, which had its headquarters at that time in Atchison,
was a four mule line. The Central Overland California and Pike’s Peak
Express, which with its speedy Concord stages, crossed the plains twice
a week. This was the Holladay line. The Kansas Stage Company operated a
line to Leavenworth, which made stops at Sumner and Kickapoo. A daily
line, operated by the Kansas Stage Company, ran to Junction City by way
of Mount Pleasant, Winchester, Osawkie, Mt. Florence, Indianola, Topeka,
Silver Lake, St. Marys, Louisville, Ogden and Ft. Riley. The distance
over this route was 120 miles and the fare was $10.00. There was also a
two-horse stage line carrying the mail from Atchison to Louisville, Kan.
Louisville was one of the most important towns in Pottawatomie county,
and in 1859 was an important station on the route of the Leavenworth &
Pike’s Peak Express. The mail line as then operated ran through
Monrovia, Arrington, Holton and other points to its destination in the
West. J. H. Thompson, who was an old man then, was the contractor for
carrying the mail and was well known along the whole route, being
familiarly known as “Uncle Johnny” Thompson. His stage left Atchison
every Saturday morning at 8 o’clock and arrived from Louisville on
Friday evening at 6. The fare from Atchison to Louisville was $8.00.
“ST. JOSEPH, ATCHISON AND LECOMPTON STAGE LINE.
“Passing through Geary City, Doniphan, Atchison, Manchester, Hickory
Point, and Oscaloosa, connecting at Lecompton with lines to Topeka,
Grasshopper Falls, Fort Riley, Lawrence, Kansas City, and the
Railroad at St. Joseph for the East.
“Offices—Massasoit House, Atchison. K. T., and Planter’s House, St.
Joseph, Mo.”
(From _Freedom’s Champion_, Atchison, February 12, 1859.)
LAST DAYS OF THE STAGING BUSINESS.
The people of Atchison in the sixties little realized the advantages the
town gained by being the starting point for the California mail. They
became used to it, the same as we have this day been accustomed to the
daily arrival and departure of trains, but it was a gloomy day for
Atchison when “the overland” finally pulled out of the town for good,
after having run its stages out of the city almost daily for five years.
The advance of the Union Pacific railroad from Omaha west along the
Platte to Ft. Kearney, and the completion of the Kansas Pacific railway
was the cause of the abandonment of Atchison by the “overland” as a
point of departure for the mail. The company for many weeks before its
final departure had been taking both stock and coaches off of the
eastern division from the Missouri river to Rock creek, and other steps
in preparation for moving the point of departure further west were
taken. It was a little after 11 o’clock in the morning of December 19,
1866, that the long train of Concord stages, express coaches, hacks and
other rolling stock started from their stables and yards on Second
street to leave Atchison forever. The procession went west out of
Atchison along Commercial street. Alex Benham and David Street, both
faithful employees of “The Overland,” were in charge of the procession
and they rode out of town in a Concord buggy. Other employees followed
in buggies and coaches, and then the canvas covered stages, followed by
over forty teams and loose horses, slowly moved out of town, headed for
Fort Riley and Junction City.
ROUTE FROM ATCHISON
via the
SMOKY HILL FORK ROUTE.
From Atchison to Miles Total Remarks
Mormon Grove 3½ Junction of the Great Military Road.
Monrovia 8½ 12 Provisions, entertainment and grass.
Mouth of Bill’s 13 25 On the Grasshopper, wood and grass.
Creek
Ter. Road from 15 40 Wood, water and grass.
Nebraska
Soldier Creek 10 50 Wood and grass.
Lost Creek 15 65 Wood and grass.
Louisville 10 75 Wood and grass.
Manhattan City 12 87 Water, wood and grass.
Fort Riley 15 102 Water, wood and grass.
Salina 52 154 Wood, water and grass.
Pawnee Trail- 130 284 Grass and buffalo chips.
Smoky Hill
Pawnee Fork 35 319 Grass and buffalo chips.
Arkansas Crossing 35 354 Wood, water and grass.
Bent’s Fort 150 504 Wood, water and grass.
Bent’s Old Fort 40 544 Water and grass.
Huerfano 40 584 Water and grass.
Fontaine qui 15 599 Wood, water and grass.
Bouille
Crossing of same 18 617 Wood, water and grass.
Jim’s Camp 15 632 Water and grass.
Brush Corral 12 644 Wood, water and grass.
Head of Cherry 26 670 Wood, water and grass.
Creek
Crossing of Same 35 705 From this point to the mines there is
heavy timber, and grass and water in
abundance.
Mines 6 711
From _Freedom’s Champion_, February 12, 1859.
ROUTE FROM ATCHISON
via
The Great Military Road to Salt Lake, and Col. Fremont’s Route in 1841.
From Atchison to Miles Total Remarks
Marmon Grove 3½ Junction of the Great Military Road.
Lancaster 5½ 9 Provisions and grass.
Huron (Cross. 4 13 Provisions and grass. First Salt Lake
Grasshopper) Mail Station.
Kennekuk, do main 10 23 Provisions, timber, and grass.
do
Capioma (Walnut 17 40 Provisions, timber, and grass.
Creek)
Richmond (head of 15 55 Salt Lake Mail Station and provisions.
Nemaha)
Marysville 40 95 Water and Grass.
Small Creek on 10 105 Luxuriant grass.
Prairie
Small Creek 10 115 Water and grass.
Small Creek 7 122 Wood and grass.
Wyth Creek 7 129 Wood and grass.
Big Sandy Creek 13 142 Wood and luxuriant grass.
Dry Sandy Creek 17 159 Heavy timber.
Little Blue River 12 171 Wood and grass.
Road leaves 44 215 Wood and grass.
Little Blue
Small Creek 7 222 Wood, grass and buffalo.
Platte River 17 239 Salt Lake Mail Station and provisions.
Ft. Kearney 10 249
17 Mile point 17 26 Wood, water and grass.
Plum Creek 18 284 Wood and grass.
Cottonwood Spring 40 324 Wood and grass.
Fremont’s Springs 40 364 Luxuriant grass.
O’Fallon’s Bluffs 5 369 Wood, water and grass.
Crossing South 40 409 Wood, water, and grass.
Platte
Ft. St. Vrain 200 609 Provisions, and from this to the mines
the route is well timbered and watered.
Cherry Creek 40 649
From _Freedom’s Champion_, February 12, 1859.
* * * * *
TABLE OF DISTANCES
—From—
ATCHISON TO THE GOLD MINES,
via the
First Standard Parallel Route to the Republican Fork of the Kansas
River, thence following the Trail of Colonel Fremont on his Explorations
in 1843, to Cherry Creek and the Mines.
* * * * *
Compiled from Colonel Fremont’s Surveys, and the most reliable
information derived from the traders across the Great Plains.
From Atchison to Miles Total Remarks
Lancaster 9 Settlement, provisions and grass.
Muscotah, on 11 20 Settlement, provisions and grass.
Grasshopper
Eureka 11 31 Settlement, provisions and grass.
Ontario, on Elk 10 41 Settlement, provisions and grass.
Creek
America, on 9 50 Settlement, provisions and grass.
Soldiers Creek
Vermillion City 25 75 Settlement, entertainment and provisions.
Crossing of Big 3 78
Blue
Little Blue creek 17 95 Heavy timber and grass.
Head of Blue 23 118 Timber and grass.
creek
Republican Fork 12 130 Wood, water and grass.
Republican Fork 2 132 Colonel Fremont describes this section as
crossing “affording an excellent road, it being
generally over high and level prairies,
with numerous streams which are well
timbered with ash, elm, and very heavy
oak, and abounding in herds of buffalo,
elk and antelope.”
Branch of 38 170
Solomon’s Fork
Leaves Solomon’s 75 245
Fork
Branch of 15 260
Republican Fork
Following up Rep. 190 450 Heavy timber and grass on course.
to its head
Beaver Creek 23 473 Wood, grass and buffalo.
Bijou Creek 22 495 Wood, grass and buffalo.
Kioway Creek 15 510 The route from this point to the mines
runs thro’ a country well timbered and
watered, with luxuriant grass and
plenty of wild game.
Cherry Creek and 25 535
Mines
From _Freedom’s Champion_, February 12, 1859.
[Illustration:
Main Entrance to Jackson Park, Atchison, Kansas
]
_Freedom’s Champion_: October 30, 1858.
A TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF TRAINS
Which have left Atchison this season, for Salt Lake City and other
Points on the Plains, Together with the Number of Men, Cattle, Mules,
Horses and wagons engaged in transporting, and the Amount of the Freight
Shipped:
Owners. Residence. Freighters.
Radford, Cabot & Co. St. Louis P. M. Chateau & Co.
John M. Hockady & Co. Mail Contractors First Supply Train
Dyer, Mason & Co. Independence W. H. Dyer & Co.
S. G. Mason & Co. Independence E. C. Chiles
Radford, Cabot & Co. St. Louis J. B. Doyle
John M. Hockady & Co. Mail Contractors Second Supply Train
C. C. Branham Weston C. C. Branham
C. A. Perry & Co. Weston C. A. Perry & Co.
R. H. Dyer & Co. Fort Kearney R. H. Dyer & Co.
F. J. Marshall Marysville F. J. Marshall
Irvin & Young Independence Irvin & Young
Livingston, Kinkead & Co. New York Irvin & Young
J. M. Guthrie & Co. Weston, Mo. S. M. Guthrie & Co.
Curtas Clayton Leavenworth C. C. Branham
Reynald & McDonald Fort Laramie Reynald & McDonald
C. Martin Green River C. Martin
Livingston, Kinkead & Co. New York Hord & Smith
Hord & Smith Independence Hord & Smith
Bisonette & Lazinette Deer Creek Bisonette & Lazinette
Ballord & Moralle Marysville J. S. Watson
R. H. Dyer & Co. Fort Kearney R. H. Dyer & Co.
John M. Hockady & Co. Independence Third Supply Train
Geo. Chorpoening California A. J. Schell
Hockady, Burr & Co. Salt Lake City Hockady, Burr & Co.
Owners. Residence. Destination.
Radford, Cabot & Co. Kansas City Salt Lake City
John M. Hockady & Co. Independence S. L. M. Stations
Dyer, Mason & Co. Independence Salt Lake City
S. G. Mason & Co. Independence Salt Lake City
Radford, Cabot & Co. New Mexico Salt Lake City
John M. Hockady & Co. Independence S. L. M. Stations
C. C. Branham Weston Salt Lake City
C. A. Perry & Co. Weston Salt Lake City
R. H. Dyer & Co. Fort Kearney Fort Kearney
F. J. Marshall Marysville Palmetto
Irvin & Young Independence Salt Lake City
Livingston, Kinkead & Co. Independence Salt Lake City
J. M. Guthrie & Co. Weston Salt Lake City
Curtas Clayton Weston Salt Lake City
Reynald & McDonald Fort Laramie Fort Laramie
C. Martin Green River Green River
Livingston, Kinkead & Co. Independence Salt Lake City
Hord & Smith Independence Do and Way Points
Bisonette & Lazinette Deer Creek Labonto
Ballord & Moralle Marysville Marysville
R. H. Dyer & Co. Fort Kearney
John M. Hockady & Co. S. L. M. Stations
Geo. Chorpoening Pennsylvania Cal. & S. L. Stat’s
Hockady, Burr & Co. Utah Salt Lake City
Owners. Wagons. Men. Oxen. Horses. Mules. Lbs. Mdse.
Radford, Cabot & Co. 32 40 480 8 12 181,587
John M. Hockady & Co. 10 20 80 23,000
Dyer, Mason & Co. 60 70 720 5 21 315,000
S. G. Mason & Co. 27 35 350 3 6 149,000
Radford, Cabot & Co. 38 43 460 13 198,500
John M. Hockady & Co. 10 18 85 21,000
C. C. Branham 28 36 380 12 6 145,500
C. A. Perry & Co. 91 123 1,080 7 18 500,501
R. H. Dyer & Co. 38 70 456 4 7 212,800
F. J. Marshall 20 25 280 1 3 120,000
Irvin & Young 32 40 384 1 7 160,000
Livingston, Kinkead & Co. 52 59 624 2 12 234,017
J. M. Guthrie & Co. 50 60 700 3 8 252,000
Curtas Clayton 12 25 380 1 12 66,000
Reynald & McDonald 9 15 163 2 6 49,000
C. Martin 7 12 84 6 1 35,000
Livingston, Kinkead & Co. 40 50 5 325 159,400
Hord & Smith 10 15 2 85 37,400
Bisonette & Lazinette 13 20 156 6 67,600
Ballord & Moralle 9 13 108 3 45,000
R. H. Dyer & Co. 13 20 158 2 68,100
John M. Hockady & Co. 57 60 6 312 204,000
Geo. Chorpoening 12 20 80 21,000
Hockady, Burr & Co. 105 225 1,000 50 200 465,500
——— ————— ————— ——— ————— —————————
776 1,114 7,963 142 1,286 3,730,905
CHAPTER XI.
RAILROADS.
EARLY RAILROAD AGITATION—THE FIRST RAILROAD—CELEBRATING THE ADVENT OF
THE RAILROAD—OTHER ROADS CONSTRUCTED—THE SANTA FE—THE ATCHISON &
NEBRASKA CITY—THE KANSAS CITY, LEAVENWORTH & ATCHISON—THE ROCK
ISLAND—THE HANNIBAL & ST. JOSEPH—THE FIRST TELEGRAPH—MODERN
TRANSPORTATION.
Eight years before the last stage pulled out of Atchison the agitation
for a railroad began. The first charter provided for the construction of
a railroad from Atchison to St. Joseph. As appeared in an earlier
chapter, the city council of Atchison at its first meeting called an
election March 15, 1858, to vote on a proposition to subscribe for
$100,000 in stock. The election was held in the store of the Burnes
Brothers, and S. H. Petefish, Charles E. Woolfolk and Dr. C. A. Logan
were judges of election. The proposition carried almost unanimously,
and, in addition to the stock subscribed for by the city, the citizens
of the town subscribed for $100,000 in stock individually. The following
May the contract for the construction of the road was awarded to
Butcher, Auld & Dean at $3,700 per mile. There were fourteen other
bidders. The members of the firm which made the successful bid were:
Ephraim Butcher, David Auld, James Auld and William Dean. Work of
construction was started May 12, 1858, but was not finished until
February 22, 1860. The completion of this road to Atchison was of very
far reaching importance. The town was wild with excitement, for the new
railroad gave the town its first direct rail connection with the east.
Its terminus at Winthrop (East Atchison) was the first western point
east of the Rocky mountains reached by a railroad at that time in the
United States, save one. The first railroad built between the
Mississippi and the Missouri rivers was the Hannibal & St. Joseph, which
was completed to St. Joseph February 23, 1859, and the new railroad from
Atchison connected with the Hannibal & St. Joseph at the latter point.
Richard B. Morris was the first conductor of the Atchison road, and he
subsequently became internal revenue collector of Kansas under
Cleveland. Following the completion of the road, a great celebration was
held at Atchison June 13, 1860, and the people not only celebrated the
completion of the St. Joseph line, but also the breaking of ground on
the Atchison & Pike’s Peak railroad, now the Central Branch. Great
preparations were made for the celebration weeks in advance and promptly
following the hour of 12 o’clock on the morning of June 13, 1860, the
firing of 100 guns at intervals began, which was kept up with monotonous
regularity until daybreak. Flags and bunting fluttered from poles and
windows throughout the city, and a special train of invited guests from
the East arrived at Winthrop before noon with flags flying and bands
playing. The passenger steamer, “Black Hawk,” loaded to the guards with
citizens from Kansas City, reached Atchison early in the morning, and
leading citizens also came from Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Lawrence, Topeka
and other towns. The city had been cleaned up and put in holiday attire
by the city authorities. The town had never before presented such a gay
appearance. Frank A. Root in his interesting book, “The Overland Stage
to California,” who was present at the celebration, has perhaps written
the most interesting account of this event that has ever been printed.
He says:
“In the procession that formed along Second street, one of the unique
and attractive features was a mammoth government wagon trimmed with
evergreens and loaded with thirty-four girls dressed in white,
representing every State in the Union and the Territory of Kansas. There
were three other wagons filled with little girls similarly dressed,
representing all the forty-one counties of Kansas in its last year of
territorial existence.
“One of the contractors for government freighting had a huge prairie
schooner, drawn by twenty-nine yoke of oxen, the head of each animal
ornamented with a small flag, while he himself was mounted upon a mule.
The contractor was quite an attraction, dressed in the peculiar western
prairie and plains frontier cow-boy costume with buckskin pants, red
flannel shirt, boots nearly knee high, with revolver and bowie knife
buckled around his waist, dangling by his side. The procession in line,
marched west along Commercial street to near Tenth. It was a long one
and it was estimated that there were 7,000 people in it and at least
10,000 in the city witnessing the festivities. The ceremony of breaking
ground for these two roads took place about noon, but there was nothing
particularly imposing about it. The most important part of the
ceremonies was the turning over of a few spadefuls of dirt by Col. Peter
T. Abell, president of the road, and Capt. Eph. Butcher, the contractor,
who built the Atchison & St. Joseph road. The event was witnessed by
fully 5,000 people, after which the monster procession formed, and,
headed by a brass band, and other bands at different places in the line,
marched across White Clay creek to the grove in the southwest part of
the city, where the oration was delivered by Benj. F. Stringfellow.
Following the oration several speeches were made by the most prominent
of the invited guests, one of them by Col. C. K. Holliday, of Topeka,
one of the founders of the great Santa Fe system. The barbeque was an
important feature of the affair. Six beeves, twenty hogs, and over fifty
sheep, pigs and lambs were roasted. There was also prepared more than
one hundred boiled hams, several thousand loaves of bread, cakes by the
hundred, besides sundry other delicacies to tickle the palate and help
make the occasion one long to be remembered by all present. The
exercises were quite elaborate and wound up with a ball in the evening
at A. S. Parker’s hall on the west side of Sixth street, between
Commercial and Main and a wine supper in Charley Holbert’s building on
Second street, just north of the Massasoit House. Many visitors came
from a long distance east, some as far as New England. Most of the
Northern States were represented, and a few came from the South. Free
transportation was furnished the invited guests. Hundreds came by rail
and steamboat and many poured in from the surrounding country for miles,
in wagons and on horseback, from eastern Kansas and western Missouri.”
While a strong movement for the construction of railroads was started in
1860, it was soon discovered that much progress could not be made in the
face of the unsettled conditions brought on by the Civil war, and, as a
result a further effort in that direction, was, for the time being,
abandoned. However, Luther C. Challiss did not give up his idea of
projecting a road to the West, and to him more than to anybody else
belongs the credit of starting the first road west out of Atchison. He
obtained a charter for the building of the Atchison & Pike’s Peak
railroad and this company was organized February 11, 1859, but on
account of the war was not opened to Waterville until January 20, 1868.
Challiss obtained possession of 150,000 acres of land from the Kickapoo
Indians by a treaty, and, upon the organization of the company he was
elected president. The land he secured from the Indians was, for the
most part, located in Atchison county, around Muscotah, and adjoining
counties. With Mr. Challiss were associated Charles B. Keith, who was
the agent of the Kickapoo Indians, George W. Glick and Senators Pomeroy
and Lane. In the charter for this road provision was made for its
construction 100 miles west of Atchison. Col. William Osborn, who had
constructed the west half of the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, built
the first section of the Central Branch to Waterville. He named the town
after his old home in New York, where he was born. It was proposed at
this point to make a connection with a branch running from Kansas City
to Ft. Kearney, Neb., but the Kansas City road was subsequently changed
to Denver, and for this reason it has been said the Central Branch was
not completed to Denver, as originally planned.
The Atchison & Pike’s Peak Railroad Company was incorporated by special
act of the Territorial legislature of the Territory of Kansas, chapter
48, “Private Laws of Kansas, 1859,” and authorized to construct a
railroad from Atchison to the western boundary of the Territory in the
direction of Pike’s Peak. Subsequently, the Atchison & Pike’s Peak
Railroad Company became the assignee of all the rights, privileges and
franchises of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company, given and
granted under an Act of Congress, of July 8, 1862, Twelfth Statute, page
489, entitled: “An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad and
telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to
secure to the government the use of same for postal, military and other
purposes,” which provided that the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad
Company might extend its road from St. Joseph via Atchison, to connect
and unite with a railroad in Kansas, provided for in said Act, for one
hundred miles in length next to the Missouri river, and might, for that
purpose, use any railroad charter, which had, or might have been
granted, by the legislature of Kansas. Accordingly, the work of
construction from Atchison west was inaugurated under the name of the
Atchison & Pike’s Peak Railroad Company. On January 1, 1867, by virtue
of the laws of the State of Kansas, the name of Atchison & Pike’s Peak
Railroad Company was changed to the Central Branch Union Pacific
Railroad Company, and the latter company completed the railroad from
Atchison to Waterville.
THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILWAY COMPANY.
The first real move for the construction of a railroad from the Missouri
river, west, resulted in a charter granted by the Territorial
legislature to the St. Joseph & Topeka Railroad Company February 20,
1857. Under the terms of the charter the road was to start from St.
Joseph, Mo.; thence crossing the river through Doniphan, Atchison and
Jefferson counties to Topeka. The charter was subsequently amended and
the road was extended in the direction of Santa Fe, N. M., to the
southwestern line of Kansas, which is practically the same route now
traversed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad. The desire on the
part of the people for direct railroad connection with the Missouri
river and the East gave to this movement great impetus, and there was
considerable rivalry between the towns to offer aid and assistance. The
people of Atchison were particularly anxious to make this town the
terminal point and the future railway center of the great trans-
continental system, and strongly opposed any project which would make
Atchison simply a way station on the great road to the West. With a view
to avert such action on the part of those behind the movement to
construct this road, it was determined to make Atchison the eastern
terminus of the same. Accordingly, Atchison loaned its credit to the
amount of $150,000. by aid of which subsidy a direct road was built on
the Missouri side of the river from St. Joseph and thence north under
another charter with Atchison, Kan., instead of St. Joseph as the
eastern terminus, the enterprise was carried on and as a result the
citizens of Kansas Territory were much elated with the added prestige of
the railroad being a Kansas corporation. The Atchison & Topeka Railroad
Company was incorporated by an Act of the legislature February 11, 1859.
Those named as the original incorporators were: S. C. Pomeroy, Atchison;
C. K. Halliday, Topeka; Luther C. Challiss, Atchison; Peter T. Abell,
Atchison; Aspah Allen, Topeka: Milton C. Dickey, Topeka; Samuel Dickson,
Atchison; Wilson L. Gordon, Topeka; George S. Hillyer, Grasshopper
Falls; Lorenzo D. Bird, Atchison; Jeremiah Marshall, Topeka; George H.
Fairchild, Atchison; F. L. Crane, Topeka. The company was “authorized to
survey, locate, construct, complete, alter, maintain and operate a
railroad with one or more tracks from or near Atchison in Kansas
Territory, to the town of Topeka, in Kansas Territory, and to such point
on the southern or western boundary of said Territory in the direction
of Santa Fe as may be convenient and suitable for the construction of
said road and also to construct a branch to any point on the southern
line of said Territory in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico.” The
authorized capital stock was $1,500,000, and the first meeting for
organization under the charter was held at the office of Luther C.
Challis in Atchison September 15, 1859, at which meeting $52,000 of the
first subscription of stock was paid, and the following directors were
chosen: L. C. Challiss, George H. Fairchild, P. T. Abell, S. C. Pomeroy,
L. D. Bird, C. K. Halliday, F. L. Crane, E. G. Ross, Joel H. Huntoon, M.
C. Dickey, Jacob Safford, R. H. Weightman, and J. H. Stringfellow. The
officers were: C. K. Holliday, president; P. T. Abell, secretary; M. C.
Dickey, treasurer. It will be seen that the majority of the
incorporators and of the officers were citizens of Atchison, and it is
an important fact in the history of Kansas that Atchison county played
such an important part in the organization and construction of the first
railroad lines in the State. Had it not been for the terrible drought of
1860, which totally paralyzed all classes of business, the work of
constructing this road immediately following its organization would have
gone forward, but the famine which followed the drought was so complete
and so widely distributed throughout the State and the western country
as to almost destroy the farming interests. During this period the
directors of the road decided to press the claims of Kansas for a
national subsidy for the construction of railroads, and President C. K.
Holliday, with a number of his associates, spent much time in Washington
during 1859 and 1860. Their work was not in vain, for on March 3, 1863,
Congress made a grant of land to the State of Kansas, giving alternate
sections one mile square and ten in width, amounting to 6,400 acres per
mile, on condition that the Atchison-Topeka road should be finished on
or before 1873. The State accepted the grant and transferred it to this
road February 9, 1864. It was in October, 1868, almost ten years after
the date that the first charter was granted to this road that work of
construction was begun in Topeka. The road was first built in a
southerly direction so as to reach the coal region in Osage county. It
was opened to Carbondale, eighteen miles from Topeka, in July, 1869, and
reached Wichita, 163 miles from Topeka, in May, 1872, and at about the
same time in 1872 the road was completed from Topeka to Atchison, a
distance of fifty-one miles.
ATCHISON & NEBRASKA CITY RAILROAD.
On May 5, 1867, the charter for the Atchison & Nebraska City Railroad
Company was filed in the office of the secretary of State of the State
of Kansas. The original incorporators of this road were Peter T. Abell,
George W. Glick, Alfred G. Otis, John M. Price, W. W. Cochrane, Albert
H. Horton, Samuel A. Kingman, J. T. Hereford and Augustus Byram, all of
whom were citizens of Atchison. The charter provided for the
construction of a railroad from “some point in the city of Atchison to
some point on the north line of the State of Kansas, not farther west
than twenty-five miles from the Missouri river, and the length of the
proposed railroad will not exceed forty-five miles.” Shortly after the
road was incorporated the name was changed to the Atchison & Nebraska
Railroad Company, and under this name subscriptions in bonds and capital
stock were made in Atchison and Doniphan counties. Atchison county
subscribed for $150,000, and in addition to the subscription of the
county there were individual subscriptions amounting to $80,000 in the
county. Work was commenced on the road in 1869, and it was completed in
1871 to the northern boundary of Doniphan county, three miles north of
Whitecloud. The stockholders of Atchison graded the road bed to the
State line, constructed bridges and furnished the ties, after which the
entire property was given to a Boston syndicate in consideration of the
completion and operation of the road. This railroad was afterwards
consolidated with the Atchison, Lincoln & Columbus Railroad Company of
Nebraska, which road had been authorized to construct a railroad from
the northern terminal point of the Atchison & Nebraska railroad to
Columbus, on the Union Pacific railroad, by way of Lincoln, and the road
was completed to Lincoln in the fall of 1872. This consolidated road was
purchased by the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company in 1880.
KANSAS CITY, LEAVENWORTH & ATCHISON RAILWAY COMPANY.
This road was organized by articles of association filed in the office
of the Secretary of the State of Kansas September 21, 1867, and March
25, 1868, and the Missouri River Railroad Company by articles of
association filed February 20, 1865, and the construction of the
Leavenworth, Atchison & Northwestern railroad was commenced at
Leavenworth in March, 1869, and completed to Atchison in September,
1869. The stock held in the company by Leavenworth county, aggregating
$500,000, was donated to this road to aid in its extension to Atchison,
and the first train into Atchison arrived in the latter part of 1869. It
was not until July, 1882, however, that the first train was run through
from Atchison to Omaha over the line of the Missouri Pacific railroad,
which subsequently absorbed the Leavenworth, Atchison & Northwestern
Railroad Company.
THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company was one of the last
of the railroads to make connection with Atchison. This line was
originally projected to Leavenworth, but reached Atchison shortly after.
The construction of the Atchison branch was begun in 1872, and in July
of that year the first train was run into the city.
All of these roads having been organized and constructed and in
operation, the next movement that took place in transportation circles
was the erection of the bridge across the Missouri river, work upon
which was commenced in August, 1874, and completed in July, 1875. This
bridge is 1,182 feet long and the stone for the piers and abutments upon
which it rests was taken from the quarries at Cottonwood Falls, Chase
county. It was originally built by the American Bridge Company of
Chicago, and was rebuilt entirely new, except for the piers, in 1898.
Shortly after the erection of the bridge, connecting Missouri with
Kansas at Atchison, the first railroad depot was built upon the site of
the present union station, which was completed and dedicated September
7, 1880. There was a great deal of discussion as to the proper location
of a depot before the building was finally erected, and it was through
the efforts of the Burneses that its location on Main street, between
Second and Fourth street, was selected. The capital stock of the
original Depot Company was $100,000,000, of which the railroad companies
then entering the city subscribed for $70,000. The balance of the stock
was taken by individuals. The cost of the original depot was $120,000,
and the architect was William E. Taylor, who planned the old union
station in Kansas City. James A. McGonigle, who was the contractor for
the old Kansas City station, also built the Atchison union depot. It was
built of the finest pressed brick from St. Louis, and trimmed with cut
stone from the Cottonwood Falls quarries. Its length was 235 feet, with
an “L” ninety-six feet long. It was two stories high with a mansard
roof. It was an ornamental, and, in those days, an imposing structure.
The ceremonies accompanying its dedication were witnessed by a great
crowd, and many great men in the railroad and political life of Kansas
participated in them. Gen. Benjamin F. Stringfellow delivered the
address, and a banquet was served in the evening, followed by a
procession and fire-works. Two years later, in June, 1882, this depot
was partially destroyed by fire, suffering a loss of $10,000, but it was
immediately rebuilt. On January 6, 1888, another fire completely
destroyed the building, and the present union station was erected a
short time later.
HANNIBAL & ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD.
On and after Monday, February 28, this road will be open for business
throughout its entire length. Passenger trains will leave St. Joseph for
Hannibal every morning, making close connection with steam packets to
St. Louis and Quincy, and affording direct connection with all the
railroads east of the Mississippi river. Time from St. Joseph to
Hannibal, eleven hours, and to St. Louis, eighteen hours, saving more
than three days over any other route. Trains from the east will arrive
in St. Joseph every evening, connecting with a daily line of packets
running between St. Joseph and Kansas City; also a line up the Missouri
to the Bluffs. Passengers from all parts of Kansas will find this the
quickest and most agreeable route to St. Louis and all points on the
Mississippi, giving those going east a choice between the routes from
St. Louis, Alton and Quincy. Fare will be as low as by any other route.
Favorable arrangements will be made for taking freight, saving most of
the heavy insurance on the Missouri river. Express freight will be taken
through much quicker than by any other line.
Tickets can be had at the office in St. Joseph for nearly all parts of
the country.
JOSIAH HUNT, Sup’t.
P. B. GROAT, Gen’l. Ticket Ag’t.
Feb. 1st, 1859.
no. 48–lm.
(From _Freedom’s Champion_, Atchison, February 12, 1859.)
HANNIBAL & ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD.
NEW ROUTE OPEN FOR THE EAST AND SOUTH.
Passengers for St. Louis, northern Missouri, Iowa, Chicago, Cincinnati,
Detroit, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans,
Louisville and Southern States, will find this the shortest, quickest
and most desirable route to the above points. On the 1st day of February
only fifteen miles of staging intervenes between St. Joseph and
Hannibal, and on the 1st day of March, 1859, the road will be completed,
and open for through travel the entire length. A daily line of stages
from Atchison, passing through Doniphan and Geary City, connects at St.
Joseph with the H. & St. Jo. railroad. From Hannibal a daily line of
packets leave upon arrival of cars for St. Louis, upon the opening of
navigation, and boats connect at Quincy with the C. B. & Q. railroad for
Chicago, and with the G. W. railroad for Toledo via Naples. This is in
every respect the best route for eastern and southern passengers. Trains
leave St. Joseph for the east daily.
JOSIAH HUNT, Sup’t.
P. B. GROAT, General Ticket Agent.
(no. 47)
(From _Freedom’s Champion_, Atchison, February 12, 1859.)
THE FIRST TELEGRAPH.
It was a little over six months after the completion of the Atchison &
St. Joseph railroad that the first telegraph connection was established
between Atchison and the world. The construction of the Missouri &
Western telegraph line was begun in Syracuse, Mo., in 1859. Charles M.
Stebbins built this telegraph line, which extended from Syracuse to Ft.
Smith, Ark. A branch of this line was extended westward to Kansas City,
and reached Leavenworth along in the spring of 1859. August 15, 1859,
this branch was extended to Atchison, and it was a proud day in the
history of this city. The first office was in a brick building on
Commercial street adjoining the office of _Freedom’s Champion_. John T.
Tracy was the first operator. Gen. Samuel C. Pomeroy was mayor, and on
this account the honor was given him of sending the first message, which
was as follows: “Atchison, August 15, 1859. His Honor, H. B. Denman,
Mayor of Leavenworth. Our medium of communication is perfect. May our
fraternal relations continue—may our prosperity and success equal our
highest efforts. S. C. Pomeroy, Mayor of Atchison.” Mayor Denman replied
as follows: “Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, Mayor of Atchison. May each push
forward its works of enterprise and the efforts of each be crowned with
success. H. B. Denman, Mayor of Leavenworth.” Congratulations were next
exchanged between Atchison and St. Louis, as follows: “Atchison, August
15, 1859. Hon. O. D. Filley, Mayor of St. Louis. For the first time
since the world began, a telegraph message is sent to St. Louis from
this place, the farthest telegraph station in the West. Accept our
congratulations and aid us in our progress westward. S. C. Pomeroy,
Mayor of Atchison.” It was in October of that same year that the first
news was flashed over the wire telling of the capture of Harper’s Ferry
by old John Brown.
In connection with the question of early day transportation in Atchison
county, it would be an oversight to fail to mention the efforts of one
Thomas L. Fortune to improve the means of locomotion. Mr. Fortune was a
citizen of Mt. Pleasant, and in the fall of 1859 he conceived the scheme
which he believed would revolutionize the whole transportation problem.
He planned a steam wagon with which he expected to haul freight across
the plains. The following year he built at St. Louis, a large vehicle,
twenty feet long by eight feet wide. The wheels were twenty inches wide
and eight feet in diameter. This wagon was transported up the Missouri
river to Atchison from St. Louis on the steamer, “Meteor,” and was
landed from the steamer in front of the White Mice saloon, which was a
noted resort on the Atchison levee at that time, in the latter part of
June, 1860. The following account is taken from Frank A. Root’s
“Overland Stage to California”:
A day or two after its arrival (referring to Fortune’s wagon) Mr. Root
says that it was arranged that the steam wagon should make a trial trip
on the Fourth of July. The monster was accordingly fired up on the
eighty-fourth National anniversary and started by an engineer named
Callahan. The wagon was ornamented with a number of flags and loaded
with a crowd of anxious men and boys. When everything was in readiness
the valve was opened and the wagon moved off in a southerly direction
from the levee. It went all right until it reached the foot of
Commercial street, about a square away. The pilot failing to turn the
machine, it kept on straight up to the sidewalk and ran into A. S.
Parker’s warehouse, which stood so many years by the old historic
cottonwood tree at the southeast corner of Commercial street and the
levee. The result of this awkward blunder was an accident, in which a
son of the owner of the wagon had an arm broken, as the machine crashed
into the side of the building, which was a long, one-story frame
cottonwood structure that for a number of years was a noted landmark in
Atchison. The excited engineer was at once let out and Lewis Higby,
another engineer, and a natural genius, was sent for. Higby mounted the
wagon and took his place at the engine, backed the machine out into the
middle of the road and in a few minutes went sailing gracefully along
west on Commercial street at about six miles per hour. When in front of
Jesse Crall’s stable at the corner of Sixth street, before that part of
Commercial street had been graded, it went down a little hill at a
lively speed, but Higby kept it going and did not stop until it reached
L. C. Challiss’ addition, just south and west from Commercial and Eighth
streets, near Morgan Willard’s old foundry, built in 1859, away from the
business and residence portion of the city.
After the wagon crossed Eighth street and was beyond the business
houses, Higby turned on more steam, and the monster vehicle made about
eight miles an hour, cavorting around on the bottom, there being only a
few scattering buildings then west of Eighth street. To test the
practicability of the machine, it was run into hollows and gullies, and,
where the ground was soft it was found that the ponderous wheels would
sink into the mud when standing still in soft ground. The result of the
trial, witnessed by hundreds, was disappointing to most of those
present. The inventor, who had spent a large amount of money and much
time in trying to perfect his steam wagon and solve the overland
transportation problem, was the worst disappointed. He was thoroughly
disgusted. He saw at once that the use of the vehicle was impracticable
and that it would never answer the purpose. That trial trip was the
first and only one the “overland steam wagon” ever made. It was
accordingly abandoned on the bottom where the tracks of the Central
Branch and Santa Fe roads are now laid, and was never afterwards fired
up. Those who had crossed the plains with mules and oxen, knew it could
never be used in overland freighting. There was no use for any such
vehicle and the anticipated reduction in prices of ox and mule teams did
not take place. The timbers used in the framework of the machine that
were not stolen finally went to decay, and the machinery was afterwards
taken out and disposed of for other purposes.
MODERN TRANSPORTATION.
The propitious beginning that Atchison had as a commercial and
transportation center should have made the town one of the largest and
most important railroad terminals in the West. That was the hope and
aspiration of its original founders, and for many years afterwards it
was a cherished idea. But Kansas City was subsequently selected as the
point of vantage, and the builders of this great western empire have
since centralized their activities at the mouth of the “Kaw,” and it is
there that the metropolis of the West will be built. However, a
marvelous development has taken place here since the day of the Holladay
and Butterfield stage lines and slow-moving ox and mule trains across
the plains. We no longer marvel at the volume of trade and freight
tonnage and the multitude of travelers that pass through Atchison every
year. We take these things as a matter of course, and make no note of
the daily arrival and departure of the fifty-six passenger trains at our
union depot every day; we marvel not at the speed and the ease and
comfort with which we can make the trip to St. Louis or Chicago, over
night, or to Denver in less than twenty-four hours, or to New York in
two and one-half days, and to San Francisco in less than five,
surrounded by every luxury money can buy. We have accustomed ourselves
to these marvels, just as we have learned to make use of the telephone
and the telegraph, and a little later on will begin to use the air ship
and the wireless. Nature has a way of easily adjusting mankind to these
changed conditions.
CHAPTER XII.
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY PIONEERS.
D. R. ATCHISON—MATT GERBER—J. H. TALBOTT—WILLIAM OSBORNE—JOHN W. CAIN—
W. L. CHALLISS—GEORGE SCARBOROUGH—SAMUEL HOLLISTER—JOHN TAYLOR—
JOHN M. CROWELL—LUTHER DICKERSON—LUTHER C. CHALLISS—GEORGE W.
GLICK—W. K. GRIMES—JOSHUA WHEELER—WILLIAM HETHERINGTON—WILLIAM C.
SMITH—JOHN M. PRICE—SAMUEL C. KING—CLEM ROHR—R. H. WEIGHTMAN—CASE
OF MAJOR WEIGHTMAN.
One of the really creditable and most pretentious newspaper enterprises
ever undertaken and accomplished in Kansas was E. W. Howe’s Historical
Edition of the _Atchison Daily Globe_. It contains much interesting and
valuable information written in the unique style which has made Mr. Howe
famous. With the consent of Mr. Howe, which he has very kindly granted
the author of this history, there will appear in this chapter, almost
verbatim, a number of biographical sketches and other interesting
matter, which should be printed in book form so that it could be assured
of a permanent place in the archives of the State. There are but few
copies left, and these are in a bad state of disintegration. The sketch
of Gen. D. R. Atchison will first be reproduced herein, and then will
follow others, touching upon the lives and characters of early settlers,
who contributed their part to the upbuilding of this community. Much has
already appeared in this history touching upon the activities of General
Atchison, but a sketch of his life is important, inasmuch as he is
perhaps the most conspicuous early-day character in the history of
Atchison county.
GENERAL D. R. ATCHISON.
David Rice Atchison, for whom Atchison was named, was born near
Lexington, Fayette county, Kentucky, August 11, 1807. The son of William
Atchison, a wealthy farmer of that county, he received all the
advantages of a liberal education. His mother’s maiden name was
Catherine Allen, a native of the State of Georgia. William Atchison, the
father, was a Pennsylvanian by birth.
David R. Atchison was blessed with six children, four sons and two
daughters. In 1825 he graduated with high honor from Transylvania
University, then the leading institution of learning in the State, and
since incorporated in the new University of Kentucky.
Upon receiving his degrees in the arts, Mr. Atchison immediately applied
himself to the study of law. In 1829 Mr. Atchison was admitted to
practice in his native State, and a few months after, in 1830, removed
to the comparatively wild district of Clay county, Missouri. In April of
that year he received in St. Louis his license to practice in the
supreme court of the State and immediately settled in the village of
Liberty, now the county seat of Clay county. About this period, Mr.
Atchison was appointed major general of the northern division of the
Missouri State militia.
General Atchison soon commanded a lucrative practice in his new home,
where he continued to reside in the discharge of the duties of his
profession until February, 1841, when his superior legal attainments,
which were known and recognized throughout the State, won for him the
appointment as judge of the district court of Platte county on its
organization in February of that year, when he moved his residence to
Platte City. It appears that in that day judges were appointed to this
position by the Government, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The office was not made elective until several years after. In 1834 and
1838 he was elected to the Missouri legislature from Clay county.
Upon the death of Dr. Lyon, United States senator, in 1838, Judge
Atchison was appointed by Governor Reynolds to the vacancy in the
Senate. It was by many considered that this appointment was merited and
he had been recommended by Colonel Benton and other authorities of the
Democratic party; by others it was said that the governor himself was
ambitious of the senatorship and had selected Judge Atchison as a person
who could be easily beaten at the next election. The death of Governor
Reynolds, however, occurred before the meeting of the next legislature
and Judge Atchison was elected with but slight opposition. He was
reëlected for two more terms, the last of which expired March 4, 1855,
during the administration of Franklin Pierce. Two years after this he
moved his residence from Platte to Clinton county. He was elected
president of the Senate to succeed Judge Mangun, a Whig senator from
North Carolina.
The 4th of March, 1849, occurring on Sunday, Zachary Taylor was not
inaugurated until the following Monday. Judge Atchison thus, as
presiding officer of the Senate, became virtually President of the
United States during the term of twenty-four hours. In referring to this
accidental dignity, on being interrogated as to how he enjoyed his
exalted position, the venerable senator good humoredly replied that he
could tell but little about it as, overcome with fatigue consequent to
several days and nights of official labor, he slept through nearly his
whole term of service.
Judge Atchison became especially prominent in the legislature for the
organization of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and claims to
have originated the repeal of the Missouri Compromise bill. On his
retirement from the Senate, of which he was an honored member for the
space of twelve years, during the larger part of the time as presiding
officer, he continued to take a lively interest in the politics of the
country, and was regarded as a leader and chief adviser of the pro-
slavery party in Kansas during the troubles which preceded the admission
as a State. In 1856 we find him in command of 1,150 men at a point
called Santa Fe. On the 29th of August, the same year, a detachment from
General Atchison’s army attacked Osawatomie, which was defended by about
fifty men, who made a vigorous resistance but were defeated with a loss
of five wounded and seven prisoners. Five of the assailants were killed
and thirty buildings were burned. The next day a body of Free State men
marched from Lawrence to take Atchison’s army. Upon their approach the
latter retired and withdrew its forces into Missouri. The admission of
Kansas as a free State soon after this occurred put an end to this much
vexed question and restored tranquility to the country.
General Atchison lived in retirement on his magnificent estate in
Clinton county until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he left for
the South and was present at the battle of Lexington. Governor Jackson
secured him a commission as brigadier general at the commencement of the
war. This General Atchison declined, as his residence was in Clinton
county, outside the limits of the division. He, however, remained with
the army and assisted in its organization. He joined temporarily for the
purpose of making up the company under Ephraim Kelley’s command from St.
Joseph and remained with the army until after the battle of Elkhorn.
At the close of the war, General Atchison returned to his home in
Clinton county, where he continued to reside in almost unbroken
retirement on his 1,700–acre farm in a neat cottage erected on the site
of his spacious brick mansion, which was accidentally destroyed by fire
February 2, 1870. He never married, and died at his home in Clinton
county, January 26, 1886.
MATT. GERBER.
Matt. Gerber came to this county originally in 1855, as pastry cook on a
Government steamer. There was almost no town at Atchison then, and he
went to Sioux City with the boat and afterwards returned to St. Louis.
In 1856 he was pastry cook on the “A. B. Chambers,” which ran between
St. Louis and Weston and was commanded by Captain Bowman, the father of
Mrs. D. C. Newcomb and Mrs. G. H. T. Johnson. Mr. Gerber was born in
Baden in 1833 and came to America in 1853, landing at New Orleans, and
for a time ran on boats on the lower Mississippi. For many years he was
the hero of Atchison children, as he operated a bakery, confectionery
and toy store on the south side of Commercial street, near Fourth. Mr.
Gerber first located in Sumner in 1858, where he ran a bakery, coming to
Atchison in 1860, and was in business at the same location for over
thirty-four years. Mr. Gerber died in Atchison, December 14, 1907.
[Illustration:
S. O. POMEROY
]
[Illustration:
JIM LANE
]
J. H. TALBOTT.
J. H. Talbott came west in 1855 and was a passenger on the “A. B.
Chambers,” of which George W. Bowman was captain and E. K. Blair, second
clerk. The cholera was so bad that year that Mr. Talbott left the boat
at Jefferson City and came overland to Monrovia, although his passage
was paid to Leavenworth. Several passengers on the “A. B. Chambers” died
of cholera and were buried on sand bars. Mr. Talbott preëmpted a claim
at Monrovia, and when his family came two years later he kept a boarding
house at Monrovia for four years. Albert D. Richardson was often a guest
at his house. He was a clean, neat city man of about thirty, and was
engaged in writing up the Kansas war for the _New York Tribune_. Jim
Lane also stopped at J. H. Talbott’s occasionally. Mr. Talbott first
heard him make a speech in a grove at Pardee, and A. J. Westbrook was in
the audience. Lane made some abusive reference to Westbrook, who made a
movement as if to pull a pistol, but Lane shook his celebrated boney
finger at Westbrook and defied him to shoot. At that time Atchison was
controlled by the pro-slavery element, but the Free State men
predominated around Monrovia and Pardee. The noted Colonel Caleb lived
at Farmington. James Ridpath was often at J. H. Talbott’s, and D. R.
Anthony and Webb Wilder appeared there as young men and took up claims.
Another famous place in those days was the Seven Mile House, seven miles
west of Atchison on the road traveled by the freighters, kept by John
Bradford. Talbott’s boarding house was built of logs and the beds were
nailed against the wall, one above another. Sometimes the house was so
crowded that the floor was also occupied with beds.
Mr. Talbott was born in Canal Dover, Ohio, where he knew W. C. Quantrill
real well. Quantrill afterwards became the noted guerilla and sacked
Lawrence. Mrs. Talbott went to school with Quantrill, and the teacher
was Quantrill’s father, a very worthy man. After Mr. Talbott married he
removed to Zanesville, Ind., and kept a store with S. J. H. Snyder, who
was one of the early settlers of Atchison county and a fierce Free State
man. In a little while Will Quantrill appeared at Zanesville and taught
school in the country. He usually spent his Saturdays and Sundays at J.
H. Talbott’s house, on the strength of their acquaintance at Canal
Dover. Mr. Talbott says he was well behaved and attracted great
attention around the store, particularly from the young men.
In 1854 Quantrill left Zanesville and settled at Lawrence, Kan., as a
Free State man and taught school, where he became acquainted with Robert
Bitter Morrow, whose life he afterwards saved during the massacre.
Robert Morrow kept the Byram in Atchison several years. When Talbott
went to Monrovia in 1855, the country was full of Kickapoo Indians. He
remembers seeing an Indian grave there: a rail pen covered with brush.
In the middle of the pen could be seen the dead Indian in a sitting
posture, with his gun beside him.
COL. WILLIAM OSBORNE.
Colonel Osborne built the first railroad to the Missouri river—the
Hannibal & St. Joseph. He built and owned the transfer ferry “Wm.
Osborne,” which was famous in Atchison in the early days. He also built
the first 100 miles of the Central Branch to Waterville, as has been
previously stated. He lived and died in Waterville, N. Y., but visited
Atchison frequently to see his daughter, Mrs. R. A. Park, who was the
wife of the president of the Atchison Savings Bank.
AMOS A. HOWELL.
Amos A. Howell was one of the plains freighters who distinguished
Atchison in the early days. He ran twenty-seven wagons with six yoke of
oxen to each wagon. An extra head of oxen was taken along, known as the
“cavvy” to spell the others and take the places of those that gave out.
Altogether he owned 400 head of work oxen. The oxen were expected to
pick up their living on the way, but when mules were used in the winter
it was necessary to carry grain for them. Thirty men were necessary in
the train of twenty-seven wagons pulled by oxen. Mr. Howell was assisted
in his wagon business by his son, Nat.
In those days there was a Government regulation that all trains should
be held at Ft. Kearney until 100 armed men had collected. Then a captain
was elected, who was commissioned by the Government and had absolute
charge of the train while it was passing through the Indian country. Mr.
Howell frequently occupied the position of captain, being well known on
the plains. On one occasion while he was captain he halted at Cottonwood
Falls on the Platte, as the Indians were very bad, and soldiers were
expected to go through with the train, but none came and finally Mr.
Howell unloaded five wagons, filled them with armed men and started out.
Almost in sight of Cottonwood a gang of gaily painted Indians attacked
the train, supposing it was a little outfit. But when the Indians came
within range, the “Whiskey Bills” and “Poker Petes” in the covered
wagons began dropping the Indians off their ponies, and there was a
pretty fight, in which the Indians were badly worsted.
Mr. Howell says that the Indians never attack wagon trains except very
early in the morning, or late in the evening.
The favorite sport of the Indians, however, was to run off the stock
after the train had gone into camp at night, and they always had one way
of doing it, which Mr. Howell finally learned. The Indians are no wiser
than white men, for they say that white men always fail in business the
same way and act the same way when they have a fire. An Indian would
ride up onto a high point and look around a while. This would always be
in the evening when the train was near a camping place. Then the Indian
would disappear and come back presently with another Indian wrapped in
his blanket and riding the same pony. One Indian would then drop into
the grass, and the rider would go back after another one. The Indians
were collecting in ambush; thinking the freighters would never think of
it. Mr. Howell had in his employ a driver, an Atchison man, named
“Whiskey Bill,” who was particularly clever at hating Indians, and
whenever an ambush was preparing “Whiskey Bill” would select four or
five other men equally clever and go after the Indians. He often killed
and scalped as many as four in one ambush, and sold their scalps in
Denver to the Jews for a suit of clothes each. The Jews bought them as
relics and disposed of them in the East. The killing of Indians in this
manner was according to Government order and strictly legitimate.
Another driver in Howell’s train was an Atchison man named Rube Duggan.
He was a great roper and used to take a horse, when in sight of a
buffalo herd and go out after calves, which made tender meat. Riding
into the herd he would lasso a calf, fasten the rope to the ground with
a stake and then go on after another one before the herd got away. He
caught several calves in this way for Ben Holladay, who took them east.
Mr. Howell remembers that once, this side of Fort Kearney, it was
necessary to stop the train to let a herd of buffalo pass. The men
always had fresh buffalo meat in addition to their bacon, beans, dried
apples, rice and fried bread.
There was a cook with the train who drove the mess wagon, but he did not
do any other work. Every driver had to take his turn getting wood and
water for the cook and herding the cattle at noon, but the night herder
did nothing else and slept in the wagon during the day. Occasionally he
was awakened about noon and hunted along the road. The cattle fed at
night until 10 or 11 o’clock when they would lie down until 2 in the
morning. The night herder would lie down by the side of a reliable old
ox and sleep too, being awakened when the ox got up to feed. The oxen
were driven into the wagon corral about daylight and yoked. Every wagon
had its specified place in the train and kept it during the entire trip.
Wagons were always left in a circle at night, forming a corral. Into
this corral the cattle were driven while being yoked. In case of an
attack, the cattle were inside the corral and the men fought under the
wagons. The teams started at daylight and stopped at 10 or 11 until 2 or
3, and then they would start up and travel until dark. Mr. Howell always
rested on Sunday, making an average of 100 miles a week with his ox
teams. When the train started out each man was given ten pounds of sugar
which was to last him to Denver. On the first Sunday the men would make
lemonade of sugar and vinegar and do without sugar the rest of the trip.
Mr. Howell saw the attack on George W. Howe’s train on the Little Blue
when George Con—— was killed and the entire train burned. Con—— was an
Atchison man. Howell’s train was corraled and he could not go to Howe’s
assistance.
Howell came to Atchison county in 1856 by wagon from Fayette county,
Pennsylvania, where he was born, December 26, 1824. At seventy he was
stout and vigorous, getting up every morning at 4 o’clock to go to work.
His plains experience did him good. He died on the 1st day of August,
1907, owning a large tract of land in Grasshopper township.
[Illustration:
BELA M. HUGHES
]
[Illustration:
ELLSWORTH CHESEBOROUGH
]
JOHN W. CAIN.
John W. Cain and his two sons, John S. Cain and William S. Cain, came to
Atchison in 1856 from the Isle of Man, and preëmpted a quarter section,
five miles west of Atchison. A. D. Cain, another son, came to this
county in 1856, accompanying his brother, John M. Cain, who had gone to
his old home in the Isle of Man on a visit. A. D. Cain attended school
longer than either of his three brothers and was a graduate of King
William’s College, a celebrated institution of learning. After leaving
school he learned the business of a druggist. He was born in 1846. John
M. Cain was seven years older.
John M. Cain enlisted in the Thirteenth Kansas infantry in 1862. His
brother, William, enlisted in Col. John A. Martin’s regiment the year
before. In less than a year John M. Cain was given the position as
captain in the Eighty-third U. S. infantry and raised Company C in
Atchison. Phillip Porter, the celebrated negro politician and orator, of
Atchison, was orderly sergeant of Company C, which had ten men killed in
the battle of Prairie Grove. After serving in the army nearly four
years, John M. Cain returned to his farm in Atchison county in 1866
where he remained until 1872, when he removed to Atchison and engaged in
the grain business. The Cains started the exporting of flour from Kansas
and their business was very largely export business during their
operation of the mill.
John W. Cain, father of the Cain brothers, was a fierce Free State man
in the days when it was dangerous to be a Free State man in Atchison
county, but as he was a powerful man and of undoubted courage, the pro-
slavery fans thought it wise to forgive him. His memory as well as the
memory of his sons, John M. Cain and A. D. Cain, are still highly
esteemed by the older settlers of Atchison county.
DR. W. L. CHALLISS.
Dr. W. L. Challiss came to Atchison June 3, 1866, on the steamboat
“Meteor” from Moorestown, N. J., where he had been a practicing
physician. At that time John Alcorn was operating a horse ferry on the
river and Dr. Challiss, in company with his brother, L. C. Challiss,
purchased a three-fourths interest in the ferry franchise after
operating a little rival ferry for a time, which was known as the “Red
Rover.” The price paid for the franchise was $1,800.00.
In the fall of 1856 Dr. Challiss went to Evansville, Ind., and
contracted for the building of a steam ferry. This was completed in
November and started for Atchison. In December it was frozen up in the
Missouri river at Carrollton, Mo., and left in charge of a watchman. The
crew was made up of old acquaintances of Dr. Challiss in New Jersey, and
these he brought to Atchison in two stage coaches hired for the purpose.
On February 7 of the following year Dr. Challiss started down the river
on horse back after his ferry boat, accompanied by George M. Million,
Granville Morrow and John Cafferty. There had been a thaw and a rise in
the river, and when the men reached the vicinity of Carrollton they
learned that the boat had gone adrift. They followed it down the river,
hearing of it occasionally and finally came up with it in sight of Arrow
Rock. The boat had grounded on a bar and a man was in possession,
claiming salvage. Dr. Challiss caught the man off the boat, took
possession and settled with him for $25.00. A story was circulated that
there had been small-pox on the boat and it narrowly escaped burning at
the hands of the people living in the vicinity. Dr. Challiss went on
down the river and met his family at St. Louis. When the steamer on
which they were passengers reached Arrow Rock, the captain was induced
to pull the ferry off the sand bar, and within four days it arrived in
Atchison.
This boat was named the “Ida” for Dr. Challiss’ oldest daughter, who
became the wife of John A. Martin, editor of the _Atchison Champion_,
colonel of the Eighth Kansas regiment and governor of the State two
terms. The “Ida” was brought up the river by George Million and
Granville Morrow, pilots, and John Cafferty, engineer. George Million
was the captain when it began making regular trips as a ferry, receiving
originally $50.00 per month. During the last years of his service he
received $125.00 a month. The ferry boat business was very profitable
and $100.00 per day was no unusual income. In 1860 Dr. Challiss built a
larger ferry at Brownsville, Penn., and called it the “J. G. Morrow.”
When it arrived at Atchison the Government pressed it into service and
sent it to Yankton with Indian supplies. Bill Reed was pilot and Dr.
Challiss, captain. A quick trip was made to within seventy miles of
Yankton where the pilot ran the boat into a snag and sank it. The boat
cost $25,000.00 and nothing was saved but the machinery. This was
afterwards placed in the ferry “S. C. Pomeroy,” which was operated here
until the bridge was completed in 1877. After this the “S. C. Pomeroy
was taken to Kansas City, where it sank during a storm. S. C. Pomeroy
owned a one-fourth interest in the “J. G. Morrow” and “S. C. Pomeroy”
and the wreck of the “Morrow” cost him $5,000.00.
The “Ida” was taken to Leavenworth on the completion of the bridge and
was in service there many years.
In the early days Dr. Challiss was a Free State man and for years he had
in his possession a letter warning him to leave the country, which was
written during the exciting period before the war. Dr. Challiss remained
active in the affairs of the town for many years but practiced his
profession only spasmodically. He died in Dayton, Ohio, at the home of
his daughter, on April 23, 1909.
GEORGE SCARBOROUGH.
George Scarborough was one of the most romantic characters that ever
lived in Atchison county. Influenced by his niece’s description of
Kansas, he came to Sumner in 1859 and purchased a tract of land now
owned by E. W. Howe and known as Potato Hill. The location is probably
the finest on the Missouri river. The farm lies on top of the bluff, and
Scarborough’s house was built near the river. He was well fitted to
enjoy the life of elegant leisure and seclusion, which he did. Early in
life he went to Kentucky from Connecticut and taught school. While there
he married the daughter of a congressman named Triplett. The wife died a
year later, and Scarborough came into possession of considerable money.
After that he adopted a literary and scientific life and spent much of
his time abroad, where he collected many pictures and other art
treasures. These were displayed in his home below Sumner. Scarborough
was a botanist, and made a complete collection of the flora of this
section, which he sent to the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington.
One of his discoveries was that Atchison county had eleven varieties of
the oak. Scarborough was one of the original founders of the First
National Bank of this city, furnishing most of the original capital.
In 1869 he went to Vineland, N. J., where he married a girl of twenty-
three, although he was nearly seventy. His wife died within a year, in
child birth, under precisely the same circumstances as his first wife.
Scarborough died in 1883, in his old home in Connecticut, in absolute
poverty, at the age of eighty-four. He is spoken of as one of the most
elegant gentlemen who distinguished the early days.
SAMUEL HOLLISTER.
Samuel Hollister was one of the original settlers of Sumner. He landed
at Leavenworth May 1, 1857, coming by boat from Jefferson City. Two
weeks later he met a number of the members of the Sumner Town Company
who were looking for somebody to go to Sumner to build a hotel. Having
been a contractor and builder in his old home in New Jersey, Mr.
Hollister accompanied the men to Sumner, which then consisted of a claim
cabin, used as a hotel, and four frame houses in course of construction.
The material for the frame houses had been brought from Cincinnati,
ready framed, and when completed were 16×24, containing two rooms each.
Mr. Hollister took the contract to build the Baker House, which
contained three rooms on the ground floor. The half story above was all
in one room, where the guests slept. The frames for the Baker House were
hewn out in the timber adjoining the town; the weather boarding and
shingles were shipped up the river. The hotel was completed in the
summer of 1857, and was operated by Hood Baker, a cousin of Capt. David
Baker, for many years a prominent citizen of Atchison.
In the fall of the same year Mr. Hollister began work on the Sumner
House, the contract price being $16,000.00. The brick used were made on
the ground. The lumber came by boat from Pittsburgh, Penn. This hotel
was completed in the summer of the following year. It was built by the
town company, which owed Mr. Hollister $3,000.00 at the time of his
death, a few years ago.
Mr. Hollister lived in Sumner twelve years, vigorously fighting
Atchison. In the fall of 1858 he built a mill, in company with Al
Barber, later adding a gristmill, which was the second built in the
county, the first having been built in Atchison, by William Bowman. Mr.
Hollister went down the river in a boat in January, 1859, and when he
reached his old home in the Catskill mountains, he crossed the Hudson
river on the ice. During this trip east he was married to Miss Harriet
Carroll, a lineal descendant of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence. His wife returned with him to Sumner,
and they afterwards moved to Atchison, where they lived for many years.
Mr. Hollister died March 28, 1910.
JOHN TAYLOR.
John Taylor, who for many years lived on a farm immediately south of the
State Orphans’ Home, was a resident of Missouri, a mile and a quarter
above East Atchison in 1844, ten years before Kansas was opened for
settlement. His father, Joseph Taylor, came to the Platte Purchase in
1838, from Pennsylvania, settling near Weston. At that time most of the
best claims were taken. John Taylor’s recollection was that the very
earliest settler in that vicinity was in 1837. Joseph Taylor did not
secure a very good claim, and afterward removed to Andrew county,
finally locating a mile above East Atchison, in 1844. John Taylor said
that George Million was living on the present site of East Atchison when
his father’s family settled in the bottom. It was Mr. Taylor’s opinion
that George Million settled in East Atchison in 1842, and that he did
not start his ferry until 1850. In the spring of that year John Taylor
crossed the river on George Million’s flat-boat ferry, and went to
California, in company with his brother, Joe. There was no wagon road
running west from Atchison at that time. John and Joe Taylor mined in
California for eighteen months, never making over $20.00 per day, and
usually only $5.00. They returned home by the way of the Isthmus of
Panama, and John Taylor got the small-pox at Glascow, Mo., which did not
break out on him until he reached East Atchison. This was supposed to be
the first case of small-pox in this section of the country. All the
other members of the family got it, and the wife of Jim Stultz, who came
in to help his mother, also got it. Their physician was a Doctor Ankrom,
who lived in the Narrows, near Rushville, and he got it, too. This was
in the winter of 1851 and 1852. In September, 1854, ten years after
settling in East Atchison, Mr. Taylor came to this side of the river.
When he arrived Ladd Yocum was running a hotel in a tent; there was
nothing else on the town site. Late in the fall George T. Challiss
completed his store, which was the first building of any kind in
Atchison, according to Mr. Taylor. He says that George Million did not
erect his claim shanty until the following year.
Mr. Taylor first settled in the bluffs, northeast of Atchison, but
afterwards moved to a tract of land owned by a man named O. B.
Dickerson, who afterwards built the first livery stable in Atchison.
Dickerson sold his claim to a man named Adams, B. T. Stringfellow’s
father-in-law, for $600.00, but Adams did not comply with the law and
Taylor jumped it. For a while Taylor and Adams lived on the same
quarter, and became acquainted; then Taylor discovered that Adams paid
$600.00 for the claim, and gave him his money back. Taylor said he never
had any short words with Adams about the claim, but once. They met on
the hill, overlooking the river, one day, and were looking at the wreck
of the old “Pontiac,” which is now said to have contained several
hundred barrels of whiskey. “Well,” said Adams, “when are you going?”
“Going where?” asked Taylor. “To Nova Scotia,” replied Adams. “I am not
going at all,” was Taylor’s response, which Adams understood to mean
that he was not going to leave the claim, but intended to fight. A
compromise soon followed.
Taylor says the “Pontiac” was carried off by Atchison people, and put
into their houses, and that years afterwards, the writing on the wheel
house could be seen around town. There was no whiskey left in the hold;
indeed, the hold was carried away.
The Taylor place was considered a great deal more valuable in 1855 than
it is now; people felt sure that within four or five years John Taylor
would cut it up in town lots and sell them at fabulous prices, and go
abroad.
John Taylor’s sympathies were always with the South Carolinians, who
made this section so warm in 1856, but said that only one in ten were
good citizens; the others were toughs. One of them, a man named Newhall,
was killed in the fight at Hickory Point. John Robinson, captain of a
southern party at Hickory Point, was an Atchison man, and was shot in
the hip.
Mr. Taylor said that in 1844 and several years later the country was
full of bee trees, and that cattle turned into the rush in the river
bottom in winter, came out fat in the spring. In 1844 there was a
settlement of fifty Kickapoo families on the flat just above the island
on the Kansas side. They made a great deal of maple sugar. In summer
these Indians went out to the buffalo grounds, sixty to eighty miles
west of the river, returning in the fall, to be near the Missouri
settlers. There never was an Indian village on the site of Atchison,
although Mrs. Joe Wade, who was George Million’s daughter, claims to
have remembered coming to this side of the river when she was a little
girl, and seeing a dead Indian strapped to a board and leaning against a
tree on the present site of Commercial street. The body was surrounded
with totem poles. There was no game at that time on this side of the
river. Indians themselves hunted deer on the Missouri side in winter,
and were very friendly with the whites.
John Taylor died on March 7, 1897.
JOHN M. CROWELL.
John M. Crowell was mayor of Atchison three terms, coming to the city in
1858 from Londonderry, N. H., where he was born October 22, 1823. For
ten years he was a merchant here, afterwards being appointed Government
storekeeper, and having charge of a distillery below town. From 1870 to
1885, he was United States postoffice inspector for nineteen States and
Territories, and in that capacity visited every section of the country.
He resigned to become a mail contractor, although solicited by a
Democratic postmaster general to remain. His record in Washington was as
good as that of any man who ever worked for the Government. Mr. Crowell
was a forty-niner, crossing the plains during the great rush of that
year, and engaging in sluice mining. He made four trips to California,
but never by railroad. From San Francisco he visited China, South
America, the Sandwich Islands, and was a great traveler in his time. He
was the father of Frank G. Crowell, who was born in Atchison, and for
many years a prominent citizen here, but later resigning his position as
county attorney of Atchison county and moving to Kansas City to engage
in the grain business, where he now lives.
John M. Crowell’s daughter became Mrs. F. M. Baker, who accumulated a
fortune in the grain business in Atchison. Mr. Crowell died on the
eleventh day of October, 1902.
[Illustration:
GEORGE MILLION
]
[Illustration:
WILLIAM SCARBROUGH
]
LUTHER DICKERSON.
Luther Dickerson came to Atchison county in June, 1854, immediately
after Kansas was opened to settlement, from Saline county, Missouri,
where he had lived ten years. He went to Missouri from Washington
county, Ohio, where he was born in 1825. After looking over the country
Mr. Dickerson returned to Missouri, but came back to Kansas the
following October, and “squatted” on a tract of land a mile north of the
State Orphans’ Home. From 1854 to 1857 were the squatter sovereignty
days, during which period a settler could have no title to land, further
than the fact of his settlement on the land he selected as his home.
Land offices were not established until in 1857, when the squatter filed
his claims, and began fighting over them. The first land office in this
section was at Doniphan. John W. Whitfield, who was afterwards in
Congress, was the register. About a year later the land office was
removed to Kickapoo, just below Atchison.
When Mr. Dickerson squatted on his claim in 1854, three-fourths of the
land around him was taken. Welcome Nance, Peter Cummings, John Taylor
and Widow Boyle had farms at that time. Andy Colgan did not come until
1857. The settlers of 1854 were mostly from Missouri. In 1855 came an
organized band of South Carolinians, whose object was to make Kansas a
slave State. Then followed the fierce and relentless fight with the Free
State men, which ended in 1857, as far as this section was concerned.
That is, in 1857 the Free State men won control, and have practically
kept it ever since. In the fall of that year the Free State men elected
their county ticket, and Luther Dickerson was chosen as one of the four
commissioners and was made chairman.
Luther Dickerson was a Free State man and was fought by all the Missouri
and South Carolinians. His land was contested, and he was beaten in the
land office, but he finally won before the secretary of the interior, by
proving that the woman who was contesting him was a foreigner. Hiram
Latham, a Free State man, who lived across the road from Dickerson, was
murdered in Doniphan, and because of this murder Frank McVey left the
country and never came back. The men who killed Latham were ferried over
Independence creek by Dickerson, and, noticing that they were armed, he
asked where they were going. They said they were going wolf hunting. In
1858 Luther Dickerson was elected a member of the house of
representatives, which met at Lecompton, and then adjourned to Lawrence.
In the same year, while still a county commissioner, he built the old
court house, which occupied the site of the present court house.
Luther Dickerson raised the first company of soldiers ever organized in
the State of Kansas, in May, 1861. The first military order issued in
the State was directed to him, signed by John A. Martin, assistant
adjutant general.
But while his company was the first organized, it happened that
Dickerson’s commission as captain was the second issued, and was signed
by Governor Charles Robinson, before the State had an official seal.
Afterwards, Mr. Dickerson served in the regular volunteer service, as
first lieutenant.
He lived on his land, north of town, for many years, and died in
Atchison on the thirteenth day of December, 1910.
LUTHER C. CHALLISS.
Luther C. Challiss came to Atchison in 1855 from Boonville, Mo., where
he was engaged as a merchant. He remained here continuously until 1861
as merchant, banker, ferry operator and real estate owner. Luther C.
Challiss’ addition, the east line of which is at the alley between
Seventh and Eighth streets, was preëmpted by Mr. Challiss in 1857, and
was originally composed of 198 acres.
As a member of the Territorial council, Mr. Challiss secured the first
charter for a railroad west from Atchison, known as the Atchison Pike’s
Peak railroad, now the Central Branch. He was the first president of the
road, and originally owned every dollar of the stock. He also managed
the Kickapoo treaty, which gave the road 150,000 acres of land, and made
it prominent in Washington as a specific possibility. The original
Government subsidy for this road was every other quarter section of land
for ten miles on either side, in addition to $16,000 to $48,000 per
mile, in Government bonds.
At the same time Mr. Challiss secured a charter for the Atchison-Pike’s
Peak railroad, he secured a charter for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
railroad, his original idea being a southern route to the Pacific, and
that road has fulfilled all of his early expectations.
Mr. Challiss made a great deal of money in Atchison, and in 1864 drifted
to New York and Washington, where he became an operator on the stock
exchange. Mr. Challiss’ sympathies were with the South, and was
generally a bull. As long as the South showed its ability to hold out
Mr. Challiss made a great deal of money, and at one time he had on
deposit in New York $960,000, but the tide turned against him when the
South began to fail, and this fortune was reduced to nothing.
As an operator on Wall street at that time, Mr. Challiss outranked Jim
Fisk and Jay Gould, and was the peer of Anthony Morse and the Jeromes.
Jay Gould was a very common man at that time, compared to Mr. Challiss,
and a very little thing might have made Mr. Challiss one of the great
financial leaders in America. An incident in his career in New York was
the attempt of Woodhull & Claflin to break him. He made a fight that is
still remembered, and sent Woodhull and Claflin, Colonel Blood Stephen,
Pearl Andrews and George Francis Train to jail, where they remained six
months. Finally they left the country as a result of a compromise. Mr.
Challiss’ lawyers were Roger A. Pryor and Judge Fullerton. Judge
Fullerton received a quarter section of land in Atchison county as his
fee. Mr. Challiss also brought the famous Pacific Mail suit, which was
equally famous.
He returned to Atchison in 1878, looking after the wreck of his former
possessions. For three years he edited the _Atchison Champion_, and
bitterly opposed John J. Ingalls for United States senator in 1890.
Mr. Challiss, in his latter years, became a very much abused man, and
was looked upon as one of the unpopular citizens of the town, but it may
be said to his credit that he did much for Atchison, and was largely
responsible for making the town the terminus of the Hannibal & St. Joe
railroad. He brought Jay Gould, Henry N. Smith and Ben Carver to
Atchison, and they agreed to extend the road from St. Joseph to
Atchison, in consideration of $75,000.00 in Atchison bonds, which was
agreed to. Mr. Challiss had some sort of a deal with Henry N. Smith
while they were operating on Wall street, and Challiss claimed that
Smith owned him $107,000.00. They finally settled the matter, by Smith
agreeing to bring the Hannibal & St. Joseph road here without the
$75,000.00 in bonds the people had agreed to give him. The _Atchison
Champion_ of May 11, 1872, contained a half column scare head, to the
effect that Luther C. Challiss telegraphed from New York that the bridge
had been finally secured, and gave the credit of securing the bridge to
Challiss and James N. Burnes.
Mr. Challiss died a poor man on the sixth day of July, 1895.
GEORGE W. GLICK.
George W. Glick, the ninth governor of Kansas, for a number of years
United States pension agent for the district comprising Kansas,
Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Indian Territory, came to
Atchison in June, 1859, from Fremont, Ohio, where he studied law in the
office of Rutherford B. Hayes, who afterwards became President of the
United States. Mr. Glick came to Atchison on the steamer “Wm. H.
Russell,” named for and largely owned by William H. Russell, senior
member of the celebrated freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell.
Mr. Glick was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, July 4, 1829, on a farm,
and when four years old removed with his father’s family to within a
mile and a half of Fremont, where he remained until he came to Atchison.
He first went to school in the country, near Fremont, where he
afterwards taught when he was nineteen. Later he attended a Dioclesion
school at Fremont, founded by Dr. Dio Lewis, who afterwards became
famous and whose name then was Dioclesia Lewis. Later he attended
Central College, Ohio, but did not graduate. In 1849 he began the study
of law in the office of Bucklin & Hayes, in Fremont, as a result of
getting his feet in a threshing machine. It was supposed that he would
never be fit for farm work again, but he afterwards recovered. Two years
later he was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, standing an examination
with the graduating class of the Cincinnati law school. He practiced
eight years in Fremont before coming to Atchison, building up a good
business, in spite of the fact that he always went out to the farm in
haying time and harvested and helped his father. In January, following
his arrival in Atchison, he formed a partnership with A. G. Otis, which
continued as long as he practiced law. The firm of Otis & Glick was the
strongest in Atchison, as long as it lasted, and B. P. Waggener was a
student in their office. In 1872 Mr. Glick became a town farmer,
operating a farm of 640 acres four miles west of Atchison, making a
specialty of Short Horn cattle, paying as high as $1,000 for several
single animals. He served nine terms in the Kansas legislature, and was
once county commissioner, and once county auditor of Atchison county.
While auditor of Atchison county, in 1882, he was elected governor, by
9,000 plurality, over Jim P. St. John, who had been elected two years
before by about 55,000. In 1884 he was re-nominated as governor by the
Democrats, but was defeated by John A. Martin. He first received the
nomination for governor nine years after coming to Kansas, but was
defeated by the Republicans. He was appointed pension agent in 1885, and
again in 1893. He was a Mason, and was one of the original organizers of
the Knight Templars and Royal Arch Masons, in Atchison. He was the first
president of the Atchison-Nebraska road, having built it to the county
line, in connection with Brown and Bier. Governor Glick sold his farm
near Shannon a number of years ago, and during the latter part of his
life was inactive in business and professional affairs. He died on the
thirteenth day of April, 1911.
DR. W. K. GRIMES.
One of the oldest citizens of Atchison was Dr. W. H. Grimes, who came
here from Yellow Spring, Ohio, in 1858. His son, E. B. Grimes, came a
year before, and opened a drug store in the building for many years
occupied as an office by the Atchison Water Company, across from the
Byram Hotel. Dr. W. H. Grimes practiced medicine until the war broke
out, when he became a surgeon in the Thirteenth Kansas. Returning to
Atchison at the close of the war, he continued the practice of medicine
until his death, in 1879.
E. B. Grimes was a quartermaster during the war with a rank of major. At
the close of the war he entered the regular army, and built many of the
posts in the Department of the Platte, notably Ft. Laramie, Ft.
Fetterman and Ft. Douglass. He died at Ft. Leavenworth, in 1882.
Another son, Dr. R. V. Grimes, was a lieutenant in his father’s
regiment. After the war he became an army surgeon, and was in many of
the Indian campaigns in the Northwest. He was in Merritt’s command when
it went to the rescue of General Custer, and was the surgeon in Major
Thornburg’s command when it was surrounded at the famous fight on Milk
river. The command was surrounded five days by the Utes, and was finally
rescued by General Merritt. While he lived in Atchison he was employed
as a printer on the _Champion_.
Two other sons of Dr. Grimes, John and Howard Grimes, were members of
Colonel Jennison’s Seventh Kansas Jayhawkers.
JOSHUA WHEELER.