THE HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY, TOGETHER WITH A Sketch of the Commercial Resources of the Country with Which it is Surrounded. By w. h. mi LLER SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. Illustrated. KANSAS CITY ; BIRDSALL & MILLER 1881. PRESS OF RAMSEY, MILLETT & HUDSON, KANSAS CITY, MO. ^«^t PREFACE. With much diffidence on the part of the writer the following pages are sub- mitted to the public. They are the result of much patient research, yet none can be better aware of the imperfections in details than the writer. It has been rather the aim to trace the causes that have led to the almost phenomenal growth of Kansas City, than to follow the details of that growth ; yet sufficient attention has been given to the leading events in the history of Kansas City, it is hoped, to convey an idea of them, as well as to the causes that led to them and to the development here of the city that at this tmie exists. The writer beheves that the causes leading to the development of the city in any one epoch of her history were but the development of causes in a preceeding epoch, and that the causes of future development exist at this time, which are as much the outgrowth of past causes as the present large city is the outgrowth of past events. Some effort has been made to bring to view these causes both past and present, it is hoped not without some success. As it is, it is respectfully submitted to public criticism, with the hope that its accounts and conceptions of things may coincide with the recollections of those of our citizens who were witnesses of many of the events it recounts, yet with the fear that they will find much that for accuracy's sake they could wish altered. The Author. Kansas City, June, 1881. ^ GOITMTS. ^ CHAPTER I. Page. Introductory.— How Ancient Cities were Founded and Built^ — The Considerations Determining their Location— American Cities, how Located and Built — Western Cities — Tlie Importance of Transporta- tion Facilities — Tlie People who Determ- ined their Location, aud Why— "Motion Follows the Line of Least Resistance."... 1 CHAPTER II. Early Expeditions and Settlements.— The Fur Companies — The First Settle- ment of Kansas City, How and Why it was Made— In the Wilderness— The En- try of the Land— The French Settlement and Life Among the French Settlers— The Advantages of the Place Recog- nized by Others— An Anecdote of Wash- ington Irving ■ 8 CHAPTER III. The Great Indian Trade.- Proposed Re- moval (^f the Indians to the West — The Nunil)ers to be Moved— The Removal — The New Locations— Effect on Western Trade— Founding of Westport, and Con- centration of the Trade There 17 CHAPTER IV. The Santa Fe Trade. — Its Origin and Character— Its Real Beginning— The Ef- fect of Steamboats — It Locates at Inde- pendence—Changing to Westport — Char- acter and Methods of the Trade— Statis- tics to 1888 21 CHAPTER V. The Founding of Kansas City.— The Sit- uation in 1838 — The First Ferry — The Santa Fe and Indian Trade Tend to Kan- sas City— Purchase of the Prudhomme Estate for a Town Site — The Survey and Sale of 1839— Troubles of the Company Retarded the Town — What was Thought of It— Its Earlv Trade— A Doscriiition of Early Kansas City— Efforts to Divert the Santa Fe Trade— Its Suppression in 1813 — Statistics — Situation in 1813- The Great Flood of 1844— The Events of 1813 to 1816 —The Mexican War 27 CHAPTER VI. Kansas City Redivivus.— Re-organization of the Town Company — The First Great Sale of Lots — An Interesting Record — Bad Titles— Further Surveys" and Sales — The Company Dissolve— Town Devel- opment — The California Emigration — The Concentration of the Santa Fe and Indian Trades at Kansas City — Cholera and its Direful Effects — Municipal Or- ganization—The First Newspaper — Re- vival After the Cholera 40 CHAPTER VII. Page. The Settlement of Kansas. — The Kan- sas-Nebraska Act— Preparations by Pro- Slavery and Anti-Slavery Parties to Occupy Kansas — Early Settlement — Kansas City Again Recognized — Devel- opment of Kansas — Navigation of the Kaw River— The Kansas Troubles— The Effect on Kansas City— Col. Coates 53 " CHAPTER VIII. The Growth of Kansas City Prior to THE WjCr. — Improvements of Streets and Roads — Trade and Steamboats — Ri- val Cities— Rapid Growth of Kansas City — Stages and Mails — The Commerce of the Prairies— The First Banks, Jobbing Houses, and Telegraphs— The First Com- mercial Organization— The Panic of 1857 —The Enlargement of the City 63 CHAPTER IX. The Inception of our Railroads.— Kan- sas City Takes the Lead in Efforts to Se- cure Railroad Facilities — Her Efforts Start a Fever in Railroad Enterprises in Western Missouri and Kansas — The In- ception of Her Own Systiui — The Hos- tility of Kansas— The First Efforts in Be- half of Trans-Continental Railroads — Kansfis City in the Struggle with Both the Slave and Anti-Slave Sections for the Road — The Enthusiasm of the Pe- riod — Beginning of llaih-oad Work — The Real Founders of Kansas City, Their Trials and Triumphs 75 CHAPTER X. Kansas City in the War. — The Excite- ment and Events Preceding the Great Struggle — The Marshaling of the Hosts on Both Sides— Van Horn's Battalion — The First Fighting— Bush-whackers and Red Legs— The Depression of Trade, and its Revival — Resumption of Raih'oad Building— The Great Raid of 1864 98 CHAPTER XI. A Great Era in Kansas City.— The Close of the War — The Resumption of Rail- road Construction— Seven Roads and the Bridge Completed Before 1870 — Other Railroad Enterprises not Finished — Rap- id Growth — Schools, and Street Im- provements — Population Grown From « 5,000 to 30,000 110 CHAPTER XII. The Progress From 1870 to 1872.— Improve- ruent and Enlargement of the Railroad . Facilities— Inception of the Barge Line —Water and Gas Works Built— The Law Library— The Barge Line— The Exposi- tion, the Board of Trade, and Other Im- provements 126 ^I CONTENTS. Page. CHAPTER XIII. The Progress of 1873 to 1876.— Street Rail- roads—Barge Line Agitation — The Panic of 1873— Efforts to Get the Indian Terri- tory Opened to Settlement- Efforts for Transportation Improvements — Free Mail Delivery — The Securing of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroads — How the Latter was Done — The Grass- hopper Plague— The Revision of the City Charter— Efforts to Secure a Mint— The Re-organization f)f the Board of Trade, and Building of the Exchange Building. 144 CHAPTER XIV. The Markets and Packing Houses.— His- tory of the Texas Cattle Trade — Its Fi- nal Concentration at Kansas City— Tlie Growth of the Market and Character of the Present Supply— The History of the Packing Business — Why It Came to Kansas City — Its Statistics — Tlie Grain Market, When and How It Started— Its Development^ and Circumstances At- tending it — Its Present Facilities and Magnitude 164 CHAPTER XV. The Progress of Three Years. — The Events of 1877 — The Alton Road— The Union Depot— The Test of Barges on the Missouri — The Great Railway Strike — Bank Suspension — Railway Extension Page. Affecting Kansas City — The United States Court House and Post-office, and United States Courts— Rapid Growth of the City 176 ^CHAPTER XVI. The Events of 1880 to 1881.— The Establish- ment of the Smelting Works— The Barge Company Organized— The Missouri Riv- er Improvement Convention— The Mis- souri River Improvement Association Formed — Street Improvements — Col. Van Horn's Election to Congress— Rail- way Construction and Railway Changes —The Great Flood of 1881— The Growth of the City — Statistical Exhibit of the City's History 189 CHAPTER XVII. Social Development of Kansas City.— The History of tlie Press— Social Socie- ties—Masons — Odd Fellows — Knights of Pythias — Other Secret Orders — The Churches, Schools, and Other Social In- stitutions 205 CHAPTER XVIII. Kansas City — Why She is and What She is. — A Summary of the Facts of Her History — The Facts that Caused Her Growtli — Her Markets, Her Rail- road System, and Fast Freight Lines- Steamship Agencies — The New West and Its Resources 241 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Hoiv Ancient Cities were Founded and Built — The Considerations Determining their Location — Hoio Modern Cities are Built, and the Consideratio?ts Determining their Location — American Cities, how Located and how Built — IVestern Cities — The Importance of Transportation Facil- ities — 77/1? People who Determined their Location, and why — *^ Motion Follows the Line of Least Resistance.''^ The first efforts of mankind to build cities antedates history, hence nothing very definite concerning the circumstances and methods is or can be known ; but in the earUer ages of the historic era, when the race was divided into compara- tively small and warring factions, arid afterward, when these factions grew to be powerful but not less warlike nations, cities were located by kings and conquerors and built by the people under their immediate supervision and direction. In those warlike ages a site of a city was determined mainly by the advantages of defense of the spot of ground selected, though the contiguity of fertile and pas- toral country seems not to have been entirely ignored ; hence cities built in those ages were at once the capital and fortress of the king, while immediately surround- ing it was a country susceptible of supporting his subjects. No regard seems to have been had, however, to facilities for transportation, not even so much as would facilitate military operations, while trade, which consisted chiefly of ex- change between the people of the town and the adjacent domain, was entirely ignored. Exhanges between people of different dominions existed only as pillage. In earlier periods, however, the conquering of one people by another, the combination of different cities under the same dominion and the necessities of military operations, seem to have caused more attention to be given to transpor- tation facilities in the location of cities. This was after the adoption of methods for utilizing the larger streams and the inland seas, and the erection of cities after that time seems to have been determined by the three principles of defensi- bility, contiguity of productive country, arid facilities for water transportation, and hence were usually located on large rivers or arms of the sea. At least it was cities so located that in this period were most prosperous and became most famous. These features continued to be the ruling factors in determining the location 1 6 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. of cities until after the American Revolution. The cities of the United States built before that time were founded, not directly by royal hands, but by those holding royal patents for that purpose, and the same features seem to have been observed by them, as were regarded by kings and conquerors for many previous ages in the Old World. BUILDING CITIES IN AMERICA. Since the Revolution, however, cities have ceased to be founded in the Uni- ted States by authority ; the people have done it themselves, without supervision or interference from government. The sites have been selected by individuals or companies; the grounds staked off, and the lots offered for sale. This done, the balance rested with the people, and though the number of cities founded in this country west of the Alleghany Mountains is almost infinite, each of which was expected by its founders rapidly to become a great emporium, the people have built but few. The popular choice among the many rivals that have pre- sented themselves in every section has been determined by principles as well as ascertained as those of old, and as easy of definition. CONSIDERATION OF TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. Defensibility has ceased to be a consideration, for in the interior of the Uni- ted States we have had no foe that made it necessary. Contiguity to fertile country can scarcely be said to have exerted an influence, for this country is all fertile. Facilities for transportation, however, have exerted a very great and con- trolling influence. Having never been a warlike people, and having a country of wonderful and varied productiveness, the Americans are, of necessity, a produc- ing and trading people. The chief consideration to such a people is transporta- tion, and the city or the proposed city, possessing this feature in the highest de- gree, be it wagon roads, watercourses with keel or steamboats, or railroads, will be most prosperous ; and the one that by such means, each in its age, has accom- modated the country farthest into the interior has commanded the widest extent of trade. The history of interior cities is but a history of the development of transportation in its different forms. Where we find that a place now almost ob- solete was once more promising than its rivals, we will likely find that it had the best transportation of the kind then employed, but that in some subsequent phase some rival took the advantage and the lead. Indeed there are but few, besides our own city, that from the first have held the advantage over all rivals in all phases of transportational development, or that stand to-day more pre-eminent in this regard. BY WHOM WESTERN CITIES WERE LOCATED. The importance of facilities for transportation in determining the location and prosperity of cities cannot be better indicated than by a brief reference to the character, vocation and habits of the class of men who determined the loca- tions of all our important western cities, though they did not actually build any of them. We refer to the pioneer traders, trappers and hunters who preceded the march of civilization from the Atlantic coast — a class now rapidly disappearing into tradition and history, because the wilderness, and the wild animals they loved to chase are gone, and the red men, their companions, associates and foes are rapidly going. Daniel Boone was the type of the American element in this class, and also of the hunters who constituted a part of it; but the most of them appear to have been of French origin or descent. They were divided into three distinct classes — hunters and trappers, traders and voyageurs. This latter class were always in the employ of the traders, and it was their lausiness to propel the water craft which the traders employed in transportation. The hunters and trappers were sometimes independent and sometimes in the employ of the traders. They penetrated far into the wilds and explored the unknown regions. They were the HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 7 true pioneers. The furs and skins procured by them were sold to the traders, or procured for them. The traders, originally independent but subsequently under the direction of the great fur companies, established posts far into the interior of the wilderness, to which they transported articles suitable for traffic with the Indians, and such supplies as hunters and trappers wanted, and at which they purchased robes, skins and furs, which they transported back to the borders of civilization. Irving' s " Astoria" and " Booneville" give an excellent history of this trade, which, about the beginning of the present century, was immense, and extended all over the uninhabited parts of North America. The men engaged in it were a brave, adventurous class, for whom the wilderness and association with wild animals and wild men possessed more charms than civiHzation. With a few articles of traffic, a gun and perhaps a few tools for constructing traps, they pushed their way hundreds and even thousands of miles into the untrodden wil- derness, not knowing what moment they might fall in with some unknown ferocious animal, or some band of hostile savages. They put their canoes and rafts into streams and followed their course, not knowing to what falls or dangers they might lead. Their lives were a perpetual vigil, and they may be said to have lived with their finger on the trigger. In the beginning they confined their ex- cursions to a limited territory where the valuable fur animals were to be found. Here they spent their winters in solitude, and in the spring went with the pro- ceeds of their trapping to a trading post where they were disposed of and new supplies purchased, when they were off again into the solitude for another year. Subsequently they became the employees or agents of the fur companies, by whom expeditions of great magnitude and extended exploration were undertaken. The traders were mostly French, and as they employed trappers as well as traded with them and the Indians, and as the fur animals were chiefly found along streams, their posts were usually located on them or near their confluence. The latter were deemed the most desirable locations, as they gave access to larger districts of country by keel boats and pirogues, and hence more easily commanded a larger trade. Their only means of transportation was packing on their own backs, or on the backs of horses, and light water craft which could be propelled in the rivers with pikes. The manifest great superiority of the latter methtid for conducting an extensive trade is sufficient explanation of their preference for the confluence of streams, as the latter gave them access to more than one valley and thus increased possibilities for trade. This explains, also, why the vicinity of Kansas City became so attractive to them when they came to know of it, as the sequel will show that it was • for, from here they had direct access to St. Louis, their headquarters at the time they came here, and had also good command of the upper Missouri, Kansas and Platte River valleys, while it was but a short distance across the prairie country to the valleys of the Osage, Neosho, and Arkansas. The American and British Governments have always maintained miUtary posts on the frontier, for the protection of advancing settlement, yet they have never led, but always followed these men ; and military men in scientifically deter- mining the strategic advantages of locations for posts have always found the judgment of these pioneers unerring as to the points that held best command of the adjacent country, and have located their posts in the vicinity of the traders and where substantially the same advantages were secured. The principle underlying these facts — underlying the law of transportation itself — is the long since observed universal physical law that " motion follows the line of least resistance." The movements of communities, classes and individuals whether in commercial, industrial, military, or social efforts, no less than of physical bodies, obey this universal law. All effort emcloys the methods, and follows the lines that most facilitate the attainment of us object, which is but another form of expression of the law that " motion follows the line of least resist- ance." 5 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER II. EARLY EXPEDITIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. The Fur Companies — Tlie First Settlement at Kansas City — Hozo and IVJiy it was Made — In the Wilderness — The Entry of the Land — The French Settlement, and Life Ainong the French Settlers — The Advantages of the Place Recognized by Others — An Anecdote of Washington Irving. The French element of the class of pioneers above referred to, settled Can- ada and the northwestern part of the United States, as well as the country about the mouth of the Mississippi River. They came into the upper Mississippi and Missouri Valleys in 1764, under the lead of Pierre Laclede Liguest (always called Laclede), who held a charter from the French Government, giving him the ex- clusive right to trade with the Indians in all the country as far north as St. Peters River. Laclede brought part of his colony from France, and received large ac- cessions to it in New Orleans, mainly of hunters and trappers, who had had ex- perience with the Indians. In the year 1764, this colony established itself on the west bank of the Mississippi River, and founded the present city of St. Louis. From this point they immediately began their trading and trapping incursions in- to the then unbroken wilderness in their front. Their method of proceeding seems to have been to penetrate into the interior and establish small local posts for trading with the Indians, and from whence the trappers and hunters were out- fitted and sent out into the adjacent woods. These local posts were many of them independent, but usually they were under the general management of par- ties in St. Louis. In this way, the country west and northwest of St. Louis was traversed and explored by these people at a very early day as far west as the Rocky Mountains, but of the extent of their operations little has been recorded; hence, little is known concerning the posts established by them. It is known, however, that such posts were established at a very early day, on the Chariton and Grand Rivers, in Missouri, and at Cote Sans Dessein, in Callaway county. In the year 1799 a post was established in the Blacksnake Hills, near St. Joseph, and in 1800 one was established at Randolph Bluffs, opposite and three miles below Kansas City. The Indian and fur trad e constituted the commerce of St. Louis for half a century, and when the Territory of Louisiana was ceded by France to the United States, in 1803, the population of St. Louis was all of this class of people, and the Indian and fur trade its principal interest. Prominent among the men who were engaged in an extensive way in this trade, were Auguste and Pierre Chouteau, of St. Louis, who came from France with Laclede. Auguste had charge of the workmen who began the clearing of the forest for the city of St. Louis in 1764. Both at once engaged in the fur and Indian trade. Pierre was interested in the posts on Grand and Chariton Rivers, and it is supposed was the proprietor of the post at Randolph Bluffs, which ap- pears to have been under the immediate charge of Louis Bartholet, afterward known in the settlement at the mouth of the Kaw as " Grand Louis," in counter- distinction to his son, who was known as " Petite Louis." Both these Chou- teaus were afterward connected with the Missouri Fur Company, and the sons of Pierre, and Francois, with the American Company. Probably the firstjfc-hite man who came into the territory of Jackson county was Col. Daniel Mor^n Boone, a son of old Daniel Boone. He came to St. Louis in 1787, where he was warmly received by the trappers and traders. In a memoir of him written by the late Dr. Johnson Lykins, of this city, it is stated HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 9 that he spent twelve winters trapping beavers on the Blue, spending his summers in St. Louis. He was married in the year 1800, when he abandoned trapping. After the settlement of the county he returned and located on a farm near West- port, where he remained until his death from Asiatic cholera in 1832. THE FUR COMPANIES. The increase of the volume of any business and of the amount of capital employed in it, naturally leads to more extended operations and more systematic methods. It gives rise also to a tendency to concentrate into fewer hands. This was true of the fur and Indian trade as well as of all others. In 1787 this uni- versal tendency of business to concentrate led to an abandonment, to a large extent, in Canada, of the simple individual methods above described, and the organization of the Northwest Fur Company at Montreal. John Jacob Astor, of New York, having been for some time interested in the fur trade with others began business for himself in 1807, and in 1809 organized the American Fur Company. The year before this event, that is 1808, twelve persons, among whom were Pierre and Auguste Chouteau, residing at St. Louis, gave systematic shape to the trade of the Missouri valley by the organization of the Missouri Fur Company, of which, Manuel Lisa, a Spaniard, was the leader. Sometime pre- vious to this the Mackinaw Company was organized in the northwest in the region of the lakes. About 1809 or 1810 the Missouri, American and Northwestern companies began to push their expeditions across the Kocky Mountains about the head-waters of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, with a view of establishing a chain of posts across the continent, and they thus became strong rivals. They made one expedition each and effected the desired lodgment, but, owing to the unfortunate killing of a Blackfoot chief, there arose a hostility on the part of those Indians which drove out the American and Missouri companies. At this time there was another more northern company operating in the nothwest, known as the Hudson Bay Company. In 18 10 Mr. Astor organized the Pacific Fur Company and undertook the Astoria enterprise, of which Wash- ington Irving has written such an excellent history. In 1811 the Mackinaw com- pany was bought out by the American and Northwestern companies, jointly, and its territory and effects divided between them. This year the American company sent a second expedition up the Missouri River under charge of Wilson P. Hunt, who was closely followed and strongly opposed by a second expedition of the Missouri company, under Manuel Lisa. During the war of 181 2, the Astoria enterprise failed, and it was some years before the American company again attempted extended operations in the far northwest. In 181 3 the Missouri Fur Company was merged into the American, and in 1819 a branch house of the latter was established at St. Louis, under the general direction of Samuel Abbott. The Chouteaus and others who had been connected with the old Missouri company then became connected with it. Pierre Chouteau, eldest son of Pierre Chouteau, who came from France, was quite promi- nent in its operations, and his brother, Francois Chouteau, was also connected with it This company having inherited the posts and trade of the Missouri com- pany, occupied the territory included in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, and extended also into Arkansas and the Indian Territory, although there were still a number of independent traders in this territory. After the absorption of the Missouri company, the American company began to make great efforts to monop- olize the trade of the southwest by rooting out the independent traders. In pur- suance of this, Francois Chouteau was sent into the country to establish posts and to bring the local traders into subordination to the company. At what time he first entered upon this work is unknown, but he was thus engaged for several years. Among the posts thus established by him, was one on the Kaw River about twenty miles from its mouth, known as the "Four Houses," from the fact 10 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. that it consisted of four log houses so arranged as to inclose a square court equal in size to the width of one of the houses. In other words a square was marked off and the houses built so that one end of each should be on one line of the square, the corners touching. This form of construction presented in each di- rection a defensible front equal to the length of two houses and the width of another. FIRST SETTLEMENT AT KANSAS CITY. In the spring of 182 1 M. Chouteau was sent back to this country to establish a general agency for the posts he had established or connected with the company, from which supplies could be sent to the posts, and at which the proceeds of the trade could be collected. The extent of this trade was such as to demand an establishment of this kind nearer than St. Louis. The knowledge of the country he had already acquired enabled him to judge of the merits of different points for such agency, having in view always the advantage offered by each for extended operations by the methods of transportation then employed. At the Kawsmouth he had access by water to the entire valleys of the Kaw, Missouri, Platte and smaller tributaries, while it afforded the shortest land transit to the Indians of the plains and to the valleys of the Osage, Neosho and Arkansas. Hence, with that unerring judgment for which his class was peculiar, he selected this point and established himself in the bottom opposite Randolph Bluffs, about three miles below what is now Kansas City. This was the first recognition of the natural advantages of this angle of the river for a large distributive trade, and the actual founding of the interest which has since expanded into the varied and wide ex- tended activities of this city. He brought with him at this time about thirty men, all of whom were employed in the service of the company as courriers des bois or voyageurs, and through them he concentrated at his general agency here the trade of the trans-Missouri country. His post at this point was in a sense a trading post for the Indians near by, but its distinctive feature was as a depot of supply and as a point of concentration for traders, trappers, hunters, and the interior posts. In the fall of the same year he brought his family to this post in a keel boat, which was towed all the way from St. Louis» The men who came with M. Chouteau, in 1821, were, with few exceptions, dispatched into the interior, where they established trading posts or traveled and traded among the Indians. At a later date, 1825, M. Chouteau's younger brother, Cyprian, joined him here and soon afterward built a trading house on the south side of the Kaw River about opposite the present site of Muncie. A few years later he was joined here by another brother, Frederick, now living at Westport, in this county, and after- ward they removed their post about eighty miles up the Kaw River. In 1826 there was a flood in the rivers which washed away M. Chouteau's houses opposite Randolph Bluffs and caused great loss. A part of the stock was taken to Randolph Bluffs; he sent his family to the Four Houses, and soon after- ward rebuilt his house, but this time higher up and on higher ground, which is now embraced in what is known as Guiuott's Addition to Kansas City. This place became wellknown as "Chouteau's Warehouse," and was the landing place for large amounts of freight for Indian trade, and for the trade with northern Mexico, which subsequently sprung up here. M. Chouteau subsequently entered the land on which his house stood, thus becoming a permanent resident. He continued here until he died in 1840, and his aged wife and his son, Pierre M. Chouteau, still reside in this city. Soon after the flood above referred to, the men who came with Mr. Chouteau in 1821, and others of the same class, who had been living among the Indians and in the mountains, began to gather here with their families, to settle, and thus established that wonderful French settlement, which, for a quarter of a century, existed here. This settlement was never very large, probably never exceeded a HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 11 few dozen families, but it was always important as the headquarters of a very ex- tensive trade. Of the location made by the people little is known, but Louis Bartholet (Grand Louis) settled on the bottom north of the junction of Fifth and Bluff streets and at a point now near the middle of the Missouri River. Calise Montardeau settled at the foot of Delaware street, and opened a farm of a few acres on the hill, the center of which was about the present crossing of Fourth and Delaware streets. Louis Uneau settled at about the foot of Main street, and Louis Roy, whose son afterward established the first ferry across the river at this point, settled on the low lands a little below the foot of Grand avenue. Besides these there were a number of others who were known in the Kawsmouth settlement after Americans began to come into the adjacent country, but whether they came with M. Chouteau, or afterward, is not known. Among these were Gabriel Prudhomme, Gabriel and Louis Phillabert, Clement Lessert, Benedict Raux, Pierre La Siberte, Louis Tromley, Benj. Lagotrie, John Gray, Maj. Dripps, Louis Tourjon, Louis Ferrier, M. Vertefeuylle, M. Cabori and John Le Sarge. IN THE WILDERNESS. At the time this general agency was established it was practically in the heart of the western wilderness. Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois were but sparsely settled, and still contained all the indigenous Indian tribes. The ad- mission of Missouri into the Union was pending, and was not consummated until afterward. At the time of its admission the State had a population of but 66,586, mostly along the Mississippi. The population of St. Louis was but 5,500. The Indian title to the country south of the Missouri River had been extinguished soon after the establishment of Fort Osage in 1808, except twenty-four miles along the western border. The Indian title to the country north of the river and west of a line running due north from the mouth of the Osage River, had been extinguished in 18 15, and settlements had been made in Saline county in 1810, in Cooper in 181 2, in Lafayette in 181 5, in Carroll and Ray in 18 16, and in Jack- son, east of Fort Osage, in 1819. But these were the merest outposts — the country was substantially in the hands of the Indians, except a small part along the eastern border. All the country north of the Missouri, including part of Iowa, was still the hunting grounds of the Sac, Fox and Iowa Indians, and was occasionally traversed by Kickapoos. The first three of these tribes occasionally crossed south of the river, and at this time had a village south of Fort Osage. The country on the south side was still subject to the incursions of the Osages and Kaws, who occupied the twenty-four mile strip in Missouri above referred to, and all the country south and west from the Platte River on the west to the Arkansas River in the south. Througli this country, south and west, the posts had been established, which the general agency here was to supply. The Fort Osage above referred to was established in 1808 by Captain Clem- son, under the name of Fort Clark, which name was afterward changed to Fort Osage. It was before the Indian title to southern Missouri was extinguished, on a tract six miles square ceded by the Indians for that purpose. Soon after its establishment the treaty by which the Indian title to southern Missouri was ex- tinguished, was negotiated there by Pierre Chouteau, the elder, of St. Louis. In 1810 a man named Audrain had settled about a mile and a half below the Fort, but he was probably connected in some way with the Fort, as there was no other settlements m Jackson county until 181 9, when there were some settlements made east of the Indian line. There was no settlement of any consequence in the county until after the extinguishment of the Indian title to the twenty-five mile strip in 1825, and Jackson county was not organized until 1827, and the early settlers had to go to Cyprian Chouteau's trading house, on the Kaw River, as the nearest place to trade. The first white man, other than the French traders who 12 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. became connected with the Kawsmouth settlement, were the attaches of the Kaw Indian agenc}'-, estabUshed here in 1825, but these, too, were, with one excep- tion, Frenchmen, They consisted of Baronette Vasques, sub-agent, Daniel Morgan Boone, a son of the celebrated Daniel Boone, farmer, Clement Lessert, interpreter, and Gabriel Phillebert, blacksmith. They established themselves near the foot of Gillis street, remained there until 1827, when they were removed to the Kaw agency, on the Kaw river, about eight miles above the present town of Lawrence. The first white man other than these and the French traders to locate on ground now embraced within the corporate limits of Kansas City was James H. McGee, who settled here in 1828 and whose family was so prominently identified with the early development of Kansas City. Several of his sons still reside in this city and vicinity. But there was not enough infusion of Americans into this French settlement to materially affect its character for a number of years afterward, but it continued as it had begun, the center of an extensive fur and Indian trade. The first ferry across the Missouri river in the vicinity of Kansas City was established at Randolph Bluffs by a Mr. Younger, grandfather of the " Young boys " who in connection with the "James boys" have been so noto- rious in the west. At what time this ferry was established is not known, but it was in operation in 1828. The only means of crossing the river at Kansas City at that time consisted of canoes. Two of these lashed together were used from the time of the first settlement of Americans in this vicinity, to cross over with their grists to a horse mill on the other side of the river, and it continued of about this character until 1836. The first road from this settlement into the interior appears to have led from Chouteau's warehouse up the hill in the vicinity of where Forest avenue now is, running southward nearly to Twelfth street and then southwest to about the intersection of Broadway and Seventeenth street when it descended the hill and bore south to a point where Westport is and thence west into the prairie. When this road was first used is unknown, but it was probably developed from a foot or horse trail soon after the first settlement opposite Randolph Bluffs. When roads came to be made from Independence westward through Westport and thence into the Indian country, they were connected with this road at Westport. In 1829 and 1830 this was the outlet from the settlement and the ground upon which Kansas City is now located, was a dense forest overgrown upon rugged hills and deep ravines save where the Frenchmen had built their cabins and made small clearings. ENTRY OF LAND AT KANSAS. In 1828 a land office was opened at Franklin, and the lands in Jackson were brought into market. The ground upon which Kansas City stands was located as follows : Southeast quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, James H. McGee, November 14, 1828, 160 acres. East half northeast quarter Sec. 7, Tp. 49, James H. McGee, November 14, 1828, 80 acres. West half northwest quarter Sec. 8, Tp. 49, James H. McGee, November 14, 1828, 80 acres. East half southwest quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, James H. McGee, March 3, 1829, 80 acres. Northwest fractional quarter Sec, Tp. 49, Joseph Phillibert, June 18, 1831, 154.90 acres. Southeast fractional quarter Sec. 31, Tp. 50, Louis Bartholet, August 12, 1831, 49.6 acres. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 13 South fractional half Sec. 32, Tp. 50, Gabriel Prudhomme, , 183 1, 271.77 acres. West half northwest fractional quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, Francis Chouteau, December 5, 1831. East half northwest fractional quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Gabriel Phillibert, De- cember 14, 1831, 170.41 acres. Lot I, southwest fractional quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Joseph Phillibert, Decem- ber 10, 1832. Lot 2, southwest fractional quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Francis Chouteau, 160.66 acres. East half southeast quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Clement Lessert, December 10, 1 83 1, 80 acres. East half northwest quarter Sec. 8, Tp. 48, James H. McGee, December 10, 1831, 80 acres. Northwest fractional quarter Sec. 33, Tp. 50, Louis Roy, April 9, 1832, 53.25 acres. Lot I, northeast fractional quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, O. Caldwell and H. Chiles, June 2, 1852. Lot 2, northeast fractional quarter Sec, 5, Tp. 49, W. B. Evans, June 2, 1832, 164.62 acres. West half lot i, northwest fractional quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, W. B. Evans, September 22, 1832. West half lot 2, northwest fractional quarter. Sec. 5, Tp. 49, Calise Montor- deau, October 31, 1832. East half lots i and 2, northwest fractional quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, O. Cald- well and H. Chiles, November 8, 1834, 166.43 a-cres. East half lots i and 2, fractional quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Pierre La Libertie, October 22, 1832. West half lots i and 2, fractional quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Benedict Raux, April 10, 1834, 166.46 acres. West half southeast quarter Sec. 6, Tp. 49, Wm. Gillis, December 10, 1832, 80 acres. Southwest quarter of southwest quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, James H. McGee, May 2, 1833, 4° ^^cres. West half of northeast quarter Sec. 7., Tp. 49, Joseph Jarboe, November 3, 1834 80 acres. Southeast quarter Sec. 8, Tp. 49, O. Caldwell and H. Chiles, November 8, 1834, 160 acres. Northwest quarter of southwest quarter Sec. 5, Tp. 49, Wm. Bowers, Decem- ber 17, 1835, 40 acres. Southwest quarter Sec. 33, Tp. 50, Francois Chouteau, August 15, 1836, 160 acres. The General Government gave the State of Missouri an endowment of land for a State University, part of which was located within the present borders of Kansas City. This land was sold m 1832, and the following named tracts in Kan- sas City were purchased as follows : East half lot 2, northwest fractional quarter Sec. 4, Tp. 49, James Johnson, 40 acres. East half lot 2, northwest fractional quarter Sec. 4, Tp. 49, Daniel King; west half lots i and 2, northwest fractional quarter Sec. 4, Tp. 49, Daniel King, 162.76 acres. Southwest quarter Sec. 4, Tp. 49, James Johnson, 160 acres. East half northwest quarter Sec. 9, Tp. 49, Adeliza and Constantia Fowler, 80 acres KANSAS CITY COURT HOUSE. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 15 Northwest quarter of south\vest quarter Sec. 9, Tp. 49, Joseph Boggs, Sr. , 40 acres. Southwest quarter of northwest quarter Sec. 9, Tp. 49, L. W. Boggs, 40 acres. These land entries indicate that at the time they were made there were few in the Kawsmouth settlement except the French. And so it continued without change from the situation already stated until 1838; in fact, until 1846, though great changes were wrought in other parts of the county by settlement, and though Independence had become the headquarters of the overland trade with northern Mexico, and both it and Westport had grown to be considerable and thriving towns. During all these years the Indian trade was the leading interest, and dur- ing the larger part of the time the only interest. The French were the dominant element, and conducted the trade after their peculiar methods, and gave tone and character to social intercourse. LIFE AMONG THE FRENCH. Of life among the French and in fact in western Missouri at this time, the late Rev. Father Donnelly gave an interesting account a few years ago in a pa- per contributed to t\\Q Journal. Father Donnelly came to Kansas City in 1845, and his mission then embraced eight or ten counties extending as far east as Boonville. For twenty years he traveled on horseback over this extent of coun- try, stopping often at farm houses. This afforded him an excellent opportunity to observe the conditions of life and the situation, customs, habits, manners and characters of the people. He noticed that the people were substantially clothed, and that they generally manufactured their clothes at home. There was a spin- ning wheel and loom in almost every house, and the young women of the family all spun and wove, and the piles of blankets, quilts and clothing attested the skill and taste and industry of the farmer's daughters. He also observed that when occasion demanded it, they could dress richly and elegantly, and always with stud- ied propriety and unaffected modesty. The people were healthy, hardy, indus- trious and well developed, and he found them not lacking in social culture and refinement, notwithstanding their home-spun, and always and everywhere he found them courageous, courteous and hospitable. Of the French settlers at the Kawsmouth, he says : " They were a very sociable people — they had their innocent balls and dances, especially in winter. They got up their social assemblies on a novel but simple plan of their own. A select committee waited upon some setder and informed him that a dancing party would visit his place on a certain evening. The party waited upon was reminded that his friends expected that he would have the in- dispensable pot dc Bouillon prepared for his guests ; but what was this pot de Bouillon ? It was a rich, palatable soup, cooked in a large pot, composed of chickens, wild fowl, venison, and sometimes slices of buffalo meat, to all of which were added a few handsful of corn meal, with seasoning of small pepper, etc. The soup was quaffed from gourds, cups, dishes, etc. "Messrs. Joe and Peter Revard were the parish fiddlers — two respectable brothers. All went to the ball — men and women, young and old, and all danced. It seems to me that some of your readers would like to ask 'did the beaux escort the belles to the ball-room, as they do in our polished times?' Not a bit of it. 'How then?' Why, the belles went, and returned too, by the side of their own affec- tionate mothers. Not only that, but the daughters took their seats in the ball- room itself beside their mothers, and at the end of every dance the beau restored his partner to the same secure place. This, too, is the proper etiquette among the old French themselves in ' La Belle France.' A most respectable gentleman, Mr. Northrup, informed me that he attended these parties, that he never wit- nessed anywhere such real politeness, such guarded deportment, and such genu- ine, amiable, refined enjoyment, as he witnessed among the old French half- 16 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. breeds of Westport Landing, at their winter balls and reunions. The strictest decorum, decency and politeness always prevailed. " There was no liquor drank, no boisterous talk, no unbecoming word or act seen among them. All were happy ; all danced; all partook of the Bouillon. There were no quarrels, no contentions and no scandals among them, nor thefts, nor wrongs, nor impudicity, no adulteries, nor injustice, nor slanders, nor deceit. "They took one another's word in buying and selling and they never broke it — they kept their word because there was honor among them of the christian sort." They were all Catholics, and of course, brought their religion with them when they came to the Kaw's mouth. Father Reau was the first priest, but it is not known at what time he came. Their first church was a log structure in the vi- cinity of Penn and Eleventh streets, where the first parsonage, a long since abandoned and dilapidated log hut stood, until recently. This condition of society was largely adopted by others as they came in, and was substantially maintained until the Rebellion broke out. In the winter time when boats could not run, the Santa Fe trade stopped, and there was no business of any consequence to do. The Santa Fe traders were all in and the trappers and travelers on the plains and in the mountains came to " the camp " to spend the winter. There was nothing to do but enjoy life, and dance and festival succeeded each other so rapidly as to occupy the time until spring brought the boats, started the trains, and business broke in upon the revels of pleasure. The trade of this period was peculiar. It was chiefly an exchange of com- modities. The Indian brought his ponies and pelts, and the fruits of the chase ; the trapper brought his furs, and both were exchanged, not for money, for neither Indian or trapper had use for that, but for supplies— blankets, trinkets, groceries, flour, salt and whisky — everything received here was brought by the boats, even flour, bacon and corn, which the country now produces so abund- antly, were brought from eastern Missouri and Illinois, and merchants had to lay in a stock in the fall to last the community, and the trade, until the boats brought more in the spring. RECOGNITTON BY OTHER PARTIES. At an early date, which it is now impossible to fix, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company began to debark at the Kawsmouth settlement. It is probable that the members and agents of that company were attracted hither by the same natural advantages for their trade that had previously brought the American com- pany. It was doing the same kind of business and operating in the same field. This company was brought into existence in 1822, by Gen. Ashley, of Missouri. Its forces made their first expedition up the river in keel boats and across the mountains in 1824. In 1830 it took the name of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, with William L. and Milton Sublett and Robert Campbell, of St. Louis at its head. These men afterward became property owners in Kansas City and were identified with its early history as a town. Washington Irving, in Astoria, gives an excellent account of some of their early expeditions, and bestows a fitting tribute upon their courage and enterprise. Several of their expeditions were debarked at Chouteau's warehouse, and followed the road above described, thence westward until about the present town of To- peka, they crossed the Kaw River and followed up the Blues, thence to the Platte and into the mountains above and north of Cheyenne. There were some very important firms and individuals engaged in this trade who also took a de- parture from here. Among these were Maj. Dripps and Bent and St. Vraine. Father DeSmedt attended one or more of the expeditions, thus departing from this point, being entertained while here at the Catholic parsonage by Father Reau. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 17 The advantages of this as a point of departure for the west, southwest and northwest, were afterward recognized by Captain Bonneville, who took his depart- ure from Fort Osage in 1832, and of whose expeditions such an excellent account has been given by Washington Irving. Lieut. Lupton, and Fremont and Beale sub- sequently took their departure for their celebrated expeditions from the French settlement where Kansas City now is. In 1832, Colonel Ellsworth, commission- er of Indian affairs, visited the Indians west of Missouri and Arkansas, and like- wise took their departure from this point. Colonel Ellsworth's party consisted of a number of persons of great distinction, among whom were J.' H. B. Latrobe, architect of the Capitol at Washington, Count Pourtales, of Switzerland, Paul Leguest Chouteau, of St. Louis, and Washington Irving. It was this expedition that furnished Irving the material for his "Tour on the Prairies," in which he gives an excellent account of it. However, there was one incident of this tour which he does not mention, and which occurred in this county, so strongly illus- trative of the disregard the hardy frontiersman of that time had for rank and posi- tion in society, that it is given here. The party had engaged as a camp assistant Mr. Harry Younger, of this county, the father of the "Younger Boys." The first morning after leaving Chouteau's house, Mr. Irving requested him, at the breaking of camp, to bring up the horses, so that they might start on the journey. The horses were grazing at a little distance. "x-\ll right," replied Mr. Younger, " let's go after them." "But," said Mr. Irving, "we expect you to do that." "Well," said Mr. Younger, " why can't some of you help me. There's that d — d Count, why can't he go? He does nothing but shoot snowbirds." Mr. Younger, with the social equality ideas peculiar to the hardy frontiersman, could not readily appreciate the dignity of a Commissioner of Indian affairs, a Swiss Count or a celebrated author, nor see why they should not help bring in the horses. CHAPTER HI. THE GREAT INDIAN TRADE. Proposed Removal of the Indians to the West — The Numbers to be Moved — The Removal — The New Locations — Effects on Western Trade — Founding of Westport — And Concentration of The Trade There. Having thus briefly sketched the fur trade and its result in the recognition of the advantages of the point at which Kansas City came subsequently to be built, and the recognition of the same advantage by the various exploring par- ties sent into the unknown west, it comes next in order to state a set of contem- poraneous facts which led to a most important increase of the Indian trade of this section and its relations to the future city. The close of the British war of 181 2, which occurred in 181 5, was followed by an immense immigration to the west and northwest during the ten years fol- lowing. Mr. Schoolcraft, in his history of the Indian tribes, says that no such movement of people into a new country was ever witnessed before in the entire history of the world. This brought the whites into contact with the Indians in the northwestern territory, in the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, and in the southwest in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The indigenous tribes still lived in these localities. This pressure upon the In- dians and curtailment of their hunting grounds led to constant conflicts and bloody 18 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. wars, and the necessity of removing the Indians to more distant locahties became every year more apparent, and a pohcy of that character gradually shaped itself. PROPOSAL TO REMOVE THE INDIANS TO THE WEST. In pursuance of this fact, President Monroe, Jan. 27th, 1825, sent a message to Congress, formally proposing such a course. At the same time Mr. Calhoun then Secretary of War, furnished Congress with a statement of the numbers and locations of the Indians proposed to be removed. The whole number was 92 664 divided as follows: In Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and New York i3'25o' which he proposed should be removed to the country north of Illinois and'west of Lake Michigan. In Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mis- sissippi 53,625, which, together with the Wyandottes, Shawnees, Senecas, Dela- wares, Kaskaskias, Munsas and Eel Rivers of the northwest, 3,082; the Semi- noles, in Florida, 5,000, and Delawares, Kickapoos, Shawnees, 'Wea's, Peorias lowas, Prankashaws, Quapaws, Osages and Cherokees of Missouri and Arkansas' he proposed to locate on the territory west of Missouri and Arkansas, occupied at that time by the Osages and Kansas. OPPOSITION TO REMOVAL. This proposition of removal was severely opposed by the people of all the States mentioned. The Legislatures of some of them adopted resolutions strongly protesting against it, and memorials were sent to Congress from the people pro- testing against it. Most of the Indians were receiving annuities from the Govern- ment, and their trade was a valuable item of business which the people desired to retain. The wildest stories regarding the sterility and uninhabitableness of the country proposed for them were circulated among both whites and Indians and the communications of Gen. Clark, of Missouri and others well acquainted' with the country, from expeditions they had made through it, were inadequate to quiet such misrepresentations. Hence delegations of Indians were sent out to examine It for themselves. Among these delegations was one consisting of representatives of several tribes m the northwest, in charge of Rev. Isaac McCoy, father of our esteemed fellow citizen, John C. McCoy. This party crossed the country to Younger's Ferry, on the Missouri River, at Randolph Bluffs in 1828, and pressed on into the Indian country west of Missouri and Arkansas. This 'fact is men- tioned here because Mr. McCoy several years afterward, in 1831, after the re- moval of part of the Indians had taken place, caused the establishment of Shaw- nee Mission, eight miles south of this city. Dr. Johnston Lykins, recently de- ceased, being placed at its head. THE REMOVAL AUTHORIZED. The Government and the Indians having become satisfied of the suitable- ness of the proposed country. Congress on the 28th of May, 1829, passed an act authorizing President Jackson to cause the removal of the Indians and to allot the different tribes their portion in the new territory. The Kansas' Indians an indigenous tribe, who occupied a large tract of the country in Missouri and a large part of the State of Kansas extending from the great Nemaha southward had in 1825 ceded it to the government, so that a part of the land for the new reservation was already in hand. Subsequendy in 1833 the Pawnees were induced to relin- quish the title to that part of Nebraska lying between the Piatt and the ^reat Ne- maha, for the same purpose. ^ THE REMOVAL. In pursuance of the authority given by Congress, President Jackson caused treaties to be made with the Indians for the relinquishment of their eastern res- ervations and removal to the west. These treaties were made as follows • With HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 19 the Creeks, April 4, 1832; with the Seminoles, May 9, 1832; with the Appa- lachicoles, October 11, 1832; with the Chickasaws, October 20, 1832 ; with the Kickapoos of Missouri, October 24, 1832; with the Pottawatomies, of Indiana October 26, 1830; with the Shawnees and Delawares of Missouri, October 26, 1832; with the Piankashaws and Peorias, October 26, 1832; with the Weas October 29, 1832, and with the Senecas and the Shawnees of Neosho, October 29, 1632. The removal followed soon after the treaties and by 1836 the Choc- taws and Chickasaws, Creeks and part of the Cherokees and Seminoles, the Osages, Quapaws, Senecas, Shawnees, Delawares, Kickapoos, Weas, Peorias Piankashaws, Kaskaskias and Ottawas, had located on the new reservations. These numbered 37,748, leaving out |iie Creeks. There were yet to come the Wyandottes, Chippewas, Pottawatomie's and part of the Ottawas, beside some of the southern tribes. THE NEW LOCATION. When these Indians were all located, which occurred soon after 1836, they occupied the territory as follows: Beginning at the Platte River in Nebraska the Otoes occupied the country southward to the Little Nemaha; between Little and Great Nemaha were half breeds ; south of the Great Nemaha arranced in the order here mentioned were the lowas, Sac and Kickapoos, the southern line of the territory of the latter intersecting the Missouri River at Fort Leavenworth. The Delawares came next with a small river front but extending far back to the west. The Wyandottes occupied a triangular tract bounded by the Missouri River on one side the Kaw on another and a line running diagonally from the Missouri near Fort Leavenworth to the Kaw River at about the same distance as Fort Leavenworth from its mouth. The Pottawatomies lived west of the Wyandottes and south of the Delawares, their territory extending over to the south side of Kaw River. South and east of the Pottawatomies, extending to the Missouri State line were the Shawnees, south of the Shiwnees and on the Osa-^e River were the Weas, Piankaskaws, Peorias, Kaskaskias and a band of afifihated Sacs and Foxes. West of these were the Kaws, and on the south of the Weas were the Miamis. Between these tribes and Fort Scott and extending from the State line on the east to the Verdigris river on the west, was an unoccupied strip reserved for the tribes of New York. South of this strip and lying alonc^ the State line to the Indian Territory was Cherokee country, and west of the Chero- kees were the Osages. South of them and in the Indian Territory were the Semi- noles, Quapaws and an affiliated band of Shawnees and Senecas. West of these was the larger territory of the Cherokees, and farther south lay the lands of the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws and Chickasaws. These allotments of land, it will be seen, occupied the entire country south- ward from the Platte River in Nebraska to the southern line of the Indian Terri- tory, and extending west to the wild Indians of the plains, thus covering the most of Nebraska, Kansas and the Indian Territory. In 1836, 45,000 Indians had been concentrated in this territory and there were as many more to come • and they did come soon afterward, making a total of 90,000. Besides these lands they had been given money for their eastern reservations, the total of which was $26,983,068, which, when they came here was being paid to them in annuities, This made them immensly richer than they had been in the east, and since their trade there was regarded by the people as a valuable thing, it is easy to see that after their removal it was far more valuable. EFFECT ON WESTERN TRADE. The removal of the Indians to this country, from 1832 to 1840, and the trade caused by them as they came into the county, did not immediately effect the French settlement at the mouth of the Kaw, but it greatly stimulated the growth of other places along the border, but none more than the present town of 20 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Westport. Rev. Isaac McCoy, who has already been mentioned in connection with the Indian removal, and the establishment of Shawnee Mission, determined to settle in the country, and so entered the land four miles south of the French settlement, at the intersection of the roads from that settlement and from Inde- pendence into the Indian country. This was in 1831. The following year his son, John C. McCoy, who figured so prominently in the early history of Kansas City, established a trading house at this place, having the Indians to trade with on the one side and the new settlers in Missouri on the other. At that time steam- boats were running on the Missouri River, and M. Chouteau of the American Fur company was receiving his supplies from St. Louis by them. These goods were, of course, landed at his warehouse. Mr. McCoy received his first stock of goods in the same way and by the steamer John Hancock, but he caused them to be landed in the woods above Chouteau's house, at about the place where Grand avenue now reaches the river. This was in 1832, and it was the first landing ever made at what afterward became the Kansas City levee. WESTPORT FOUNDED. In 1833, Mr. McCoy's ideas of his new trading post had become so enlarged that he laid off the ground adjacent to it into town lots and called it Westport. The new town thus founded grew rapidly, and in a short time Messrs. Lucas & Cavanaugh, Capt. John A. Suter, A. G. Boon, Street & Baker, and Alfonda Van Biber had established trading houses and opened an extensive trade with the neighboring Indians. Mr. McCoy being a surveyor was soon induced to accept an engagement from the Government in surveys that were then being made south and west of the river, and hence sold his trading house to Wm. M. Chick. But these were not all ; many others came in from year to year, and among them Messrs. W. G. and G. W. Ewing, who afterward became a most extensive concern. At this time the principal landing place for goods was at Blue Mills, eight miles below Independence, but the distance made it desirable to the Westport merchants that a nearer landing place should be had ; hence some of them fol- lowed Mr. McCoy's example and caused their goods to be landed at the French set- tlement, first at Chouteau's warehouse, but afterward higher up the river, as the sequel will show. This was the second recognition of the trade advantages of this point, the settlement of the French here having been the first. But as above stated, the occurrence of these events at Westport had little immediate effect upon the French settlement. It continued as it had been from the first, the center of a most extensive trade conducted with far off Indians by the primitive methods of the early pioneers. The trade at Westport soon became larger, but it was of a different character. It was a point to which the Indians came personally to trade and from whence the government traders with the different tribes were supplied. Westport thus became a great center for this near-by Indian trade .for precisely the same reasons, and on precisely the same principles that led M. Chouteau to locate his general agency for the American Fur company on the ground now occupied by Kansas City. It was the most central point that had command of good transportation facilities for receiving supphes, and the development of its trade confirmed the judgment previously exercised by M. Chouteau as to the natural advantages of this angle of the river, as a point of distribution and concentration of trade from the country south and west. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 21 CHAPTER IV. THE SANTA FE TRADE. Its Origin and Character — Its Real Beginning — The Efect of Steamboats — It Locates at Inde- pendence — Changing to Westport — Character and Methods of the Trade — Statistics to 1838. While this extensive French-Indian and fur trade was being conducted at the French settlement, and while this near-by Indian trade was being developed and conducted at Westport, another interest was being developed, which, in after years, gave the third recognition of the advantages of this angle in the river, for an extensive distributive trade, and contributed largely to the development of Kansas City. This was the once great overland trade with northern Mexico, popularly known as the Santa Fe trade. This trade was for many years of great magnitude and importance, and attracted much attention in all j)arts of the coun- try. The arrival and departure of the caravans were watched for with as much interest, and were as regularly and scrupulously chronicled by the press, as are the arrivals and departures of steamers at great commercial ports. ORIGIN OF THE TRADE. This trade seems to have originated with the Indian traders, or rather they were the first to discover its possibility ; and others, mostly American frontiers- men, inaugurated and conducted it until the Mexicans themselves became inter- ested, and formed a considerable portion of those engaged in it. Though popu- larly known as " The Santa Fe Trade," it was in reality a trade with all the north- ern provinces of Mexico, Santa Fe being merely the port of entry from the United States. These northern provinces were of very early settlement. Dr. Gregg, who resided in the country for nine years, and had unusual facilities for historical and statistical research, informs us in his "Commerce of the Prairies," that while the settlements so far north as New Mexico are of traditional and doubtful date, the country was certainly known and inhabited by Spaniards as early as 1550. He found historical statements, though of questionable authenticity, that the country even so far north as Santa Fe, was penetrated and conquered soon after the cap- ture of the City of Mexico by Cortez, and he found a well authenticated record of colonization in the valley of the Rio del Norte, near Santa Fe, or on that ground, as early as 1595. Whatever may have been the date of the first settlement. New Mexico, Chi- huahua and California were defined provinces, settled and populous at the begin- ning of the present century. The interior. New Mexico, Chihuahua, Durango, Zacaticas and Sonora, were then receiving their supplies of foreign merchandise from the sea coast at Mazatlan, Matamoras, Vera Cruz, Tampico and Guaymas. About this time, the courriers des bois in the employ of the fur companies and In- dian traders, pushed westward by the advance of civilization, penetrated far beyond the wooded country from whence they took their name, and traversing the illimitable plains of the West, discovered these settlements, and on their re- turn, reported the fact, and their isolated situation. The prospect of a rich trade with an isolated people, who were then nearer the frontiers of the United States than the existing sources of supply, was too tempting to the adventurous and commercial spirit of the Indian traders and frontiersmen, not to be improved. The first attempt to reach this country on a trading expedition is stated by 22 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Capt. Pike, in his narrative of his explorations in search of the head-waters of Red River, to have been in 1804, when a merchant of Kaskaskia, named Morrison, sent out a French Creole by the name of La Land with a pack of goods on his back, with instructions to traverse the Platte Valley, and if possible penetrate to Santa Fe. The expedition was entirely successful, and La Land reached Santa Fe in safety, but was so well pleased with his success and the county that he never returned, but took up his residence among the Mexicans, and went into business on his employer's capital. Capt. Pike also speaks of a James Pursley who, after wandering for some time, perhaps years, in the unexplored regions of the Northwest fell in with some Indians on the Platte River near the mountains, who told him of New Mexico, and he with a party of the Indians went down to Santa Fe in 1805. In 1806 Capt. Pike, afterward General Pike, killed at the victory of York, in Upper Canada, in 1813, was sent to explore the country on Upper Red River, and if possible discover the sources of that stream. Capt. Pike passed around the head of Red River, and crossed the Rio del Norte, which he mistook for the Red River. Believing himself in the territory of the United States, he went into winter quarters and built a small fortress for the protection of his little party until spring, when he proposed to descend the river to Natchitoches. However, he was in Mexican territory, and not over eighty miles from Sante Fe ; hence the Mexicans soon became aware of his presence, and the governor at Santa Fe sent a party to bring him in. The commandant of this party assured him that the Gov- ernor had heard of his presence and his objects, and, learning that he had missed his way, had sent an escort to guide him, and animals to convey his men to a navigable point on the Red River, and would be pleased to see him at Santa Fe, which might be taken in on the way. Trusting to the friendship of the Mexicans, Capt. Pike went with them ; but no sooner had he reached Santa Fe than a dif- ferent line of treatment was adopted. He was sent with an escort to the com- mandant-general at Chihuahua, where his papers were seized and he and his men sent under escort to the United States by the way of San Antonio de Bexar. THE FIRST EXPEDITIONS. On his return to the United States he published a description of the northern provinces of Mexico and their situation, which proved of the most exciting char- acter. Soon afterward, in 18 12, an expedition was fitted out by some parties about Franklin, in Howard county, opposite Boonville. From Dr. Gregg's account it appears that this party, like many that followed in the early years of the trade, conveyed their goods on pack animals. The names of the party are not all known, but among them were Messrs. McKnight, Beard and Chambers. They followed Capt. Pike's route as near as possible, and reached Santa Fe in safety, but here they received treatment which they were little expecting, and for which they were little prepared. Previous to the Declaration of Independence by Hidalgo, in 1810, all trade with Mexico was prohibited, except by permission granted by Spain. These adventurous men, relying upon that declaration believ- ed all restrictions removed until they reached Santa Fe, when they learned to their sorrow that Hidalgo had been captured and executed, and that the royalists, with all their restrictions on trade, were again in power. The party were imme- diately arrested as spies and sent to Chihuahua, where they were imprisoned for nine years. Their goods were all confiscated. Two of the party escaped in 1821, and made their way back to the United States, and the next year the repub- lican forces under Iturbide having gained the ascendant, the others were all re- leased. The removal of the restrictions on trade incident to the success of Iturbide encouraged others to launch into it, and in 182 1 a Mr. Gillam, who had a trading house at the mouth of the Verdigris River, sent through a small party in perfect HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 23 safety. The same year Captain Beckwith, with four companions from the vicinity of FrankUn, went out to trade with the Indians, but faUing in with a party of Mexican rangers, and learning from them of the removal of the restrictions on trade, they pushed their way through to Santa Fe, arriving also in 182 1. REAL BEGINNING OF THE TRADE. The profits of those early trading parties were so great, and their reports so flattering and exciting, that the next year, 1822, a large number of parties, with large amounts of merchandise, went out. The isolated situation of the northern provinces at the time caused prices of all imported merchandise to range very high. Common calico sold as high as two and three dollars per vaj-a, the Spanish yard of thirty-three inches, and everything else in proportion. In 1822 Col. Cooper and sons, from the vicinity of Franklin, Captain Beckwith and others, conducted expeditions across the unexplored prairies with the greatest hardships and with much suffering. The trade may be said to have been fairly inaugurated that year, and the route so far determined that substantially the same trail was followed for many subsequent years. STEAMBOATS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE TRADE. Steamboats had then just begun to run on the Missouri River. The first boat to arrive at St. Louis was the General Pike, August 2d, 181 7. The first boat on the Missouri River was the " Independence," which ascended the stream in 18 1 9, probably as far as Council Bluffs. She passed Franklin May 28, where a dinner was given to the officers, but we have no record of her dates at points higher up. In August and September of the same year the steamers " Western Engineer," "Expedition" and " R. M. Johnson," ascended the stream with Major Long's scientific party, bound for the Yellowstone. The Missouri River trade appears to have been attractive to steam-boatmen, but the difficulties of navigation appear to have been quite a restriction. How- ever, this new method of water transportation soon had its effect on the Santa Fe trade, as the traders were only too ready to avail themselves of it to escape the longer transit overland. As their stocks began to be enlarged and their number increased, the boats became valuable in delivering them at points higher up than Franklin. IT LOCATES AT INDEPENDENCE. The points that at first competed for this trade at this angle of the river were Blue Mills, Fort Osage and Independence. Blue Mills, which was situated about six miles below Independence, soon became the favorite landing point, and the exchange between wagons and boats settled there and defied all efforts to remove it. Independence, being the county seat, was the larger and more important place, and became the American headquarters of the trade and the outfitting point as early as 1832. It continued so until the trade was temporarily suppressed in 1843. Independence preferred Wayne City as a landing point, and made great efforts to secure its adoption. . The river front was paved with stone ; still, how- ever, the landing point continued to be at Blue Mills, and the headquarters and outfitting at Independence, which, under the rapidly growing trade, experienced an era of rapid development and great prosperity. ANOTHER CHANGE OF BASE. However, Independence was not to be allowed to enjoy a monopoly of the trade for any great length of time. The Mexican traders finding accommodations for themselves at Westport, so much nearer the prairies, where they could herd their teams while awaiting the arrival of their goods at Blue Mills, soon took ad- vantage of that fact. The large numbers of them that stopped there, and the iipwii'-^ 'wm^mmm, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 25 trade they naturally caused, added an additional element to the prosperity of Westport, and there began to be some outfitting done there, but in a smaller way than at Independence. Among the first to avail themselves of the advantages afforded by Westport were such of the old Indian traders as had become engaged in the Mexican trade. Understanding the river and the country, as well as the methods of conducting a frontier trade, better than others engaged in it, they were quick to perceive the advantages to this new trade of a landing nearer to their new headquarters than that at Blue Mills. Knowing the character of the landing at Chouteau's warehouse, and perceiving the advantage of the superior pasturage for their teams on the prairies, and the saving of the eighteen miles haul over wooded roads, they began to land their goods at Chouteau's warehouse. As early as 1834, Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain landed a cargo of goods at this point for the Mexican trade, and for their Indian posts on the plains. Others followed their example, and then a tendency to make headquarters at Westport and use Chouteau's warehouse as a landing place arose and gradually increased, addmg the Santa Fe business to that of the Indian and fur trade already done at this place and Westport. It was this tendency more than anything else that suggested the idea of a town where Kansas City now is, and led to the organiza- tion of a company for that purpose in 1838, at which time the trade had assumed very large proportions. CHARACTER AND METHODS OF THE TRADE. In the earlier years of this great trade, pack animals were largely used for conveyance. The first expeditions, prior to 1822, appear to have been conducted on foot with packs on the backs of the traders, after the fashion of a peddler. In 1822 and 1823, pack animals were mosdy used, and in 1824 and 1825, the cara- vans were composed partly of pack animals and partly of wagons. From 1826 on, only wagons were used. For many years no party started from the border strong enough to feel it safe to attempt the passage alone, hence they adopted the custom of rendezvousing at Council Grove, in what is now the State of Kansas. Here they united in such numbers as to feel safe in attempting the passage, and organized, electing a captain and such minor officers as they deemed requisite. The men engaged in the trade were of the most hardy and courageous class ; and it was well, for their life on the plains was one of peculiar dangers and hard- ships. From Council Grove to within a few miles of Santa Fe, they were beset with hostile savages. The caravans marched four wagons abreast with guards all round, and were so corralled at night as to form a barricade, which was \ve\\ guarded. Affrays with the Indians were of frequent occurrence, and many ol the earlier parties lost some of their men, and some were nearly annihilated. Some were compelled to cac/ie their goods, that is, bury them in the earth to keep them from falling into the hands of the Indians, and escaped themselves only with the utmost hardships and suffering, Others again were lost for days on the prairie, without water, and nearly famished. One instance is recorded by Dr. Gregg of a party that were saved only by finding a buffalo fresh from a stream to them un- discovered, with stomach full of water, which, after killing the animal, they eagerly drank, and esteemed it the most delicious draught they had ever tasted. Although opening and developing a trade of such vast importance to the United States, and although constantly beset with hostile savages, the government furnished but three military escorts, and these only so far as to the American line, then the Ar- kansas River. These escorts were in 1829, 1834 and 1843. STATISTICS. Dr. Gregg, in his "Commerce of the Prairies," gives the statistics of this trade from the beginning down to 1843, fi"om which the following table is taken, to show its growth to the close of the year 1837 and its magnitude at that time : 26 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Years. 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 Amount No. No. Men. No. Pro- Taken to Merchandise. Wagons. prietors. Chihuahua $ I5-000 , , 70 60 $ 12,000 50 30 35.000 26 100 80 3,000 65.000 37 130 90 5,000 90,000 60 100 70 7,OGO 85,000 55 90 50 8,000 150,000 100 200 80 20,000 60,000 30 50 20 8,000 120,000 70 140 60 20,000 150,000 130 320 80 80,000 140,000 70 150 40 50,000 180,000 105 185 60 80,000 150,000 80 160 50 70,000 140,000 75 140 40 70,000 130,000 70 135 35 60,000 150,000 80 160 35 80,000 Of the fur and Indians conducted from this center, no statistics were ever preserved; but at the close of 1837, when the Santa Fe trade had reached such proportions as are above given, these others were almost, if not quite, as promi- nent. KANSAS CITY UNION DEPOT. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 27 CHAPTER V. THE FOUNDING OF KANSAS CITY. The Siiuatioii in i8j8 — The First Ferry — The Santa Fe and Indian Trade Tend to Kansas City — Purchase of the Prudhomme Estate for a Town Site — The Surz'ey and Sale of iSjg — Troubles of the Company Petard the Town — What Was Thought of It — Its Early Trade — A Description of Early Kansas City — Efforts to Divert the Santa Fe Trade — Its Suppression in 184J — Statistics — Situation in 184J — The Great Flood of 1844 — The Events of 184J to 1846 — The Mexican War. Having now briefly sketched the history of the three principal elements that entered into the commercial foundation of Kansas City, it comes next in order to set down the circumstances under which the town originated, the manner in which it was founded, and the course of events entering into its development. THE SITUATION IN 1838. At the time to which each of the preceding chapters brought this record, to 1838, the entire country west of the Missouri River and the State line of Mis- souri and Arkansas was in the possession of the Indians. The tribes on these borders were all in receipt of large annuities from the Government which gave rise to a rich and profitable trade with them. There was in existence a trade of about equal volume between this western border and southern Mexico, crossing the intervening Indian country, and there was still in existence a large volume of the old French, Indian and Fur trade. These three elements of trade gathered at this angle of the river as at a focus, for the reason already stated, that this was the nearest point toward the scene of each of them that could be reached by water transportation. To stop lower down the river, or advance higher, were alike detrimental. At that time Missouri was still quite a sparsely settled State. The western half of it had been settled in part for not exceeding twenty years, and the tide of immigration into it, though considered large in these times, was trifling when compared with the immense movements of population since witnessed into other States. What is called the "Platte Purchase," that is, the territory embraced in Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Nodaway and Atchison counties, had been added to the State in 1836, the State line prior to that time having run directly north from the mouth of the Kaw River. This country was not opened for set- tlement until 1837, and though its settlement was rapid for those days, it was still an unorganized country. THE FIRST FERRY. The settlement of this Platte purchase had an important effect upon the future city. Up to that time there had been no ferry across the river here, other than the canoes heretofore referred to, but with the opening of this new country there was a spasmodic movement into it from the south side of the river. To accommodate this movement Peter Roy, a son of Louis Roy, who settled at the foot of Grand avenue during 1826, estabUshed a flat-boat ferry, and in order to provide better access to it than the old road heretofore mentioned, he cut a new road through the woods from about where Walnut street crosses Fifteenth street down by the present junction of Main and Delaware streets, and thence down a deep ravine which followed down Delaware street to Sixth, thence across by the corner of Main and Fifth streets, diagonally across the Public Square and thence to the river a little east of the present line of Grand avenue from Third street 28 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. down. This road afterward became a factor in the concentration of the Indian and Santa Fe trade at this place. The ferry, thus estabhshed by Mr. Roy, was conducted by him but a short time when he sold it to James H. McGee, who then lived on a farm south of Sixteenth street. McGee sold the ferry in less than a year to Rev. Isaac McCoy, of whom mention has already been made, who con- ducted it until 1843, when he sold it to his son, John C. McCoy. Mr. McCoy subsequently sold a half interest in it to John Campbell, and in 1854 the other half to Messrs. Northrup and Chick. THE SANTA FE AND INDIAN TRADES TEND TO KANSAS CITY. At this time, 1837 and 1838, many of the Santa Fe traders had adopted the custom heretofore mentioned of stopping at Westport to await the arrival of their goods at Blue Mills. To them, and to the Indian traders at Westport, a new land- ing only four miles distant, at the French Settlement, offered great advantages over one eighteen miles distant, at ^lue Mills. Hence, with the facilities afforded by the new road cut by Petite Roy, there arose a strong tendency to receive their goods at this point. It then became manifest that the best landing point was higher up than Chouteau's house, on the property belonging to the estate of (Gabriel Prudhomme, who died about this time. This point was at the foot of Grand avenue, Walnut, Main, and Delaware streets, and the new road gave access to this new locality. Here there was a natural rock landing superior, by nature, to those of Blue Mills and Wayne City, notwithstanding all the improvements that had been made upon them. It was this fact that determined the site of Kansas City, by determining the exact spot of transfer between boats and wagons of these two great branches of trade. PURCHASE OF THE PRUDHOMME ESTATE. The Prudhomme estate, upon which existed this natural landing, is de- scribed as the south fractional half of section thirty, township fifty, and includes the land lying between Broadway and Troost avenue, from the river back to the township line, which runs along Independence avenue. On the 30th of October, 1837, Prosper Mercier and wife, his wife being a daughter of Gabriel Prudhomme, and one of the heirs of the estate, petitioned the Circuit Court of Jackson county for an allotment of dower to Prudhomme's widow, and a division of the land among the heirs. On the 9th of December, the court made an order appointing Wm. M. Chick, Peter Booth and Samuel Johnson commissioners to make such allotment of dower and division of the land among the heirs. On the 3d of April, 1838, these commissioners reported to the court that after viewing the land they were satisfied that such allotment of dower and division of land could not be made without great injustice to the parties. • On the next day, April 4th, the court made an order for the sale of the land, and releasing from the commission Messrs. Chick and Johnson at their request, appointed James P. Davenport and Elliott Johnson in their stead. These com- missioners were instructed by the court to advertise the sale of the land for six weeks prior to day of sale by notice in a paper in Liberty, Clay county, and one in St. Louis, and by hand bills, and to make the sale on twelve months' credit. They made the sale July 7th, 1838, and reported it to the court on the loth of August. At this sale James H. McGee, who, on the 21st of August, 1837, had been appointed guardian of the minor heirs, acted as crier. In fact, it appears that he had conducted the whole business, and that the advertising had been in- adequately done. At the sale there were present only Mr. McGee, Abraham Fonda and a Mr. Clark, who came with him ; and William Gillis and Michael Auther besides, perhaps, some few others who had dropped in merely as specta- tors. Fonda was bidding and offering such low prices that Gillis and Auther asked for time to consult, with a view to bidding. They retired for this purpose, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 29 and while absent the sale was made to Fonda for $i, 800. A remonstrance against this sale was filed with the court on the 8th of August, two days before the filing of the report of the sale. It was set up that McGee, Fonda and Clark were interested together in the purchase of the land, and that the sale had been conducted fraudulently in not allowing time for bidders (Gillis and Auther) to make bids. A new sale was asked for, and on the nth of October, the court made an order setting aside the sale and directing that another be made, the ad- vertising to be as before, and the sheriff of Jackson county, to act as crier. This sale was made November 14, 1838, for $4,220. At the time these eVents were transpiring, there was much discussion among certain men, who had observed the tendency of the Santa Fe and Indian trade to effect transfers at this point, concerning the feasibility of building a town here. In fact, it was supposed that McGee, Clark and Fonda were interested together, and had that in view in the first sale. Wm. L. Sublett, of St. Louis, who had become well acquainted with the place during the operations with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company regarded it as a feasible enterprise, and wanted to take an interest in such a movement. This idea took shape pending the advertising for the several sales, and a company was formed for the purpose. This company consisted of Wm. L. Sublett, Moses G. Wilson John C. Mc- Coy, Wm. Gillis, Fry P. McGee, Abraham Fonda, Wm. M. Chick, Oliver Cald- well, Geo. W. Tate, Jacob Ragan, Wm. Collins, James Smart, Samuel C. Owens, and Russell Hicks. The last two gentlemen lived in Independence, the first being the leading merchant, and the other the leading lawyer of the county. Independence and Westport were jealous of the enterprise, foreseeing the danger of its absorbing the trade of the Indians from the one, and the Santa Fe trade from the other. Hence, Hicks and Owens were taken into the company with a view of placating the jealousy of Independence. Messrs. McCoy and Chick were of Westport, and were prominent there, but they went into the enterprise on its merits. The addition of the two Independence gentlemen was no advan- tage to the company, but rather the reverse. The sale was set for November 14, 1838, at which time it occurred, the sum realized at this time being four thousand two hundred and twenty dollars, and the company bought it, and proceeded at once to lay out the town, which they called Kansas. THE SURVEY AND SALE OF 1839. Mr. McCoy was the surveyor of the party, but being engaged at that time in government surveys, he could not attend to laying off the town. According- ly, he drew up a plat for about fifteen acres of it, and employed W. S. Donahue to make the survey. This survey included that part of the city bounded by Wyandotte street and Grand avenue, and extending from the river back to Sec- ond street. From the old records of the company, now in the hands of John Campbell, Esq. , of this city, it is learned that a sale of lots was had in May, 1837, at which lots were sold as follows : Lot I, to W. B. Evans $155 oo Lot 3, to J. H. McGee 70 00 Lot 5, to F. Kleber 82 00 Lot 10, to J. C. McCoy 200 00 Lot 12, to J. Ragan 151 00 Lot 26, to J. Ragan 32 00 Lot 81, to J. Ragan 62 00 Lot 24, to J. C. McCoy 30. 00 Lot 48, to W. B. Evans 144 80 $926 80 30 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. These sales were made on one year's time, at ten per cent, interest; and the company, anxious to give the town a start, built a log warehouse for the accom- modation of the Santa Fe and Indian trade, which was kept by W. B Evans. TROUBLES OF THE COMPANY RETAREJED THE TOWN. But just at this point the company met with difficulties which checked this enterprise and held it in statu quo for eight years. The first of these was that the law required that every member of the company should sign and acknowl- ed the plat, and that it should be filed for record with the county clerk before the company could give a title to lots. It had been arranged that this should be done at a meeting to be held on the morning of the sale of lots, but it so happened that less than a majority of the company attended the meeting ; hence, after the sale titles could not be given, but the company got over this difficulty by giving title bonds to purchasers. It was then observed also that two of the commissioners ap- pointed to sell the estate, Peter Booth and Elliott Johnson, had died before the sale of the land, leaving aminority of the commissioners to do the business. The legality of this sale was called into question on this account, and this question was not settled until in 1846. The method employed by the company to procure a set- tlement of the question was unique. It was a question for judicial decision, and to get it into the courts for that purpose required that a case should be made up. To do this was the trouble, but the company finally decided to dispute the legality of the sale thus made by one of the commissioners, refuse to pay him the purchase money, and compelled him to sue for it. This they did ; the suit was brought and the members of the company appeared as defendents in a case they really much desired to have decided against them. The decision was finally made in 1846, the legality of the action of the commissioners was confirmed and executions were made against the members of the company for the purchase money. It is needless to say that these executions were cheerfully paid. In the situation in which it was placed pending the litigation, the company could not, of course, sell lots nor make titles to those already sold nor even collect from the purchasers. However those who had bought lots made some improvements on them and a few trading houses were opened. Among these early trading houses Messrs. Cohn & Block appear to have been the first to offer a stock of general merchandise. .This was in 1839, and about the same time A. B. Canville, Anthony Richter and Thos. A. Smart, opened houses. The latter being what was then called a grocery. WHAT WAS THOUGHT OF THE TOWN. There were many different opinions about the prospects for the new town prior to the difficulties just mentioned. Independence and Westport nick-named it " Westport Landing " in derision, and, owing to its non-development, for so many years, it came to be generally known by this name. However, there were others who regarded it differently. Senator Benton, than whom none better knew the controlling facts of trade, while visiting Randolph, nearly opposite three miles below the city at this time, pointed to it and remarked that it was destined to become the greatest commercial center west of St. Louis. Senator Benton after- ward repeated this prophecy in Kansas City. EARLY TRADE. Some trade immediately sprung up at the trading houses, and concerning its character, Spalding's Annals contains the following : " The great portion of this early trade of the city was a trade similar to that of all new towns, and was what our Yankee neighbors would consider, in their vernacular, as a "truck and dicker trade," mainly done with the neighboring Indians, and employees of the mountain traders and freighters, and Mackinaw boatmen, etc., etc. Ponies, pelts, furs, trinkets and annuity moneys, were receiv- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 31 ed by early traders in exchange for powder ,lead, tobacco, sugar, coffee, candies, beads, and as there was at that time no temperance orders among these buyers and sellers, a little bad whisky was also sold by ' the large and small.' We are happy to announce, however, that in this border ruffian era, a reform has taken place in the sale and use of this Marge and small' commodity. In 1839 and 1840, the Indian tribes trading at Kansas City were the Delawares, Munsas, Stock- bridges, Shawnees, Kansas (or Kaws), Kickapoos, Osages, Pottawatomies, Weas, Peorias. In addition to articles already enumerated, these Indians bought of our traders, calicoes, blankets, very many saddles, bridles and ribbons; and rings, costing ten cents in St. Louis, were frequently sold to them for five and six dol- lars ; and large profits were made on every thing. As a general thing, the Indians paid cash for goods ; and when they had no money they would freely pledge any- thing in their possession, such as ponies, silver arm-bands, ear ornaments, etc. Bacon was sold to them as high as from thirty to forty cents per pound ; and salt for fifteen and twenty cents per tin cup full. As early as 1840 it was not uncom- mon, on the arrival of Mackinaw boats, to see as many as three or four hundred men on the levee at one time, and all of them buying, more or less from our traders" A DESCRIPTION OF EARLY KANSAS CITY. In a paper read before the Old Settlers' Association in January, 1872, John C. McCoy thus describes the appearance of the place at that time : "A clearing, or old field, of a few acres, lying on the high ridge between Main and Wyandotte and Second and Fifth streets, made and abandoned by a mountain trapper, a few old girdled dead trees standing in the field, surrounded by a dilapidated rail fence ; all around on all sides a dense forest, the ground covered with impenetrable underbrush and fallen timber, and deep, impassable gorges; a narrow, crooked roadway winding from Twelfth and Walnut streets along down on the west side of the deep ravine toward the river, across the public square, to the river at the foot of Grand avenue ; a narrow, difficult path, barely wide enough for a single horseman, running up and down the river under the bluffs, winding its crooked way around fallen timber and deep ravines ; an old log house on the river bank, occupied by a lank, cadaverous specimen of humanity named Ellis, with one blind eye and the other on a sharp lookout for stray horses, straggling Indians and squatters with whom to swap a tin cup of whisky for a coon skin; another old dilapidated log cabin on Jthe point below the Pacific de- pot; two or three small dvvelings and cabins in the Kaw bottom, now called West Kansas, which were houses of French mountain trappers, engaged principally in raising young half breeds. The rest of the surroundings were the still solitude of the native forest, broken only by the snort of the startled deer, the bark of the squirrel, the howl of the wolf, the settler's cow bell, and mayhap the distant bay- ing of the hunter's dog or the sharp report of his rifle." The man Ellis mentioned in the above description of Kansas City, by Mr. McCoy, .jwas, at the time he speaks of, living in the house built originally by Louis Uneau, at the foot of Main street, and was the first Justice of the Peace ever officiating at Kansas City. The difficulties surrounding the Kansas Town Company prevented town de- velopment and retarded the tendency of trade to concentrate here. Still, however, the Indian trade continued to flourish at both Westport and Kansas City, and the Santa Fe trade at Independence until 1843, when it was temporarily suppressed by order of General Santa Anna. EFFECT TO DIVERT THE MEXICAN TRADE FROM MISSOURI. Two efforts were made to divert this trade from the Missouri frontier, but without success, because of the superior advantages afforded by this point. In 1839, Dr. Josiah Gregg, after nine years' experience with this route, and a pretty 32 HISTORV OF KANSAS CITV. thorough acquaintance with the plains and with Northern Mexico, undertook to open a river route from Van Buren on the Arkansas River. Finding that a good point for steamboats to ascend to, considerably nearer Santa Fe, and with a sea- son nearly a month earlier in spring and a month later in the fall, he thought it much more desirable, and undertook to conduct an expedition from that point and open a new route. He was successful in getting through with less hardships than the early explorers had experienced on the route from Missouri, but he found that the old route had some advantages that the new one could not equal, and no further attempt was made. The trade from the Missouri border had been ex- tended to Chihuahua, and so large a part of the imports of that place had come to be received from that source via Santa Fe, that in 1840 the Mexican govern- ment undertook to open a new and shorter route from that country to the United States. Some point on Red River, at the American border, was selected, and the party, with a concession of special advantages, as to imposts, duties, etc., started from Chihuahua April 3, 1839. It succeeded in getting through to Red River that year, and the next year, 1840, took back a large amount of goods. This expedition, however, failed to discover any advantage in the new route, though much nearer for Chihuahua than the old route from Missouri, and no fur- ther effort was ever made to develop it. These two attempts to divert the trade from the Missouri border were of importance in this connection, as showing the superior command of the country, even to Chihuahua, held by the locality of Kansas City. ITS SUPPRESSION IN 1 843. On the 7th of August, 1843, Santa Anna, then President of Mexico, issued a decree closing the ports of Taos, in New Mexico, and Paso del Norte and Presido del Norte, in Chihuahua. As these were the only ports at which goods were passed through the custom-house into northern Mexico, it nearly suppressed the trade. This was done in consequence of the sympathy and co-operation of Americans with the people of Texas, who, although they had previously, in 1838, achieved their independence, were still subject to the hostilities of Mexico, and were practically in a state of war. Prior to this decree, the hostile attitude of Texas and Mexico toward each other had made the trade peculiarly hazardous. Two expeditions had been fitted out in Texas to raid it, the Texans not regarding the fact that a large part of those engaged in it were citizens of the United States — a friendly power. Santa Anna's decree was issued with equal injustice to the large number of his own subjects who were engaged in it, and with no less injus- tice to the large sections of his country which were accommodated by it. This decree so far caused the abandonment of the trade that, although another decree was issued March ii, 1844, raising the embargo, not over ninety wagons, with not over two hundred men and $200,000 worth of goods crossed the plains to Santa Fe in 1844. The Mexican war coming on soon afterward further em- barrassed and restricted it until the close of that struggle. We are indebted to Dr. Gregg's admirable " History of the Commej^ce of the Prairies," for the following statistics of the trade prior to its suppression in 1843 •* Amount No. No. No. Taken to Years. Merchandise. Wagons. Men. Proprs. Chihuahua. 1838 90,000 50 100 20 40,000 1839 250,000 130 250 40 100,000 1840 50,000 30 60 35 10,000 1841 150,000 60 100 12 80,000 1842 160,000 70 120 15 90,000 .1843 4.50,000 230 350 30 300,000 =■" Although this table is given by Dr. Gregg as representing the entire trade, we are inclined to think it is far short of the actual aggregates. The year 18-10, for instance, appears to include only the Chihuahua ex- pedition from Red River. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 33 THE SITUATION IN 1843. At the time the Mexican trade was temporarily su])pressed by order of Gen. Santa Anna iu 1843, Blue Mills was the principal landing point for Independence, the effort to divert it to Wayne City having proved ineffectual. Independence enjoyed a monopoly of the outfitting business. Westport had attained much im- portance as an Indian trading post and was rapidly becoming the headquarters for the Mexican traders, who stopped there to graze their teams on the prairies, and await the arrival of their goods at Blue Mills ; Liberty had grown to be quite a town; a town had been established at Randolph Bluffs, and at this time contained one or more quite respectable mercantile houses, and a number of residences, and had macadamized one short street. The town of Barry, which came into exis- tence prior to the opening of the Platte purchase to settlement, had became quite an important place, as had the town of Weston. A town had been started at Parkville, an Indian trading post, and was doing a large trade with the new settlers in the adjacent country and with the Indians across the river. Parkville then contained several trading houses. At this time Kansas City was much smaller than any of these places, and was not perceptibly growing, owing to the inability of the Town Company to make titles to ground. Kansas City then con- tained three warehouses,.^hose of the Town Company, Francis Chouteau, or rather the American Fur Company, and that of W. G. and G. W. Ewing, of Westport, two or three small trading houses and a few log cabins, mostly occupied by Frenchmen. It was then known only as Westport Landing, but as a landing place for Westport was beginning to attract some attention from Mexican traders, who saw the advantage of receiving their goods at this place rather than at Blue Mills. Still, however, it continued the headquarters of the fur and Indian traders established by the old St. Louis guild of French traders, and conducted by the American Company or their successors. This trade was then, as it had been from the first, distributive, and though it made much less local show, and was probably less in volume than the Indian trade done at Westport, it covered a much greater area of country. In 1840 W. G. and G. W. Ewing, already referred to as having become prominent Indian traders, at Westport, in about 1836, determined to build them- selves a warehouse at Kansas City. They had received goods at Blue Mills, and at Chouteau's Warehouse just below Kansas City, but their trade had become so large that they desired to avoid this warehouse tax and so built a warehouse as above stated. In June, 1842, Gen. John C. Fremont came to Kansas City on his first ex- pedition across the plains. At this time he made his headquarters at Cyprian Chouteau's house, six miles west, but outfitted here at Kansas City. In his subse- quent expeditions he made his headquarters with Wm. M. Chick, at Kansas City, while outfitting. During the year of 1843, Wm. M. Chick, father of Jos. S. Chick, now President of the Bank of Kansas City, who was then living at Westport, saw the tendency of trade to concentrate at Kansas City, and removed to this place and built a warehouse here. FROM 1843 TO 1846. The suppression of the Mexican trade in 1843 "^^s a severe blovv to Inde- pendence and damaged Westport somewhat. The former was thrown back upon its resources of local trade with the adjacent country, and the latter was left de- pendent mainly upon its Indian trade. Aside from the loss by the warehousemen of the few cargoes they had been receiving, on account of this trade, Kansas City was not affected. KANSAS CITY JOURNAL BUILDING. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 35 THE GREAT FLOODS. In 1843-4 events transpired here which have furnished material for many a fireside story among the old settlers. These were the great floods and attendant adventures of these two years. That of 1843 was not so great as that of 1844, which was the greatest ever known in these rivers. During the past Spring of i88r, the United States Engineer, having charge of the river improvements at this point, J. W. Nier, Esq., informed the press that he had information of great snows and large accumulations of water in the Upper Missouri and its tributaries, which rendered a recurrence of these floods not im- probable. This called forth from John C. McCoy, Esq., the following graphic historical sketch of the great flood, which will be interesting in this connection : " The subject of floods in the Missouri and Kansas River in the past, and the probabilities of their recurrence in the future, is neither a pleasant or popular theme to talk or write about just now, aad those who indulge in speculations or predictions of danger are looked upon as croakers and birds of evil omen, espe- cially by those whose interests would be in jeopardy in the event of their fulfillment. This is very plainly shown by the way many persons interested in West Kansas City and the bottom lands of the river have received warnings and statements of the United States engineer as to the probable danger of a devastating flood in the Missouri River, and which appeared in the Journal a. few days ago. His state- ments have, I think, provoked a good deal of unjust and unnecessary criticism and comment. He is a stranger to me, but holding the position of trust and re- sponsibility he does in the engineer service of the Government, we may safely conclude that he is at least theoretically competent, and certainly possesses the most correct information obtainable to enable him to form a proper estimate of the danger to be apprehended. Not only this, but it is his special business to study the situation. He is in possession of all the facts and facilities requisite to form a correct conclusion in the premises. "Now, granting that it is his deliberate judgment, formed from these sources, that the dire calamity of a devastating flood was likely to sweep over the West Kansas City bottoms, causing the loss of millions of dollars value in property and perhaps many lives, his failure to give timely warning, would, under the circum- stances, be looked upon as little short of murder; and then, if his predictions fail and the elements over which he has no control are propitious, why then he sub- jects himself to ungenerous flings and jeers. His situation in the premises is one of great responsibility and certainly by no means to be envied. Having some knowledge of facts connected with floods in the Missouri River, I will venture, disagreeable as the subject may be to many, to briefly state them. Physic, albeit nauseating, is sometimes very beneficial to general health. We may sincerely hope the general health in this case is in no danger at present. The records of the past tell us of only three floods that may be regarded as devasting, viz : In 1782, 1826 and 1844. (One other in 1843 only partially so, and many others where the overflows caused little or no damage.) According to my recollection, the overflow of 1843 occurring the last of May and the first of June, reached a height about six feet lower than that of the succeeding year of June, 1844, and the damage was correspondingly less. The winter of 1842-3 was a long, hard one with much snow toward the mountains. In January there was a general thaw and break up with fine wetaher lasting nearly three weeks and the steamer " lone" ascended the river to Kansas City. On the diy of her arrival it turned suddenly cold, the river froze up again and so remained until near the ist of May, during which time the boat remained near the foot of Grand avenue. "The rise of water in 1843 ^^^.s high enough to wash away some heavy new one-story log houses standing near the river bank at the lower end of Harlem, which I had put up at the beginning of winter. I stood on the levee one day and 36 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY, witnessed their departure with sudden lurch and a graceful sweep of the upper end toward the river that mingled and melted away in the boiling flood. — Have I told this story so often that I really believe it was an actual occurrence, and that ru- mors of the snowfields to the northwest, caused me as soon as the ice was out of the river, to vamose the imperiled ranch? Nay, even before that occurred that I pulled down one house and hauled the hewed logs across on the ice and put them up to live in near the foot of William street ? Does any one doubt the correct- ness of this statement? And that this occurred in 1843, the year before the great flood? I hope not, for I am now going to say something of another flood that far exceeded this one in its desolating effects — that which occurred from the 13th to the i6th of June, 1844. The water rose to a height of six feet or more above that of the previous year. The Missouri River at about the r3th was only a few feet over the bottom lands, but the great volume of water that came down the Kansas River madly rushing against the mighty Missouri caused the seething waters to pile up at the mouth, no doubt several feet higher than they would have done had they met at the point of junction more obliquely. "On the morning of the 14th, Col. Wm. M. Chick, who was temporarily oc- cupying with his family a house he owned, which stood on the east side of Tur- key Creek, not far southeast of the State Line house, was surprised to find the water just rising above the banks of the creek. By 9 o'clock it had reached the door step, and as the ground was lower toward the hills eastward, he deemed it advisable to seek a place of safety on higher ground, which they succeeded in doing with the aid of a canoe or small boat. His daughter, Mrs. Peery, went to the hills near Twelfth Street on a horse, the water being then about mid-side to the horse near the hills. From thence she made her way to my house, two miles south of the city, and astonished me by her statement of facts. I galloped down to the ferry across the river, which I owned, and ran at that time, and taking a skiff" with Col. John Polk, we made our way, with great difficulty and danger, up through the woods to the house, where we arrived at about twelve o'clock, and found the water about waist deep on the lower floor. We secured as many articles as our skiff would carry, placed the balance out of the reach of the water, and made our way back to the ferry, where I immediately secured a party of about ten persons to take up the ferry flat to secure that which was left. " The seething, foaming flood of water was not only dashing madly onward in the river channel, but it swept across the heavily timbered bottom of West Kan- sas, from bluff to bluff, with a roar almost deafening. With the aid of twenty or more men in rounding the rocky headland above the bridge, we finally reached the building about four o'clock p. m., when we found the water had reached nearly to the upper floor. Placing the boat beside the house we tore off a portion of the roof, the eaves of which was probably five feet above the boat — the upper window being too small to pass out the furniture. Being now nearly dark we held a council, and decided to tie up for the night, deeming it unsafe to venture into the river in the dark. So we ran up to the smoke-house, built of heavy logs, in which about 5,000 pounds of bacon was floating about, and there spent the long, dreary hours of the night in roasting bacon and hams and telling marvelous tales of blood-curdling scenes that never happened, probably. "In the morning we found that the depth of water under our boat was at least ten feet, and the water still rising. " Now, those who feel disposed to believe the above statements of facts can make their own estimate of the rapidity of the rise of water in twelve hours from the morning of June 14. I make it from eight to ten feet. Is this incredible? If so, ask Col. Polk, Allen McGee, William Mulkey, and others who spent the night with me in that flood of waters. " I will now mention only one other episode of that eventful day in West Kan- sas. During the night of the 15th, and the next morning, from time to time HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 37 loud cries of distress were heard over at Wyandotte, in the direction of the resi- dence of Louis Tromley, who then Uved near the Missouri south bank, just east of the State line. Those who listened to those cries knew full well that the old man was in deep trouble, as well as deep waters, but the impetuous Kaw forced its mad waters into the broad sea of the Missouri with a current so rapid that it was impossible to get the ferry flat across to the opposite woods (for there were no banks then) without cordeling the boat some distance up the Kaw, and before this could be done darkness had overspread the desolate scene. At early dawn brave hearts and strong arras were ready for the rescue. Isaiah Walker, Ethan Long, Russell Garret, David Froman, and Tall Charles, of Wyandott, soon made their way with the boat, cutting their way through the woods, to poor old Trom- ley, whom they found perched in a tree, and a few hundred yards farther on his wife in another tree, and a short distance further his boy sitting astraddle of the comb of the house which was just beginning to sway into the seething waters of the river. "Tromley had tried to make his way to Wyandotte on a log, in order to pro- cure a boat and help, but finding he would be inevitably swept into the Missouri, he desisted from his effort and betook himself to his perch in the tree, and thus passed the long vigils of that dreary, desolate night to those three heipless persons. Poor Tromley meanwhile trying throughout its long watches to cheer and comfort his terrified wife and boy, whom he was unable to reach. The res- cuers took them to the hills, near Twelfth street, on their way, picking up some others as they went. Soon afterward old Tromley's house, with his favorite dog perched upon its top, was seen by the hundreds gathered on the hillsides passing rapidly down in mid current and Poor Tromley, who had just arrived, called to his dog by name, who set up a mournful wail, and the old man seemed disposed to dash in to its rescue. During this day, the 15th, the Wyandotte rescuers, were busy saving persons and property in the West Kansas bottom until darkness clos- ed their labors, theirs being the only boat that operated on that day, and after that none was needed for nothing was left to save of life or property. On the same day 1 went down with an old horse boat I had and brought up Mrs. Chouteau and her household goods from her homestead below East Kansas, to the high grounds above. "Now, Mr. Editor, I have written these few incidents of the great flood of 1844 not as a sensation, for the facts are just as I have related them without any undue coloring. Neither have I done so to create any unnecessary alarm, for I don't know that there are any grounds for any, but simply to communicate some facts that everyone having interests in the river bottoms ought to know. But smart people may laugh me to scorn, and so they would have done to old Trom- ley a day or two before he went to roost in that hackberry tree, had he been guilty of the same indiscretion. I have seen times when I would have felt su- premely happy to be sitting astraddle of a good dry log with my neither extremi- ties dangling in the waters beneath." The great flood of 1826 has already been mentioned in this history as having washed away the house of Mr. Chouteau, opposite Randolph Bluffs, which caused him to remove higher up the river and to higher ground. Little is known of this flood, but it doubtless was not such as to cover the ground to which Mr. Chouteau removed ; for it is not probable that after being washed away once he would rebuild below the high water line. However, the flood of 1844 proved that he made a mistake, for it washed away this second house which he had built. It also washed away the warehouse built by W. G. & G. W. Ewing, which was in the same vicinity, both being below the limits of the land of the Prudhomme estate, which had been partly laid off into town lots in 1839. It also washed away the warehouse built by the town company in 1839, and rose to the door of Wm. M. Chick's warehouse. This latter warehouse stood at the corner of Main street and 33 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. the levee, and on ground fully six feet higher than the ground at that place at this time. The old log cabins built by the Frenchmen in 1826, on the river front and in the West Kansas bottoms, were all washed away, and that was about all there was of Kansas City at that time. During the flood steamboats ran up to Mr. Chick's warehouse door, which shows that they were floated over our present levee at an altitude fully six feet above the present level of the street. This flood had no material effect on the course of trade, as it did no damage at Blue Mills, at which point most of the Indian and Santa Fe trade was then effecting its exchange between boats and wagons, and it did not cause any of the warehouse business that was being done here, to drift away. It was of material advantage, however, in a local way, for two of the leading warehouses were below what was then the town, which diverted trade to that point. These were Chou- teau's and Ewing's, and by the washing away of these, the trade was drawn to Chick's warehouse, which was in town. Thus this great calamity was an advan- tage to what was then Kansas City, and every great calamity since, except the war, has equally redounded to her advantage, as the sequel will show. OTHER EVENTS OF 1 843 TO 1 846. In 1844, H. M. Northrup, now a banker at Wyandotte, Kansas, came to Kansas City with the largest stock of merchandise that had yet been offered here, if not, in fact, the largest stock that had yet been offered at any place near this angle of the river. He made an effort at once to do a jobbing trade with the traders in western and southwestern Missouri and the Indian country, and was very success- ful in establishing that kind of a trade ; so much so that he soon became an import- ant jobbing merchant, and shipped goods to local traders two hundred miles down the border of Missouri. This was the first attempt at a jobbing trade in Kansas City or on this border, and was the fitting super-position of a civilized distributive trade upon the old distributive trade of the French with the Indians ; and pre- served that distinctive feature of trade as Kansas City passed from the French- Indian era into an era of civilized commerce. Mr. Northrup was a most impor- tant element in the early development of Kansas City, and in the building up of his business did more than any other man of that time, to build up the town. In 1845, James H. McGee made some brick on his farm south of the then town, and built the first brick house ever built in Kansas City. From this lot of brick J. C. McCoy, who then conducted the ferry at this place, built the L part of a brick house, which still stands on the bluff, between Grand avenue and Wal- nut street. These were the first brick made in Kansas City, and the first laid here. RENEWAL OF THE MEXICAN TRADE. In 1845 the Santa Fe trade was resumed with larger proportions than before, and with many new men engaged in it. By this time steamboatmen had become better acquainted with the river and had come to appreciate the natural rock landing at the town of Kansas, which was then superior to that of Blue Mills or Wayne City. The traders had also come to appreciate the advantages of this as a starting point. Before the sui)pression of the trade in 1843 they had learned the ad- vantage of herding their teams on the prairie across the line in the Indian country, and to a considerable extent had adopted the custom of keeping their teams there, making their own headcjuarters at Westport, then the nearest town, and waiting until their goods arrived at Blue Mills, when they would hitch up and go after them. To this fact Westport owed whatever share of the trade she enjoyed prior to that suppression. This custom was established with the re-establishment of the trade in 1845, ^^^ then the hardship of going twelve miles after their goods through a wooded country had been greatly increased by the settlements and cut- ting up of the country into farms, hence there arose a more urgent necessity for a HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 39 nearer landing. Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain, who were among the oldest Indian traders on the plains, and who understood the advantages of this point better than many others who had engaged in the Santa Fe trade, landed a cargo of goods here this year, which, it is stated in Spalding's "Annals of Kansas City," pub- lished in 1858, was the first cargo of goods that ever went from this point in a train to Santa Fe. Others followed their example, so that in 1846 the people of Kansas City had what they regarded as a fair show of the trade THE EFFECT OF THE MEXICAN WAR. During the winter of 1845 and 1846, the Mexican war was impending, and preparations were being made at Fort Leavenworth and all along the border, for the expeditions that were to be started out in the spring. This gave a great im- pulse to the trade and prosperity of the border towns ; for now, more than ever was the advantages of this angle of the river as a point of departure for the south- west appreciated. It was the nearest point, to the scene of the struggle, that could be reached by water. To stop below was to increase the wagon transpor- tation over bad roads, and to go above was to increase the distance. Besides, at this angle of the river was the best landing and the best roads leading to Mexican territory. This locality, therefore, became the focus of outfitting and departure. Recruiting offices were opened in the border towns, and suttlers and quartermasters outfitted at them. Westport landing then became much more important than it ever had been before, as a place for transferring goods from steamboats to wagons, though it was not enough of a place to do much in the way of outfitting. Weston," Parkville and Liberty, but more particularly Inde- pendence and Westport, were greatly benefited by this trade ; the latter two places enjoying the largest part of the outfitting business. Westport was chiefly benefited, and at that time got an impulse that speedily raised it to rank with Independence. However, Kansas City felt the impulse of the preparations that were being made during the winter, and from the anticipation of the large amount of warehousing, and receiving and forwarding of military and suttler's goods, out- fits and supplies, soon to occur, it acquired new and improved prospects. These facts, united with the tendency the Mexican trade had shown the previous year to come to this place, led the town company to adjust their differences, and lay anew the foundation of the future city. bird's-eye view of the KANSAS CIIY EXPOSITION GROUNDS. 40 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER VI. KANSAS CITY REDIVlVUS. Reorganization of the Totvn Company — The First Great Sale of Lots — An Interesting Record — Bad Titles — Further Surveys and Sales — The Company Dissolved — Tozvn Development — The Cali- fornia Emigration — The Concentration of the Santa Fe and Indian Trades at Kansas City — Cholera and its Direful Effects — Municipal Organization — The First Newspaper — Revival After the Cholera. The events chronicled in the last chapter concerning the movement and development of trade, together with the settlement of the question concerning the title of the town company to the Prudhomme estate led to a revival of the town building feeling. A meeting was held on the 28th of February, (1846), at the house of Wm. B. Evans, at which time were present Messrs. William Gillis, Fry, P. McGee, Jacob Ragan, Wm. B. Evans and John C. McCoy. These gentlemen, together with Robert Campbell and H. Jobe now held the fourteen original shares, some of the original parties having sold out to some of their associates or to the new parties here introduced into the company. The fourteen shares always existed so long as the company existed, but some members held two or more. The record of this meeting is as follows : "On motion of F. P. McGee, ordered that a sale of lots be advertised to take place on Thursday, the last day of April, next, and to be sold on twelve months credit, reserving the title of said lots until the money is paid, and to bear interest from due until paid at the rate of ten per cent per annum from due until paid." "On motion of Wm. Gillis ordered that the above sale be advertised in the following newspapers." The names of the newspapers do not appear however in the record. A settlement of the sales of 1836 was now made with the purchasers of lots at that sale. Interest was charged on the purchase price at ten per cent for six years, making the total for that sale, $11,482.88; the money was collected and tides made, the deeds being signed by each member of the company and the wife of each member, which was an expensive and laborious way of making titles. While the sale ordered at this meeting in February was being advertised a new survey was made by John C. McCoy. At this time he adopted the survey of 1838, and extended it back to the township line and east half a block beyond Grand avenue, then called Market street, and west three hundred feet be- yond Wyandotte street. THE FIRST GREAT SALE OF LOTS. The sale was held as advertised, and the original records of the company show that one hundred and twenty-seven lots were sold singly and two whole blocks together, Robert Campell being the purchaser of the two blocks, for which he paid three hundred dollars. These two blocks were those lying between Fourth and Fifth streets and Wyandotte and Main streets, now the center of Kansas City's Jobbing Trade. The highest price paid for any one lot sold at this sale was three hundred and forty-one dollars, paid by Wm. M. Chick for lot No. 9. A few others in the same vicinity on the levee between Wyandotte and Walnut streets sold for between two and three hundred dollars, but niost of them went below one hundred. The amount for which some of the lots were sold HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 41 is not carried out in the original record, but the total of those carried out is $8,- 137.42. A copy of this record made at a later date foots up the sale $8,643.62. Spaldings Annals states this aggregate at $8,625, and the average at $55.65, but the records of the company do not appear to contain the data for such calculations. AN INTERESTING RECORD. A very interesting feature of the record of this sale is that it gives the voca- tion of most of the purchasers, as well as their names, and this shows what kinds of business prevailed here at that time, as well as who lived here. Thus it is shown that there were seven farmers among the purchasers, Jacob Ragan, N. Ross, W. G. Barkley, F. P. McGee, John Park, Peter McGee and Thomas A. Smart; four merchants, H. M. Northrup, W. M. Chick, P. M. Chouteau and Thos. Elliott; three butchers, John Javins, H. Javins and Thos. Javins ; three doctors, Jos. O. Boggs, Benoist Troost and S. G. Harlan ; two carpenters, Henry Jobe and M. Walden ; two grocers (saloon keepers in these times), Geo. Hudson and A. G. Yancy ; two traders, F. H. Booth and B. Linkingfelter ; two laborers, Henson Javins and Peter Belanger; two brick makers, Wm. B. Pruddy and Jas. Pruddy ; two brick layers, Wm. Champagne and Franklin Barnes ; one landlord, Wm. B. Evans ; one pilot, Chas. Dripps ; one lawyer, L. Kaufman ; one broker, Chas. Horning; one stone mason, D. Edgerton ; one Santa Fe trader, B. Pruitt; one surveyor, John C. McCoy; one tailor, J. A. StuU; one gunsmith, Gabriel Phillebert , one wheelwright, Moise Belmar ; one school master, Lott Caufman ; one Indian, Isaac Zane, and one gentleman, Wm. Gillis. A " gentleman" in those days signified a man who had no regular business, and lived without labor. There were also among the purchasers Robert Campbell, formerly of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Thos. Breeze, Edward F. Hand, Lewis Ford, David McWilliams, Robert Hudgins, Elijah Jackson, S. D. Ray and Mr. Parsons, whose vocations are not stated in the record. Notwithstanding the inability of the company to make titles or sell lots be- tween 1838 and 1846, the tendency of trade to transfer itself to this point, caused an accumulation of people here for various purposes, so that at the time of this sale, in April, 1846, it was estimated that the town had already a population of not less than three hundred. BAD TITLES. Notes were taken for lots sold in 1846, having fallen due in 1847, o^ the ist May, of that year, P. M. Chouteau, son of Francois Chouteau, was appointed by the company to collect the money. On the 3d of May, Fry P. Mc Gee was also ap- pointed to collect. At this time, of course, titles had to be given to the lots, as the notes were collected, and the method employed the previous year — that of each member of the company and his wife signing the deed — was too slow and cumbersome to be re-adopted, hence a power of attorney was given to Mr. Chou- teau to sign the deeds for the company. This he did, but signed them by his own name as " attorney-in-fact," without signing the name of the company by himself as "attorney-in-fact." This was afterward found to be irregular, and it gave rise to much trouble in adjusting titles. While referring to this subject, it may be as well to mention another fact which subsequently arose to cause some litigation and trouble. A posthumous daughter was born to Gabriel Prudhomme after preceedings for sale in partition had been initiated by the other heirs. In this situation the order of court naming the heirs among whom the proceeds of sale were to be divided did not mention her, and hence the commissioner paid her nothing. She afterward became the wife of Col. M. J. Payne, now president of the Kansas City Gas Company, and suit was brought for her portion. This suit was not successful in its object, but for a long time it caused a cloud to rest upon the title to every lot in the Prudhomme estate. 42 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. FURTHER SURVEYS THE COMPANY DISSOLVE. In May, 1847, the company decided to lay off the balance of their land into lots. Accordingly, a contract was made for the clearing of the land east of Mar- ket street (Grand avenue) to " Phillibert's Branch," about Campbell street, run- ning back to Fifth street; and John C. McCoy was employed to lay off the bal- ance of the land into lots. All this having been done, another sale of lots was held July 17, 1847, at which twenty-three lots were sold for an aggregate of $1,- 475-30- On this same day — July 17th — the company decided to close up its affairs, and divide proceeds. Accordingly, Messrs. McGee, Gillis and Evans were ap- pointed to make a survey of the assets of the company, preparatory to such ac- tion. On the 30th of September following, the division was made, lots and notes being apportioned to each share in the company, in as nearly equal values as possi- ble. The company appears here to have practically gone out of existence, as the record shows no further proceedings, except some business transacted for it by McCoy and GilUs, in disposing of a few lots overlooked by the committee, in the division of the proceeds. TOWN DEVELOPMENT. At the time of the first sale above referred to, April 30, 1846, it was estimat- ed that there were about three hundred people in the new town, nearly all settled along the river front. However, under the impulse of the Mexican war and San- ta Fe trade, added to the Indian trade already existing, the place grew rapidly, and before the close of the year, the population was estimated at seven hundred. New warehouses and outfitting houses were estabhshed, trade facilities became much enlarged, and the tendency of the Santa Fe and Mexican war trades to concentrate at this point largely increased. The next year, 1847, Colonel Charles E. Kearney, now of this city, located in Westport, and went into business with W. R. Bernard, still a citizen of that place. Mr. Bernard was at that time engaged with Colonel A. G. Boone, in In- dian trading, and Colonel Kearney had been for some years previous trading in Old Mexico, from southern points. The new firm opened a large outfitting house for the Santa Fe traders, and thus supplied the only lacking facility for transfer- ring the trade to the border, and obviating the eighteen miles haul and the bad roads, and the rendezvous twelve miles from the depot of supply. Kansas City, in her new warehouses, in her unequaled natural steamboat landing, and her near proximity, supplied all the balance. For the next three years Westport was the headquarters of the trade, but Kansas City was rapidly absorbing it. CALIFORNIA EMIGRATION. The excitement incident to the revival of the Santa Fe trade and the Mexi- can War, was supplemented by the California gold excitement in 1849. The progress of Kansas City meantime was rapid, for anew town, against older, more populous, and better known towns. Still, she had not, up to this time, advanced to a point where she could successfully compete with Westport and Independence for this new trade, and while it lasted they had the lion's share of it. The emi- gration was large through this locality, for it was soon found that on the more northern routes the springs were later, and the winters came earlier, not giving emigrants time to get through. Besides, the routes up the valley of the Kansas River, or over the prairies toward Santa Fe, were by far the best for the emi- grants. Many of them came by boat to this place, and outfitted here. It was useless to go higher up the river, for they got no nearer to California by doing so, besides which they lost their time, and approached the latitude of shorter seasons. Here again this locality vindicated its natural advantages, and again Kansas City HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 43 vindicated her natural advantages as the best steamboat landing on the river, and her rightful claim to the business being done from neighboring points. CHOLERA AND ITS EFFECTS. At the same time this new element of trade and town development came into existence, there came also that dread scourge, the cholera. It came first in 1849. It first made its appearance among some Belgians brought here by Mr. Guinotte and Mr. Chouteau. There were about eighty of them camped below town, and tRe cholera proved very fatal among them, and soon spread to other classes of the populations and to Independence, Westport and other neighboring places. From the earliest history of this disease, it appears to have traveled farthest and fastest and with deadliest effect along water courses, Wherever it has taken epi- demic form in this country, it has shown this pecuHarity to a marked degree, and once possessing itself of a footing on the Mississippi it has penetrated all the ramifications of its tributaries. Kansas City this year having a large trade and many steamboats touching her levee from points below, received the scourge in its most fatal form. It followed the California emigrants in 1849 and 1850 on to the plains, and besides decimating their numbers also greatly depressed the trade and emigration. In 1850 there was little if any of it in Kansas City, or in the adjacent cities of Independence and Westport, and, though it had caused the flight of many people from here, they returned, and in 1850 Kansas City had a popula- tion of between 700 and 800. THE SANTA FE TRADE DRIFTS TO KANSAS CITY. But though Kansas City did not participate to any great extent in the rich harvests of the Mexican war and California emigration trade, she felt the stimu- lus of it and grew rapidly. And as she grew, adding warehouses and outfitting stores to the facilities of her natural landing, she began more and more surely to command the Santa Fe trade. At a banquet given by the merchants Christmas day, 1857, Col. E. C. McCarty made a speech, a report of which is here copied from the Journal of contemporaneous date, because of its historical value : " He said he was a poor speaker, but would make some few statements as to the Santa Fe trade. He had been engaged in it as early as 1828, having come to Missouri in December of that year. The Santa Fe trade was then in its infancy, from $50,000 to $100,000 being the amount of merchandise transported annually across the plains. In those days there were very few trains with more than two or three wagons, and it was customary for all the Mexican traders to meet at Council Grove, organize into a company under a captain there chosen, and so proceed on their journey under his direction. The press of the whole United States then used to make particular mention of the departure of the Santa Fe caravan from Council Grove, and like notice was given of their return. It was almost universally the case in those early days for some one or more of the party to be scalped by the Indians. The trade gradually commenced to increase year by year, and has multiplied to the present almost incredible amount. I was in- formed two years ago, by Dr. Connelly, probably the largest trader in New Mexico, that the Santa Fe trade across the plains then amounted to five millions of dollars, nearly all of which passed through the City of Kansas. It was on this statement of the amount of trade as set forth as above, that he succeeded in forcing the passage of a bill by the Legislature establishing a Court of Common Pleas in this city, while bills sent in in favor of other counties were rejected. In the spring of 1847 he, in company with Mr. Russell, now (1857) of Leavenworth, started the first train from this city to New Mexico. Old Mr. McDonald went in charge of it, and was the first man that ever crossed the great American Desert with a wagon. Mr. Northrup was the first merchant he had the pleasure of doing business with in Kansas City, and their business operations have been continued HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 45 until the present time with high satisfaction to the speaker. Mr. Northrup was one of those men who had taken an early day for settlement in Kansas City and had stuck to it ever since. In the spring of 1850 his brother, then in New Mexico, came in as a partner of Capt. St. Vrain, and through their influence and his own, all outfitting trade, previously done in Independence, was brought to this point, and from the year 1850 dates the era of Kansas City trade with New Mexico. Six hundred wagons started from this point that year. Was engaged, as one of the firm of Brown, Russell & Co., during the summer and fall of 1850, in trans- porting the army supplies from Fort Leavenworth to the western forts, and Irom their knowledge of the routes they oftered the Government to receive the freight at St. Louis, and pay freight and insurance on the same from thence to this point if the Government would permit them to land the goods here instead of at Fort Leavenworth, as the advantages of the route from this point would more than com- pensate for the additional expense. The Government refused to do it — for who ever knew an army officer to walk ten steps out of his way to accommodate any- body? Their loss, in consequence of not being permitted to start from this point, amounted to sixty thousand dollars, one item in which was 600 yoke of oxen. For a number of years it was customary to transport all goods over the plains by mules, as it was thought impossible for oxen and wagons to be used. He was the first man that started an ox team across the plains from this point, and they had been used altogether ever since." At the time of the occurrences here referred to by Col. McCarty, Kansas City had not probably more than five hundred inhabitants, owing to the effects of the cholera in 1849 ii'' driving people away. In 1850 Kansas City, Independ- ence and Westport were none of them iscorporated towns, hence the census of that year does not give the population separate from that of the townships in which they were located. Lexington, however, was a considerable place, and Weston had a population of 3,775. The growth of these two places was due to the large production of hemp in those days, for which they were the markets. CHOLERA AGAIN. However the rapid development of the city promised by the fact here noted by Col. McCarty it was destined to receive a serious check by the re-appearance of the cholera in 1851. At this time it created a panic, which speedily reduced the population to about three hundred. People literally deserted the town and fled in all directions. The scourge revisited the place in 1852, and revived to a consid- erable degree the previous panic. That year forty-eight deaths occurred in Westport within twenty-four hours after the appearance of the disease, and there were in a like space of time about forty deaths in Independence and twenty or more in Kansas City. Owing to this circumstance the outfitting business for the Santa Fe trade and the trade on and across the })lains did not fully concentrate itself here until several years afterward — about 1856 and 1S57. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. There was no municipal government in Kansas City prior to 1853. Previous to that time the peace was preserved and difificulties were adjusted by a township Justice of the Peace and a constable, but a circumstance occurred in December, 1852, which led to the establishment of municipal gevernment. This circum- stance was the arrest of a man for some light offense by the constable, upon whose trial it was discovered that the commission issued to the authorities was for the next congressional township east, which located their jurisdiction at least six miles from where they had been exercising their authority. This led to a move- ment looking to municipal organization. That winter, February 22, 1853, a char- ter was obtained from the State, and in the spring of 1853 a municipal government was organized. The land embraced in Kansas City, according to this charter, was 46 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. bounded by the river on the north, by Summit street on the west, by Ninth street on the south, and on the east by the alley between Holmes and Charlotte streets, and therefore embraced much that was not yet, nor for two years to come, laid off into town lots. All that was platted at that time was the old Prudhomme estate, the boundaries of which have already been given. At the election, W. S. Gregory was elected mayor, but served only a short time when Dr. Johnson Lykins was elected to succeed him. Dr. Lykins was re-elected next spring, and in the spring of 1855 John Johnson was elected, but resigned a month afterward. M. J. Payne succeeded him, and held the office till i860. A list of city officers from the organization of the town to the present time is here inserted: 1853 — Mayor, W. S. Gregory, Johnston Lykins; Treasurer, P. M. Chouteau; Assessor, G. W. Wolf; Register, S. W. Bonton; Marshal, N B. Hedges; Attorney, Judge Nelson ; Councilmen, Wm. G. Barkley, Thompson McDaniel, M. J. Payne, Wm. J. Jorboe, T. H. West, Johnston Lykins, T. S. Wright.; 1854 — Johnston Lykins, Mayor; H. M. Northrup, Treasurer; Hallom Rice, Assessor; John Curtis, Wm. G. Barkley, Registers; J. P. Howe, Marshal; John Curtis, Asa Bartlett, City Attorneys; Councilmen, Benoist Troost, J. C. McNees, Daniel Edgerton, Caleb Keer, M. J. Payne, Tilman H. West. 1855 — John Johnson, M. J. Payne, Mayor; E. R. Threlkeld, Treasurer; J. W. Summers, Assessor; M. J. Payne, W. S. Bouton, Registers; Fred Breck- enridge, C. C. Spaulding, City Engineer; J. P. Howe, Marshal; Asa Bartlett, City Attorney ; Councilmen : Caleb Keer, A. T. Gilham, John W. Ammons, John S. Campbell, T. J. Wilson, John C. McNees. 1856— M. J. Payne, Mayor; E. R. Threlkeld, Treasurer; J. P. Howe, Assessor ; S. W. Bouton, Register ; Robt. J. Lawrence, City Engineer ; J. P. Howe, Marshal; S. W, Bouton, City Attorney; Councilmen: John Johnson, T. J. Wilson, Caleb Kerr, John S. Campbell, A. T. Gilham; Wm. J. JarboCjjN. B. Hedges. 1857 — M. J. Payne, Mayor; E. R. Threlkeld, Treasurer; F. M. Barnes, Collector; S. W. Bouton, Assessor; John S. Hough, S. W. Bouton, Register; C. P. Wiggins, E. O'Flaherty, City Engineer; J. P. Howe, Marshal; Wm. A. Strong, City Attorney; Councilmen: R. J. Lawrence, Wm. J. Jarboe. R. T. Van Horn, A. T. Gilham, Michael Smith, L M. Redge, D. J. Williams. On the 17th of August this council resigned and the following were elected; Wm. J. Jarboe, John Johnson, James A. Frame, T. B. Lester, L M. Ridge. John A. Boar man. 1858— M. J. Payne, Mayor; E. P. Threlkeld, Treasurer; D. L. Shouse, Collector ; Lott Coffman, Jas. A. Gregory. Assessors ; J. W. Robinson, L. B. Scott, Register; J. Q. Anderson, Engineer; S. M. Gilham, Wharf Master; F. M. Barnes, Marshal; J. W. Robinson, City Attorney; Councilmen: T. B. Les- ter, John W. Ammons, John S. Hough, Michael Smith, Charles Long, George W. See. 1859 — J. M. Payne, Mayor: John A. Boarman Treasurer; D. L. Shouse, Collector ; S. W. Bouton, Assessor ; Daniel Geary, Register ; J. Q. Anderson, City Engineer; S. M. Gilham, Wharf Master; W. A. Pollard, Wharf Register; Jonathan Richardson, Marshal; John W. Robinson, City Attorney; John W. Summers, Recorder ; Councilmen : J. B. Higgins, E. M. McGee, L. A. Sehoen, E. B. Cravens, Theodore S. Case, N. C. Clairborne. i860 — G. M. B. Maughs, Mayor; John A. Boarman, Treasurer; S. D, Vaughan, Collector; J. K. Staw. Assessor, Daniel Geary, Register; C. L. DeHam, City Engineer; J. E.Jewell, W. V. PuUiam, Wharf Master; Thomas Oliver, Wharf Register; Jonathan Richardson, City Attorney; John W. Sum- mers, Recorder; Councilmen: Lott Coffman, W. V. Pulliam, W. W. Ford, A. L. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 47 Harris, John Campbell, D. A. N. Grover, W. J. Jarboe, D. M. Jarboe, Dennis O'Brien. 1861 — R. T. Van Horn, Mayor; John A. Boarman, Treasurer; S.. D. Vaughan, Collector; E. O'Flaherty, Assessor; Michael Smith, Register; E. O'Flaherty, City Engineer; Thos. Oliver, Wharf Register; Geo. F. Irwin, Wm. Holmes, Marshal ; J. S. Boreman, City Attorney ; Geo. W. Taler, Recorder ; CoLincilmen : D. A. N. Grover, A. L. Harris, Patrick Shannon, Charles Long, J. E. Snyder, M. J. Payne, B. M. Jewett, N. Vincent, Johnston Lykins. 1862 — M. J. Payne, Mayor; J. A. Bechman, Treasurer; S. D. Vaughan, Collector; E. O'Flaherty, Assessor; M. Smith, Register; Bernard Donnelly, Register; E. O'Flaherty, Engineer; F. R. Lord, Wharf Master ; D. M. Jarboe, Wharf Master ; John Joyce, Wharf Register ; Wm. Holden, Marshal ; William Quarles, City Attorney ; Geo. W. Toler, Recorder ; Councilmen : Joshua Thorne, M. IDiveley, E. M. Sloan, J. R. Ham, John Kaney, Lewis Deardorf, Thomas Burke, P. Switzgable. 1863 — William Bonnefield, Mayor; A. B. Cross, Treasurer; C. F. Smith, Collector; D. M. Jarboe, Assessor; B. Donnelly, Register; R. B. Whitney, Engineer ; Fred. Von Longinan, F. McMillian, Wharf Master ; W. B. Hoag- land, Alphonso Hughes, Wharf Register; Dennis O'Brien, Marshal; William Quarles, City Attorney ; A. Ellenberger, Recorder ; Councilmen : C. W. Fair- man, P. Switzgable, W. C. Holmes, F. Timmerman, F. P. Flagler, Lewis Dear- dorf, Thomas Burk, Charles Dwyer. 1864 — R. T. Van Horn, P. Shannon, Mayor; S. D. Vaughan, Treasurer; R. Salibury, E. B. Cravens, Collector; E. O'Flaherty, Assessor; B. Donnelly, Register; William Miller, Engineer; T. R. Lord, Wharf Master; John Joyce, Wharf Register ; Dennis O'Brien, Marshal; Charles Carpenter, Attorney; A. Ellenberger, Recorder ; Councilmen : C. A. Carpenter, Jas Mansfield, Charles Dwyer, T. S. Case, Thomas Burk, B. L. Riggins, Aaron Raub, P. C. Causey, P. Shannon, P. S. Brown. 1865 — P- Shannon, Mayor; S. D. Vaughan, Treasurer; E. B. Cravens, Collector; E. O'Flaherty, Assessor; B. Donnelly, Register; William Miller, E. O'Flaheriy, Engineer; Thomas Fox, Wharf Master; Samuel Quest, Wharf Reg- ister ; Jeremiah Dowd, Marshal ; T. B. Rummel, Attorney ; C. A. Carpenter, Recorder ; Councilmen : P. S. Brown, J. Q. Watkins, H. L. Hughn, E. F. Rogers, John Taylor, Gerhart Zueker, Thomas Burke, William Kalb. 1866 — A. L. Harris, Mayor; S. D. Vaughan, Treasurer; Charles, Long, Collector; B. Donnelly, Assessor; D. O'Brien, Register; Edmond O'Flaherty, Engineer ; H. G. Toler, Wharf Master ; Phillip Ott, Wharf Register ; Jeremiah Dowd, Marshal; Charles Carpenter, Attorney; C. A. Carpenter, Recorder; Councilmen : Charles Dwyer, John Bauerlein, Robert Salisbury, F. A. Mitchell, N. Vincent, Henry Tobener, Thomas Burk, David Slater, John R. Balis. 1867 — E. H. Allen, Mayor; J. W. L. Slavens, Treasurer; James Lee, As- sessor; Dennis O'Brien, Auditor; Oscar Koehler, Engineer; E. B. McDill, Wharf Master; A. T. Hoover, Wharf Register; T. J. Brougham, City Clerk; J. B. Brothers, Marshal; William Warner, City Attorney; P. Lucas, C. A. Car- penter, Recorder ; Edmond Keller, Market Master ; Councilmen : John Camp- bell, Herman Hucke, H. W. Cooper, E. A. Phillips, H. L. Hughn, E. H. Spalding, J. W. Keefer, Henry Speers. 1868 — A. L. Harris, Mayor; George Sweeny, Treasurer; J. B. Drinkard, Assessor; Dennis O'Brien, Auditor; John Donnelly, Engineer; A. T. Hoover, Wharf Master; J. Draggon, Wharf Register; D. E. Dickinson, City Physician ; T. B. McLean, T. J. Brougham, Mell. H. Hudson, City Clerk ; J. L. Keck, Marshal ; H, P. White, Attorney ; C. A. Carpenter, Recorder ; Edward Keller, Market Master; Councilmen: Wm. Smith, M. English, Junius Chaffee, J. W, 48 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Cook, H. Hucke, John Campbell, H. W. Cooper, E. A. Phillips, A. H. Water- man. 1869 — F. R. Long, Mayor; George Sweeny, Treasurer; C. F. Smith, As- sessor; Dennis O'Brien, Auditor; John Donnelly, Engineer; A. T. Hoover, Wharf Master; Mell. H. Hudson, City Clerk; J. L. Keck, Marshal; D. S. Twitchell, Attorney; W. H. Sutton, Recorder; D. E. Dickinson, City Physician; Councilmen : Junius Chaffee, C. J. White, J. W. Cook, M. English, J. H. McGee, A. H. Waterman, T J. Wolf, R. W. Hilliker. 1870 — E, M. McGee, Mayor; George Sweeny, Treasurer; P. M. Chouteau, Collector; Robert Salisbury, Assessor; John T. Tobin, Auditor; John Donnelly, Engineer; A. T. Hoover, Wharf Master; Daniel Geary, City Clerk; Thomas M. Speers, Marshal; H. P. White, Attorney; C. A. Carpenter, Recorder; H. F. Smith, Market Master; D. E. Dickinson, City Physician; Councilmen: Junius Chaffee, John Campbell, C. J. White, P. J. Henn, J. H. McGee, John W Keefer, D. Ellison, J. Lykins, T. J. Wolf, Thomas Burk, R. W. Hilliker, James E. Marsh. 1871. — Wm. Warner, Mayor; Samuel Jarboe, Treasurer; P. M. Chouteau, Collector; O. Chanute, J. J. Moore, Engineers; John J. Tobin, Auditor; Rob- ert Salisbury, Assessor ; Daniel Geary, City Clerk; J. W. Dunlap, City Attorney; D. A. N. Grover, Recorder ; T. M. Speers, Marshal ; W. C. Evens, City Phys- ician; R. C. Gould, Market Master; John C Gage, J. Brumback, Counselors; Councilmen, Junius Chaffee, John Campbell, William Weston, H. T. Hovelman, P. J. Henn, J. W. Keefer, David Ellison, J. Lykins, Jacob Toney, Thomas Burke, James Hannon, James E. Marsh. 1872. — R H. Hunt, Mayor; H. C. Kumpf, Auditor; Samuel Jarboe, Treas- urer; O. G. Long, Recorder; Wm. Sheppard, Marshal; John C. Campbell, At- torney; H. B. Toelle, Supervisor of Registration; Daniel Geary, J. Enright, City Clerk ; J. M. Silvers, Chief of Fire Department ; Sam. Winram, Inspector of Weights and Measures ; W. C. Evens, Physician ; H. L. Marvin, Engineer ; P. M. Chouteau, Collector; R. C. Gould, Market Master ; Robt. Salisbury, Asses- sor; J. Brumback, Counselor; W. A. M. Vaughan, Wharf Master; J. Y. Lever- idge. Wood Inspector ; Chas. Quest, E. H. Russell, Supt. Workhouse ; Council- men, Michael Flynn, Wm. Weston, Lyman McCarty, Michael Diveley, M. Hor- ner, E. L. Martin, H. T. Hovelman, M. English, D. H. Porter, D. Ellison, Patrick Kirby, Patrick Fay. 1873. — E. L. Martin, Mayor; D. H. Porter, Recorder; H. C Kumpf, Auditor; Wm. Weston, Treasurer; G. G. Neiswanger, Marshal; H. M. Withers, Attorney ; D. L. Hall, Supervisor of Registration ; M. McCormick, Supt. of Workhouse ; Web. Withers, Collector ; H. L. Marvin, Engineer ; John Phillips, Market Master ; John T. Blake, Robt. Salisbury, Assessor ; E. H. Russell, Sani- tary Sergeant; J. M. Silvers, Chief of Fire Department; A. M. Crow, Physician; A. Mayer, City Clerk; James Sweeny, Inspector of Weights and Measures ; Thos. Clowdsley, T. McLean, Wood Inspector; J. Brumback, Counselor. 1874. — S. D. Woods, Mayor; James Farron, Recorder, H. C. Kumpf, Audi- tor; P. M. Chouteau, Treasurer; J. C. Tansney, Attorney; J. M. Ekdahl, Suj^er- visor of Registration ; F. M. Black, J. W. Dunlap, Counselor ; E. O'Flaherty, Engineer; J. O. Day. Physician; VV. B. Napton, Comptroller; M. E. Burnet, Chief of Fire Department ; F. Fitzpatrick, Supt Workhouse ; M. Renahan, Mar- ket Master; Robt. Salisbury, Assessor; John Ryan, Inspector Weights and Meas- ures; A. Mayer, City Clerk; Thomas Fox, License Inspector; Thomas M. Speers, Chief of Police. Councilmen, John Campbell, Jos. M. Beach, F. B. Nofsinger, A. C. Moffat, D. A. N. Grover, Dennis Levy, Chas. A. Ebert, W. W. Payne, O. H. Short, Ed. H. Webster, P. Kirby, Edward Kelley. 1875. — Turner A. Gill, Mayor; P. M. Chouteau, Treasurer; H. C. Kumpf, Auditor; W. H. Sutton, Recorder; Wash. Adams, Attorney; J. M. Ekdahl, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 49 Supervisor of Registration; D. A. N. Grover, Comptroller; John C. Gage, J. Brumback, Counselor ; Jas. Dowling, Superintendent Workhouse. Councilmen: J. M. Beach, John Campbell, A. C. Moffat, B. A. Feineman, Dennis Levy, G. W. Lovejoy, W. W. Payne, P. McAnany, Ed. H. Webster, J. W. Reid, Ed. Kelley, H. A. Simms. 1876. — Turner A. Gill, Mayor; P. M. Chouteau, Treasurer; L. J. Talbott, Auditor; W. H. Sutton, H. R. Nelso, Recorder ; Wash. Adams, Attorney; J. M. Ekdahl, Supervisor of Registration; J. Brumback, Counsellor; D. A. N. Grover, Comptroller; Robert Salisbury, Assessor; A. A. Holmes, Engineer; Patrick O'Reilley, Market Master ;"Wm. C. Morris, Physician; J. W. Wirth, Supt. Work- house ; John Kelley, Inspector Weights and Measures ; A. Mayer, E. R. Hunter, City Clerk ; F. Foster, Chief of Fire Department ; Thos. M. Speers, Chief of Police. Councilmen : John Campbell, W. S. Gregory, B. A. Feineman, D. R. Porter, Edward Lynde, G. W. Lovejoy, Dennis Levy, P. McAnany, James M. Buckley, J. W. Reid, Wm. Holmes, H. A Simms, David P. Bigger. 1877. — J. W. L. Slavens, Mayor; L. J. Talbott, Auditor; P. M. Chouteau, Treasurer; D. Ellison, Recorder; James Gibson, Attorney; John M. Ekdahl, Supervisor of Registration; J. M. Dews, Comptroller ; H. N. Ess, Counselor; Robert Salisbury, Assessor ; W. C. Morris, Physician ; F. M. Furgason, Inspector Licenses, Weights and Measures ; Joseph Porter, Market Master ; W. L. Shep- pard. Superintendent Workhouse ; W. E. Benson, City Clerk ; A. A. Holmes, Engineer; Thomas M. Spears, Chief of Police; F. Foster, Chief of Fire Depart- ment. Councilmen: W. S Gregory, Phihp Casey, E. Lynde, R. H. Drennon, Dennis Levy, C. C. Whitmeyer, James M. Buckley, W. B. Robinson, William Holmes, W. H. Winants, David P. Bigger, H. A. Simms. 1878. — Geo. M. Shelley, Mayor; William Weston, Treasurer ; L. J. Talbott, Auditor; Hamilton Finney, Recorder; James Gibson, Attorney; Erastus Johns, Supervisor of Registration ; Robert Salisbury, Assessor ; W. E. Benson, City Clerk; W. L. Sheppard, William Kelley, Superintendents of Workhouse ; Joseph Porter, Market Master ; J. M. Trowbridge, Engineer; H. C. Kumpf, Comptroller; W. W. Payne, Inspector Licenses, Weights and Measures; S. P. Twiss, Coun- selor ; A. M. Crow, Physician ; Thomas M. Speers, Chief of Police ; F. Foster, Chief of Fire Department. Councilmen: Philip Casey, P. D. Etue, R. H. Drennon, H. C. Morrison, C. C. Whitmeyer, T. W. Butler, W. B. Robinson, L. A. Allen, W. H. Winants, Louis Dragon, H. A. Simms, A. H. Glasner. 1879. — George M. Shelley, Mayor; A. C. Walmsley, Treasurer; William Vincent, Auditor ; Hamilton Finney, Recorder ; Thomas King, Attorney ; M. K. Kirk, Supervisor of Registration ; T. A. Gill, Counselor ; H. C. Kumpf, Comptroller; Robert Sahsbury, Assessor; W. E. Benson, City Clerk; C. H. Knickerbocker, Engineer; John Donnelly, Assistant Engineer; D. R. Porter, Physician; William Burk, Market Master ; Benedict Waibel, Inspector Licenses, Weights and Measures ; F. R. Allen, Superintendent Workhouse ; Thomas M. Speers, Chief of Police; F. Foster, Chief of Fire Department. Councilmen: P. D. Etue, George W. McClelland, H. C. Morrison, J. N. DuBois, T. W. Butler, R. H. Maybury, L. A. Allen, John, Salisbury, Louis Dragon, T. B. BuUene, A. H. Glasner, Patrick Hickey. 1880. — C. A. Chace, Mayor ; A. C. Walmsley, Treasurer; William Vincent, Auditor; H. Finney, Recorder; Thomas King, Attorney; M. Burk, Supervisor of Registration ; Wash Adams, Counselor ; John Donnelly, Engineer ; Nathan- iel Grant, Comptroller; V. D. Callahan, City Clerk; Thomas M. Speers, Chief of Police ; F. Foster, Chief of Fire Department ; Robert Salisbury, Assessor ; C. J. Jenkins, Physician; Adam Johns, Inspector of Licenses; J. J. Granfield, Market Master; F. R. Allen, Superintendent Workhouse. Councilmen: J. A. McDonald, T. B. Bullene, John Salisbury, George W. McClelland, W. J. Ross, J. 50 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. N. DuBois, Patrick Hickey, J. N. Moore, R. H. Maybury, W. G. Duncan, Louis Dragon. 1881. — Daniel A. Frink, Mayor; A. C. Walmsley, Treasurer; M. L. Sul- livan, Auditor ; John W. Childs, Recorder j W. J. Strong, Attorney ; M. H. Bass, Supervisor of Registration ; D. S. Twitchell, Counselor ; Nathaniel Grant, Comptroller; Robert Salisbury, Assessor; V. D. Callahan, City Clerk; John Donnelly, Engineer; A. A. Holmes, Assistant Engineer; John Fee, Physician; John J. Granfield, Market Master; B. Waibel, Inspector Licenses, Weights and Measures; Thomas C. Clary, Superintendent Workhouse; Thomas M. Speers, Chief of Police; F. Foster, Chief of Fire Department- Councilmen : W.J. Ross, J. M. Ford, J. A. McDonald, D. H. Porter, John W. Moore, James Anderson, L. A. Allen, John Salisbury, L. Dragon, B. A. Sheidley, W. G. Duncan, M. Gafney. REVIVING TIMES IN 1 853-4. During the years 1853-4, there was a material revival of confidence among the people of this locality. The cholera, which, it had been feared, would become an established disease, had failed to make its appearance since 1852. The Santa Fe trade was rapidly growing, and the settlement of the adjacent country made a larger local trade. The fact that this angle in the river was the nearest water transportation for all the Indian country irom the head of the Platte River round by the Rocky Mountains to the Cherokee country, caused the whole of the In- dian trade to come here, and at that time it had become very large. People be- gan to return, and others to make their homes here, and at last there began to be new hopes of realizing the bright promises of 1846 9. The next enumeration of the population, which was in 1855, showed a revival to 478, but business grew much faster than population. THE FIRST NEWSPAPER. As early as the year 1851 or 1852, there was an attempt made to establish a newspaper. A Mr. Kennedy undertook the enterprise, calling his paper the Public Ledger. It was not, however, a financial success, and after a vain struggle with the waves of adversity, Mr. Kennedy yielded, and the Public Ledger passed out of existence. The need of a paper to represent the interests of the new city, and properly chronicle local events, had become so apparent that the people in- terested in its welfare could not long do without one. Hence, after much talking about it among themselves, they finally held a meeting at the Union Hotel, now known as the old Gillis House, and determined that a paper must be had. A company was organized at that meeting, the capital stock was fixed at one thous- and dollars, and the larger part of it taken on the spot. The names of some of these subscribers were Wm. Gillis, W. S. Gregory, Northrup tS; Chick, M. J. Payne, Dr. B. Troost, E. M. McGee, Thompson McDaniel, and Robert Camp- bell. Dr. Troost, M. J. Payne and W. S. Gregory were elected trustees, with power to collect the subscriptions, purchase material, and start and manage the paper. M. J. Payne was deputed by his associates to do the most of the work. He went to St. Louis and purchased the material, and shipped it to Kansas City. About this time, Mr. D. K. Abeel made his appearance in Kansas City, and the trustees finding that he was a printer, engaged him to take mechanical and busi- ness charge of it. Wm. A. Strong, an attorney, was engaged to conduct the ed- itorial department. Its first appearance was in October, 1854, and, as it was deemed only an enterprise, it was given the name of the Kansas City Enterprise. This was the first permanently established newspaper in Kansas City. In 1857, its name was changed to Journal of Commerce., and is now known simply as The Journal. On the 15th of June, 1858, it appeared as a small morn- ing daily, the fourth daily in the Missouri Valley. Soon afterward, a telegraph HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 51 line having been completed to Boonville, arrangements were made for dispatches by that line, and by express from Boonville to Kansas City. In its different editions prior to the war, it was the most active and wide-awake paper the writer has ever had the pleasure of examining; the fullest of local and business news, and the most devoted to the welfare of Kansas City. It was at once a faithful reflector of all local and business news, the leader and exponent of public com- mercial sentiment, and the fosterer of every public enterprise. In the summer of 1855, Col. R. T. Van Horn came to the city and pur- chased the Enterprise, of which he assumed control in October. He had previously lost an office, the Telegraph, at Pomeroy, Ohio, by fire, and for a year or two had been steamboating for a brother-in-law who was largely inter- ested in steamboat stocks. It was from this fact that he got the title of captain, by which he was generally known, until by military services in the late war he gained the one by which he is at present known. In the summer of 1855 he took a boat to St. Louis to sell, and while lying there for that purpose boarded at the Virginia hotel. Here he met William A. Strong, then editor of the Enterprise, who, learning that he was a printer and journalist, induced him to come to Kan- sas City. His purchase of the Enterprise was for one thousand dollars, one half cash and the balance on time. From its first issue under his management, it became an active, earnest and vigilant advocate of Kansas City's interests, and so far ex- ceeded the expectations of the old company that before the maturity of his notes they were canceled and presented to him. D. K. Abeel, Esq., who had been connected with the paper from the first as printer and business manager, soon afterward became associated with Col. Van Horn in the proprietorship, taking charge of the business affairs, into which department he infused that vigor and energy which at once put the paper on a sound and progressive financial basis. These two gentlemen have since been largely associated together in the paper in these respective capacities, each ably fulfilhng the promise of their early years. KANSAS CITY IN 1 854-5. At this time all there was of Kansas City was situated along the river front, except a few residences which had been built upon the hills overlooking the river. The levee was only about wide enough for a team to pass, jutting over a ledge of rocks into the river on the one side and rising hundreds of feet into bluffs on the other. Here and there excavations had been made into the hill, and business houses built. One of these houses was the Union Hotel (now Gillis House), built in 1849, and another Chick's warehouse, built in 1843. About the foot of Broadway, the bluffs, coming round in nearly a perpendicular wall from Turkey Creek, jutted into the river, and a wagon road wide enough for one wagon had been cut across it leading into the Kaw bottom, which was then a dense woods, except where the French traders had cleared off a few patches. The hills back of the levee were well covered with woods, except in the less broken portions where clearings had been made. A deep ravine, starting at the lower end of the levee, a little below the present foot of Grand avenue, wound around to the southwest, across the present market square, up by Delaware and Sixth street, and thence southeasterly to the Junction. There was a road up this ravine, over which the Santa Fe and other wagons passed, but with its precipitous banks on either side it was a bad road. It took the hill at a point near the junction of Main and Delaware streets, and crossed the creek south of the city, not far from the street railroad stables, going up the hill again toward Westport. A less inviting spot for town building it would be difficult to conceive. But from this great angle in the Missouri River was the best natural road to the southwest and west, and it was the highest point to which goods for 52 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. the great Santa Fe and plains trade could be taken by boat, without increasing the cost of land transportation and incurring worse roads. This determined this locality as the starting point for that trade, while the unequaled river landing de- termined the exact spot whereon the transfer from boat to wagon should be made. These facts were then recognized, and with the beginning of the new era of activity, the plains trade previously done at Independence and Westport, centered entirely at Kansas City. Outfitting houses were opened and provision made for the outfitters, so that they no longer were compelled to go either to Independence or Westport. This trade, however, lasted but a few weeks in the spring while the trains were starting out, and a few weeks in the fall when they returned. At a later period the Enterprise, referring to this date, editorially, says : "Two years since, when we landed in Kansas City in the month of July, there was little or no business doing — two boilers, an engine, and a small lot of machinery, covered with a tarpauhn, was all there was to be seen on the levee. Business men in- formed us that the trade of the season was over ; that with the exception of a short time late in the fall no more would be done until next spring." Spalding's commercial college, Kansas city, mo. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 53 CHAPTER VII. THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS. The Kansas- Nebraska Act— Preparations by Pio-Slavery and Anti-Slavery Parties to occupy Kan- sas — Early Settlement — Kansas City again Recognized — Developtnent oj Kansas — Navigation of the Kaw River — The Kansas Troubles — The Effect on Kansas City — Col. Coates. With the concentration of the Indian and Santa Fe trade at Kansas City, there was here a sufficient business to have made a town of ten or twelve thousand people, had there been no increase of business until the capabilities of the town had developed to an equality with it. But at this time other events were transpiring which were destined to give the place an unprecedented forward impulse. These were the events attending the organization of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and the opening of them to settlement. These events, however, were attended with circumstances that made the settlement of Kansas troublous, which injuriously affected the development of the trade of the young city. The events leading to the organization of these Territories began as early as December 13, 1852, when Hon. Willard P. Hall of Missouri introduced into the House of Representative at Washington, a bill to organize the Territory of Platte, which was to embrace both Kansas and Nebraska. On the 2d of February, 1853, Hon. Wilham A. Richardson, of Illinois, introduced a bill for the organization of the Territory of Nebraska. Neither of these bills proposed to extend slavery into either of these Territories, as it was already excluded from the country em- braced in both by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. On the loth of February, Richardson's bill passed the House, and on the 17th it was reported in the Senate by Hon. Stephen A. Douglas. Nothing was done however before the adjourn- ment and expiration of that Congress. At the meeting of the next Congress, Hon. Augustus C. Dodge, of Iowa, introduced into the Senate a bill for the organization of Nebraska. This bill, like its predecessors, did not provide for slavery. On the 4th of January it was reported in the Senate by Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, and on the 23d of the same month Senator Douglas offered a substitute providing for the organization of the two Territories of Kansas and Nebraska and containing this significant clause : "That the Constitution, and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Kansas as elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty, which, being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territo- ries, as recognized by the Legislature of eighteen hundred and fifty, commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act of sixth of March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery." This clause was the result of hostility, on the part of Senators and Represen- tatives for the slave States, to any bill looking to the extension of freedom in the LINDELL HOTEL, KANSAS CITY, MO. F. W. Poor, Proprietor. pij^h and Wyandotte Streets. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 55 Territory of the United States, and its exemption of Kansas from the operations of the compromise measures referred to was regarded as significent of a determination on their part to make Kansas a slave Territory, and subsequently a slave State. This led to one of the most memorable contests in the history of the American Congress, during which were aroused those passions and sentiments and antagonisms which subsequently led to open conflict in Kansas, and, in less than ten years, to the most stupendous civil war in the history of man. This bill passed the Senate March 3rd, by a vote of thirty-seven to fourteen. The House passed it with amendments May 22nd, by a vote of 113 to 100, there being twenty-one members absent and not voting. It passed the Senate again without discussion, May 24th, by a vote of thirty-five to thirteen, and was signed by President Pierce May 30th. While these events were transpiring in Congress, the Indian titles were being extinguished to all save small reservations. The country became intensely ex- cited. It was understood on the part of the slave States, that Kansas was to be made slave, and the free States equally understood that such was the intention of the slave States, and there was an equal determination on their part that it should not be so. While the bills were pending in Congress, both parties in their re- spective localities were preparing for the expected struggle. The Pro-slavery party were open in their expressions of intentions to use force, if necessary to accomplish their purpose. To this end there began to be secret societies organ- ized in Missouri and throughout the slave States as early as February, 1854, called "Blue Lodges," " Society of Friends," "Sons of the South," "Social Bands," etc., the distinctive feature of which was a solemn oath to make Kansas slave territory at all hazards, and keep out by force, if necessary, the Abolitionists, as all opponents were opprobriously called. On the other hand, the Anti-Slavery party were less open in their boasts. If they had any intention of using force, that intention was not expressed ; but, depending upon the right of local settle- ment of the slavery question, they seemed to rely more upon the votes of larger numbers of immigrants ; and, therefore, took steps to fill Kansas with anti-slavery voters as speedily as possible. On the 26th of April the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society was organized by act of the Legislature of that State; in June an- other society was organized in that State, and on the 24th of July the New England Emigrant Aid Society was organized, in Boston. The purpose of these societies as expressed by their articles of agreement was to " assist emigrants to settle in the west," Kansas being the particular part of the west meant. THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS. Such were the circumstances under which the settlement of Kansas was begun. As soon as the Territory was opened to settlement people began to flock in from the adjac nt parts of Missouri. The Leavenworth Town Company was organized at Weston, Mo., on the 13th of June, and the Atchison Town Company was organized in Missouri, on the 27th of July; and about these dates the sites of these two places were taken possession of by the Missourians who were determin- ed to make Kansas a slave Territory. The pioneer party of anti-slavery emigrants left Boston, July 17th, and arrived in Kansas City July 30th, under the lead of Charles H. Bramscomb. Dr. Charles Robinson and S. C. Pomeroy, since Governor and Senator respectively, of Kansas, came with this party. The first named of these gentlemen proceeded with the party into Kansas, arriving on the Wakarusa on the ist of August, near where they soon afterward founded a town, which, on October 6th, was called Lawrence, in honor of Amos J. Lawrence, of Boston, one of the principal bene- factors of the society. The other, Mr. Pomeroy, remained in Kansas City, and purchased the Union Hotel, (now the old Gillis House on the levee,) to be used as a rendezvous for immigrants, and agency of the society. Great excite- 56 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. ment and enthusiam attended the movements of these societies in the east, and the immigrants were cheered on by orations from the leading men of that section, and by poems from the pens of such distinguished writers as Bryant, Whittier and Lucy Larcom. On the other hand, there was an equal excitement and enthusiasm on the part of the pro-slavery element, but it took the form of prevention of anti-slavery immigration, as much as that of fostering pro.slavery immigration. In July a number of meetings were held in Missouri, near the border, at which resolutions were adopted, to the effect that Kansas should be slave at all hazards, and that Abolitionists should receive no protection in the new Territory. The speeches made at these meetings were of a most inflammatory character. Missourians con- tinued to pour over the border in great numbers, but the emigrants from the east continued to arrive and unite with the Lawrence settlement with equal rapidity, and thus for a time Leavenworth and Atchison as pro-slavery, and Lawrence as anti-slavery, grew rapidly. The excitement along the border, meantime, was in- tense, and the friction between the settlers of the different parties in the Territory very great and very irritating. KANSAS city's LOCAL ADVANTAGES AGAIN. At the time these events were transpiring, steamboats were running freely on the Missouri River its whole navigable length, and being the only method of transportation at that time, other than stage coach across the State of Missouri or private wagons, offered equal facilities to all river towns. Independence and Westport had already been overcome by Kansas City, but Parkville, Weston and St. Joseph, all of about equal size with Kansas City, afforded equal advantages for immigrants with Kansas City, except on the one item of easy access to the new country. The new towns of Leavenworth and Atchison were also in the field, but aside from their newness, were lacking in this essential feature, also. Hence, while Missourians passed across the border at the nearest accessible ferry, the emigrants from the east came by way of Kansas City. Subsequently when parties began to come from the south, they came here also, and for the same reason. Thus the movement of population into this new country, like the Indian fur trade, the Santa Fe trade, and the late Indian trade, found this the line of least resistance and followed it. From the settlement of the new Territory, all the border towns, and especially the new Kansas towns of Leavenworth and Atchison, expected great advantages. However, owing to the facts and prin- ciples above mentioned, Kansas City, from the first, was most benefited. DEVELOPMENT OF KANSAS. "1 The political antagonisms already mentioned were destined soon to affect materially and detrimentally the development of both Kansas and Kansas City, as the record of events will show. Hon. Andrew H. Reeder, of eastern Pennsylvania, was appointed first Governor of Kansas, June 29th, 1854. He took the oath of office in Washing- ton, July 7th, and arrived in Kansas, October 7th, temporarily establishing the executive office at Fort Leavenworth. He soon became aware, however, of the superior accessibility of the Territory from the mouth of the Kaw, and hence, November 24th, removed the executive office to Shawnee Mission, eight miles southwest of Kansas City, and on the road leading from this angle of the river into the Territory. One of his first official acts, while yet at Leavenworth, was to divide the Territory into sixteen election districts and order an election for delegate to Congress. This election occurred November 29th, and J. W. Whitfield, pro- slavery, was elected. This election was the occasion of the first invasion of Kansas by the people of other States, mainly from Missouri. They were deter- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 57 mined to control the political affairs of the new Territory in the interests of slavery, and, to that cud, hundreds of them went into the Territory and voted, thus electing a pro-slavery delegate to Congress. These events aroused the bitterest feelings of the free-state people in the Territory, and led to the holding of free-state meetings for the purpose of organization. The first of these meetings was held at Lawrence, December 23d, and on the first of February following (1855), the Free State Society was organized at Lawrence. On the 8th of March, 1855, Governor Reeder issued a proclamation order- ing an election for members of the Legislature, March 30th. This election was the occasion of another and larger invasion from Missouri, the pro-slavery people of this State being, by this time, most thoroughly aroused by the free-state move- ments in Kansas, and determined, at all hazards, to make Kansas a slave Territory. The excitement along the border and throughout Missouri was at this time intense, and public meetings were of frequent occurrence. At these meetings speeches of the most inflammatory character were made, and resolutions adopted strongly denouncing the Abolitionists, and justifying any means that might be adopted for their extermination. The election of the 30th of March resulted in the election of a pro-slavery body, the Missourians attending and voting by the thousands. Its first session was held at Pawnee, a new town adjoining the Fort Riley military reservation, whither the executive office had been removed by Governor Reeder, June 27th. The Legislature met here, July 2d, as ordered by the Governor, and immediately adjourned to meet at Shawnee Mission, July 16. Here the first session was held, and the first code of laws adopted for Kansas. These laws were largely copied from the Missouri statutes, but the provisions for the protection of slave property were more stringent than were ever enacted before. This law made it a penal offense to deny the right to hold slaves in Kansas, or to have in possession books or papers that denied such rights. It required all officers of the Territory and counties, judges and clerks of election, and all lawyers practicing at the bar, to take an oath to support the fugitive slave law ; and made ineligible as jurors, in cases where any questions affecting slaves or slavery was to be decided, all persons who did not believe in that institution. It was provided, also, that all officers of the Territory, and of the counties, were to be appointed by the Legislature, or by some officer appointed by it, and at subsequent elections for members of the Legislature, judges and clerks and voters, if challenged, were required to take an oath to support the fugitive slave law. The effect of these laws was, of course, to prevent free-state men from holding office and to disfranchise them, while any manifestation of anti-slavery tendencies, even to the extent of reading an anti- slavery paper, was a penal offense, and subjected the offender to liability to imprisonment at hard labor and in chains. Before this Legislature adjourned it fixed the permanent seat of government at Lecompton. Governor Reeder having previously located the seat of government at Pawnee, held that this Legislature had no right, under the act of Congress, to sit elsewhere, and could not enact valid laws elsewhere. His refusal to recognize the Legislature led to his removal by the President, who was in sympathy with it and not with him. Notice of his removal was communicated to him August i6th, when Mr. Secretary of State Woodson became acting Governor. PAWNEE NAVIGATION OF THE KAW. The town of Pawnee, as above stated, was located on lands adjoining the Fort Riley military reservation, which was within a few miles of the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers, which form the Kaw. It was a free- state town, and hence soon became the object of hostility of the Pro-Slavery party and of the President, so in the summer of 1855, Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, issued an order so extending the military reservation as to include the 58 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. site, and in the fall of that year Col. Cooke, of the army, drove off the settlers and destroyed the houses. The motives that prompted Gov. Reader to locate the seat of Government at this point cannot be definitely stated, but he was doubtless influenced largely by the idea that the Kaw River could be navigated with steamboats to that point, which would make it a commercial center and distributing point. The steamer Excel made a trip on the Kaw in the spring of 1855, prior to the loca- tion of the seat of government of Pawnee, and in May the steamers Emma Harmon. Financier No. 2, and Hartford went as far up as Lawrence, Gov. Reeder has always been credited with the inaugurating this enterprise. While he was Governor he caused two engineering parties to be sent to examine the Kaw, one from Fort Riley to Tecumseh and the other from Tecumseh to the mouth of the stream. He is credited also with having invested money in the boats. In 1855 the Excel and several other small boats plied irregularly on the Kaw and with such success that in December of that year a company was formed, and several boats built for that trade. Those mentioned as plying on the river in 1856-7, were the Excel, Kate Cassel, T^inancier, Emma Harmon, Express, Lightford, Wa-tos sa, and Lizzie, the latter of which was built at Kansas City and afterward employed as a ferry boat. The navigation of the Kaw was then regarded as successful, though the boats did not run regularly. In 1859, how- ever, two boats ran most of the season as a regular line, but the river appears to have been abandoned after that, though they were said to have found no difficulty in navigating it. These boats were Silver Lake and Gus Linn. URMOIL IN KANSAS. The course that was being pursued by the Pro-Slavery party, the invasions of the Territory at elections by Missourians, the manifest tendencies of the Legisla- ture, together with a spirit of intimidation on the part of the Pro-Slavery party, became very exasperating to the Free-State party and they began movements, look- ing to assistance. On the 14th and 15th of August, 1855, a convention of free- state men was held at Lawrence, at which they adopted resolutions setting forth that Kansas was without any legal law-making powers, and recommending the holding of a convention of bona fide citizens at Topeka, September 13th, for the purpose of consulting upon all matters affecting public interest but specially the propriety of State organization. This was followed by another similar meeting at Big Springs, September 5th, at which was formulated the platform of the Free State party. The proposed convention at Topeka received the indorsement of this meeting and immediately steps were taken by the Free State party to raise delegates for such convention, and it was held. It provided for the election of delegates to a constitutional convention at Topeka, which election was held, only free state men voting, October 9th; and the convention met October 23rd and formulated a constitution which was submitted to the people and adopted Decem- ber 15th, only free-state men voting. Under this State organization Dr. Charles Robinson, of Lawrence, was elected Governor, at an election held January 15, 1856 ; W. G. Roberts, Lieut. Governor; P. C. Schuyler, Secretary of State; C. A. Cutter, Auditor; J. A. Wakefield, Treasurer; H. Miles Moore, Attorney- General ; M. F. Conway, S. N. Latta and M. Hunt, Supreme Judges. Meanwhile, the Pro-Slavery party were far from being inactive. Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, was appointed Governor to succeed Gov. Reeder, Aug. loth, 1855, and arrived at Kansas City, Sept. ist. He was fully in sympathy with the Pro-Slavery party, and at once established the executive office at Lecompton. Prior to his arrival, however, the Pro-Slavery party, through Acting-Gov. Wood- son, began preparations for military operations, and a long line of generals and colonels were appointed. The independent attitude of the free state men, and the large accessions to that class of population from the east, rendered it neces- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 59 sary, in the judgment of the Pro-Slavery party, to prepare for the use of force, to hold the Territory against them. Meanwhile, public feeling was intensely excited and feverish, and there began to be personal collisions and murders. On the 21st of November, Charles W. Dow, a free-state man residing with Jacob Branson, at Hickory Point, near Law- rence, was killed by FrankUn N. Coleman, a pro-slavery man. The next day there was a meeting of the free-state men at the scene of the murder, and that night S. J. Jones, pro-slavery postmaster at Westport, Mo., who had been ap- pointed sheriff of Douglas county, Kansas, arrested Branson for taking part in the meeting. This was the beginning of efforts to enforce the laws against free-state men. On his way to Lecompton, Jones was overhauled by a party of free-state men, and Branson was liberated. Jones sent to Shawnee Mission, where Gov. Shannon was at the time, for aid, and the people of Lawrence, fearing a raid from Missouri, began to gather their forces for the impending struggle. A public meet- ing was held and the citizens were placed underarms, and neighboring settlements of free-state people were notified and began to arm. On the 27th, Sheriff Jones informed Gov. Shannon that open rebellion existed at Lawrence, and Gov. Shan- non directed Maj.-Gen. W. P. Richardson, of the militia, to collect as large a force as he could, and proceed to the assistance of Jones. The next day he notified the President of a fearful state of affairs, saying, "It is vain to conceal the fact; we are standing on a volcano." The same day Lucian J. Easton, Brigadier-General, ordered his brigade under arms, affirming that a state of open rebellion existed in Douglas county. Early in December indictments were found against the leading free-state men by the courts setting at Lecompton. Companies of free-state men gathered at Lawrence from Bloomington, Wakarusa, Palmyra and Topeka, and the pro- slavery militia began to collect at Franklin, a few miles below, and at Lecompton, a few miles above, while a party of Platte county, Mo., Riflemen appeared on the opposite side of the Kaw River. Gov. Shannon applied to Col. Sumner, com- manding at Fort Leavenworth, for United States troops to suppress the Lawrence rebellion, but Col. Sumner would not act without orders from Washington. By the 6th of December, one thousand five hundred Missourians had collected at Franklin, and that day Thos. W. Barber was shot and killed by pro-slavery men while returning to Bloomington from Lawrence. On the 7th, Gov. Shannon vis- ited Lawrence, and on the 8th concluded a treaty of peace with Gov. Robinson, Gen. J. H. Lane and other leaders, and on the 9th ordered the militia disbanded. Thus ended the first struggle, but it seemed only to intensify the bitterness of the antagonism already existing. Besides the killing of Barber, trains of provis- ions from Kansas City to Lawrence had been stopped and robbed by the Pro- Slavery party, and when peace was concluded, it was no peace, but the turmoil continued, and the country became infested with lawless bands and individuals, and life and property became unsafe. It was soon apparent to both sides that the planting of freedom or slavery in Kansas was to be attended with bloodshed, and both parties began to prepare for that result. During the winter some of the Southern States appropriated money to send men to Kansas, and parties began to be made up, all of which were armed for the fray and organized into military companies. At the same time the Free-State party sent men to plead their cause in the Northern States, and to ask for aid in men and money, both of which were freely given in various ways. The prospect for the coming spring was anything but peaceful. THE EFFECT ON KANSAS CITY. As already stated, Kansas City became the gateway to Kansas with the be- ginning of the settlement of that Territory. Its relations to the new population were, therefore, so intimate that such a state of affairs as is briefly sketched above 60 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. could not exist in the new Territory without being reflected in the affairs of Kan- sas City. The hopes of trade from the new population were delayed in their realization by the troubled state of affairs ; and as it was the place of debarkation for both pro-slavery and anti-slavery immigrants, it became disturbed by the dis- turbance across the border. Besides this, the Kansas struggle was otherwise ex- ceedingly depressing to Kansas City, though she still prospered and continued to grow. It retarded the Santa Fe trade and nearly cut off the plains trade. It was previously the custom of Indian agents to bring the annuity money due the Indians to Kansas City, and take it thence to the agencies without a guard; but during this trouble a strong guard had to be sent out with it. The local trade with Kansas towns suffered equally, and from the same causes. It was unsafe to ship goods through the Territory because of roving bands, who, upon political pretexts, managed to do so large an amount of robbing that they assumed more the character of banditti. The towns of Leavenworth, Lawrence and Atchison were rapidly settled, and soon overtook Kansas City in population. Then Leavenworth became a strong competitor for the western trade. And in this contest, with about equal population, she was strengthened materially by the fact that government roads were made from there, by a requirement on the part of the Government that its own freight should be transported from that place, and by a State pride hostile to building up a town in Missouri. During the memorable contest in that young State in 1855 and 1856, this feeling ran so high that in the disorganized and an- archical condition of affairs, trains leaving Kansas City were frequently guarded. Notwithstanding all these impediments, Kansas City held the trade ; it was found after awhile that it was impossible to transfer it to Leavenworth. The roads di- verging from thence were rough and the streams unbridged and impassable. After the new route was laid out from Leavenworth by United States authority, and upon the prestige that gave her a few Santa Fe traders were induced to start their trains from there, but when they reached the Kaw River they found it im- passable, and had to return to the mouth of the stream and get a ferryboat from Kansas City to cross them, when they took the old accustomed trail. THE TROUBLES OF 1 856. The events of the spring of 1856 fully realized the sad expectations of all parties. Immigration continued to pour in from the east, and as early as March nearly every boat on the Missouri River was searched for articles which the pro- slavery men had pronounced contraband, and free-state emigrants were robbed and sent back. In April, Maj. Buford arrived ui Kansas City with a large body of armed men from Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina In May, Gov. Robinson, Geo. W. Smith, Geo. W. Deitzler and other free-state men were ar- rested for treason under the stringent laws of the Territory. An attempt was made to arrest Ex-Gov. Reeder, who had remained in Kansas and taken an active part in free-state movements, but he made his escape to Kansas City where he was secreted at the American Hotel (now old Gillis House) by the Eldridges, who then kept it, and from there he made his way in disguise as a laborer and on the deck of a steamboat to Illinois. The District Court sitting at Lecompton, declared the Free State Hotel, at Lawrence, and the Herald of Freedom and Kansas Free State nuisances, and ordered their distruction. This order was executed May 21st, by a large party of pro-slavery men under direction of Sheriff Jones. These men were mostly southern men, who had come to Kansas in armed companies for the purpose of driving free-state men from the Territory, and were commanded by Col. H. T. Titus, of Virginia. After the distruction of the hotel an,d newspaper offices, the stores were robbed and much property ruthlessly destroyed. This led to retalia- tion by the free-state men, and Kansas was soon filled with small armed parties HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 61 of all kinds, the most prominent among which was John Brown's Free-State party. During all this season, parties of armed men continued to arrive from the south, some of whom remained in Kansas City, but most of whom made their headquar- ters at Westport and from thence projected incursions into Kansas. One of these parties was led by H. Clay Pate, a citizen of Westport, who at one time captured two of John Brown's sons, and who was himself captured by John Brown's party. Another was led by Gen. J. W. Reid of this city, and another by Col. E. M. McGee, of this city, besides those led by Buford of Georgia, Titus of Vir- ginia, Whitfield, Coleman, Bell, Jenigen and others. Besides John Brown's Free- State party already mentioned, there were others led by Shore, Walker, CrockUn, Abbott, Cook and Hopkins. There was also an occasional infusion of United States troops, under command of Col. Sumner and Maj. Sedgwick, when called upon by Gov. Shannon to suppress violence and restore order ; and in August Gen. J. H. Lane added materially to the free-state forces by bringing in a party of emigrants through Iowa and Nebraska, all free state immigration through Mis- souri having been stopped. Fights and battles and routs between the contesting parties were of frequent occurrence. Thus while Kansas was being filled with people, it was being overrun with armed bands, and industry and trade were depressed. To add to the horrors of the situation, the season was unfavorable for farmers, and before the close of the year the people had to be aided by relief sent to them from the east. In August, Gov. Shannon was removed and Gov. Geary appointed in his place who continued in ofifice until March, 1857, when he was succeeded by Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. This disturbed situation continued until the fall of 1857, when, at the October election. Gov. Walker maintained peace sufficiently to admit of a tolerably free ballot of bona fide votes, which resulted in free-state triumph, after which the contest was abandoned by the Pro-Slavery party so far as armed effort was concerned. While these troubles continued, they were exceedingly dispressing to Kansas City. The people of Kansas City with few exceptions were in sympathy with the Pro-Slavery party, but still had little sympathy with the methods employed by it. They wanted the trade of the new population, and were averse to methods that disturbed society and deprived them of it. COL. KERSEY COAXES. At this time. Col. Kersey Coates was a very important man in Kansas City- He was then, as now, a man of more than ordinary det^mination of character* cool, courageous, and active, and the leading free-state man in Kansas City- He came to Kansas in the fall of 1854 as an agent for a party of Philadelphia capitalists, to buy lands and make investments where, in his judgment, it was most profitable to make them. He first went to Leavenworth and then to Law- rence, looking over the field for investments, and finally came to Kansas City. With that far seeing judgment for which he has since become distinguished, he selected this place for his investments, and in the spring of 1855 purchased large amounts of land adjoining this city, and took up his residence at the American hotel. At the time of which we now write, he was counsel for Gov. Robinson and the prisoners confined with him at Lecompton for treason, and was a bold outspoken free-state man in a community overrun with border rufiiaus. The people of Kansas City, though perhaps little in sympathy with his political views, regarded him as an important tie between them and the people of Kansas, and looked to him largely for the efibrts and measures which were to bring them the trade of the new Territory. He was thus supported by them, and in a meas- ure protected against the pro-slavery men from the south, who soon came to regard him as a most dangerous man for their cause, and who would gladly have kidnapped or killed him if they had felt it safe to do so. Afterward, when the tide turned against them, several of them had to appeal to him for protection. 62 HJSTORY OF KANSAS CITY. but, it is needless to say, never got it when inconsistent with the peace and good order of society. In the fall of 1856, he visited Washington in behalf of the free-state prisoners confined at Lecompton, charged with treason under the laws at that time prevail- ing in Kansas. During his absence the pro-slavery men had determined upon kidnapping and perhaps killing him on his return. He was met at St. Louis by pro-slavery men from Kansas City and warned of his danger, which shows the esteem in which he was held by men who, though opposed to him in pohtics, admired his influence in commercial affairs. He spent the winter in Wisconsin where he procured appropriations from the State Legislature for the relief of citizens of Wisconsin living in Kansas, the object being understood to be the strengthen- ing of the free-state forces for the portending struggle of 1S57. Another man who deserves special mention here was J. P. Howe, the city marshal. He was cool and fearless, and when v/arrants were placed in his hands diected against any of the lawless peace disturbers from the south, never flinched in his duty. Many interesting incidents are told of his affairs with these men, many of which were exciting at the time and are amusing now. GRIMES BUILDING, KANSAS CITY, MO. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 63 CHAPTER VIII. THE GROWTH OF KANSAS CITY PRIOR TO THE WAR. Improvements of Streets and Roads — Trade and Steamboats — Rival Cities — Rapid Growth of Kan- sas City — Stages and Mails — The Commerce of the Prairies — The First Banks, Jobbing Houses and Telegraph — The First Commercial Organization — The Panic of iS^j — The En- largement of the City. Notwithstanding the troubles in Kansas, and the hatred thereby engendered, on the part of free-state people toward all Missourians and Missouri towns, Kan- sas City gained considerable advantage from the settlement of the Territory while these troubles were pending, and after their close, in 1857, experienced an era of remarkable development and growth. COUNTY ROADS AND STREET IMPROVEMENTS. A matter of profound interest to Kansas City, during these years, and until 1 86 1, was wagon roads to the country, and it was much discussed. This being the only means of reaching the trade of the rapidly settling new territory, Leav- enworth, Atchison, Lawrence, St. Joseph, Independence, Westport, and even Boonville, attempted to gain a share or a monopoly of it, by improving roads. Kansas City dared not be behind. But in this contest, Leavenworth and Law- rence were the principal competitors, St, Joseph and Boonville being too far away, while Independence and Westport were so near that her superior land- ing placed them at a disadvantage. Kansas City had the advantage of a bottom road up the Kaw Valley, and a divide road to southern Kansas, hence her work was mostly to be done near home. The Shawnee road and bridge across Turkey Creek were opened in 1858. A better road to Westport, through which all freight, mails and emigrants went from Kansas City, began to be agitated in Feb- ruary, 1856. The road was improved somewhat, but in July, 1857, a company was formed to macadamize it. The work commenced in September, but was so much delayed that it was not finally completed before the war. The importance of street improvements began to be agitated in the winter of 1856-7. Colonel M. J. Payne had been elected mayor in the spring of 1855, which position he held until the spring of i860. In 1855, under his administra- tion, the edge of the bluff was cut away, and the levee widened and paved for about a quarter of a mile, and during the two or three succeeding years, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth streets were graded, and also Broadway, Wyandotte, Delaware, Main and Market streets (Grand avenue), from the river back to Fifth. In the fall of 1859, an ordinance was passed for macadamizing Main street. The Court House on the square was built in 1856, by J. W. Amnions, contractor, the commencement being made October 30th ; but the market house, which was intended to accompany it, was not built until i860. TRADE OF 1856-7 THE STEAMBOAT BUSINESS. The Journal of Commerce, at a later period, estimated that the trade of Kan- sas City during these two years did not exceed two million of dollars, but with the close of the struggle, in 1857, the country filled up speedily, the trade was en- larged, and the city grew rapidly. The Santa Fe trade prospered, and the plains trade resumed more than its former proportions, while the trade developed by the settlement of southern Kansas all came to Kansas City, and with that and the outfitting of immigrants, her business became very great, so much so that a 64 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. correspondefit of the St. Louis Intelligencer noticed that she had the largest trade of any city of her size in the world, and was the point at which all freight and immigrants for Kansas disembarked. Tht Journal of Commerce, at one time during these years, described the appearance of the levee as that of a great fair, it was so piled up with all kinds of merchandise. This was the great steamboat era on the Missouri River, and everything that entered the upper country then came by boat. In the year 1857 there were a hundred and twenty-five boats at the Kansas City levee, and they discharged over seventy-five million pounds of merchandise. There were then a fleet of sixty through boats from St. Louis, and a daily railroad packet leaving the termi- nus of the Missouri Pacific at Jefferson City, Kansas City was then said by boat- men to be receiving more freight than any other five points on the river. In May, 1857, the boats were employed to carry the mails, which they continued to do until superseded by railroads. In August, 1857, the packet company made this their terminal point, and all freight for ports higher up the river was transferred here to another line of boats, and tickets were sold by the stage lines through Kansas accordingly. After the completion of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad to St. Joe, which occurred March i, 1859, a line of boats were put on the river between St. Joseph and Kansas City, as an extension of the shipping facilities of that line to the natural point of distribution. RIVAL CITIES. By reason of the excitement about Kansas, and the consequent large immi- gration, Leavenworth, Lawrence and Atchison got about an even start with Kan- sas City, so far as population was concerned, and at once entered the lists as competitors for the local trade of Kansas and the trade of the plains and New Mexico. The natural asperities of this rivalry were much intensified by the Kansas troubles. The Missouri border having been the base of operations of the border ruffians, was held in great detestation by the free-state men of Kan- sas, and when that party finally triumphed in the Territory it gave great advantage to Kansas towns. The feeling was very bitter toward Kansas City, for she being the center of trade on the border and their only formidable rival, she was made the object of all their antagonisms. Prompted by State pride, commercial jealousy, and political hatred of border ruffians, every effort was made that could be to divert this trade from her. Roads were laid out and made ; their own advant- ages were industriously and extensively advertised throughout the north and east, and attempts made to create a public impression that Kansas City was an unsafe place to ship merchandise to, or for free-state people to stop at. During the border troubles of 1 85 5-6, armed bands met wagons and teams on the prairies and forbade their coming to Kansas City, and agents were sent down the river to represent to people coming up on the boats that Kansas City was unsafe for themselves or their freight. To such an extent was this carried that at one time, in 1856, a party, claimed to be these agents, broke up a piano box on our levee, and the fact was widely published as an evidence that merchandise or freight con- signed to Kansas City was not safe. RAPID GROWTH AND TRADE OF KANSAS CITY. Notwithstanding these facts, Kansas City grew rapidly. There was a great demand for mechanics to build houses. Houses were scarce at all times, and at times rented for more per annum than their original cost. Many additions were added to the city, among them McGee's addition ; and Col. McGee advertised it so extensively and sold lots on such favorable terms to those who would build, that it improved rapidly and soon became a considerable town in itself. It then got the name of "The Addition," by which that part of town was known as HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 65 separate from the city proper, and it retains that distinction yet. In 1858 (Oct. 20) there was a great sale of lots, the result of a combination of property owners, after extensive advertising. The details of the improvement of this period cannot be given, but it was a time of great commercial excitement and prosperity. In August, 1857, The Journal made the following statement of progress from May ist. It was about a sample of the five years : HOUSES BUILT. City proper — 2, 3 and 4 story bricks 97 1, 2 and 3 story frames .184 In Addition — 2, 3 and 4 story bricks 31 I, 2 and 3 story frames 284 Total 527 VALUE OF REAL ESTATE. May I. Aug. 23. Levee lots, each $250 $ 400 Other city lots 500 iioo Addition, on the avenue 500 900 Addition, other streets 250 500 During the same time there were 13,440 wagons loaded for the plains, em- ploying 20,160 men and 36,960 animals, and carrying 40,976,000 pounds of freight. There were also received from the plains 27,000 buffalo robes, 131,000 pounds of hides, 19,000 pounds of pelts, 40,000 pounds of wool, and furs to the value of $19,000. The mercantile business of the city for that time was, city proper, $1,075,000; addition, $50,00 >. Population increased equally rapid, and so, also, did taxable wealth, as will be seen in the subjoined table. 1855 t857 1859 In the year 1859 there was expended in street improvements: Delaware ^street, $14,000; Walnut, $3,600; Main, $300; Belvue, $900; Broadway, $600; Sixth, $1,000; Third, $400, and Fourth, $1,000. Total — $28,100. The progress of the trade during the years 1857 to i860 cannot be better illustrated than in the following synopsis of the Journal's Annual Review. The mercantile trade of 1856 is stated at $1,150,000, but more detailed statements were made for the following years : 1857. 1858. 1859*. i860. Merchandise $3,185,502 $3,232,321 $2,488,001 $4,273,835 Warehousing 545,020 116,983 2,675,930 164,600 Live Stock 2,148,200 2,241,217 110,099 455:^75 Brick No 84,578 96,000 6,000,000 5,000,000 Exports 1,767,761 2,018,045 .... 286,801 Building .... 346,770 191,896 Manufactures .... 130,000 147,140 *Owing to the absence of the editor no Annual Review was compiled by the Journal for 1859, but one was compiled by the Metropolitan, and published by the Journal, with the criticism that it was erroneous in many particulars. These statements, however, were but the closest approximates that could be made, and though that one may not fully represent the business of the year, it seems to show that it was progressing. Pop. Assessm't. 478 $ 54,000 3>224 1,200,000 7,180 3,311,730 66 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. STAGES AND MAILS. During these years, 1857-60, stage lines were established from Kansas City to Fort Scott, Lawrence and Topeka, Leavenworth and Atchison, and to St. Joseph, with perhaps some others. Westport was for a long time mail head- quarters for all the West and South, and stages in these directions had to go by way of Westport until the mail facilities at that place were extended to Kansas City. A mail line already extended to Santa Fe. In the summer of 1858 Col. Jacob Hall, of Jackson county, effected a contract with the Government for carrying the mail from Kansas City to Stockton, California, and the line with stages was opened October ist, by Porter, Irwin & Co. COMMERCE OF THE PLAINS. | The trade with Mexico became much larger after the close of the Kansas troubles, and in 1857 wool was added to the other articles — gold and silver, pre- viously imported from there. The first considerable consignment of this article was to Chas. E. Kearney, who, in 1857, had removed from Westport to Kansas City. The Chicks and others soon followed, and the trade became quite an item in Kansas City's commerce. There was at this time a large increase in the mountain trade, and the amount of furs, peltries, etc., brought in by the mountaineers was largely augmented. Kansas City was, from i8'2i, the headquarters of this class of men. They always came here to settle up old engagements, make new contracts, market their furs, and look up old friends. In 1858 gold was discovered in Colorado, and immediately there set in a large immigration to that country. It was then a part of Kansas Territory. By this time it had become evident that though the cities in Kansas had had about an even start with Kansas City, and some of them, Leavenworth particularly, had outgrown her in population, that the Santa Fe trade and the mountain trade could not be diverted from her, and that had been about given up. The contest for Kansas trade was still raging, with the balance turning more and more each year in favor of Kansas City, because of her superior commercial facilities at that time. But with the discovery of gold at the foot of Pike's Peak, there was a new contest opened. Leavenworth, Atchison, St. Joseph, Nebraska City and Omaha, all entered the list of competition, each hoping to attract it to herself, and upon its stimulus gain the ascendancy. Each had its own route. Those of Nebraska City and Omaha united at Fort Kearney and proceeded up the Platte Valley. Atchison and St. Joseph finally adopted the same route, which gave Nebraska City the advantage of all of them. Leavenworth undertook to open a route by the Smoky Hill valley, but in i860 it had to be abandoned, and she opened a road to the Kaw River, a few miles west of Kansas City, where a bridge was built to enable her to get across to the old Santa Fe trail, 7>ia Council Grove and the Valley of the Arkansas, which was Kansas City's route. The con- test waged long and bitterly, but the superiority of Kansas City's river landing, the boating arrangements of the Missouri, and the superiority of the Arkansas Valley route, with the earlier and later season, gave Kansas City advantages that secured her the larger part of the trade. In i860 the New York Herald sent a correspondent to the west to write up the great plains' commerce, which was then so great au attraction to the whole country. He made a careful examination into the whole subject, noted the fact that Kansas City held the lead, that people from all parts of the west — even to Central Iowa — came here to make their start upon the great plains. He also collected and tabulated the trade of that year, and as nothing can better exhibit the then relative standing of the Missouri Valley cities, we subjoin it : HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. NEW YORK "herald's" STATEMENT 1860. 67 CITIES MEN. HORSES. MULES. OXEN. WAGONS. Kansas City. . Leavenworth . Atchison.. . . St. Joseph . . Nebraska City . Omaha .... 7,084 1,216 1,591 490 896 324 464 377 6,149 206 472 520 113 114 27,920 10,952 13,640 3.980 11,118 340 3.033 1,003 1,280 418 912 276 Total .... 11,603 844 7.574 67.950 6,922 freights 1860. From — Weight. Kansas City 16,439,134 Leavenworth 5,656,082 Atchison 6,097,943 St. Joseph 1,672,000 Nebraska City 5,946,000 Omaha 713,000 Total 36,074,159 BANKS, ETC. The first banking establishment in Kansas City was established in 1856 by Messrs. Coates and Hood, in connection with their real estate business. It con- tinued in operation for several years. In 1857 Messrs. Northrup & Co., after- ward Northrup & Chick, established a banking house which continued until 1864, when it was transferred to J. Q. Watkins & Co., and Messrs. Northrup & Chick went to New York. The next was a branch of the Mechanics' Bank of St. Louis. It was organized May i, 1859, and opened for business in June. The directors were J. P. Wheeler, Kersey Coates, Dr. J. Lykins, Jos. C. Ranson, F. Conant, Wm. Gillis, J. C. McCoy, J. Riddlesbarger and W. J. Jarboe. Dr. Lykins was president. Col. E. C. McCarty cashier and Lewis Ramage attorney. The second bank was a branch of the Union bank, which was organized in July, 1859, and opened for business in August. The directors were H. M. Nor- thrup, C. E. Kearney, Thos. A. Smart, VV. H. Chick, Thos. Johnson, N. T. Wheatley, Joab Bernard, Alex. Street and Edward T. Perry. H. M. Northrup was president and John S. Harris cashier. The first jobbing dry goods house was opened by J. Wise and Co., in July, 1857. The first city loan for local improvements was made in 1855, and amount- ed to $10,000, and was all taken at home. This money was expended by Mayor Payne mostly on the levee. In 1858 another loan of $100,000 was made for street improvements, but there was so much delay in placing it that little good re- sulted from it until 1859. In 1858 Charles M. Stebbins, president of the Missouri River Telegraph Company, whose line was then in operition to Booaville, sent the people a prop- osition to extend it to Kansas City. The aid asked was $2,500, which he proposed to repay in telegraphing. The aid was promptly .given, and the line extended, reaching Kansas City, Dec. 20th. In June, 1858, the Metropolitan newspaper was established by Bates & Gilson. In January, 1859, the Missouri Post, the first German paper made its appearance, with Mr. Pienner editor, and A. Wuerz proprietor, and in i860 the daily Enquirer was established. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 69 COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. The first attempt at commercial organization was in 1856, when the mer- chants established what they called the Board of Trade. It was manifestly too early to attempt anything like a daily exchange, so the Board of Trade took the form of a voluntary, association, with little, if any organization, and the only ob- ject of its meetings was to exchange views about things generally, and in some sense maintain uniformity of prices among merchants. The need of a more vigorous organization of this kind — one that should ex- ercise a general care over the commercial interests of the city — soon became ap- parent, and hence an association was formed under the name of the Chamber of Commerce, which was chartered by the Legislature Nov. 9th, 1857. Dr. Johnston Lykins, W. A. Hopkins, John Johnson, M. J. Payne, Thos. H. Swope, S. W. Bouton, Kersey Coates, Jos. C. Ranson, E. C. McCarty, H. M. Northrup, H. H. King, J. M. Ashburn, Wm. Gillis, Dr. BenoistTroost, John Campbell and R. G. Stephens were the corporators. Others afterward became connected with it, among whom were R. T. Van Horn, T. S. Case. Dr. D. Y. Chalfant and Ermine Case, and perhaps some others. This organization continued until the rebellion broke it up, and though its records are not now available, if, in fact, they are in existence, it is well remembered by many citizens of that time as one of the most potent elements in the development of Kansas City. It was the center of thought and opinion, and had the effect of largely uniting the people in commercial ef- forts. It became the source of public enterprise and public movements in a most marked degree. Under its potent influence the people all worked together for common ends, and whatever public movement or enterprise it decided upon, re- ceived the support of all, and the strength and energy and intelligence of all were united in giving it shape and carrying it forward. It thus inaugurated a system of railroads for Kansas City, and prepared a map showing the various proposed lines. It organized the companies and procured the charters, and in some in- stances, as in that of the Kansas City & Cameron, and the Hannibal & St. Jo- seph and the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Gulf, it pushed the work forward to such a point that other parties took them up and completed them. It thus projected nearly every line of railroad now coming to Kansas City, and proposed for them substantially the routes now occupied. It gave tone and strength to a spirit of public improvement which prevailed during the years intervening prior to the war of the rebellion, and thus promoted the improvement of streets, roads and bridges adjacent to the city. Its revenues were contributed by its members, one of the provisions of its rules being that each member should pay into the treasury annually, for the purpose of public enterprise, the same amount paid into the city treasury as municipal taxes. This provided it with abundant moneys. THE PANIC OF 1857. Kansas City was but little affected by the panic of 1857. She had a num- ber of railroad enterprises before her then that were stopped, but her trade was Httle affected. The large immigration to Kansas helped her over, besides which the commerce of the prairies, which was her main dependence, and which had always employed hard money, was not hurt. There was another favoring cir- cumstance in the large amount of government money then expended on the frontier, of which she eventually, through her trade, became the principal recipi- ent. In November 1857, iht Journal contained an article on the situation which so admirably explains why this great panic did not hurt the city as it did all her rivals, that it is copied here : "Border Money — During the week we have obtained from reliable sources a correct estimate of what may most appropriately be called border money — that is gold and silver coin that comes directly from the mint, or from New Mexico, 70 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. and is first put into circulation upon the Missouri border. This is the fund that in our last issue we said constituted the major part of our commercial basis, and which could not be withdrawn Irom the commercial operations of the border, no matter how disastrous the panic in the east may be. It is this fund, together with the general agricultural and industrial prosperiety, that is to sustain the credit of the border, and save her from the general wreck and overthrow of the nation's finances. The whole amount of this border money is $5, 100,000. Of this, about $2,800,000 comes directly from the United States Mint, and conse- quently comes here annually by virtue of statue law to that effect. The balance is from New Mexico and immigration. Here are the various funds : Annuity Money $1,100,000 Army Money 2,000,000 Mail Money 200,000 Emigration Money 300,000 New Mexico Money 1,500,000 Total . . . , $5,100,000 " The annuity money is annually paid to the various tribes of Indians on our border — and by them is forthwith expended with our border merchants — not a dollar of it is hid in the earth, or stowed away in old stockings. The money received, the Indian is on his pony and off to trade, and when the last dollar is expended he is satisfied, unless he can obtain credit (which many of them can) till the next pay day. In this way, border commerce gets annuity money. " The army money is paid out to privates, for stocks and forage, and to officers. And if any of it is withheld from circulation for any length of time after it passes out of the Quartermaster's Department — then there is more hus- bandry in our army than it has credit for. "The mail money is paid directly to the contractors, for the transportation of the mail over the plains, and by contractors expended on the border for service, feed and stores. "The immigration money is brought hereby immigrants to the Territory, to our own State, and to New Mexico, Utah and California. We can find no reliable data from which to estimate the amount of this money brought to our border, but have made up our figures from the information of our business men. This money is expended immediately on the border, and what little the emigrants retain after the purchase of supplies and outfit, he keeps in his pocket — for what ! Why, to come down and trade again ! Thus the immigrant pocket money nour- ishes our border commerce. " The New Mexico money, amounting annually to $1,500,000 is expended directly with our border merchants and producers, for stock, freight, supplies, and outfits. This money is brought direct from Mexico, and is composed of dubloons and Mexican dollars. On the border the boxes are opened and the money meets a general circulation. Every workshop, mechanic, merchant and farmers on this border, gets some of the money. Such is the intercourse exist- ing between the border and the New Mexico trains, that this money obtains a general circulation with great rapidity. When a train arrives, the camp formed, and everything nicely " corralled," the money is in town, the employees paid off, feed purchased, stock increased or renewed, paid for, and everything connected with the business of the trains transacted with the greatest rapidity — and that makes business — a border panic — and the only panic we ever expect to see on the frontier, while its commerce is based upon border money." LIVE-STOCK BUSINESS. The immense freighting across the plains made Kansas City a good market for mules and oxen from 1854. In 1857, about 9,000 head of cattle and horses HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 71 were driven from Texas and sold here. The total receipts of live-stock for that year were estimated at $200,000. In June, 1858, about 20,000 head of stock- cattle were driven here from Texas, but Kansas City was not then a market for that kind of stock, and having no railroads could not be. Hence they were driven on in the direction of Chicago, crossing the river at Randolph ferry. At that time there were more coming, both from Texas and the Indian Territory, and the whole number for the season was estimated, from what was deemed reliable data, at 65,000. At the same time cattle were going the other way, and in June 3,800 head crossed the river at Randolph from Iowa, going to California. ENLARGEMENT OF THE CITY. The commercial growth of the city during this period, its increased popula- tion and the large number of new buildings constructed, required more ground than was embraced in the original surveys, or in fact in the original charter. Hence a large number of additions were platted. In this place is given the date of the filing of plats of these additions and of re-surveys, including also the date of filing of the plat of the old town company in 1839, and 1846 and 1847. 1839 — First plat, Town of Kansas. April 30, 1846, second plat. Town of Kansas. 1847, third plat. Town of Kansas. November 29, 1855, Hubbard's Ad- dition. March 28, 1856, first plat, McGee's Addition. May 19, 1856, first plat, Troost's re- survey, blk. 16, O. T. July 19, 1856, Lykins'. April 6, 1857, Lawrence's. April 8, 1857, Belle view Place. April 16, 1857, Swope's. April 30, 1857, Ross & Scarritt's Ad- dition. May 26, 1857, Thomas'. June 2, 1857, Coates'. June 3, 1857, second plat, McGee's Addition. June 22, 1857, PuUiam's. July 15, 1857, Peery Place. August 15, 1857, Turner & Co.'s. August 31, 1857, Roberts'. September 7, 1857, Johnston's, J. September 10, 1857, Rivard's. September 19, 1857, Ramson & Hop- kins'. September 23, 1857, Bouton's. December 21, 1857, Swope's, T. H., 2d. December 23, 1857, Reid's. January i, 1858, Guinotte's. January 23, 1858, Roberts' Corrected Plat. March 18, 1858, Ford & Whitworth's. March 31, 1858, McDaniels'. July 19, 1858, Hood's. July 29, 1858, Ramson & Talley's. August 3, 1858, Johnson's sub. of land 7, O. T. August 12, 1858, McGee's, J. H. August 26, 1858, Ashburn's (East Kansas). January 7, 1859, King's Re-survey, in Hubbard's Addition. February i, 1859, Ashburn's. February 4, 1859, King & Bouton's Re-survey, W. y^ blk. 10, E. ^^ blk. II, O. T. March 7, 1859, East Kansas. April 7, 1859, Vineyard's. June 6, 1859, Ridge's Place. July I, 1859, Lockridge's. August 5, 1859, Lot Coffman's Addi- tion. October 3, 1859, T. A. Smart's Ad- dition. March 2, i860, Lucas Place Addi- tion. April 13, 1861, West Kansas, Addi- tion No. I. May 24, King & Bouton's Re-survey of blocks in Old Town. To extend the municipal authority and protection over the rapidly extending town, an amendment to the charter was procured, January 29, 1857, which ex- tended the limits west to the State hne, south to Twelfth street, and made the eastern boundary the half section line which runs along the alley between McGee and Oak streets. This greatly enlarged the corporate limits to the west and 72 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. south, but left out the forty-acre tract on the east which had been embraced in the corporate hmits under the original charter. On the i2th day of February, 1858, the Legislature again enlarged the cor- porate limits, extending the city southward by the State line to Twenty-second street, eastward along that street to Troost avenue, northward along Troost avenue to Twelfth street, eastward with Twelfth street to Lydia avenue, north- ward with Lydia avenue to Independence avenue, thence to the quarter section line a little west of Lydia avenue, which the corporation line followed to the river. This act divided the city legislature into two branches — a board of aldermen and a city council, a provision which was repealed in December following. It also directed the city council to divide the city into three wards, and to this end an ordinance was adopted March 5th, making all that part of the city east of Grand avenue the first ward, and between Grand avenue and Delaware street, and Main street south of the Junction, the second ward, and all west of Delaware, and of Main street south of the Junction, the third ward. THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. The events thus chronicled brings this history down to the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, which was exceeding depressing to Kansas City, checking her progress and causing her to retrograde as will hereafter be shown. During the excited political contest of i860 public attention was so much absorbed with politics that there appears to have been but little effort to inaugu- rate new enterprises. Old ones, especially railroad projects, were carried for- ward, but none to completion, until the war cloud arose in the winter of 1860-1. Kansas City had then become a place of 4,000 population. She had triumphed over all her competitors for the commerce of the prairies, and had ab- sorbed the trade of southern Kansas. Nearly all the railroads she has now were projected, and the Missouri Pacific and the Cameron Branch of the Hannibal & St. Joseph were soon to be completed. But the darkness of the cloud that cov- ered her hid all her glory. All enterprises, and nearly all business as well, was stopped. The Journa of Commerce suspended, the other newspapers stopped, and past triumphs, present advantages, progressing enterprises and future hopes, were all forgotten in the frenzied throes of the national agony. RETOSPECTIVE, In May, 1859, iht Journal of Commerce made this brief but comprehensive retrospect of the progress since 1855 : "In Octriber, 1855 when we first took charge of this paper, there was a population of 478, all told, within the city. The levee consisted of a "chute" dug in the bank in front of the warehouses of W. H. Chick & Co. and McCarty & Buckley. The Eldridge House (now old Gillis House) ground entrance was in the present second story, and the only street in the "city" was a common country road, which wound round the bluff into the ravine below Market street (Grand avenue), and followed the windings until it struck the divide south of McNees' mill. The principal products of the city were dog fennel and James- town weed. "The business consisted solely of the Santa Fe shipping trade and the like business for the annual trains of the mountain men and Indian traders. The local trade was carried on principally with the Wyandotte Indians, and the people living in the classic shades of " Gooseneck." " The city authorities consisted of a mayor, our present active officer, assisted by a board of city fathers, who had the delectable task of disposing of the con- tents of an em' ty treasury at the rate of $0 00 per day. The august assemblage was waited upon in the real Kentucky style of doing the dignified, by ex-Marshal Howe, who carried the financial budget of the city in his hat. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 73 " It was thus we entered the campaign of 1856. At this date, Michael Smith, street contractor, had straightened the river end of the road into Market street, and under one of the cornfield engineers, of whom we have had such bright examples, had commenced excavating at the bottom of the ravine on Main street — but still there was no street. "In 1856 a brief season of activity set in which was soon stopped by the frosts of the Kansas troubles, which paralyzed all business and enterprise and stagnated every branch of trade.' This state of affairs continued until the close of the season, and when the spring of 1857 opened, there had been but little if any real advances made in the city. "The bluffs still towered over the landing; no streets were cut through; no cross streets were contemplated. Under all these depressing circumstances, with no foreign capital to assist us, with active competition above, below and behind us, with an empty exchequer and no resources from which to replenish it to any extent, our citizens boldly entered upon a system of improvements of a magnitude never equaled by any city built in the world. It is now twenty-four months since the work begun, eight of which were closed to operations by the frosts of winter and twelve of them under the financial pressure occasioned by the crisis of 1857, and what is the result? " A city of eight thousand inhabitants ; a list of mercantile houses surpassing that of any Missouri River town, with a trade larger than any city of her size in the world; with four streets cut through the buffs, cross streets opened and open- ing for eight squares from the river; a whole town built up outside of her original limits (McGee's addition), containing the longest continuous block of buildings west of St. Louis; an entire new business locality excavated out of the bluff, and built up with solid and substantial buildings m the center of the city; the crest of our "seven hills" covered with private residences; roads constructed into the interior, and the best levee on the Missour River. All this has been done since the first day of May 1857, without a dollar of outside capital to assist us, and with the money made by the business of the city itself. " We will have in operation in a short time a bank with a capital of $250,000, and before August a second with a like capital. Insurance offices that do a larger business than any institution of the kind in the upper country ; a city treasury able by the present assessment to pay every dollar held against it ; private bankers that have their drafts honored in any city of the Union or Europe, and a solid and substantial mercantile credit from Boston to New Orleans." At the close of the period of which we now write, Kansas City had made considerable further progress in the same general direction. The banks above referred to were put into successful operation ; large numbers of people had been added to the population ; many new houses had been built ; new stores and shops opened, arid the trade generally enlarged. The street improvements progressing at the time of the JournaV s article above quoted had been much advanced ; coun- try roads had been further improved, and the railroad schemes, in which Kansas City was then interested, had made much progress. In other respects the city had made much advancement in social aspects, which, up to this time, we have not noticed. The formation of societies, and the organization of churches and lodges, are the incident of commercial develop- ment, and had attended, so far, the development of Kansas City. At the close of the year i860 there were in Kansas City three lodges of Masons, two of Odd Fellows, one of Gt)od Templars, a Turnverien, Shamrock Benevolent Society, Orpheus Singing Society, a Chess Club and a Bible Society. There were the Kan- sas City Female Seminary, a Rectory School, a young gentlemen's seminary and a German school. The churches were : two Methodist, one Baptist, two Presby- terian, one Episcopal, one Catholic and one Christian. There were also the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce, both of 74 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. which had grown directly out of the development of trade. There were three banks, one insurance company, one daily and two weekly English newspapers, one German weekly and a bi-monthly medical journal. At the census in i860 the population of Missouri Valley cities was as follows : Independence 3,164; Kansas City 4,418; Leavenworth 7,379; Weston 2,921; Atchison 2,611 ; St. Joseph 8,932 ; Council Bluffs 2,011, and Omaha 1,881. Such was the situation in which the war found Kansas City, but before pro- ceeding to narrate the effects of that struggle, an account will be given of a series of facts contemporaneous with those chronicled in this and the last preceding chapter relative to the development of railway enterprises. This will be presented in the next chapter. KANSAS CITY LIVE STOCK EXCHANGE. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. • 75 CHAPTER IX. THE INCEPTION OF OUR RAILROADS. Kansas City Takes the Lead hi Efforts to Secure Railroad Facilities — Her Efforts Start a Eever in Railroad Enterprises in Western Missouri and Kansas — T/te Inception of Her Own System — The Hostility of Kansas — The First Efforts in Behalf of Trans- Continental Railroad — Kansas City in the Stru£gle, with Both the Slave and Anti-Slave Sections for the Road — The Enthusiasm of the Period — Beginnitig of Railroad Work — The Real Founders of Kansas City — Their Trials and Triumphs. The agitation of the construction of raihoads began in some parts of Mis- souri in 1849, a convention of that kind having been held in St. Louis in that year. Railroads then began to reach toward St. Louis, and approach the Missis- sippi from the east at other points. The country had become settled and product- ive to an extent that some method of transportation better than wagons had be- come necessary ; yet this was the only means, except near the navigable rivers. The Missouri River, by steamboat, was the only method of reaching the central and western parts of the State. The Pacific Railroad, from St. Louis to the western Hne of the State, was chartered in 1852, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph, through the influence of R. M. Stewart, afterward Governor, some time before that. KANSAS CITY STARTS THE FEVER IN WESTERN MISSOURI. Kansas City, by reason of being situated at the great angle of the Missouri River, which made her the nearest river point for the New Mexican plain; and Indian trade, was beginning to attract attention on account of her commerces and her people, appreciating the advantage her situation gave her, but knowing that railroads would make a great commercial center wherever they concentrated on the western border, and take all the plains trade to that point, saw that their future depended upon getting the railroads. One had been chartered already to St. Joseph, and another from St. Louis to the western border. She feared the effect of the one, and the possible location of the other. She began to make ef- forts to secure the Pacific, and to tap the Hannibal & St. Joseph, so that she would enjoy equal advantages with the latter named place. Thus, in 1855, there arose an activity in railroad schemes rarely equaled in any community, and the work done was, for a town of less than a thousand people, enormous. The agi- tation of this class of enterprises at Kansas City, at this time, can be best repres- ented by an account of events in the order in which they occurred. On the first of December, 1855, news was received from Jefferson City that the Legislature had passed a bill, giving State aid to certain railroads, among which was the Pacific. This gave great satisfaction here, as it was expected that the road would be immediately pushed through, and Kansas City was sanguine of success in securing its terminus. In December, 1855, she got a bill passed by the Missouri Legislature, incor- porating the Kansas City, Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company, the object of which was to build a road to the nearest point on the Hannibal & St. Joseph. The incorporators were Dr. B. Troost, W. H. Chick, M. J. Payne, A. J. Martin, Thos. Swope, Joel Walker, H. J. Richards, J. Riddlesbarger, Alex. Gilham, Gainus Jenkins, W. J. Jarboe, Jos. C. Ranson, J. W. Amnions, S. W. Bouton, Dr. J. Lykins, Dr. T. B. Lester, D. K. Abeel, J. W. Summers, J. A. Fenley, and William A. Strong. Governor Price vetoed the bill, but it was passed over his veto. This was the inception of the road to Cameron. 76 , HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. The discussion of this project started the agitation in Western Missouri, and all the towns began to hold meetings, and project railroads. Among others pro- jected was the Parkville & Grand River, the Canton & Western, and the St. Jo- seph & Burlington. Meetings were held in almost every town in Western Mis- souri, and some kind of a project originated. The fever spread to Kansas, and Leavenworth, Lawrence and Atchison soon had their projects. The first Legislature of Kansas chartered the Kansas Valley Railroad, from Kansas City to Fort Riley, on the south side of the Kaw. This was the begin- ning of the agitation of a road in that valley, where we now have two. THE INCEPTION OF OTHER ROADS. The prominence Kansas City had already attained as the headquarters of the trade of the plains, led to the projection of several roads to her ; among which was the Kansas City & St. Joseph Railroad, which was chartered some time prior to 1855. This w^as the inception of our present Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad. A Railroad to Galveston Bay began to be agitated in 1855. The road now known as the Texas Central, or a road occupying substantially the same route had been chartered and its construction begun. In the latter part of 1856 a company was organized in Arkansas and started a project called the Napoleon & Kansas City Railroad, which was to run from Napoleon, on the Mississippi River, via Fort Smith to Kansas City. Dr. Lee was president of this enterprise, and Capt. Lloyd Tighlman engineer, and part of the survey was made. It was looked upon with so much favor that some of the Missouri counties were urged to give it aid. Napoleon was then a place of more importance than since the war. In discussing the Galveston Railroad project it was soon discovered that the country northward of Kansas City took an interest in it, and would like to have it extended through their section. Hence, in February, 1857, a company was organized here, taking the name of the Kansas City, Galveston & Lake Superior Railroad Company, the purpose of which was to procure the building of a road from Lake Superior to Galveston through Kansas City. Dr. Lykins, Jos. C. Ranson, R. T. Van Horn, Robert J. Lawrence, S. W. Bouton, were the first directors. Dr. Lykins was elected president, R. T. Van Horn, secretary, and Kersey Coates, treasurer. January 12, 1856, books were opened for subscriptions to the stock ot the Kansas City, Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. It was then expected that the road could be located by March and constructed in two years, and that it would prove the most important line for the city, because more practicable for immi- grants to Kansas. Four days afterward a meeting of the people appointed J. Rid- dlesbarger, Jos. C. Ranson and J. C. McCoy to correspond with E. M. Samuels, of Clay county, relative to the survey of the road. Clay county had already proposed to pay half the expense if this city would pay the other. This propo- sition was promptly accepted. January 27th the Kansas Valley Railroad Company was organized with E. F. Perry, W. H. R. Lykins, J. C. Ranson, William A. Hopkins, J. M. Ashburn, Kersey Coates, Dr. J. Lykins, David Hood and Thos. H. Swope as directors. Dr. Lykins was elected president and Kersey Coates secretary and treasurer. The purpose of the company was to build a road on the south side of Kaw River to Fort Riley. Three hundred shares of the stock were subscribed at the meeting at which the organization was effected. On the 5th of July, 1856, the directors of the Kansas City, Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad engaged Robert J. Lawrence to survey and locate the line. The work was begun the next week, and an agent accompanied Mr. Lawrence to solicit subscriptions to the stock. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY, 77 The day previous to this appointment, July 4, Col. E. M. Samuels, of Clay county, addressed the people of Liberty in behalf of extending the line to Keokuk, and on' the 9th he addressed the people of Kansas City on the same subject. On the 19th of July, 1856, was the first mention in Kansas City of the Napol- eon & Kansas City Railroad, in a letter from Dr. F. A. Rice, of Keysburg, Ky. On the 19th of July the survey of route of the Kansas City, Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was finished by Mr. Lawrence to Fishing Creek, and on the 26th, Joseph C. Ranson made the first call upon subscribers to the expense of the survey. . On the 4th of October, 1858, the directors of this road resolved to organize under the general incorporation law of the State, as the Keokuk & Kansas City Railroad, and asked the people to assemble and memorialize the city council to order an election to vote $150,000 stock in it. The election occurred on the 14th, and the proposition was carried almost unanimously. At that time Keokuk had voted $45,000, and it was estimated that $900,000 more could be procured along the hne, besides $50,000 of individ- ual subscription in Kansas City and an equal amount in Clay county. A con- vention in the interest of this road was called to meet at Linneus, November 20, 1856- accordingly a pubhc meeting was held in. Kansas City on the loth, and the incorporators of the Kansas City, Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad were requested to attend. The report of the survey, made by Robert J. Lawrence, was made November 15th, and the Hne was regarded as exceptionally favorable. This survey extended only to the line of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. At the railroad convention at Linneus, November 20th, there were delegates from Keokuk, Kansas City and from Scotland, Lewis, Adair, Linn, Livingston and Clay counties. Dr. W. A. Hopkins, Kersey Coates, Jos. C. Ranson, T. M. James S. W. Bouton, Robt. J. Lawrence, M. B Hedges and R. T. Van Horn attended from Kansas City, and Col. Van Horn was elected secretary. This convention resolved that the road was necessary and must be built, and raised a committee to obtain a charter from the Missouri Legislature. That committee was Col E. M. Samuels of Clay county, and Kersey Coates and R. T. Van Horn of Kansas City. W. Y. Slack, of Chillicothe, was appointed agent, and an assess- ment of three thousand dollars was made to pay for a preliminary survey, to be made by the Kansas City, Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. This con- vention was followed with many enthusiastic meetings along the proposed line, and subscriptions of stock by most of the counties. On the 2d of January, 1857, Gen. J. W. Reid, of this city, introduced into the Missouri Legislature a bill to incorporate this company, and it passed on the 6th, though not without some opposition, as several members were afraid that if the'road were built it would become a conveyance for runaway slaves, because it terminated in a free State. As soon as this charter received the signature of the Governor, the company opened books in Kansas City, and two hundred and fifty shares of 'stock were immediatelf' subscribed by the people. In January, 1857, the Missouri Legislature als^ chartered the Kansas City & Galveston road. This road was to extend northward to Lake Superior, and John J Shoemaker commenced the survey from Kansas City, north through Platte and CUnton counties, and enthusiastic meetings were held at Plattsburg, Smithville and Barry. , , , . In December preceding (1856) Gen. Duff and party bought up the entire stock of the Kansas City & St. Joseph Railroad, and March 3d a bill was intro- duced by Gen. Reid into the Missouri Legislature which was passed and signed, appropriating $75,000 for it, under the name of the Platte County Road, by which it was afterward known. One-half the sum was to be expended between Kansas City and St. Joseph, and the other half in extending the line to Iowa. In March, 1857, the Louisiana Legislature passed the bill to incorporate the 78 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. New Orleans, Shreveport & Kansas City Railroad, the line to touch the points named and run along the line between Arkansas and the Indian Territory, and Kansas and Missouri. Among the incorporators named in the bill were Kersey Coates and Dr. Lykins, of this city, and E. M. Samuels, of Clay county. On the secoi"^ of June, 1857, Mr. McPherson, president of the Pacific Rail- road, visited Jackson county, and promised to complete the road to Kansas City in eighteen months, if Kansas City would give it $150,000 and Independence $50,000, and it was promptly voted. The Kansas City and Keokuk Railroad company completed its organization July 6th, by electing Kersey Coates, president, Joseph C. Ranson vice-president, S. W. Bouton secretary and Robert J. Lawrence engineer. The survey of the Kansas City, Galveston and Lake Superior road was completed to the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph road by Mr. Shoemaker, July II, and the cost of construction was estimated at $22 000 per mile. These, with a contemplated but unorganized road to the Pacific Ocean, and one to Santa Fe, was, in brief, the railroad system mapped out at that early day. It was grand in its conception, grand in the audacity with which it was presented by a frontier town with less than a thousand population and no railroad within two hundred miles of her. The struggle for its realization was a grand struggle, and resulted in the grandest of all — its substantially complete fulfillment. Before anything further could be done in way of the roads, which then seemed to be progressing so finely, the financial crash of 1857 came, sweeping away not only credit but the currency as well, and all enterprise, not only in Kansas City, but elsewhere stopped. Kansas City did not suffer much other- wise, as she maintained her fine trade on the plains and with Kansas and Kansas immigrants. But there was no further efforts made in the building of railroads until the following spring, though her favorite enterprises were held in warm remembrance, and much discussed by the people. THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES. '-\ The spirit and enthusiasm and hopes of that period cannot be better shown than in the following speech by Col. Van Horn at a merchants' supper, Christ- mas, 1857, in response to the toast — " Railroads and the Press — Twin Brothers in American Progress and Development." He said : "The meeting had imposed upon him a task, a response to which might necessarily involve some- what of egotism, for as regarded the press, he felt that it was speaking some- what of self, when he touched upon the habit of his life ; but in regard to railroads no such delicacy existed. " It might seem strange to some gentlemen who had not yet waked up from the effects of the sedatives their mothers administered to their infant necessities, that any one should attempt to speak of Kansas City railroads, when not a mile has yet been built leading from its boundaries. It is true as yet we have only charters, but there never was a railroad built #ithout a charter — so we have at least taken the first step. But we have taken a second step. We have made very thorough surveys of two routes, and have made large subscriptions of stock. The intellect of the city has mapped out a railroad chart for Kansas, covered it with charters, and secured them advantages beyond the power of any interest to cut off. We have not a charter of the seven roads entering here that is not secured forever by the vested rights of their stockholders —there is no city or town in American history that has done so much within the short space of two years. " Railroads involve a philosophy in the progress of the world that is fruitful in study. We, hving in this rushing age, lashed to the car of progress and borne ahead by the whirl of events, are too apt to forget what the world once was, in HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 79 the days of pack horses, Coiinestoga wagons, broad horn river craft — and what it now is in those countries where primitive modes of transport still exist, and where the camel and the ass are the "ships of the desert," and the broad horns of the valleys of the old world — and where even men are bred and trained for the transport of merchandise between distant cities. In those old countries courts built cities, and the decrease of despotic rulers oblige whole empires to pay tribute to their licentious capitals. There it was that Nineveh, Bagdad, Con- stantinople and the ancient seats of commerce and wealth rose to eminence. 'Y'^t. people establish their own commercial capitals, and the seats of our Republi- can courts are enlivened only at intervals by the representatives of her commer- cial marts and rural plains, who seek the quiet and seclusion of her civil halls for consultation upon common interest. Washington, Columbus, Springfield, Jefferson City, and Baton Rouge are the capitals of our rulers — New York, Cin- cinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans are the metropolitan cities of our people. God has marked out by topography the lines of commerce, and by the ranges of mountains and courses of rivers has fixed its centers and marts — and it is by studying these great tracings of the Almighty's finger that the pioneer of trade and the herald of civilization has selected the site of these gigantic cities of the Republic, and which has fixed upon the rock-bound bay of the Missouri and Kansas as the last great seat of wealth, trade, and population in the westward march of commerce toward the mountain basins of the Mississippi and Pacific, If men will only study topography the problem is solved. " Since the days of Columbus commerce and enterprise have been seeking the west — west, west, has ever been the watchword — over the Atlantic, up the Potomac, across the Alleghanies, down the Ohio, over the Missisippi, up the Jklissouri. It is found at last. Kansas City stands on the extreme point of west- ern navigation — it is the west of commerce ; beyond us the west must come to us overland. I say again — the west at last is found. (Enthusiastic and prolonged applause.) " We are now passing through the ordeal of early St. Louis. Surrounded by rivals that control public sentiment to a great degree, and with the legislation of the country against us, we are still outstripping all precedents, and surely and swiftly rising to metropolitan proportions and power. We are in the central paral- lel of population and production, and as sure as the sun in his course imparts to our valleys and plains the richest of his fructifying rays, just so sure will our fortune be great and certain. Without intending to touch upon political topics, I must be permitted to say that Robert J. Walker, in what he said of the isother- mal line, uttered a greater truth and exhibited greater wisdom than in anything else he said in Kansas. It is upon that line that population must center. It now contains two-thirds of the population and four-fifths of the cereals of the world. Thus the law of population itself will bring the great Pacific Railroad up the Kan- sas valley, for through that valley will flow three-fourths of the emigration west- ward — and this is one of our chartered roads ; another leading to Galveston on the south, bringing us nearer to tide-water than are St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati, and shortening our present distance fifteen hundred miles ; the Platte country road and the Keokuk road, reaching the northwest and northeast ; the Pacific road east, now half completed to the valleys of the Ohio and the basin of the great lakes ; and the Memphis road penetrating the cotton regions of the sunny South — these roads will, when all opened — as they will be — open up to Kansas City a mine of wealth unsurpassed by any city in the world — bringing within seventy hours of each other the cotton, sugar and stock of Texas, the robes and furs of the plains and mountains, the manufactures of the east, and the lumber and copper of the Mississippi and Lake Superior. " But I am asked by a certain class where is the money to come from ? I will answer that twelve years ago Chicago had a population less than our's now 80 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. is, and was without a mile of railroad. Now she has a population of one hundred and thirty thousand, and over ten thousand miles of railroad radiating from her wharves in every direction — and all this has been accomplished without the ex- penditure of a single dollar of her business capital. Let the world know of us as it did of Chicago, that here is the commercial center, fixed by the laws of nature herself, and the capital of the world will stretch out its iron arms for our commerce ' — the roads will be built. Let us work westward — that is the word for Kansas City — and the first snort of the iron horse as he bounds away for the headwaters of the Kansas will be the herald of the swift completion of the iron highways of commerce with the East." (Enthusiastic cheering.) THE UNITY AND MOVEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE. Owing to the severe struggle of border and Kansas towns for commercial supremacy, the people of Kansas City became closely united as early as 1855, and continued so until the unity was broken by political animosity at the begin- ning of the war. During that period the whole city moved as one man, or as a corporation in which there was no faction. The summer was the business sea- son, and the winter, when there was little trade, enterprises were discussed, or- ganized and set in motion. There was great activity in all directions, but in none more than in railroad projects. A brief statement of events and movements in their chronological order will best illustrate the activity, earnestness and devotion of those times. In May, 1858, there was a revival of interest in the Platte county enterprise, and meetings were held at Kansas City and along the line of the road. An en- gineer was put on and the survey completed between St. Joseph and Kansas City, by way of Platte City, that summer. • The same month the new directory of the Pacific caused it to be located be- tween Pleasant Hill and Kansas City. This road, from the time its line reached Jefferson City, coquetted with the people along the proposed line for aid and made no location until it had made the counties bid up on each other until the last dollar had been secured. Then it gave the road to the highest bidder. As its terminus on the western State line was not fixed, Cass and Jackson counties became contestants for it. After getting them to put up their last dollar it ac- cepted the aid of both, located the line to Kansas City via Pleasant Hill, in Cass county, and thus filled the contract with both. It has since been extended be- yond Kansas City and a line has been built westward from Pleasant Hill, and thus Cass and Jackson have been deprived of what they thought they were to get — the western terminus of the road. A ROAD TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. The idea of a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, which seems to have been first suggested by Fremont, and gained formal and popular shape by the great rail- road convention at St. Louis in 1849, was much discussed in Kansas City up to this time. It was held that justice to the trade of the country and the treasury dictated the Kaw Valley route. It was held that by this route half the trans con- tinental line was already completed — from the Atlantic seaboard to St. Louis — and that thence westward there was available a succession of rich valleys like those through which passed the Baltimore & Ohio and Ohio & Mississippi Rail- roads ; that the route was the most central, the easiest of construction, and em- braced the lowest and most available passes through the mountains. Kansas City made a strong effort to get this route recognized by the establishment of an over- land mail, which was being discussed in Congress in 1856 7-8. Her sectional ^position, however, was not favorable, for Congress was then under the dominance of the South, which could not comprehend that there was anything north of the slave States worth considering, and held a route to be cen- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 81 tral must be central to the country south of Mason & Dixon's Hne. St. Louis even favored this view, and lent her influence to a route by the way of Memphis and Little Rock, and thence across the arid Llano Estacado. At the same time the northern members of Congress, equally sectional as the southern, wanted the Pacific Railroad to start from a point on the frontier, west of Chicago. Kansas City, undaunted, undertook the task alone, and in July, 1858, her. Chamber of Commerce sent Col. Van Horn to Washington with a memorial to Congress on the central route, which was a most thorough, exhaustive and unan- swerable presentation of its advantages, which, on account of its historical value, is here presented. ♦ MEMORIAL. " To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress Assembled : "Your Memorialists, the Chamber of Commerce of the City of Kansas, State of Missouri, would most respectfully represent that we are deeply interested in the question of the construction of a railway to the Pacific Ocean. We are situated upon the central geographical line of the continent, as well as of the Union, and believe that such line is best adapted for the construction of a rail- way. We adopt the premises, that facilities for construction being equal, it is the duty of the Government to construct said road on the most central route, as by so doing all parts of the Union would receive more equal benefits. Believing this to be not only the duty, but the inclination of the Government, it will be our purpose to show that the central route, or, more definitely, the route by the valley of the Kansas River, is not only as practical as any other projected route, but that it is the only route that possesses all the requisites for constructing, main- taining and operating a railway across the continent of North America. In order to present this subject in all its elements, it will be proper to consider it in the order of its geographical position, climate, capacity to support a population and its topographical adaptation for railway construction. We shall then consider, first, ITS GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. "The Lake of the Woods, on the 49th parallel, and Galveston, near the 29th parallel, may be taken as the extreme northern and southern boundaries of the central portion of the Republic. This would make the 39th parallel the cen- tral line, upon which parallel is the valley of the Kansas River, and an air line drawn from Galveston to the Lake of the Woods cuts the delta of the river. From New York to the mouth of the Kansas River is 1,316 miles; from Phila- delphia, 1,285 ™iles; from Baltimore, 1,198 miles; from Charleston, 1,010 miles; from New Orleans, 980 miles. These distances are calculated by the most direct railway connections, completed and in progress. By air lines the distances from the mouth of the Kansas River are, to New Orleans 654 miles, to Charleston 900 miles, to Baltimore 936 miles, to Philadelphia 1,012 miles, and to New York 1,012 miles. It will be thus seen that most of our principal seaboard cities on the Atlan- tic coast can reach the mouth of the Kansas River by routes nearly equal in length; thus maintaining, in regard to the trade of the Pacific, the same relative positions, advantages and disadvantages now possessed or afforded them by natural position, climate and facilities for ocean and interior commerce. It would place the Government in no position obnoxious to the charge of favoritism, but like the favors of Providence, its work would fall alike upon all, leaving to individual en- terprise and the laws of trade to determine, if any, the points of commercial supremacy. Indeed, if within the province of a memorial, we would suggest that political considerations alone ought to deter Congress from giving to any one section of country undue facilities for controlling the trade and moneyed interests of 6 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 83 this great Republic, as all such concentrations and monopolies are destructive of public morality, and that equitable adjustment of interest so essential to the har- mony, protection and development of the whole. " In considering this question, it is proper that we should keep before us one great object in the construction of such railway — that is, to connect the two oceans, and afford a military road, accessible from all portions of the Union, for the protection of all its posts. In a strategetical view, your memorialists cannot perceive how the country is to be advantaged by the construction of such a road upon the 48th parallel, its whole length skirted by the possessions of a forei'j-n power; or by taking the 3 2d parallel, on the borders of a State with which we have been at war, and with which only a quasi peace is now, or has been main- tained, for the past twenty years, thus subjecting it to inroads of hostile forces for half its length, on either route. Again, on either of the above routes it would run entirely outside the forts of the Government, away from the Indian tribes away from the routes of travel, and away from all the interests of the country needing protection. "The central route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans seems to be marked out by the topography of the country, and should at least be considered before the question of routes is determined. By reference to maps it will be seen that we have three systems of mountains running north and south ; this gives us six systems of rivers running east and west, which rivers occupy the series of central valleys dividing the continent from east to west. These are : the valleys of the Potomac, the Ohio, the Missouri, the Kansas and the Rio Colorado. • "This latter valley is turned from its course by the chain of Wahsatch moun- tains, where it deflects to the southwest, entering the Gulf of California in latitude 32°. But nature seems to have provided for the result by the valley of the Nicolet whose waters run east of the Wasatch range and divide it by a natural channel precisely on the 39th parallel, by which we have an easy route to the spurs of the Sierra Nevada, near the 119th meridian of longitude, where the route strikes the western stream of the Great Basin, and following which by either of the val- leys of the Carson or Walker River to the valley of the Sacramento, or bearing south by Owen's River to the valley of the San Joaquin, via Stockton, to San Francisco. "These maybe denominated the central valleys of the continent, upon which the locomotive is now running for a distance of about 1,223, miles, 150 of which are west of the Mississippi, and is being prosecuted by the State of Missouri as rapidly as the work will admit, to the mouth of the Kansas. Within two years there will be a continuous line of railway from tide water, by these central val- leys, to the mouth of the Kansas River. Already has a company been chartered to continue this road up the valley of the Kansas to Fort Riley, which when completed, will make near 1,400 miles of this route already constructed by the unaided energies of the people inhabiting these central valleys — or one-half of the railroad. "By the routes named, or by any other route wherever started, the people would have to go back over a country where population has neither demanded or constructed railways, and rebuild nearly five hundred miles of road already con- structed or in progress, before the locomotive could reach its present western station in the wake of population and trade. " Is it just thus to re-tax the energies of the people to the extent of $20,000 - 000 or $30,000,000 to secure commercial facilities that they have already provid- ed? By the selection of either of these routes, it would force upon the country the task of reconstructing their whole system of roads, or of doubling their extent in order to reach the great channel of continental commerce and trans- portation. 84 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CLIMATE AND POPULATION. "In considering this part of the subject, we do not conceive it necessary to lose sight of the object under consideration by a multiphcity of details or baro- metrical observations. It will suffice to state that within the 3 2d and 44th paral- lels is embraced California, one-half of Oregan, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, one- half of Nebraska, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and the larger portions of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Vermont, and from within these par- allels comes nine-tenths of the representatives on the floor of Congress. These facts abundantly prove its adaptability to support a dense population, so far as tested, from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The settlement of Kansas Territory within the past three years, is sufficient evidence of the capacity of the eastern slope of the mountains, when we state the fact that the act erecting Minnesota into a Territory bears date in the year 1849, and the act creating a territorial gov ernment in Kansas bears date 1854, and she is now applying for admission, side by side with Minnesota, as one of the sovereign States of the Confederacy, while Nebraska on the north, with three times her territory, and New Mexico on the south, twice her size and with a settlement that dates back to the time of the Spanish Conquest, are yet dependencies upon the bounty of the Federal treasury. "You have also before you the petition of the people of Carson Valley for a territorial government, and the statistics of its population, which discloses the fact that a powerful nucleus for a State is already in existence, in a locality where previous to their petition, such facts were unknown to a greater portion of the people of the United States, so rapid has been the tide of settlement. Already have the people of California begun to consider the question of building a railway to this valley. East of this, upon the eastern vein of the Great Basin, is the City of the Great Salt Lake, which, with its tributary country, is already dense enough in population for a State government. These Mormon settlements extend throughout the valleys of the Great Basin, in a country unsurpassed for the mild- ness and salubrity of its climate, and for the production of all the cereals necessary for the support of man. We state what our annual experience and annual trade demonstrates, upon our counting-house books, that there are not seventy-five miles of country between the thirty-seventh and fortieth parallels that is not now the habitation of the white man, and where settlement has not penetrated and fixed its never-relaxing grasp upon the soil. These facts we conceive to be of the first importance in a great enterprise like that of the Pacific Railway. We know that through this whole extent of the country, from the waters of the Sierra Nevada, are to be found white men living; that along it cluster the great Indian tribes of the American continent ; that here is to be found the buffalo, the ante- lope, the horse, and all descriptions of game and fish, upon which the Indian subsists. "It is on this route his permanent villages are fixed, for it is here he finds his food, fuel to prepare it, water to drink, timber to shelter him from the blasts of winter and from the hot suns of summer, and grass for his stock. These do not exist to the south, on the burning sands and wastes of the great deserts, and there the Indian is never found, except in roving bands, in search of plunder on the more southern valley of Mexico. There are not twenty miles on the whole route that the iron horse cannot drink from living streams of the purest water. In proof of this, we can only cite the fact, that our ox teams traverse it annually, without loss, taking out our wares, and bringing back in return the robes, furs and skins, obtained from the wild tribes of the .Sierra Nevada and the trappers and hunters of the Great Basin. Where we can employ the ox in commerce, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 85 science and engineering can employ the iron horse; and where the ox finds water and subsistence, surely the locomtive can subsist. We wish not to decry other routes, but we merely ask a comparison between this fact and that stated by Lieutenant Beale, in his recent report. When speaking of the capacities of the camel for endurance, he says : " They carried the water for the mules for six days, without tasting a drop, and were in good condition at the end of that time." Yet, the opponents of the central route point triumphantly to the last exploration of Lieut. Beale, as conclusive in favor of their route. They seem to forget that Beale had two objects to attain — a railway route and the success of the camel experiment. But, unfortunately for them, his railway notes and his camel enlogiums are based upon entirely different data. The country that suited a railway did not develop the camel, and we have its topography in glowing colors — but the country in which the camel exhibited his peculiar powers of ab- stinence and wonderful endurance, was not the route of the iron horse ; and we have, instead of curvatures, gradients, and equated distances, the field notes of the dromedary, and his ability to subsist upon the hardest, bitterest, and scarcest shrubs, that a torrid sun and drifting sand clouds could produce. "Another consideration in connection with this portion of the subject, seems to have been lost sight of by the advocates of the southern, or thirty-second par- allel route. Their deductions are drawn from the fact that a railway may be operated over this desert route, with intervals of water of seventy-five to one hundred miles, by sinking wells to supply the engines. But they seem to over- look the fact that a railroad must be built before it can be operated ; and how thousands of laborers are to be concentrated on these desert wastes, without water, or dependant upon such prospects as Lieut. Beale holds out, in his well- boring experiments, is a question worthy of consideration, before the Government commits itself to such a project. We assert, without hesitation, and appeal to any authority, from the most scientific to that of the sub-contractor, and the labor- er himself, if the idea of building i,ooo miles of railway — 500 of which are arid wastes, where camels travel six days without water — by the manual labor of hu- man beings, is not one of the most stupendous schemes of folly ever undertaken in the history of the world. It might be done in a long series of years, and after the sacrifice of thousands of lives and millions of treasure ; but is it in con- sonance with the obligations to the American people to attempt such a sacrifice of treasure, life and time, upon such a route, when there is a route of the same character, in climate, soil and production, on the part to be constructed, as that upon which the portion already in operation is built. Can men labor, not for an hour, but for days, weeks, and months, on a naked plain, in an atmosphere so hot and dry that ' the nicely seasoned and well finished cases of the English in- struments of Lieutenant Whipple, made many years since, had so shrunk, from the aridity of the air, as not to admit of their original contents ; and when the horn, incasing the reading lens of his micrometer, snapped and flew into three pieces, from the excessive dryness of the atmosphere ?' How are dirt carts, picks, spades, and the thousand and one' articles attached to a railroad construc- tion party, to be operated in a climate like this, and who are to operate them, if it were possible ? " Settlement, population and production are requisites that enter into and con- trol all railway enterprises, and furnish, after they are built, the business which sustains them, and keeps them in operation. We will now examine this branch of our subject, before we dismiss this division, and enter upon the topographical arguments of this memorial. We have shown that the population of the Union, in the proportion of nine-tenths, is already crowded between the parallels 23-44, and that it has extended westward almost to the base of the Rocky Mountain chain, on 37-40. We have also shown that it has commenced on the Pacific Coast, and followed the same parallels east, to meet the tide from this side, as far as Carson 86 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Valley. We have also shown that the necessities of Mormon prosperity have al- ready peopled the eastern vein of the Great Basin, leaving only a narrow strip, of what is said on the map to be "unexplored" lands, between the two veins of the Basin. But, although "unexplored" by government parties, it is familiar to many of our hardy and enterprising people, who have, for the last thirty years, made the great interior of the continent their homes, and carried their traffic from the possessions of the Hudson Bay Company to the Gulf of California; and it is from these men, our neighbors, our associates in business, and from personal ob- servations, that we speak; to them we fearlessly appeal for the correctness of all herein stated. But to return to the subject: Lying west of Kansas, is the large extent of country drained by the Grand and Green Rivers, affluents of the Rio Colorado of the West, extending north and south 300 miles, by 270 east and west, sufficient for a State as large as New York, of a cUmate and soil well adapt- ed to the wants of civilization. The country lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Wahsatch Range, and has, in the opinion of even government explorers, uninterrupted navigation to the Gulf of California. "West of this, and east of the Sierra Nevada, is Carson Valley, of which it is unnecessary for us to again speak in this connection. Thus we find that on the south of the 39th parallel, we have a continuous line of grain producing country, of temperate clmiate, abundant water, and timber in greater quantities than any other route south, and greater than any route north, until we reach the 49th par- allel, which skirts the sources of all our mighty rivers, in the cold and inhospitable pineries of the north; a region of country adapted to all the pursuits of civilized life, and where population is novv seeking and opening up homes for our people; a route upon which can be built powerful and populous States; and which will furnish protection and business to the road when built. These considerations alone, in the opinion of your memorialists, should decide the Government in the selection of the route for the great Pacific Railway. But, knowing as we do, that notwithstanding all these facts, this route is put down in the report of the Secretary of War, for 1855, as "impracticable," from its topography, we deem it proper to show that prejudice in consequence, is not only unfounded, but that the reports upon which he so declared it do not warrant this sweeping and gratu- itous assertion. We ask a still further hearing upon the topography of the coun- try on the 39th parallel route, as well as an exposure of the fallacies of govern- ment explorations as indices, for guidance, in a work of such magnitude as the construction of a railway to the Pacific. We desire, in this connection, to ask on other test than an engineering one, because we cannot permit the Central Route to be abandoned, when we know it presents no greater engineering obsta- cles than the State of Missouri has already overcome on the part of her Pacific Railroad already constructed, and nothing like such engineering difficulties as the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad has surmounted, in its passage of the AUeghanies. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE ROUTE, GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS, ETC., ETC. " In considering the topography of the 39th parallel route, it is not within the purpose of this memorial to enter into minute details, but to present facts known to exist, leaving to demonstrated experience the question of practicability. From the mouth of the Kansas to the Rocky Mountains, it is everywhere ad- mitted, and by every test demonstrated, that for seven hundred miles there is not an equal line of eligible railway track on the globe — without a hill, without a marsh or swamp, without a large stream to cross, without an obstacle of any description that an ordinary wagon cannot surmount — with wood, water, grass, coal, iron, lead, gypsum, salt and stone all along its course; covered with buffalo, elk, antelope, grouse and horses; inhabited by Indians, traders, white men and mixed races engaged in cultivation, grazing, hunting, trapping, war and traffic — a country over which from our own city annually go trains of wagons, carrying HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 87 three tons each, and where no road making party have ever struck an axe or pick. " Where can such an argument — such a demonstration — be urged in favor of any other seven hundred mile Hne on the surface of the earth ? From this city alone, along this line, covering, as it does, almost two degrees of latitude, is transported a commerce of $7,000,000 annually. This constitutes the first division of the road. " The second division lies within the mountain ranges and spurs, and is known as " The Parks," and the valleys of every size that intersect this portion of the country in all directions. It is this region which is held up by the opponents of the true central route, and by the Secretary of War in his report of 1855, as " im- practicable." But instead of being this formidable obstruction, it is, in reality, the finest portion of the whole route in all the elements necessary to population, climate, soil, wood, water and vegetation, and contains in greater profusion the elements necessary for the sustenance of animal life and civilized habitation than any other division between the Mississippi and the Pacific. There is no moun- tain region yet known that can equal, or that can bear any comparison with it for salubrity and fruitfulness. Instead of the Rocky Mountains, on this parallel, being a barrier to be dreaded, or an obstacle to be surmounted in the shortest possible time, they are hailed by our trains, droves of stock and emigrants as a resting place for man and a recruiting ground for animals; for here is found corn and food for man, and the rich, luxuriant and nutritious grass of these natural meadows, upon which stock will travel and fatten. This region extends north and south from the 37th to the 41st degrees of latitude, and embraces from east to west the whole mountain range. We have the testimony of Beale, Fremont and Gunnison of the entire practicability of this region for railroad construction, and find it more abundant in timber, water and stone than any other portion of the range. We refer to these authorities simply to show that other evidence besides our own knowledge of the country exists, as corroborative of what our commercial intercourse with this region proves to us. "The third division embraces the valley of the Upper Colorado, between the base of the Rocky Mountains and the Wahsatch range, 150 miles east and west, by 300 or 400 north and south. This valley is open to the construction of any description of road, and bears the usual features of the country, alternated with timber and prairie ; and the simple fact of its being surrounded on three sides with ranges of mountains, covered with perpetual snow, is sufficient to demonstrate its ample supply of water. " Those who have wintered in this valley speak of it as almost destitute of snow. Coal abounds in this valley in all directions, and can almost be quarried from the banks of the streams. As to soil, this division is inferior to the first two, but it is equal to the second in wood and water, and superior to both. It is annually traversed by droves of stock, mules, cattle and sheep, and from the accounts of drovers, whom we know personally, who traverse it every year, and from citizens living among us, affords wood, water and grass in abundance for the daily wants of the largest herds driving ten, fifteen and twenty miles per day. " The fourth division, through which the great and true central route will pass, extends from the Wahsatch range to the Sierra Navada, and embraces a country less known to the Government by explorations than almost any part of the continent. " But, strange as it may seem, it is doubtless one of the richest portions of the American continent in all the elements that make up a desirable country for development by civilization ; coal, iron, timber, rock-salt in almost fabulous abund- ance in the mountain ranges, and soil, water, grass and wood in the valleys, and already settled throughout the whole region — farms under cultivation, towns and villages built, grist and saw mills in operation, smelting furnaces and forges 88 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. erected, coal mines opened, and all the wants of the country in iron ore and agricultural implements supplied by the mechanics of this region itself. Startling as this information may seem, it is nevertheless true, and there now exists in this " unexplored region" the nucleus of a powerful and self-sustaining State, larger than many of the ruling States of Europe. Regular communication is kept up through this region between Great Salt Lake and Lower California, and while Congress has sent out party after party by the 48th, 41st, 35th and 32d parallel routes, this great interior region has been neglected until our overland traffic with the Pacific has become endangered by the fact of settlement itself; and we are this season debarred from our California trade in apprehension that Mormon hostility may cut off our herds and trains on this portion of the route which they have so silently appropriated. "The mountains of this region are no obstruction, being isolated spurs, with no regular ranges, and traversed in all directions by valleys of luxuriant vegeta- tion. The country can be traveled freely, in all directions, with the utmost facility, as far west as the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. Of the route west of this range to the Pacific, it is not our purpose to speak ; as, happily, the energy of the American people in the development of California has relieved your memorialists of the task of showing its practicability " We have thus sketched, rapidly, the features of these separate divisions of the true central route, relying more upon our own knowledge of its character, gained from long acquaintance with it in trade and commerce, rather than from authorities which might be cited, bat which would swell this memorial beyond its original intent. We know the route because we use it ; and we know its eminent advantages, for we have found its profit. "We will close this memorial by considering the most, important feature, prac- tically, in the solution of this railway question : THE MOUNTAIN DIVISION AND PASSES. "The mountain ranges between Missouri and California are, in the estima- tion of many, a wild, desolate, terra incognita, unexplored and incapable of ex- ploration ; covered with perpetual snows, and forming midway between the Mississippi and Pacific, a cordon not to be surmounted, and holdnig in their fast solitudes secrets never to be revealed by science. This idea owes its existence to several causes, one of which is, that all of our explorations were first made in the higher northern latitudes, by Lewis and Clarke, and the American Fur Company's traders and voyageurs. We had then no possessions south of Astoria, and no trade with what is now our Golden State, and with the northern States of Mexico to draw our citizens to the southward. But within the past twenty years, since the settlement of western Missouri, a trade has gradually grown up between Missouri and the valleys of New Mexico, which trade has produced among us a class of men who have been the pioneers of modern exploration and discovery. Aubry, Carson and Leroux, are men educated by the trade to which we alludfe. We use their names, because more notoriety has been attached to them than others, from the fact of their being employed by the Government as guides. But it must not be supposed that they constitute all of their class. We have among us hundreds of men who are as intimately acquainted with the great interior of our country as any named, and as regards the central portions, much better; for it is with the mountaineers, as with all other men, they know the country in which their lives have been passed, and no more. These men, whom the Government so well know, are unacquainted with any portion of the mountains except those parts and those routes over which their traffic has been carried on. "The Mormons, when their exodus from Missouri and Illinois was made, passed along the route of the Fur Company, as the only route then known, to the headwaters of the Platte, and by the South Pass, to their present locality. This HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 89 route was known because it was at a latitude, and was in the country of the beaver and other fur bearing animals, which are not to be found to the south- ward. It was not that the South Pass was the only pass in the mountains, but because it was in the fur region, and by the pursuit of that traffic was discovered. When California was opened up, the overland emigration took that route simply because it was known, and not because it was preferable. The necessity of a better, shorter and more congenial route, directed our attention further south, and instead of finding the mountains the impassable barriers which had been sup- posed, we find them to be, in many respects, the best and most desirable portions of the route to California ; cut up in all directions with valleys, and supplied in fabulous abundance with grass, water and timber. "We have been thus expHcit in this portion of our memorial, in order that the theory of interior discovery might be properly understood. Because all the discoveries of any merit that have been achieved, since the time of Lewis and Clarke, have been made by and through the necessities of the commercial opera- tions of the interior. It is true, government explorations have given us a more technical topographic knowledge of the country shown by 'guides'; but that any 'discoveries' have been made, or any new country added, to what was before known, we must frankly say nothing of the kind has been done, if we ex- cept Fremont and Beale, whose explorations were made, in part, as private expeditions. "It was thus that the various 'passes' were discovered and became celebrated, and this brings us to the consideration of this part of the railway ques- tion — one which elicited more controversy than all others connected with the topographic portion of the question, and one to which, in the opinion of your memorialists, an undue importance has been attached, and which promises to work more prejudice to the location of a Pacific Railway than all other questions combined. " In order to present this subject properly we must be allowed to go back of the term itself for its explanation, and give its fixed and technical meaning, for, to western men, engaged in overland traffic, a 'pass' has a peculiar and restrict- ed significance which must be understood. " Our commerce is carried on principally by heavy wagons, carrying from two and a half to three tons each, and drawn by ten or twelve mules or oxen. This, too, is over a country where a road has never been constructec^ a bridge built, or a hillside cut down to afford a track ; and these wagons have not only to traverse the plains thus, but they have also to cross the mountains thus. In order to cross our wagons, we are not solicitous as regards the greatest depressions in those mountain ranges ; what we desire is a practicable wagon way, not cut up by deep ravines crossing those depressions, or interlocking in the gorges, but an un- broken ascent, that carries with it over the mountain the features of the plain below — and when this is found it is a 'pass.' This peculiar formation is always at greater altitudes than that of the watercourses, over whose abrupt chasms our oxen and wagons cannot pass, but which, in many instances, can be crossed by bridges of from ten to twenty feet span. There are numberless depressions of this latter character of no serious obstructions to the locomotive, much shorter and lower in grade than any 'pass' known to be practicable for the passage of wagons, and can be found in all parts of the Rocky Mountains, and on any parallel. ' ' We ask a comparison of the commerce of the western with the commerce of the eastern mountains, before the construction of roads. Where, in the Alle- ghany country, was ever such a spectacle presented in its natural state, as wag- ons carrying three tons, performing a journey of two thousand miles, without cutting a stick or digging a road way for their passage, and crossing that range of mountains on their route ? The fact that this has been done, and is .now accom- 90 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. plished every year in this far western region, presents a topographical argument in favor of the country, of more significance and value than any theory connected with barometrical readings or mountain elevations. "The most celebrated 'Passes' are the South Pass, Coochatope, and the passes lying west of Auton Chico, near the 42d, 39th and 35th parallels. The South Pass and its discovery we have given. Those west of Auton Chico he contiguous to the old Spanish settlements of Northern Mexico, and have been known for a longer period than the South Pass. Coochatope became celebrated by the disastrous expedition of Fremont, in 1848-9. Since that time it has been set down as impracticable, notwithstanding Fremont, in 1853, and Gunnison, in i85;4, have since proved that the disaster was owing to the false information of a pretended guide, and that the pass is not only practicable, but eligible. But even in its vicinity are several depressions much lower than the 'Pass' itself, and which Gunnison explicitly refers to in his exploration. But there are other passes north of this, and far south of the South Pass, that are better than any of those named, and which our traders and drovers have used for years, and through which annually go and come our trains and caravans, to the Great Basin and California. One, particularly, which we know as Goodale's Pass, is not a mere wagon road of great elevation, or a depression in the chest of the mountain range, but a wide opening in the mountain, with water courses flowing gently through its rich meadows, and that is crossed without a knowledge of the fact, save from observation of the direction of the streams. This is our route of traffic, and which we fearlessly challenge exploration and investigation to establish. "We conceive we have just cause of complaint tliat this country has not met with that attention from Congress, which its great merits, as a practicable route, demands, leaving out entirely its geographical superiority. There is no question as to the practicability of the eastern slope, in any direction from the mouth of the Kansas, either by the Laramie Plains, the South Fork of the Platte, the Smoky Hill Fork of the Kansas, and the Huerfano by the way of Santa Fe. "This latter route is the best wagon road, of equal length, in the world; from the mouth of the Kansas to Santa Fe, 760 miles, over which, from this city, go annually from 6,000 to 10,000 heavily laden wagons, and over which the U. S. mail is carried with more regularity than between Boston and Washington, having failed but twice to arrive at schedule time, winter or summer, for eight years, astlie records of the Postoffice Department will show. Yet the Govern- ment has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars on military roads in other localities, but has never expended a dollar on this great route of travel and com- merce ; and its present excellence is owing to the road making power of the wheels that pass over it. We have thus, in the face of government explorations and the ' impracticable' verdicts of officials, worn a road superior to any yet con- structed or discovered. Still we are told, by men who never saw the plains, that this route, too, is 'impracticable.' " But there is, in the opinion of your memorialists, a reason for this that Congress should understand. The system of explorations pursued by the Govern- ment has been for practical results in discovery, greatly restricted by the system of instructions. Thus, a company of engineers is sent out to explore, having their course marked out by instructions, from which they are not at liberty to de- viate. Cardinal points, in these instructions, are the ' passes ' of which we have spoken. "This, in the expedition of Capt. Gunnison, when he crossed the mountains on the 38th parallel, instead of following that line west, through the country we have described in this memorial, was by his instructions, carried almost directly north, to the 41st parallel, which resulted in setting down the 39th as ' impracti- cable,' a rocky, barren, woodless, waterless desert; when we annually drive sheep and cattle over it, which we calculate on fattening on the route, and which we do HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 91 fatten, by providing them with grass and water in abundance every night ; and sheep only travel ten miles per day. It is not tangent Hnes of exploration that can discover the practicable crossings of the mountains, but lateral surveys along either base, and following the valleys and water courses, which, on every parallel, divide and break those unknown ranges; and never until this is done, in the opinion of this chamber, can the question of the most eligible passage of the mountains be made satisfactory to Congress. For now, that the question of con- struction is seriously entertained, it is time the ' pass ' feature should be reduced to its legitimate topographical importance. Instead of controlling the location of so great a national work as a Pacific Railway, by diverting it from four to seven degrees of latitude from its true course, the fact of their superior elevation to water courses should be known ; for we confidently assert that a few short bridges, even culverts, and a few cuts, that are nothing in railway engineering, will pass the mountains, at several points, at a lower grade, than by any ' pass ' known to public explorers. "We assert what we know to be the truth, that in the Pacific Railroad al- ready constructed by the State of Missouri, have as formidable obstacles been overcome as are to be met with on the central or 39th parallel route, from the border of Missouri to California. "We have shown that the Rocky Mountains are less an obstruction than the AUeghanies, and it only remains for us to speak of the Sierra Nevada. They can be crossed by the Carson Valley, or, bearing north, by the Sacramento, or south by the San Joaquin, through the route passed by Fremont in 1853. "The fact of a railway being already talked of between California and Carson Valley, is sufficient to establish its practicability in the minds of the people who know the route. "Through the Sacramento valley pours annually the tide of trade and travel by the south pass, and by Walker's lake and San Joaquin go, each season, our herds of cattle and sheep, and which find open valley to the southward into the southern portions of California. But even did not these exist, would the Govern- ment of the United States be justified in locating the railroad from the Pacific from 300 to 500 miles south or north of the true line to avoid an obstacle less than the State of Massachusetts is now removing by her Hoosic tunnel, in order to shorten her connections by a few miles. This, even on the showing of the opponents of the Kansas Valley route, is all that is to be done — one tunnel and its approaches, by deep cuttings, in all only two miles, will overcome the only obstacle on a line of 2,000 miles of railway — and yet men are to be found who talk of 'impracticability' of country of this extent, of which its bitterest enemies can say nothing worse. " We can not believe that the location of the Pacific Railroad can be con- summated on either of the extreme routes in the face of these facts, especially when their verification is so easily attainable. But resting upon the geographical justness of the route by the Kansas Valley — its equity to the whole country — its connection 500 miles farther west with railways already built and in progress — the fact of its being but an extension of all the great lines of railway already con- structed — in view of any other route, forcing upon the country the reconstruction or doubling of their present lines, its great agricultural advantages, its woods, water, coal and stone, as well as its latitude, the most favorable on the continent for the working of railway machinery. We submit this memorial to the consider- ation of Congress." Trusten Polk, senator from Missouri, and John S. Phelps, member of the house, opposed this central route and sought to have it located from Memphis, Tennessee, and up the valley of the Canadian River. James S. Green, the other Missouri senator favored Missouri's interests. After much discussion the south and the north found that neither was able 92 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. to get its favorite route, and finally, in January, 1861, the House passed a bill amended by motion of Gen. James Craig, of the St. Joseph district of Missouri, creating two branches, one from Kansas City and one from St. Joseph, which were to unite one hundred miles west and proceed by the most favorable route. This idea was substantially followed in the bill that finally became a law in 1862. OUR LOCAL ROADS AGAIN. But to return to local enterprises. A delegation of the Missouri Pacific com- pany came to Kansas City August nth, 1859, to ask a change in the form of the subscriptions of Jackson county, and Independence and Kansas City, so as to make it immediately available for the construction of the road, and promising to have it finished the following spring. This promise aroused the greatest enthusi- asm in Kansas City. The Hannibal & St. Joseph road had been completed and put in operation March ist, to St. Joseph, which was, therefore, that much ahead, and the effect was feared. The County Court was induced to submit the proposition. There was opposition to it in the county, and there ensued a lively campaign. The elec- tion occurred on the 2d of September, and the night before there was a meeting in Kansas City, which best expressed the feelings of the community at the time. As soon as it was dark, a large portion of the buildings on Main street were illu- minated, the greatest display being made in the vicinity of the place appointed for the meeting. Conspicuous over all were the flags and banners of the Metropolitan office, suspended over the street. In front of the building was a full railroad train, of locomotive, tender and two passenger cars, which were handsomely illu- minated, while the smoke from the engine stack poured forth in a constant cloud; on the "cow catcher" was a poor old fogy, who, being unable to "get out of the way," had been mercilessly impaled upon the car of progress. But the grand feature of the evening was the procession from McGee's Addi- tion. That live locality never made a failure. At half past seven o'clock the procession was seen turning the bend of the street at the Union Hotel, headed by the consolidated bands of the city, led by Professors Banta and Jenny, torches blazing and transparencies dispersed at intervals in the long line of enthusiastic voters. At this point it was met by the procession from the north part of the city, when the combined delegations under the direction of Capt. Boarman, chief marshal, aided by Messrs. Francis Foster and S. Thompson, moved down Main street to the levee. Just as the procession had passed out of sight from the square, the music to the south announced the coming of the Westport delegation, headed by the splen- did band of Prof. Hunter, under the charge of Sam Justice, in the Westport 'bus, followed by a procession of carriages and horsemen. As they filed into the square where the meeting was to be held, they were hailed with cheer upon cheer, which being caught up by the hundreds there assembled, made the welkin ring. At the election the next day the proposition was carried by a vote of 2,142 for, to 860 against, every precinct, except Kansas City and Westport, giving a majority against it. On the nth of September, 1858, a meeting was held in Paola, Kan., to take steps to secure a railroad to Kansas City. In October a large meeting at Des Moines, Iowa, started the project of the Des Moines & Kansas City Railroad. A GREAT RAILROAD CONVENTION. On the 22nd and 23d of November, 1858, a great railroad convention was held at Kansas City for the purpose of uniting the people of the adjacent country on the lines proposed by this city, and so concentrating interest as to further their HISTORY OF KANSAS' CITY. 93 construction. It was attended by delegates from Independence, Westport, Wyandotte, Osawatomie, Paola, Shawnee, Olathe, Lawrence, Lecompton, Manhattan, KansapoHs, Mandovi, St. George and Delaware crossing. 0. C. Brown, of Osawatomie, was President ; E. C. McCarty, of Kansas City, J. A. J. Chapman, of St. George, W. Roy, of Shawnee, N. Scarritt, of Westport, Wm. Chick, of Westport, Wm. Gilpin, of Independence, B. F. Simp- son, of Paola, J. T. Barton, of Olathe, J. B. Chapman, of Maudovi ; J. P. Roote, of Wyandotte, and J. H. Young, of Manhattan, were Vice-Presidents. The committee on resolutions was composed of J. C. Groom, F. W. Crane, K. Coates, J. P. Root, John McCarty, R. T. Van Horn, J. A. J. Chapman, Dr. Johnston Lykins, W. C. Claiborne, W. Chestnut, J. B. Chapman, W. Heberton, and Thos. A. Smart. The following resolutions proposed by Col. Van Horn, were adopted : Whereas, We believe the time to have arrived when measures for the im- mediate construction of a great Continental Railway, uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, should be inaugurated by the Congress of the United States ; and Whereas, The valley of the Kansas River is situated on the central geo- graphical line of the continent and the Union, we are in favor of the route by the valley — and in support of our position we urge the following reasons : 1. We adopt the premises that facilities for construction being equal, it is the duty of the Government to construct said road upon the most central route, as by so doing all parts of the Union would receive more equal benefit. 2. The Lake of the Woods, on the 49th parallel, and Galveston, on the 29th parallel, may be taken as the extreme northern and southern boundaries of the central portion of the Republic, thus making the 39th parallel the center, on which parallel is the valley of the Kansas River. 3. The route for the Continental Railway seems to be marked out by nature — and embraces a series of central valleys traversing the continent, viz : the valleys of the Potomac, the Ohio, the Missouri, the Kansas, the Colorado, the Nicolett and San Joaquin. 4. That on this route there are already constructed 1,238 miles of railroad, upon which the locomotives are now running; 175 miles of which are west of the Mississippi, and is being prosecuted as rapidly as the work will admit, by the State of Missouri, to the mouth of the Kansas River, making 1,315 miles of the great Continental Railv/ay, built by the unaided energies of the people inhabiting these central valleys — or one-half the road. 5. The construction of said railroad by this route would disturb none of the existing centers of trade, but leave the great maritime cities of the Union in the same relative positions which they now occupy, as the following will show : From the mouth of the Kansas River to New York it is 1,316 miles; to Phila- delphia, 1,285 I'liiles; to Baltimore, 1,108 miles; to Charleston, 1,010 miles; to New Orleans, 980. It will thus be seen that most of our principal seaboad cities can reach the mouth of the Kansas River by lines nearly equal in length; thus maintaining in regard to the trade of the Pacific, the same relative positions, advantages and disadvantages now possessed or afforded them by natural position, climate and facilities for ocean and interior commerce. 6. That we can see no propriety in the construction of said road on the 48th parallel, its whole length skirted by the possessions of a foreign power; or on the 3 2d parallel, on the borders of a State with which we have been at war, and with which only a quasi peace has been maintained for the past twenty years. But that the great object in the construction of such railway should be to connect the two oceans, and afford a military road accessible from all portions of the Union for the protection of all its parts. 7. A railway on either of the extreme routes named, would run entirely outside of the government forts, away from the Indian tribes, and away from the 94 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. routes of emigration, travel and commerce, and away from all interests of the country needing protection. 8. By any other route the people would have to go back over a country where population has neither demanded nor constructed railways, and rebuild over five hundred miles of railway, already constructed, and in progress, before the locomotive could reach its present western station in the wake of population and trade. 9. It is unjust thus to re tax the means and energies of the people to the extent of 30,000,000 to 50,000,000, to secure commercial facilities that they have already provided. By the selection of another route, it would force upon the country the reconstruction of their entire railway system, or of doubling its ex- tent in order to reach the great channel of continental commerce and transpor- tation. Therefore, Resolved, That it is the deliberate judgment of this convention, representing the interests of western Missouri and the Territory of Kansas, that justice to the whole country, as well as the advantages of the General Government, requires and demands the construction of the Continental Railway by the central or thirty- ninth parallel route — the route of the Kansas Valley. Resolved, That we call upon our representatives in both houses of Congress, to urge the location of said railroad upon this great central route, as just to the country, in unison with the demands of the great centers of population and com- merce, and in a still farther development of the commercial facilities already provided by the people themselves. And, Whereas, We deem it a fitting period in the progress of the country, for the people of the west, to take measures for the control of their own commerce, and to provide : 1. For the opening up of routes to the seaboard, shorter and less exposed to the obstructions of climate and distance. 2. That, as our nearest seaport by present lines of transportation is more than 1,290 miles, subject to suspension, by ice, snow, and traverse of long lines of rivers, lakes, and railroads, and interrupted by numerous interests con- trolled by competing corporations, that, 3. We require a shorter route controlled by a community of interests, and, 4. That it being but 600 miles to the ocean at the Port of Galveston, from the mouth of the Kansas River, that a railroad connecting these points would aid in developing one of the richest portions of the American continent, now denied an outlet to the markets of the world — therefore. Resolved, That a railroad from the mouth of the Kansas River, running south to Galveston, in the State of Texas, would add greatly to the wealth and power of the Union, by opening up to the markets of the world, the rich valleys of the Osage, Neosho, Arkansas and Red Rivers, and of the great State of Texas, by affording an outlet to the productions of this vast region, and a direct line to supply our central region with the groceries of the Gulf of Mexico. Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention, a grant of lands should be made by Congress for this purpose, which grant would be the means of opening a market by short lines of transit between the productions of the northern and southern portions of the interior of the Republic — now denied them. Resolved, That we call upon our representatives in Congress to ask and urge upon that body a compHance with the just demands of the people in this regard — by granting lands sufficient to secure the construction of the great line of rail- road. And, * Whereas, A connection with the system of railroads centering at, and di- verging from ChicBgo, to the east, by a shorter line than at present, requires a connection north from the mouth of the Kansas River — therefore, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. . 95 Resolved, That a road connection with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, is of the first importance to the country represented in this convention. Resolved, That we will aid to the extent of our means and influence, in the early prosecution and construction of such connection. Resolved, That in the attainment of objects contemplated by this convention, the only guarantee of success is in combined and harmonious action ; and, there- fore, it is most earnestly recommended to the citizens of the towns and districts in Kansas and Missouri, having a common interest in the construction of one or more of the railroads designated in the foregoing resolutions, to render active and efficient cooperation and aid, with a view of obtainining from Congress a grant or grants of land to aid in the building of such road or roads. OTHER INTERESTS. In May, 1839, a convention at Richmond, Ray county, proposed a road from some point in North Missouri to Kansas City, which has since been realized in what is now the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific. July 26, 1856, at Osawatomie, a company was organized to procure the construction of a road from Kansas City to Galveston, under a charter granted by the State of Kansas, February, 1858. On the 9th of September, the Wyan- dotte and Osawatomie Railroad Company was organized, and later in the season, the Kansas City, Galveston and Lake Superior project was agitated again in a series of meetings. At the session of the Missouri Legislature in 1859-60, the Missouri Pacific, Iron Mountain and North Missouri Roads were all in a condition that they could not go forward without further State aid. The Legislature labored with it all the session but finally adjourned without doing anything. Kansas City felt this to be a most calamitous blow. Indignation meetings were held here, and Governor Stewart was urged to recall the Legislature. Other sections similarly situated took like action, and Governor Stewart recalled the Legislature to meet February 27, i860. During the agitation pending these proceedings Kansas City organized the Kansas City and Gallatin company to build a road to a connection with the Hannibal & St. Joe at the latter named place, but it waited the action of the Legislature in regard to the Pacific. Soon after meeting the Legislature passed a bill giving the required aid. Kansas City had come so near the evils of a long delay in the building of the Pacific that this action proved most exciting to the people. Meetings were held, torchlight processions had, and for a few days the town was almost wild with joy. Wyandotte and Olathe caught the infection and held meetings also. R. M. Stewart, the father of the Hannibal and St. Joseph road, was Governor, having been elected as a railroad candidate, and by railroad advocates. The bill was just about what he had asked the Legislature to pass, hence the people had good reason to feel that all was secured. It was but a few days, however, until outgivings from the executive office portended a veto. The people were astonished, public enterprise held its breath in suspense. It was not long, however until the blow struck ; the veto came, based upon some technical- ities; the Legislature immediately adjourned, and railroad prospects were again plunged in gloom. The people felt that they had been betrayed by their Gov- ernor; they had been kept so long oscillating between hope and fear — success and disappointment — that they were thoroughly aroused. The flood of public excitement was turned upon Gov. Stewart, and he was denounced in unmeasured terms. He tried to explain his action through the public press, but to no effect. That veto was his political death. KANSAS CITY AND THE CAMERON ROAD. At a meeting of indignation in this city. Dr. Johnson Lykins offered a reso- lution, which was adopted, creating an executive committee to foster our railroad 96 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. interests, and to correspond with other places to that end. It at once opened a correspondence with the people of Clay county relative to this road, and to the Hannibal and St. Joseph. The result was that in a few days a company was organized called the Kansas City & Cameron Railroad Company. Meetings were held, and thus an interest awakened along the line. On the 27th of April this city voted it $200,000, and Clay county voted it $200,000, June 12th. The survey was begun April 27th. In July, Mayor Maughs, of this city, E. M. Samuels and Michael Andrews, of Clay county went to Boston and effected a contract with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company, August 7th, to build the road. The contract for the work was let to W.J. Quealy, August i6th, and work begun October 8th. In the following January (1861) the work was one-third done. There were about six hundred men employed, and it was ex- pected to have two-thirds done by April and the cars running by June. The war, however, stopped the work, and the road was not finished until its close. Meantime the Pacific Company, having failed to get State aid, effected a shift by which it was able to command the necessary means, and went on with its road. Ground was broken at Kansas City July 25, i860, and the work was progressing rapidly, with every prospect of completion in 186 1, when it, too, was stopped by the war. KANSAS HOSTILITY. A territoral railroad convention was held at Topeka, October 17, i860, which seems to have been the outgrowth of a feeling on the part of several towns in Kansas, hostile to Kansas City. These places had used every effort since the convention in this city in November, 1858, to prevent Kansas people from taking an interest in railroads centering at Kansas City, and to concentrate th'e interest on railroads running to other places. This spirit was shown in the resolutions adopted, which were as follows : Resolved, That a memorial be presented to Congress asking an appropriation of public lands to aid in construction of the following named railroads in Kansas : 1. A railroad from the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the Osage Valley & Southern Kansas Railroad terminates, westwardly by way of Emporia, Fremont and Council Grove to the Fort Riley military reservation. 2. A railroad from the city of Wyandotte (connecting with the Parkville & Grand River Railroad, and the Pacific Railroad), up the Kansas Valley by way of Lawrence, Lecompton, Tecumseh, Topeka, Manhattan and the Fort Riley military reservation, to the western boundary of the Territory. 3. A railroad running from Lawrence to the southern boundary of Kansas, in the direction of Fort Gibson and Galveston Bay. 4. A railroad from Atchison, by way of Topeka, through the Territory in the direction of Santa Fe. 5. A railroad from Atchison to the western boundary of Kansas. The Osage & Southern Kansas Railroad referred to in the first section of this resolution, was a road then chartered to start at the mouth of the Osage River, in Missouri, and follow the valley of that river to the Kansas line. It has never been built. The Parkville & Grand River road, referred to in the second section, was a road partly constructed between Parkville, in Platte county, Missouri, to Cam- eron, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the Pacific referred to in the same section, was the Missouri Pacific, which at that time had decided to make its terminus on the west line of the State, opposite Wyandotte. This section meant opposition to Kansas City's connection with the Hannibal & St. Joe, and to remove the connecting point to Wyandotte for both that road and the Missouri Pacific. There was a great effort made about this time to concentrate interest in the road south from Lawrence, as opposed to the projected road south from Kan- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 97 sas City. The proposed road up the valley of the Kaw was designed as an opponent to the Kansas Valley Railroad projected by Kansas City. The idea of a railroad from Kansas City to Santa Fe was sought to be over- shadowed by a request upon Congress for a grant of lands for such a road by way of Topeka. Hostile to Kansas City as was this action, it was not strong enough for the Leavenworth delegates, so they withdrew, taking some others with them, and held a convention of their own. Two railroad projects were started at that Topeka convention which have since been realized — the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern — but the main lines of both run to this city. In the spring of 1861 there was a revival of the agitation of a road to the southwest into Kansas. The people of Kansas, under the influence of her cities, had become well imbued with a feeling of State pride in the building of towns and railroads. The people of the southern part of the State understood the com- manding advantages of the point at the mouth of the Kaw, but wanted to make the town on the north side of that stream. Hence they got two companies char- tered — the Wyandotte and Osawatomie, and the Wyandotte and Minneola. These occupied the same route to Olathe, and thence deployed much as do the Fort Scott and Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern roads now. In the spring of 186 1 there was an effort made to consolidate these companies, as the existing roads are now consolidated, and put them under way, and to that end Kansas City voted $100,000 at the same time it voted aid to the Cameron road. But the war cloud was gathering and it soon engulfed this enterprise also. THE MEN OF THE PERIOD. The men of this period, many of whose names appear in this chapter, were the real founders of Kansas City. They laid broad and deep the foundations of her present and future supremacy, and though but few of them appeared after the war to build the superstructure, that few, efficiently aided by other hands, have built it as they planned, and the proud city which was to them a fond dream only is to us a grand reality. Whoever has succeeded or may succeed them, will never exhibit more comprehensive enterprise, courageously undertake more am- bitious schemes, or be called upon to be more vigilant, or undergo severer trials for the attainment of grand objects. Their trials and services can never be ade- quately rewarded by succeeding generations. 98 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY, CHAPTER X. KANSAS CITY IN THE WAR. The Excite7nents and Events Preceding the Great Struggle — The Marshaling of the Hosts on Both Sides — Van Horn's Battalion — The First Fighting — Biisk-whackers and Red Legs — The De- pression of Trade and its Revival — Resu7)iption of Railroad Building — The Great Raid of 1864. The close of the year i860 saw Kansas City the most thriving and prosper- ous city on the western border, with the largest local trade, a monopoly of the trade to New Mexico, and much the larger part of that to Colorado. Two rail- roads — the Pacific from St. Louis, and the Cameron Branch of the Hannibal & St. Joseph were near completion, and both were expected to be done by the middle of the summer 1861. A FEVERISH COMMUNITY. But public sentiment was very unsettled and feverish. The presidential campaign of i860 was an unusually exciting one, and some time before its close it was apparent that it would be followed with excitement and possibly revolution. The division of the country on the slavery question, the division of the advocates of slavery between Douglas and Breckinridge in the campaign, and the unity of all anti-slavery elements upon Mr. Lincoln, early gave the issue an ominous aspect for the Democratic party and the friends of slavery. There were threatenings of revolt from the south before the close of the contest, and the sentiment of the Democracy of Missouri, or at least the dominant element of it, was rapidly crys- tallizing into the form of rebellion when the contest closed. The feeling through the campaign became so bitter toward Republicans, that out of about two hun- dred and fifty residing in Kansas City, but about eighty were bold enough by the day of election to take the chances of voting for that ticket. Outspoken Union Democrats were regarded with fittle less aversion. The Journal of Com?nerce supported Douglas, and it was apparent that it and its editor could not be led into any secession scheme. It was the leading paper in the city, and by reason of its warm support of the public enterprises, and the earnest advocacy of the interests of the city for the five years preceding had attained a very influential position. Its manifest anti-secession tendencies made it an object of profound concern to the rapidly forming secession element, and to control it in their interest became an object of first importance. Finding that its editor was implacable, a scheme to get rid of him was concocted, and as early as August ist, i860, he had to dispose of his interest. His partner, D. K. Abeel, became the purchaser, who retained him as editor, and soon let the embryo secessionists see that he was as little to be influenced by them as the editor whom they had sought to get rid of. The winter of 1 860-1 was a season of feverish excitement and suspense. Where men had before stood shoulder to shoulder, forming the schemes of future commercial greatness, they now stood apart, narrowly watching each other's movements, and waiting the exciting news from the Southern States. As events in that quarter progressed, the secession sentiment in Kansas City and Missouri crystallized, and early in the winter business began to be neglected and to go down, and instead of preparing for an active spring trade, as had been the pre- vious custom, people prepared themselves for the inevitable storm that threatened the country. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 99 Public meetings that winter were frequent, not only in Kansas City, but in all adjacent parts of Missouri, as had been the case in previous years, but the resolutions adopted, unlike those of former meetings, were not declaratory of the sense of the people relative to some railroad or business project, but of their sym- pathy with the Union or with secession. Several of the Southern States having seceeded from the Union, and the State officers of Missouri, elected in i860, being all in ardent sympathy with them, a convention was called for February 28, 186 1, to determine whether Missouri should follow them. The election for delegates to that convention took place February i8th, and for the district composed of Jackson, Cass and Bates counties, James K. Sheeley, Abram Comingo and R. A. Brown were elected delegates. The first named two of these were opposed to secession and the other in favor of it. The convention failed to pass the necessary ordinance of secession, but that did not stop the movement; the threatening storm gathered faster and faster. The Legislature pro- vided for calling out the militia, and Governor Jackson began to prepare ac- tively to defend the State against invasion by the Federal Army. Under this pretext, treasonable as it was, many companies were organized throughout the State. Meantime the situation was constantly getting worse in this city, and by the time spring opened peaceful pursuits were quite abandoned. The Journal of Commerce, for the lack of support, was suspended on the 7th of March. The Free State Republican, a Republican paper established in the campaign of i860, and edited principally by Dr. Theodore S. Case, was suspended March 25th, partly for the lack of support and partly because it was no longer safe to attempt the publication of a Republican paper in the city. The Missouri Post, German, and loyal, published by Mr. A. Wuerz, now Post and Tribune, was removed to Wyandotte, while another paper, under the different names at different times, of Enquirer, Star dCddi Dispatch, but always secessionist, continued for a brief time to incite its partisans to overt acts of revolt against the Government. Early in the spring the militia pillaged the United States arsenal at Liberty, in Clay county, and armed themselves for the defense of the city. RAISING THE REBEL FLAG. Toward the latter part of April the Unionists raised an American flag on the public square just east of the market house. This gave great offense to the secessionists, and they proceeded at once to cut the halyards, availing themselves of the cover of the darkness of night for that purpose. The flag, however, caught in some way at the top of the staff and did not fall as they had intended it should. They then determined to offset this circumstance by raising a rebel flag, and pre- pared to make the occasion one of great ceremony. Militia companies and volun- teer companies were invited from the surrounding country, and responded liberally. The day set for the occasion was the 30th of April, and early in the day companies of militia and in regular companies came in from Westport, Independence, Sni-a-bar township and from Clay county, and uniting with local companies and sympathizing citizens and a large concourse of citizens from the country, paraded the streets, flying a rebel flag, led by bands playing rebel airs. At the same time, numerous rebel flags were displayed from residences and business houses in all parts of the city. The procession moved to the top of the hill, east of Main and north of Second street, near where the county court-house now stands, and raised the flag with great eclat, attended with the beating of drums, martial music, and the firing of artillery, the gun used on the occasion being one they had stolen from the United States Arsenal at Liberty. Speeches of the most inflammatory character were made and cheered to the echo by an excited concourse of people, large for those days. Union people feeling it unsafe to remain in the city after this demonstration, began to pack their property and fly. KANSAS CITY TIMES BUILDING. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 101 THE INCREASE OF THE EXCITEMENT. At the spring election the question of secession or Union had come squarely before the people, R. T. Van Horn being the candidate of the Union men, and Dr. Maughs, the incumbent, the candidate of the secessionists, and the Unionists had been victorious. But when Mayor Van Horn came into office he found himself almost powerless to preserve order, for among other acts of the Legisla- ture during the winter, was one creating a metropolitan police system for Kansas City, granting the commissioners extraordinary powers, so that through them the Governor might bind Kansas City to the cause of secession, no matter how the people might vote. Hence, Mayor Van Horn found himself unable to control that important part of the municipal machinery, or direct its use to the preservation of public order. All the spring was spent by the people in excitement and preparations for the struggle. Gov. Jackson meantime marshaling his militia forces. The first formal assemblage of these was at Camj) Jackson, St. Louis, where they were dispersed by Gen. Lyon, May loth. The news of this affair proved very exciting through- out the State, and nowhere more so than in Kansas City. On the 15th, Mayor Van Horn issued a proclamation urging the people to quietude, and forbidding all unlawful and tumultuous assemblages. Excitement now ran very high, and more of the Union men left the city. But Mayor Van Horn found himself pow- erless to preserve order in the city, as the police had not only been taken from under his control but had actually become a source of apprehension to Unionists. In this situation, and with the secessionists arming all over the State and breath- ing threatenings toward Union men, nothing was left them but to prepare for de- fense or abandon their homes. Mayor Van Horn then went to St. Louis, by the way of St. Joseph, and obtained authority from Gen. Lyon to recruit a battalion of troops for the defense of Kansas City, and procured an order, also, for troops to be sent here from Fort Leavenworth to protect Union men while being enlisted. MILITAY OCCUPATION. In pursuance of this order. Captain Prince, U. S. A., with two companies of infantry and three of cavalry came to Kansas City, June 12th, and took up camp on the hill, near the Catholic church. This was the first military occupa- tion of this city. As soon as it became known that Federal troops were coming, the secession- ists began to withdraw and collect at Independence. The next day after his ar- rival, Captain Prince sent Captain Stanley (since better known as Gen. Stanley), with a party of soldiers, under a flag of truce, to interview Captain Ha'Uoway, who had command of the secessionists collected at Independence, to ascertain his purposes, etc. Captain Halloway was very equivocal in his replies to Captain Stanley, and as the latter saw evidences of hostilities among Halloway's men, he ordered his own to retire, when fire was opened upon him. A sharp fight en- sued, in which the secessionists were repulsed, with a loss of three killed. Cap- tain Halloway, J. B. McClanahan and a Mr. Harbaugh, while Samuel Ralson and Pery Stonestreet were wounded. This was the first fight in Jackson county. The rebels then retired to Blue Springs, and the next day Captain Prince went with part of his command to Independence, and after marching about the town, returned to camp in this city. While these events were transpiring at Kansas City, matters were assuming more definite shape throughout the State. On the 12th of June Gov. Jackson issued a call for fifty thousand troops to repel the Federal forces. With what forces he could collect under Gen. Sterling Price, he retired from Jefferson City to Boonville, burning the railroad bridges across the Osage and Gasconade rivers, 102 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. and on the 17th the battle of Boonville was fought, soon after which Price and Jackson, with their forces, were driven to the southwest. On the 19th of June the secession paper in this city suspended. On the 20th news of the battle of Boonville was received, and the secessionists who then had a large encampment at Blue Springs removed to Lexington. On the 24th Mayor Van Horn's battalion being fully recruited, was mustered in and organized, with Mayor Van Horn as major. Captain Prince then withdrew, leaving Major Van Horn in command of the post. One of his first acts was to disband the disloyal metropolitan police force. Van Horn's battalion was organized as follows : Major R. T. Van Horn ; Surgeon, Joshua Thorne; Company A, Captain, William Van Dau; First Lieutenant, Frederick Loos; Second Lieutenant, Frederick Klinger: Company B, Captain, William Millar: First Lieutenant, David Cahill, Second Lieutenant, David O'Neil: Company C, Captain, George C. Bingham; First Lieutenant, Henry Spears; Second Lieutenant, Theo. S. Case. Dr. Thorne immediately made arrangements for the opening of a hospital. Lieutenant Case was detailed on the date of his muster-in as quartermaster, com- missary and ordinance officer of the post. On the26th of July, Major Van Horn received orders to take two companies of his battalion, and go to the assistance of Colonel A. G. Newgent, who, in command of a battalion of Missouri State Militia, at Austin, in Cass county, was threatened by a superior force. The command took up line of march immedi- ately. On the 28th, when three miles from Harrisonville, they were attacked by about five hundred secessionists, and after a fight of four hours repulsed them, killing fourteen and losing one. D. K. Abeel and Captain Bngher acted as aids to Major Van Horn in this engagement, and both distinguished themselves for gallantry and courage. At midnight that night, Major Van Horn retired from the field. Harrisonville was full of the enemy, who was being constantly re-in- forced ; and Captain Dean had surrounded Westport, where there was a large party of the enemy, and needed his assistance; but near Jonesville, the command was met by Colonel Newgent's forces, and also by a party of the First Kansas, under Colonel Weir. The united force returned to Harrisonville, and, after a brief engagement, took it after which the Kansas City battalion returned home. In the early part of September, the rebels, to the number of about 2,000, gathered at Blue Springs, and were preparing to attack Kansas City, when Colo- nel Peabody, who, with his regiment, the Thirteenth Missouri Infantry, were at St. Joseph, were ordered here. The rebels then moved down to Lexington, to attack that place, and Peabody, with his command, and Major Van Horn, with Companies B and C of his, went down there to reinforce Colonel Mulligan. General Sterling Price laid siege to the place on the 6th of September, and main- tained it until the entire force surrendered to him on September 21st. Through the entire siege the Kansas City battalion was in active service. It was part of the force that had the severe fight in the lane, on the 12th, which was the severest fighting of the entire siege — four companies, under Major Van Horn, there en- gaging Price's entire army. On the 19th, Colonel Peabody was wounded, and the command devolved upon Major Van Horn, until he was wounded, and borne from the fight about two hours before the surrender. After the surrender, the officers and men of the battalion were released on parole, until exchanged in December, when the battalion was consolidated with Colonel Peabody's Thir- teenth Missouri Infantry, with Major Van Horn as Lieutenant-Colonel, and the united command became the memorable Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantry, which was sent south, distinguishing itself in many of the battles on the march from Belmont to Vicksburg. Lieutenant Case, who had been detailed for special duty as quartermaster HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 103 commissary and ordnance officer of the post at Kansas City, when the battalion was organized, continued in that position until June, 1862, when he was promot- ed to the rank of Captain and A. Q. M.; after which he continued as quarter- master at the post until the spring of 1863, when part of western Missouri and eastern Kansas were organized into the District of the Border, at which time he became quartermaster for the district. In the spring of 1864, the District of the Border was abolished, and he was assigned to duty as quartermaster of the Dis- trict of central Missouri, with headquarters at Warrensburg. In March, 1865, he availed himself of an opportunity to resign, offered to all officers who desired to leave the service, and in June following accepted the position of Quarter- Master General of the State on the staff of Gov. Thos. C. Fletcher. Dr. Thorne continued in charge of the hospital at Kansas City until the close of the war. In the spring of 1863, when the District of the Border was created, it became a general hospital, and as such received several thousand sick and wounded soldiers during the war. GUERRILLAS AND RED LEGS. In the formative period of the great struggle, the spring and summer of 1861, there was a general uprising of the people of Missouri. The Union men formed into companies of home guards, and the rebels were also marshaled into hostile bands. The ordinary avocations of life were in a great measure abandoned, and every neighborhood was divided into hostile and warring factions, fully realizing all the conditions of internecine war. Under the President's call for three months' troops in April, there were several regiments organized in Missouri and several in Kansas. About the time these were disbanded in the fall of that year there were several marauding bands organized in Kansas for the purpose of prey- ing upon the rebels across the border in Missouri. The most prominent of these were Montgomery's in southern Kansas, a band of old free-state men of 1856, who seem never to have been entirely disbanded ; Cleveland's band in northern Kansas, and Col. Jennison's seventh Kansas regiment, which appears to have been so largely made up of the same class of men that it became as notorious in 1861-62 as jayhawkers as either of the other bands. Besides these there were many smaller bands, irregular and unauthorized in their formation, whose sole object seems to have been plunder. Over the border in Missouri there were sim- ilar organizations of rebels. These were composed of secessionists who had not joined Price's army and gone south, but remained to prosecute an irregular war- fare upon the people of Missouri and the borders of Kansas. All the country adjacent to this city was infested with these bands. On the west and south were Montgomery, Jennison and sometimes Cleveland, and to the south, east and north were bush-whackers under Todd, Parker, Jackman and Quantrell. From the spring of 1861 to the fall of 1864, these irregular bands hemmed in Kansas City on all sides, so that it was very hazardous for people to get here to trade, although there was no regular foe to interfere with them. The Santa Fe trade suffered as much as any other, and was for time nearly cut off. The trade of southern Kansas, which had previously come to Kansas City, was diverted to Leavenworth. During all this time teams were scarcely permitted to come to Kansas City from that section, or to go from Kansas City to any part of southern Kansas. The irregular bands operating in Kansas, better known as the Red Legs, were largely composed of Kansans who had a grudge against Missouri because of the old struggle of 1855-56, and they, therefore, left nothing undone that would hurt Kansas City, because she was a Missouri town. It was largely through their operations that the trade of Southern Kansas was diverted to Leavenworth, for trains going to that place were not molested. Fort Leavenworth was military headquarters, and the depot of supply for the army on the border, hence she had a large trade and grew rapidly. Boating on 104 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. the Missouri was rendered hazardous, and the Government took so many of the boats for military use, that the trade between Kansas City and St. Louis was quite broken up. The Platte Country Raihoad was built from St. Joseph across to Weston by the year 1863, so that all trade which had previously come up the river now came by way of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the Platte County Railroad, and made -Leavenworth headquarters. Leavenworth also be- came the headquarters of the Red Legs, at least the place where their booty was disposed of, and became so notorious in that regard that in 1863 Gov. Ewing placed it under martial law, as a means of ridding it of the miscreants. The Leavenworth press all the time made the most of Kansas City's misfortune to warn people against coming here. From the arrival of Capt. Prince, Kansas City continued in military occupa- tion. In 1862, one Lieutenant-Colonel Buel had command here with head- quarters at Lidependence. He was strongly accused of sympathy with the bush-whackers, and whether guilty or not, his administration was not calculated to extirpate them. Maj. Banzaf with a battalion of the First Missouri cavalry then occupied Kansas City. On the 23d of March, that year, Quantrell killed two men, and burned the bridge across the Blue. On the 25th he was routed at Tait's house, sixteen miles from this city by Maj. Pomeroy, of the Second Kan- sas. On the 29th the guerrilla Parker was captured at Warrensburg. On the 13th of April Quantrell was again routed on the Little Blue, and again on the 17th, near Raytown. These facts are sufficient to show the general condition of things existing here at that time. Col. Buel permitted the establishment of the rebel paper, and it continued to foster the spirit of rebellion and bush-whacking. This condition, this frequency of small fights, was continuous, until near the close of 1863. The brush on the one side of this city was literally full of bush-whack- ers, and the prairies covered with Red Legs. In 1862 the militia of Missouri was all enrolled. The regiment raised in this city was numbered 77th; Kersey Coates was colonel and Frank Foster, lieutenant- colonel. None of this militia was ever called upon to do much, and that only in their own locality. During these years, from the spring of 1861 until the au- tumn of 1863, the adjacent parts of Missouri were in an entirely lawless condition. The civil power was entirely suspended ; while the country was completely over- run by small parties of Federal and Confederate troops, between whom fights and skirmishes were of frequent occurrence, beside which, it was equally overrun by the irregular bands of guerrillas and bush-whackers on the one side, and jayhawk- ers and Red Legs on the other. There was absolutely no security for either life or property ; industrial and productive pursuits were impossible ; people on all sides were ruthlessly robbed of whatever they possessed that could tempt robbers, and many men were murdered at their homes for no better reason than that they were found there. TRADE. Trade, under such circumstances as have been described, was manifestly much embarrassed, yet our city continued to do some business with the southwest and west, and remained, by reason of military protection, the headquar- ters for the remnant of the Santa Fe trade. The long talked of express to Pike's Peak was realized in May, 1861, and that and the Santa Fe mail continued through the war, tiiough robbed several times. T\\Q Jourruil 0/ Cojnmerce, which had suspended March 7th, 1861, was re- sumed as an extra or bulletin May 15th ; stopped again August 20th, and revived again, full size, in March, 1862. Some time in the spring of 1862, Mr. McRey- nolds started the Intelligencer, which soon expired, and in June, 1862, the Press was started, but continued only a brief time. Soon after Samuel Hallett became connected with the construction of the HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 105 Union Pacific Railroad, he issued a circular relative to the trade of the various points on the Missouri River across the plains from 1857 to 1863, some extracts from which will serve to illustrate the effects of the existing situation on the trade of Kansas City. We insert first a table showing a comparison of river points in i860. Table showing the amount of freight forwarded across the plains, from the various posts on the Missouri River, during the year i860, with the required outfit : WHERE FROM. Kansas^ City . Leavenworth . Atchison . . . St. Joseph . . Nebraska City. Omaha. . . . Total POUNDS. MEN. HORSES. MULES. OXEN. WAGONS. ^6,439,134 7,084 444 6,149 27,920 3,033 5,656,082 1,216 206 10,425 1,003 6,097,943 i-SPi' 472 13,640 1,280 1,672,000 490 520 3,98° 418 5,496,000 896 . . 113 11,118 916 713,000 324 377 114 340 272 36,074,159 11,631 841 7,574 67,950 6,922 Note. — In the above table the government freight forwarded from Kansas City to western forts is included in the exhibits; the amount being 7,540,102 pounds, requiring 1,590 men, 1,307 wagons, 16,260 oxen, and 232 mules; cost of transportation, $890,300. EXPORTS OF NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO 1857 TO 1863. Table showing the kind, amount and value of the exports of Colorado and New Mexico received at the port of Kansas City from 1857 to 1863, inclusive : C H WOOL. DRY HIDES. BUFFALO ROBES. PELTS A ND FURS. < c u 5. E. YEAR. 3 3 < c 3 a. <: — n C 3 a- < Si. n C 3 Q. (XI •a o_ n' 1857. 465,000 $ 69,750.00 32,440 $2,919.60 25,000 100,000 32,900 $7,740.00 $225,000.00 $405,409.60 1858. 525,500 78,725.00 58,756 5,887.60 21,750 87,000 35,460 8,154.00 200,000.00 379,754.60 1859. 456,751 68,572.65 58,812 6,469.32 7,040 29,375 38,720 7,744.00 192,019.20 304,120.17 1860. 349,799 52,369.85 98,875 9,966.25 3,622 16,299 25, 115 6,863.00 300,644.00 386,172.10 1861. 590,731 118,146.20 38,202 3,820.20 2,440 10,980 10,742 2,475.52 158,585 50 284,007.42 1862. 640,925 160,231.50 29,645 2,964.50 740 3,700 7,460 2,981.60 31, SSL 00 205,308.35 1863. 954,951 286,285.30 67.96S 6,796.80 1,900 9,500 113, 129 38,. 384. 15 546,500.00 346,6 31.25 The great increase in the value of freight in 1863 was owing to the large per- centage of dry goods and manufactured articles forwarded, and their extreme low prices. IMPORTS OF NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO 1 85 7 TO I 863. Table showing the amounts and estimated value of freight transported to New Mexico and Colorado from Kansas City from 1857 to 1863 inclusive, with the number of men, oxen, horses, mules, and wagons required, the value of the outfit, and the cost of transportation : 106 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Amounts, pounds . . . Value Cost of Transportation. Value of Outfit Men Oxen Horses Mules Wagons 1857 27,705,000 $ 4,199,850 222,345,000 3,053,500 5,428 4,150 494 7,7§6 4,941 1858 1859 25,365,000 7,484,390 $ 4,465,500$ 1,172,450 228,285,000 673,587.10 3,662,500 917,200 4,088 42,270 568 5,460 5,073 1,746 12,840 371 1,582 1,497 1860 21,547,718 f 3,340,200 2,150,985 44 2,609,575 4,993 36,686 387 7,325 4,012 1861 1862 5,040,840 5,740,540 2,094,000$ 2,285,400 453,675.60 1,012,900 1,328 8,393 3,209 1,396 530,679.95 882,308 1,404 9,146 2,794 1,172 1863 7,281,491 $ 3,785.500 691,741.64 1,132,805 1,798 13, 335 1,515 2,476 RAILROAD PROGRESS. The construction of railroads which had been stopped with the beginning of trouble in 1861, began to be agitated again in 1862. In May of that year Con- gress passed the Union Pacific Railroad bill. This bill provided for one main line from this city with a branch to St. Joseph by way of Atchison, one to Omaha, and one to Sioux City, and authorized the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Railway Company to construct a line from that city to intersect the main line on the same terms as the branches were built. Besides some surveying done by Col. Midbery, of Ohio, nothing was done on this road until 1863. In June, 1862, Messrs. Ross, Steele & Co., took a contract to build three hundred and fifty miles of the road and soon thereafter commenced operations at Leavenworth, on the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Branch. This company had no means and did but little. In June, 1863, Gen. John C. Fremont and Samuel Hallett took the contract to build the main line, and bought out the franchise of the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Branch. About the same time work was re- sumed on the Pacific Railroad in Missouri on a contract to complete seventeen miles of the line eastward from this city. It was expected to have the road com- pleted to Independence by November, and finished early in 1864. On the 7th of July ground was broken for the Union Pacific Railroad at this city. By No- vember 1 8th the first forty miles of the Union Pacific were graded, when there arose a controversy between Samuel Hallett on the one side and Fremont and Ross, Steele & Co. on the other, which with the approaching cold weather, stopped active operations. The Missouri Pacific, however, was not thus fortu- nate. The woods along the line were so full of bush-whackers that work had to be stopped. In August Cole Younger, with a party, burned Pleasant Hill, and Quantrell sallied forth from his headquarters in the Missouri borders, in August, and on the 21st burned and sacked Lawrence, retreating again to Missouri to renew his depredations. A MEMORABLE EPOCH. Prior to this, in the spring of 1863, it had been determined to dislodge the bush-whackers and guerrillas, who were operating in western Missouri, and to that end the District of the Border, embracing part of western Missouri and east- ern Kansas had been erected, and on the 15th of April Gen. Blunt was placed in command with headquarters at Kansas City. His methods did not, however, prove vigorous enough to accomplish the end designed, and on the i6th of June he was superseded by Gen. Ewing, whose policy, though more vigorous, was not sufficiently so to clear the woods of the predatory bands or prevent the affairs HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 107 above referred to, owing to the sympathy of a large part of the people of Missouri with them. The affairs above mentioned seemed to call for more vigorous measures still, and it appeared then, to the satisfaction of Gen. Ewing, who commanded the District, and of Gen. Schofield, who commanded the department, that the only effective way of ridding the country of bush-whackers, would be to rid it also of their aiders and abettors among the people. Accordingly, on the 23rd of August, Gen. Ewing promulgated his celebrated Order No. 11. This order was rigidly enforced, and it made a desolation of all the country embraced in it. It stopped for a time all bush-whacking, and filled Kansas City and Independence with the refugee peo'ple. In November, Gen. Ewing issued General Order No. 20, which provided for the return of all loyal people to their homes, and during the winter of 1863-4, the provisions of order No. 11 were entirely removed. In February, 1864, the District of the Border was abolished, Gen. Ewing was ordered to Pilot Knob and Col. Ford, of the Second Colorado Cavalry succeeded him in command at Kan- sas City, with headquarters at Independence. THE RAILROADS AGAIN. When the river froze up in December, 1863, the Union Pacific Railroad had received at St. Joseph, iron and equipments for forty miles of road but could not get them to Kansas City until spring opened. The winter was spent in pur- chasing ties and making arrangements for a vigorous prosecution of the work in the spring. Early in the winter the Leavenworth people invited Mr. Hallett to visit them. He much desired a connection to the east that would not subject him to the exi- gencies of river navigation, and they, the previous winter, had got through the Missouri Legislature, a charter for a road from that place to Cameron. Mr. Hallett went, accompanied by Mr. S. W. Bouton, of this city, and found that they wanted to turn over their charter and get him to work up the interest and built the road. This was a critical time for Kansas City, for had that arrange- ment been consummated, it would have given Leavenworth the Cameron Railroad sCnd the bridge, and secured for her future pre-eminence. Mr. Bouton saw the danger, and used his best efforts, with success, to induce Mr. Hallett not to make a contract with them until after he should return to this city, promising him that if he would come back here he would procure for him all rights and franchises of the Cameron road from this city, on which $168,000 had already been expended, and the road-bed of which was already completed. Mr. Hallett returned, and Mr. Bouton called the company together and got it organized as follows : Col. Coates, President ; J. M. Jones, Vice-President ; S. W. Bouton, Secretary ; W. A. Morton, Treasurer; Col. Coates, M. J. Payne, E. M. McGee, C. A. Carpenter, S. W. Bouton, T. S. Case, J. M. Jones, Mr. Deering and Mr. Hall, Directors. Mr. Bouton then got himself appointed attorney for the transfer of the stock of Kan- sas City and Clay county, and offered the road to Mr. Hallett as a gift. This had occupied the time till July, 1864,, and Mr. Hallett appointed the 28th of that month to come over to this city and execute the necessary contract, when he was suddenly assassinated by O. G. Talcott, one of his engineers. An incident in connection with this negotiation of Mr. Bouton with Mr. Hallett ought to be told, though it never was very generally known here in Kan- sas City. At the preceding fall election Col. Van Horn had been elected to the State Senate, and Messrs. E. M. McGee and M.J. Payne to the House. A leave of absence had been granted Col. Van Horn from the army and he was in Jeffer- son City at the time. As soon as Mr. Bouton returned from Leavenworth he made the draft of two bills and sent them to Col. Van Horn to be passed. One of them amended the character of the Leavenworth & Cameron Railroad by 108 ' ■ HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. diverting it at Platte City to Weston, six miles above Leavenworth; the other suspended the operation of the general incorporation law of the State in Platte county, so that a new road could not be started under its provisions. The three gentlemen at Jefferson City soon got the bills passed and thus left Leavenworth without a charter that was worth anything to anybody. While these negotiations were pending, there was much activity in railroad matters. The press began the agitation of a railroad to Olathe and Fort Scott. Some favorable legislation for the Missouri Pacific was secured in the Legisla- ture that winter, which so encouraged the people of this city as to call forth the greatest rejoicing at a public meeting held for that purpose February ii, 1864. In February the Union Pacific company was re-oganized in St. Louis, at which General Fremont was dropped out ; and John D. Perry of the Missouri Pacific, became vice-president and acting president. This led to another difficulty and more litigation between Hallett & Co. , on the one hand, and Fremont and Ross, Steele & Co., on the other, but the latter was defeated, and the Government recognized the former as the rightful company. In February the Missouri Pacific began laying track between Warrensburg and Dresden, and grading between Warrensburg and Pleasant Hill. On the 24th of March the first locomotive and boat load of iron for the Union Pacific arrived at Wyandotte from St. Joseph. About this time the Union Pacific company directed its engineers to make a survey of the route of a road that had been chartered and had a land grant from Lawrence southward to the State line, now the K. C. , L. & S. R. R., and also of the line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, which also had a land grant, from Topeka to the western State line. Mr. Hallett, expecting to obtain control of the Kansas City and Cameron road, and wanting no rival line, caused himself to be elected a director in the Parkville & Grand River Railroad, and thus obtained control of it. This road had almost as much work done on it as had been done on the Kansas City and Cameron road and ran from Parkville, eight miles above Kansas City, to Came- ron. In April the Missouri Pacific company determined to complete the line between Kansas City and Independence, and in June sent the first engine and iron for the track to Kansas City. In May the interest in the Kansas City and Fort Scott road began to look up, and a meeting in that interest was held at Paola. In June, a treaty was made with the Delaware Indians for the surrender of their lands in Kansas, one of the provisions of which was, that a railroad should be built with the proceeds of the lands between this city and Leavenworth. This road is now the extension of the Missouri Pacific up the river from this city. About this time it was announced that the Union Pacific would be completed and opened to Lawrence on the i8th of August, but owing to the assassination of Mr. Hallett in July, it was not so opened until December 19th. In June 1864, the North Missouri Railroad Company came into possession of the charter and franchises of the Missouri Valley Railway Company, which was to build a line from Brunswick up the river to St. Joseph. Leavenworth turned her attention to this road, but effected nothing. It has since been built to this city, and is now the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific. In September, a pontoon bridge was thrown across the Kaw between this city and Wyandotte — the first bridge between the two places. THE GREAT RAID OF 1864. These enterprising measures were in progress only because of the practical freedom of Missouri from rebels and bush-whackers; but they were not destined to continue without interruption from that source. In August it was discovered that Vallandigham, of Ohio, had, during his banishment, formed a conspiracy at HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 109 Richmond to arouse the secession sympathies of the North, and during his stay- in Canada had so far perfected the organization that associations of them had been formed throughout the North and West. Many of the prominent men engaged in it were immediately arrested, but not enough to stop it. A raid by Price into Missouri was to be the signal of their uprising, and that raid was to be made in October. He entered the State with about 18,000 men, by way of Pilot Knob, where he had a severe fight with Gen. Ewing, Sept, 27th. Ewing retreated, but contested his march again at Harrisonville, from the 27th to the ist of October. Price then continued his victorious march to the northwest, fighting at al- most every step, and gathering reinforcements as he went. His entrance into the State was signalized by an uprising of his sympathizers throughout the State. The woods were again swarming witl\ them, as in 1861. The very bushes seemed to hear them as they bear leaves, and even as far north as Atchison county the old scenes of 1861 were being repeated. Union men were equally prompt to rise. Missouri and Kansas were placed under martial law, and every man capa- ble of bearing arms was ordered out. It was a time of the utmost excitement and agitation. There was but one cry — to arms ! to arms ! — and throughout the two States there was but one employment — preparing for the fray. About the 26th of October Gen. Blunt was driven out of Lexington. On the 21st there was serious fighting at Little Blue, Col. Moonlight's command of Kansas troops, engaging the entire army. Col. Ford, with the Second Colorado, abandoned Independence, and there seemed to be nothing but fire and pillage in store for Kansas City. However, General Curtis, in command of the Department of Kansas and General Rosecrans, in command of the Department of Missouri gathered force fast enough to divert Price to the southwest. From Little Blue he moved up the road toward Kansas City, until he reached the Big Blue, at a point where the roads for Kansas City and Westport cross. Here another sharp fight occurred. Thence Price turned toward Westport, and another fight occurred at that place. And from there he went south, fighting all the way. While these movements were being executed and these battles fought between Price's main army and the forces against him, fighting between smaller parties was going on all over the county, and north of the river in Clay, and adjacent counties. Price had sent out recruiting parties and his forces gathered fast, so that although he was in the State but little more than a month, and was fighting all the while, he left it with about 12,000 men more than he brought with him. This was the last raid into Missouri, and, aside from bush-whacking, was the end of the war for this city. Peaceful pursuits were resumed, but the disorder and damage to the railroad enterprises in which Kansas City was interested, was such that nothing more was done on them that year except the Union Pacific, which was opened to Lawrence in December. The Missouri Pacific was so injur- ed that it had to ask for aid to repair the damage, which was given by St. Louis, under authority of the Legislature, to the extent of $700,000, in January 1865. 110 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER XI. A GREAT ERA IN KANSAS CITY. The Close of the War — The Resumption of Railroad Construction — Seven Roads and the Bridge Completed Before iS'jo — Other Railroad Enterprises not Finished — Rapid Growth — Schools and Street Improvements — Population Grown from j,joo to 30,000. With the beginning of 1865 the country adjacent to this city was in compar- ative peace. Many of the bush-whackers who had infested the country had gone south with Price, in his great raid of 1864, and others were in winter quarters. Sherman and Grant were closing in on the rebeUion, and there appeared to be good reason to beheve that, so far as this part of the country was concerned, there would be no more war. The people began, therefore, to cast about them, and collect the fragments of fortunes and business, and prepare for the future. At this time the population of our city had fallen off to between three and four thousand, her streets were out of repair, her houses dilapidated, and her trade practically gone. Leavenworth, having been her most formidable rival before the war, had, during the struggle, been the headquarters of army operations, and had prospered while this city suffered. She had grown to be a city of about eighteen thousand, had secured control of the Southern Kansas trade, and a part of the trade of New Mexico and Colorado. This city seemed to be well nigh out of the race for commercial supremacy, and would have been so regarded had it not been for her well demonstrated natural advantages, and the fact that the main line of the Union Pacific Railway started at this city, and was already in operation to Lawrence ; and the fact that the Missouri Pacific was nearly com- pleted. These gave heart to her citizens to renew the struggle, and an era of un- precedented activity followed. Leavenworth, meantime, confident of ultimately securing a road to a con- nection with the Union Pacific, and also one from Cameron, thought to secure the Missouri Pacific also, and to that end voted four hundred thousand dollars in January, to build a road to a connection with it at this city. THE SPRING OF 1865. In February, the localities in interest obtained from the Missouri Legislature a charter for a road from Kansas City to Iowa State line, in the direction of Council Bluffs, by the way of St Joseph, and embracing what had been built of the Kansas City & St. Joseph Railroad from St. Joseph to Weston. About the same time, the interest in the road to Fort Scott was renewed, and the Kansas Legislature was induced to memorialize Congress for a grant of land for it. In the month of February, track laying was resumed on the Missouri Pacific, and it was progressing finely when March came, and with it the forests began to put out leaves, affording shelter for bush-whackers, when the bushes began to swarm with them. They cut off trade with adjacent parts of Missouri, and fre- quently visited the line of the Missouri Pacific, and robbed and stopped its hands. General Pope was appealed to for aid in suppressing them, but to no effect. He informed Governor Fletcher that the civil authorities must deal with them by civil process, and thus left this part of the State at their mercy. In May, a large force of them assembled near Lexington — three hundred and fifty was the estimate — and threatened to burn and sack the town. They seemed here to receive the first information they would credit of the collapse of the rebeUion, and a large HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Ill party of them, under Bill Poole, went into Lexington, and surrendered. Others took to the bushes, but gave little trouble after that. The southern Kansas trade began to come back to Kansas City, the people of that part of the State finding, as before the war, that they could reach Kansas City much better than Leavenworth. Steamers again began to ply on the Mis- souri ; the trade of New Mexico and Colorado were resumed, with all their old proportions, and improvements began to be made in the city. The revival of trade in the city was so rapid when military embargoes had been raised, and the natural laws of commerce were allowed full operation, that by the close of May, according to the Journal reports, twenty-eight million tons of freight had been discharged by steamers at the levee here. In May, Colonel Van Horn and Mr. Hallowell bought the Journal of Com- merce horn T. D. Thacher, who had purchased it of Mr. Abeel in May, 1863. It immediately took up the old strain of i860, about railroads and imjDrovements, and rallied the people about the old enterprises in which the city had been engag- ed before the war. It urged the re-organization of the Chamber of Commerce, which had been so prolific and fostering a parent of enterprises before the war, and of which it had been the organ and advocate. It urged upon the people in every way possible the importance of unity and action — prompt and decisive. It did more at this particular procedure to arouse the people, than all other agencies combined, and remarshaled them to the struggle for commercial development as potently as ever trumpet or drum-beat marshaled soldiers to the fray. One of its editorials, taken from its files of August 3, 1865, is here appended, as a sample of the terse and inspiriting articles, with which its columns, at this period, were filled : " There is a tide in the affairs of men — and the same is true of cities. We are now approaching the flood. If taken advantage of, we shall be carried on to fortune. If we do not act at the tide of our opportunities, our future history will be a record of failure and humiliation. " The present is bright ; we can, if we wish to be, the architects of our own fortune. To be so, we must be earnest, industrious and enterprising. Visions of the future show half a dozen railroads converging at this point ; it shows the river port for the plains ; a point of transshipment for the minerals, the wool and other products of the south, southwest and west, as also the articles from the east and foreign countries. It shows us the great central mart for the distribution of the wealth of half a continent — rich, powerful and magnificent. Providence never assisted a lazy man — fortune never smiled on an indolent community. The price paid for prosperity is labor, energy, enterprise. With a live policy — by throwing old fogy notions to the winds — by placing our mark high and vt^orking up to it, we shall become in two or three years all that we have described. " The converse of this picture is easily realized. Our advantages are sought by others. Our natural advantages alone will never overcome the efforts of rival enterprise. If we rely upon them we shall become neutral ground — a passway of value to railroad corporations, but of no intrinsic power of our own. Prosperity must come from within; it must spring from the city — from the people. Let us all make sacrifices in order to start the impulse in the proper direction — let us all put our strength to the work. Large property owners can give sites for mills, factories, etc. ; citizens can subscribe stock to work them ; mechanics can build tenement houses for operatives. If they produce ten per cent on the outlay, don't raise the rent to twenty per cent. If houses are scarce, raising the price of rent will not increase the number. Let our people think and act promptly." The many articles of this character published by the Journal about this time were designed, not so much to arouse the people to action, as to give direction to their efforts, and to unify them upon common enterprises and for common pur- 112 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. poses. They were read by a people ready and willing to act, and eager to attain the very objects there urged upon them. It was in May that the Journal called the attention of the people to the fact that the base of business in this city would soon be changed from the levee, where it had always been, to " West Kansas," the " French Bottom" — as it was still called — and urged upon the city authorities the importance of opening the cross streets leading to it. Third, Fourth, Fifth and Ottawa (now Twelfth), were the streets recommended to be opened. In July, the city council negotiated a loan of $60,000 for the purpose, and appropriated it to the opening of those streets. This change of base brought about by the prospect that the business of the city would soon be done by railroad as much as by river, and the Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific both terminating at the State line, would, of necessity, have to make their depots in the bottom. REVIVAL OF RAILROAD ENTERPRISE. In July the Chamber of Commerce, which had a sort of ephemeral and spas- modic life during the war, was re -organized, and became, as it had been before the war, the heart of the city — the focus into which was concentrated her wisdom and wealth, and from whence radiated her energies and efforts — and it became again, as it had been before the war, a most potent promoter of railroad enter- prises. One of the first interests with which it concerned itself was the road to Fort Scott. The old Kansas Valley & Neosho company was revived and re- organized, with Col. Kersey Coates as president, and active efforts were at once begun to secure its construction. The city was urged to vote $200,000 aid to it, and a proposition was submitted to the people on the 19th of September. While this proposition was pending, on the 14th of September Capt. Chas. Keeler commenced work on the road. About the same time the interest in the Kansas City & St. Joseph Railroad was revived, and Kansas City was asked to vote it $25,000 to aid in its completion from Weston to Kansas City. This proposition was submitted to the people at the same time as the proposition for the road to Ft. Scott, and both were voted by the people by large majorities. In November following, John- son and Miami counties, Kansas, each voted the Fort Scott road $200,000, which was regarded as having secured its construction. This road, as projected in 1856, was designed to run to Galveston, but of course could not get through the Indian Territory without first securing the right- of-way by a treaty between the Indians and the Government. This idea was taken up with the revival of the project, and the opportunity for such treaty was waited and watched for, and was soon presented. During the war the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, Shawnees, Kiowas, Wichitaws, Osages, Commanches, Senecas, Quapaws, and Cherokees, in whole or in part, had joined the Rebellion, which was held by the Govern- ment to have worked an abrogation of all treaties existing between them and the United States, and it was proposed, now that the war was over, to negotiate new treaties with them. To this end Judge D. N. Cooly, commissioner of Indian affairs, Hon. Elijah Sells, superintendent of the southern superintendency, Col. Parker, of General Grant's staff, Gen. Harney, of St. Louis, Thos. Nixon of Phil- adelphia, and others were appointed commissioners on the part of the United States to negotiate such treaties, and the Indians were notified to meet them at Fort Smith on the 5th of September for that purpose. The parties interested in this road saw, in this conference, the opportunity they desired to obtain the right for their road through the Indian Territory, and a delegation was made up for the purpose of attending the conference. The Kansas City delegation was ap- pointed by the Chamber of Commerce and consisted of Col. R. T. Van Horn, Col. E. M. McGee, Col. M. J. Payne, and Matthew Mudeater, the latter being a Wyandotte Indian. Silas Armstrong, of Wyandotte, Col. Wilson, Maj. Rey- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 113 nolds and Gen. C. VV. Blair, of Fort Scott, Gen. R. B. Mitchell, of Paola, and Col. Haines and Gen. Blunt, from other places, constituted the balance of the delegation. In the treaties that were made, these gentlemen were successful in securing the right of way for a railroad through the territory between Kansas and Texas, and, at the instance of St. Louis parties, a like right-of-way was secured across the Territory from east to west, which has since been secured by what is now known as the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad. The interest in the Kansas City & Cameron Railroad, which at this time was known as the Kansas City, Galveston & Lake Superior Railroad, was revived early in the year. As heretofore stated, this road was partly built before the war in pursuance of a contract between this company and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company by Mr. Quealy. The annual election for directors was held April 29th, at which Maj. W. C. Ransom was chosen president. The new direc- tors became very active, now that peace had been restored, and at once opened negotiations with Mr. Quealy for settlement for the work done by him prior to the war, and for a new arrangment for the completion of the work. It also en- gaged John A. J. Chapman to make a survey of the river for a bridge, which work was completed in September, and a very favorable report made. The com- pany also opened negotiations with J. T. R. Hayward, who had been superinten- dent of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad before the war and with whom all ante bellum negotiations had been had, for a revival of the old contract between this company and the Hanibal & St. Joseph company, for the completion of the work. No satisfactory arrangement was ever made with Hayward, or with the company, until the latter part of 1866; but arrangements were made with Mr. Quealy, and work on the road resumed about the close of 1865. In this settlement with Mr. Quealy the company* had to pay him more for the work yet to be done than the original contract price for the whole work, because of the advance, owing to the war, of material and labor, and therefore more aid had to be asked for by the company. But it was not until the following year 1866, that anything definite was done in this matter. The Missouri Pacific, which had been progressing finely all summer, was finished September 21st, and opened for business with great rejoicing on the part of the people of this city. The North Missouri, having obtained control of the charter of the Missouri Valley Railroad, as heretofore noticed, resumed operations also as soon as the country was free from bush-whackers, and began to push a western branch up the Missouri valley. In October, D. R. Garrison, prominently connected with the Missouri Pa- cific, contracted with the Kansas City & Leavenworth Company, now known as the Missouri River Railroad Company, to build that road, and before the close of the month had commenced operations. JEALOUSIES AND RIVALRIES AGAIN. It was now manifest that, as between Kansas City and Leavenworth, the natural laws of commerce were all in favor of Kansas City, and there was no better feeling among a certain class of Kansas politicians toward Kansas City than had existed before the war. Senator James H. Lane, of Lawrence, took up the fight, favoring Kansas trade for Kansas towns. He projected an extensive raih-ijad scheme for his State, embracing a road from Pleasant Hill to Lawrence, and one from Leavenworth, by way of Lawrence, to the southern State line in the direction of Fort Gibson. The scheme was to secure to Lawrence the terminus of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, and also the railroad which Kansas City had been so long laboring to have built to the Gulf of Mexico. Even at this early day St. Louis began to see the danger to her trade of building up Kansas City, and readily fell into and supported this scheme of Senator Lane, although the effect ST. JAMES HOTEL, KANSAS CITY, MO. L. C. Alexander, Proprietor. Walnut Street, bet. Missouri Avenue and Sixth Street. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 115 of it would have been to connect the Kansas railroads with the Hannibal & St. Joe as to divert the trades of Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas to Chi- cago. In pursuance of this scheme, and to get his Gulf railroad into the field first, Senator Lane caused work to be commenced on that road at Lawrence, June 26th, and in October Major B. S. Henning took up his residence in that city and be- came superintendent of the road. In November Col. Vliet made a survey of a branch to Emporia, authorized by the charter. That same month the Pleasant Hill & Lawrence road was surveyed. The first rail was laid on the Atchison & Pike's Peak — the central branch of the Union Pacific — and Major O. B. Gunn commenced the survey of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe from Atchison. THE EVENTS OF 1 866. At the session of the Kansas Legislature early in 1866, a bill was passed dividing five hundred thousand acres of land given the State for internal improve- ments, between the Northern Kansas Railroad, now the St. Joe & Denver; the Kansas & Neosho Valley Railroad, now the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf; the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch, from Fort Riley along the Neosho Val- ley, now the Junction City Branch of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and to the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Fort Gibson Railroad, now the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas. By this act the Fort Scott & Gulf got twenty-five thousand acres. In February Col. Van Horn, who had been elected to Congress in the elec- tion in 1864, introduced into the House of Representatives a bill granting cer- tain lands in Kansas to the Kansas & Neosho Railroad Company. Also a bill to charter a bridge across the river at Kansas City, and to make Kansas City a port of entry. All these objects were afterward attained in some shape. The bill granting lands to the Fort Scott Railroad became a law in July, and gave that road about 800,000 acres. In the bill giving these lands to the Kansas & Neosho Valley Railroad, it was also given the franchise through the Indian Territory with a grant of land six miles on either side of the track. The bill was fought bitterly by Senator Lane. The charter for a bridge was procured as an amendment to a bill chartering a bridge across the Mississippi at Quincy. In February Messrs. Barnard and Mastin started a bank in Kansas City, which was succeeded by the Mastin bank; and the First National was started not far from the same time, with Maj. G. W. Branham at its head. Early in the spring Messrs. Marsh, Hilliker & Co. began the construction of a much-needed bridge across the Kaw River between Kansas City and Wyandotte, and it was finished and opened in December, with great rejoicings. At the same session of the Kansas Legislature above referred to, the name of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Fort Gibson Railroad was changed to Leaven- worth, Lawrence & Galveston, and not long afterward the Kansas & Neosho Valley Railroad changed its name, by an action in court, to Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf. On the 15th of May the first train was run from Leavenworth to Lawrence, that branch of the Union Pacific Railroad having been commenced June 26, 1865, and pushed rapidly through in order to secure a land grant. In July Congress chartered the Southern Branch of the Union Pacific Rail- way, with the right to run from Fort Riley down the Neosho River to Fort Smith. This has since become the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. And that same month the Senate confirmed the treaty with the Delaware Indians, by which their reservation in Kansas was sold for the benefit of the Missouri River Rail- road Company, which had just been completed between Kansas City and Leav- enworth. 116 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Before the close' of the session of Congress in July, a bill introduced by Hon. Sidney Clarke, of Kansas, became a law, allowing the Union Pacific Rail- road to construct its line up the Smoky Hill Valley instead of up the Republican Valley. The original bill required the main line from Kansas City and the branch from Omaha, to connect at the looth meridian, between the Platte and Repub- lican rivers, in Nebraska. But this bill allowed each to adopt its own line and locate the point of junction at any place they might select within one hundred miles west of Denver. The main line from this city had then reached Fort Riley, and during the year 1866 the western freighting went from that place instead of Kansas City, and the mails were also received of the railroad at that point. THE CAMERON RAILROAD. At the annual election of officers in Ma,y, Col. Charles E. Kearney became president of the Kansas City, Lake Superior & Galveston Railroad Company. Although work had been commenced on that line January ist. but little had been done because of the deficiency of means. But no sooner did Col. Kearney become president than he threw into it that force and energy for which he is so characteristic, and like all other enterprises with which he ever became connect- ed, it was put immediately on the way to success. He laid the situation before the people of Kansas City at a meeting held at the court house on the 8th of May, and secured on the spot a subscription of $23,000. Committees were appointed to seek further subscriptions of aid, and at a meeting held on the 12th, $52,000 was reported, every dollar of which was promptly paid. This was within $25,000 of enough to complete the road, and a proposition for the balance was submitted to the people of the county, August 7th, and defeated by the rebel element in the country precincts, although Kansas City voted almost solidly for it. Work was begun immediately, and was pushed rapidly. At the time Col. Kearney became president of this company, the board of directors, through their president, Maj. W. C. Ransom, was still endeavoring to revive the old contract with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, under which the work done before the war had been done. This contract had been made originally though Mr. J. T. K. Hayward, who was at the time superintendent of the Hannibal & St. Joseph road. At this time he had ceased to be superintend- ent, but represented himself to be a director in the company. Besides Mr. Hay- ward, Mr. Brooks, who at this time was in Europe, was the only man connected with the Hannibal & St. Joseph road who knew of the old contract, and Mr. Hayward was now assuring the Kansas City company that he was laboring to get it revived. He was actually deceiving them, and had already made an agree- ment with the Leavenworth people to procure a contract between them and the Hannibal & St. Joseph company, to build a road from Cameron to Leavenworth. Leavenworth had previously, during the war, procured a charter, as stated in the last chapter. Col. Kearney was not long in detecting Mr. Hayward's treachery, and was just as prompt to institute measures for his defeat. The board of directors of the company was called together on the 1st of June, and Gen. John W. Reid and Col. T. S. Case were appointed agents lo visit Boston and make a contract with the Hannibal company, and Col. Kearney immediately telegraphed Col. Coates, who at the time was in Washington, urging the passing of the bill granting lands and right of way through the Indian Terri- tory to the Kansas & Neosho Valley Railroad, to go to Boston and if possible stop the Leavenworth contract until they could get there. Col. Coates got to Boston on Saturday and found that the contract with Leavenworth had already been agreed upon, and was to be executed Monday. On the claim of a prior contract he got a stay of proceedings until Col. Case and Gen. Reid arrived. When they got there the first men they met were the Leavenworth delegation, in the ante-room of the railroad office. They met Col. Coates, succeeded in resur- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 117 recting the old contract, and when the company saw it they referred the matter to James F. Joy, their general western manager. Col. Coates had to go back to Washington and Gen. Raid to Baltimore, but Col. Case went and saw Mr. Joy and got him into an agreement that this old contract should be revived, provided Kansas City would procure congressional authority for a bridge across the river at this point. Col. Case returned and reported the contract to Col. Kearney, who immediately telegraphed Col. Van Horn in Washington. The next Monday a bill was to be reported by the committee on post-offices and post-roads, providing for the construction of bridges at Quincy, Clinton and other places. Col. Van Horn went immediately to the chairman of that committee and after some diffi- culty, and full explanations, got him to agree to admit an amendment providing for the bridge at Kansas City. Next morning as soon as the house opened, the reading of the minutes were dispensed with and the bill called up. Col. Van Horn offered his amendment, it was accepted, and the chairman then moved the previous question. While this was being done Hon. Sidney Clarke, of Kansas, came in and in the greatest haste drew up an amendment for a bridge at Leaven- worth ; but he was too late. The previous question had been seconded and his amendment could not be attached. The bill passed, and thus in twenty-four hours from the time the agreement with Mr. Joy, was reported in Kansas City, all its conditions were complied with on the part of Kansas City, and she had a double triumph secured over her rival. This was a critical time for Kansas City, and the events just stated probably turned the scales in her favor ; for had Leavenworth secured the contract with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, Kansas City would have been left without help in the construction of her road. Levenvvorth would then have got the first bridge. She was already the terminus of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and had a branch of the Union Pacific, hence, the securing of the Hannibal & St. Joseph would have made her the railroad center of the Missouri valley. To Col. Kear- ney, Kansas City owes a debt of gratitude for his sagacity and promptness, as it does also to the other gentlemen connected with its affairs, for their efficiency. On the 19th of August a party of engineers, under Col. O. Chanute, com- menced a new survey of the river for the bridge. On the loth of November Col. Kearney began to advertise for materials for the bridge, and on the ist of December he let contracts for its construction to Messrs. Vipont & Walker. The securing a charter for a bridge, and the activity in organizing for its con- struction, caused the North Missouri Railroad Company to determine in August to terminate its western branch at Kansas City instead of Leavenworth, as it had proposed, and in October it let the contract for the immediate construction of the road to J. Condit Smith. Meantime, August 2 2d, the favorable situation in which the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad had been placed by the land grant and charter through the Indian Territory, it was enabled to contract for the building of the road, and Col. A. H. Waterman & Co. were engaged to build the first hundred 'miles. ST. LOUIS OPENS THE FIGHT ON KANSAS CITY. With the concentration of railroads at Kansas City, the town began to grow rapidly. The immigration to Kansas at the close of the war was immense, and its trade demands were in proportion to its magnitude. More wholesale houses began to be opened, street improvements became active and rapid, and the devel- opment of the city began to be something unparalleled in American annals. It is stated by the Journal of Ccnnmerce, that during the years 1865 ^^^ 1866, not less than six hundred new houses were built. This rapid growth, the concentration of railroads and business, alarmed St, Louis as early as 1865, and was the cause of her falling so readily into Senator Lane's railroad schemes. In 1866 she became much more frightened, and did all 118 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. she could to foster the Pleasant Hill and Lawrence Railroad scheme, as a means of cutting off trade from this city. Her people owned the controlling interest in the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and at once began to use that line, which the people of Kansas City had labored so long and so earnestly in securing, into a means of oppression. In the summer of 1866 an arrangement was effected, based osten- sibly on wash-outs on the road between Kansas City and Lawrence, whereby all freights for points west of Lawrence were taken by way of Leavenworth instead of being transferred here, and at the same time more favorable rates were given Leavenworth than to Kansas City. Passenger fares were but fifty cents more between Leavenworth and St. Louis than between Kansas City and St. Louis. Kansas City was astonished to find that she had no sooner distanced the rivalry of Leavenworth, than she found St. Louis, her old friend, assuming the role the latter had been compelled to abandon. This fight has never ceased, but Kansas City has steadily gained, and the issue will be manifestly the same as in the case with all others. It is but a question of time. TRADE AND PROGRESS. At the beginning of the year 1867, the city council appointed a committee to compile a statement of the trade and progress of the city for 1866. This com- mittee soon afterward reported as follows : Population 15,064 Buildings erected, 768, costing $2,166,500 Total trade, all hnes 33,006,827 There were at that time in the city fourteen churches, two colleges, two academies, twelve primary schools, twenty-one dry goods houses, eighty grocery houses, thirteen clothing, eight liquor, fifteen boots and shoes, eight hotels, two daily papers and three weeklies, seven miles macadamized streets, and there were three railroads in operation, all terminating here — the Missouri Pacific, the Union Pacific, Eastern division, and the Missouri River. This latter road connected Kansas City and Leavenworth, and has since become a part of the Missouri Pacific. On the 12th of March the Legislature, in amending the charter, defined the wards. The first was all east of Delaware street and north of Ninth, the second all east of Main street and south of Ninth, and the third all west of Main and Delaware streets. THE CAMERON RAILROAD IN 1867. On the 1 2th of March, 1864, the name of the Kansas City, Lake Superior & Galveston Railroad was changed to Kansas City & Cameron. The begin- ning of the year 1867 saw the company still lacking the means to complete the line. Col. Kearney and others went to Chicago to market $100,000 of Kansas City bonds, when they and Kansas City were violently attacked by the St. Louis press. In "February they procured authority from the Missouri Legislature to mortgage the road, and succeeded in mortgaging it to the Hannibal & St. Joseph and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy companies. This, however, did not release the company from the necessity of raising the thirty thousand dollars which the people of Jackson county outside of Kansas City had once voted down, so the company got the proposition before them again March 19th, and it was again defeated. Mr. Joy then came forward with a proposition to take the road off of their hands, release the people from the $60,000 they had subscribed, and com- plete the road by November 31st, on condition that the city and Clay county would release to him the stock it held in the company. The city attempted to overcome the difficulty by an appropriation of $60,000, which was made in May, but it seemed not to meet the case, and in July it transferred its stock as Mr. Joy had proposed. From this time forward the Avork went on rapidly. The corner HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 119 Stone of the bridge was laid August 21st, and on the 2 2d of November the last rail of the road was laid, Col. Kearney, president of the company, and Mr. Gillis, the oldest citizen of Kansas City, driving the last spike. This was an occasion of great rejoicing. Col. Kearney sent congratulatory messages to the Board of Trade, Chicago, and the Chamber of Commerce, St. Louis. The former sent a warm response, but the latter did not respond at all. On the 2i5t of February, 1870, this road was consolidated with the Hannibal & St. Joseph, and soon after- ward became the main hne of that road. OTHER ROADS. In the early part of 1867 Leavenworth attempted to get some legislation through the Missouri Legislature that would make the terminus of both the Platte county and North Missouri roads at that place, and to get an appropriation of half a million dollars through the Kansas Legislature for a bridge there. But this was promptly defeated in both places. In March the several roads known as the Atchison & Weston and Atchison & St. Joseph and St. Joseph & Savannah were consolidated by act of the Missouri Legislature under the name of the Platte Country Railroad, and authorized to build a railroad from Kansas City by St. Joseph to the Iowa line in the direction of Council Bluffs, and to build a branch from St. Joseph by Savannah to the Iowa line in the direction of Des- Moines. , OTHER INTERESTS. The city grew rapidly during 1867, but there was no reliable report of its progress published. In February of that year the First National bank was re-or- ganized, with Howard M. Holden as cashier, and immediately entered upon that career of usefulness and prosperity for which it was so well known, and which raised its capital — then $100,000 — to $500,000, Mr. Holden showed himself to be a courteous gentleman and a sagacious banker, and gained the confidence of all with whom he came in contact usually at the first meeting, and he soon became closely identified with the business movements and operations of the city. In its subsequent development he exerted a potent influence, as the sequel will show. In April Messrs. Foster & Wilder became proprietors of the Journal of Com- merce, and that same month Mr. Thomas Pratt, of St. Louis, came to the city and purchased the franchise and charter of a gas company that had been formed, and went immediately to work to build the works. In July the people voted an appropriation for lighting the streets, and the works were put into operation in October. By act of March 12th, 1867 the city limits were again changed, the west line being the State line from the river south to 2 2d street, the south line 2 2d street from the State line east to Troost avenue, the east line Troost avenue, north to 12th street, thence east to Lydia avenue, thence north to Independence ave- nue, and thence by the Quarter Section line to the river, which constituted the northern boundary. At the same time the city was divided into four wards. The first embraced that part of the city east of Main street between the river and loth street. The second embraced that part east of Main street and south of loth street. The third embraced all south of loth and west of Main street, and the fourth all west of Main street and north of loth street. THE SCHOOLS. The school system of Missouri had been completely destroyed by the war, and the rankling passions engendered by that struggle, made the people slow to re-organize it, when the Legislature in 1865 adopted laws for that purpose. On the 15th and i8th of March 1866 the Legislature had enacted other laws pro- viding for the estabUshment of schools in cities, towns rnd villages, with special 120 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. privileges, but it was uot until the ist of August 1867, that the Kansas City Board of Education was organized under the authority of these acts. The first Board was composed of W. E. Sheffield, President ; H. C. Kumpf, Secreta- ry; J. A. Bachman, Treasurer; E. H. Allen, T. B. Lester and E. H. Spalding; J. B. Bradley, Superintendent and Teacher in Central School. Immediately after the organization of the Board, Mr. Kumpf retired, and Mr. A. A. Bainbridge was chosen to fill the vacancy. There were at this time 2,150 children of school age, Hving within the Hmits of the school district. There was not a public school building in the city. Disorganization reigned supreme. The city was utterly destitute of all school accommodations, and there was not a dollar available for school expenses. The buildings that could be rented for school purposes were old deserted dwellings, unoccupied store rooms and damp, gloomy basements in some of the churches. But the Board was in earnest, and every effort was made to put the schools in operation. In October, 1867, the schools were formally opened in rented rooms, which had been hastily and scantily furnished. Into these unattractive abodes the children were huddled together to receive instruction. A superintendent and sixteen teachers were employed during the year, but as no statistics of the school work are found in the records, it is impossible to give a satisfactory account of what was done. If the work in the schools was unsatisfactory, the energy of the Board was unabated. Preparations for a grand work continued. Sites were purchased, bonds issued and school-houses erected. The rapid and marvelous growth of the city, while it brought a large influx to the school population, did not produce a corresponding increase in the valuation of the taxable property of the district. The next two or three years were years of great activity with the School Board. During 1868 it built the Washington, Humboldt and Franklin Schools; in 1869 it added the Central and Lincoln; in 1870 the Lathrop and Benton; and in 187 1 the Woodland. These have since been enlarged and others added as the increase of school population has required. THE LOUISIANA RAILROAD. About the middle of January, 1868, information was received in this city, that a company had procured a charter for a railroad from Louisiana, Mo. , to Kansas City, and in March, 1868, parties arrived in the city to ask the people to take an interest in it, and in June the people voted it $250,000 aid Toward the close of the year, the company got the Chicago & Alton Railroad, of IIU- nois, interested in the project, and the line was speedily constructed from Louis- iana to Mexico, where it connected with the North Missouri Railroad. Owing to some difficulty about the issue of bonds in some of the counties, the balance of the road was not built at that time. The Chicago & Alton built a fine bridge across the Mississippi, at Louisiana, and operated through from Kansas City to Chicago over the track of the North Missouri until 1878 when it was built through to Kansas City. KANSAS CITY AND SANTA FE. At the session of the Kansas Legislature in 1868, a charter was procured for a railroad from Kansas City to Santa Fe, and in March the company was organ- ized at Olathe, with Col. J. E. Hays president, and Gen. W. H. Morgan, of Kansas City, secretary and treasurer, and books v/ere opened for subscription of stock at the First National Bank on the 5th of June. In July the company was re-organized. P. P. Elder, president; Gen. W. H. Morgan, secretary, and Col. J. E Hays, treasurer. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 121 THE FT. SCOTT AND GULF. When the Cherokee neutral lands were obtained by treaty, and ordered sold for the benefit of the Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad, James F. Joy became inter- ested in the road and bought the land. In the spring of 1868 the American Immigrant company of Connecticut set up a claim to the lands, under a previous sale made by Secretary Harlan, but the difficulty was soon harmonized by assign- ment of their claims to Mr. Joy and the negotiation of a new treaty, which was approved by the senate in June, 1868. On the 15th of June, 1868, the city council of Kansas City relinquished to Mr. Joy its interest in the road, and on the 1 2th of December, that year, it was finished to Olathe ; and to Fort Scott in December, 1869. THE L., L. & G. R. R. This road had been finished to Ottawa by the first of January, 186S. In May it received, by treaty with the Osage Indians, 8,000,000 acres of land, upon which there was already much settlement. This was the origin of the Osage ceded land difficulty, which was not settled until 1876 when the United States Supreme Court decided it in favor of the people. In November, 1868, the Neosho Valley Railroad Company put one hundred and seventy-five miles of their line under contract from Junction City. THE NORTH MISSOURI RAILROAD. This line of road had been pushed quietly but rapidly through the year 1868, and on the ist day of December the last rail was laid at the connection with the track of the Kansas City & Cameron Railroad, thus adding to our city a fifth road. The Kansas City & Cameron road soon became merged with the Hannibal & St. Joseph, and took that name; so that at the close of the year 1868, there were completed, the Missouri Pacific, the Hannibal & St. Joseph, and the North Missouri (now Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific), from the east ; the Missouri River to the west was completed, terminating at Leavenworth ; the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Road was in operation to Olathe, and the Union Pacific East- ern Division was operating to Sheridan, four hundred and five miles west of Kansas City, and but two hundred and twenty miles from Denver. At the close of the year, the population was estimated at 28,000, and there had been 2,000 houses built that, year, which shows it to have been one of great activity and progress. THE PROGRESS OF 1 869. In January, 1869, Colonel Coates laid the foundations of Coates Opera House, and the City Council chartered the Jackson County and Broadway Horse Rail- road Companies. In February a Board of Trade was organized, with T. K. Hanna, Esq., as president, D. M. Keen, secretary, and H. M. Holden, treasurer. This organization was rendered necessary, by the old Chamber of Commerce having ceased to exist ; and during the year it was a most valuable organization. In March, the Paola & Fall River Railroad Company was organized. It had a spasmodic existence for several years, and graded part of the road between Paola and Garnett. This line was built from Paola to Leroy in 1880, as a branch of the Missouri Pacific, at which time the Holden and Paola Branch of that road was extended from Paola to Ottawa. The Missouri Valley Railroad (now Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs) was completed February 27, and opened March ist, making Kansas City's seventh railroad. In March, the Missouri Pacific Railroad took an interest in the Pleasant Hill & Lawrence Railroad, and in June it was under contract. In March the city council submitted to the people an ordinance to aid the Kansas City & Santa Fe 122 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Railroad to the extent of $100,000 between Kansas City and Ottawa, but it was voted down, because the people understood that Mr. Joy was interested in it, and intended to build it anyhow. This was found to be a mistake. In April contracts were let for building the Leavenworth & Atchison Railroad, and for the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad. On the 3d of that month, Kansas City, Kansas, was laid out, and on the 6th, the last stone on the Missouri River bridge was laid. Between that time and the 3d of July, the superstructure was put on, and the bridge was opened on the 3d with a celebration ; the first bridge on the Mis- souri River. In May, the Missouri Pacific Railroad began the agitation of a St. Louis and Santa Fe Railroad, to start from Holden, on their line, and run through Paola. Toward the latter part of the month, it was taken hold of by Colonel R. S. Stevens, and called the Missouri, Kansas & Albuquerque. It has since been built from Holden to Ottawa, and is operated as one of the Missouri Pacific cut- offs. On the 31st of May, the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad was completed to Paola. In June Mr. Joy became identified with the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, and the company was re-organized, after which it was pushed forward rapidly. The Missouri Pacific Railroad was originally built on what is known as the broad gauge, and on the i8th of July, it was changed the entire length of its line to the standard gauge. On the 7th of Au- gust the council again submitted to the people a proposition to vote $100,000 to the Kansas City & Santa Fe Railroad, of which $25,000 was to be expended in building a switch to the southern part of the city, and the balance on the line, between Olathe and Ottawa. This proposition was carried, and in October the line was surveyed. The foundations of the Nelson House, on the corner of Sec- ond and Main streets, were laid in the spring of 1869. Work was stopped on it in the fall, and it was sold the next year to the County Court, and was finished up in 1870 and 1871 as a County Court House. During the year 1869 the growth of the city was rapid, and great improve- ment was made on the streets. There was also much discussion of the water works question, and a company was formed to build the works. KANSAS CITY & MEMPHIS RAILROAD. Early in the year there began to be a great deal of discussion relative to the building of a railroad to Memphis, and on the 26th of August a large convention was held at Springfield for the purpose of setting the enterprise in motion. Only a temporary organization was here effected, but afterward, Oct. 19, another meet- ing was held at Kansas City, at which all the parties interested, including the counties in Missouri through which the road would run, Arkansas, and the city of Memphis, were represented. At this meeting an organization was effected, under the provisions of the charter of the Kansas City, Galveston & Lake Supe- rior Railroad, procured by Col. Van Horn in 1857. It was under the same char- ter that the Kansas City & Cameron Railroad was built. The directors elected at this meeting were A. H. Humphreys, E. D. Harper, W. P. Cox, W. L. Strong, W. B. Nichols, G. W. Jones, J. M. Richardson, S. S. Burdett, W. P. Johnson, Col. A. A. Tomlinson, Col. C. E. Kearney, Col. R. T. Van Horn, C. M. Ferree and Col. J. D. Williamson. In September, 1869, several companies in Missouri and Iowa were consoli- dated under the name of the Chicago & Southwestern Railroad Company, the object of which was to build a railroad from Davenport, Iowa, to the Missouri River. The line has since been built by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company, and has one branch terminating at Atchison, and another at Leavenworth, while it makes connections to Kansas City over the Hannibal & St. Joseph from Cameron. In November, 1869, the Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 123 was founded and incorporated ; and in December the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad was surveyed from Atchison to Topeka. This same month the Mis- souri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad reached Fort Scott, beyond which its progress was retarded by a league among the settlers on the Cherokee Neutral lands opposed to its progress, and by which the laborers were driven off. The Neosho Valley Railroad, now part of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, was finished between Junction City and Emporia that month also. The Union Pacific, eastern division, by which name the Pacific Railroad from Kansas City had been called, had its name changed in March, 1869, to Kansas Pacific. Its bond subsidy extended only to Sheridan, and for nearly a year it stopped at that place, but in 1869 it effected arrangements for the construction of the line to Denver, and grading was resumed in the latter part of 1869. AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR. The year 1869 was one of the most prosperous in the history of Kansas City. Her business was rapidly extended with the extension of her railroad lines, and the extent to which building was done, was scarcely less than in 1868. Her population had increased to thirty thousand, and she had that year made four and a half miles of street. She had seven railroads in operation, three of which were yet unfinished, but progressing rapidly. These were the Missouri Pacific,^ the North Missouri, the Platte Country,- the Missouri River, completed. The Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf, to Fort Scott, the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston, nearly to Garnett, and the Kansas Pacific to Sheridan. At this time she was so much in the lead that the rivalry between her and other Missouri valley cities was rapidly ceasing. , CITY ADDITIONS. The growth of Kansas City during the period covered by this chapter was never before equaled on the American continent, and notwithstanding the many "additions" to the city during the prosperous era from 1855 to 1861 many more were required to afford the people room. During these years the following named additions to the city were made, and the plats filed on the dates here given : January 12, 1865 — Resurvey of Reeds' Addition. June 3, '65 — McElroy's Sub-division. October 4, '65 — T. S. Case's Sub-division. October 5, '65 — Pacific Place Addition. October 17, '65 — Sol. S. Smith's Sub-division. December 15, '65 — Cottage Place Addition. December 18, '65 — McGee Place Addition. February ,19, '66 — Vineyard's Second Addition. February 27, '66 — Rice's Addition. April 9, '66 — West Kansas Addition, No. 2. May 2, '66 — Bailis Place Addition. May 21, '66 — Krey's Sub-division. May 24, '66 — A. J. Lloyd's Sub-division. May 24, '66 — Depot Addition (first plat). • May 27, '66 — Depot Addition {second plat). May 30, '66 — T. A. Smart's Second Addition. August 7, '66 — McLane's Sub-division. October i, '66 — Smart's Place Addition. December 11, '66 — Long & White's Sub-division. January 9, '67 — T. S. Case's Addition. April 22, '67 — Guinotte Bluff Addition. October, 8, '67 — Gillis' Addition. . 124 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. November i8, '67 — Case & Bailis' Sub-division. May II, '68— T. A. Smart's Third Addition. May 22, '68— E. M. McGee's Sub-division. June II, '68 — Extension to West Kansas Addition No. i. July 24, '68— B. F. Evans' Addition. August 19, '68 — Bidwell's Sub-division. October 2, '68 — Wm. Toms' Addition. October 30, '68 — Seegar's Addition. November 2, '68 — Armfield's Addition. November 5, '68 — Broadway Addition. December i, '68 — Mulkey's Addition. April 21, '69 — Second Resurvey of Reed's Addition. May 4, '69 — Hammerslough's Sub division. May 21, '68— Hurck's Sub-divison of Guinotte Bluff. June 29, '69 — Matthew & Hill's Sub-division. July 29, '69 — Thomas Green's Sub-division of lot 116, Hurck's Sub-division. September 11, '69 — Lykins' Place Addition. September 12, '69 — Branham's Sub-division. September 18, '69 — Gallfy's Addition. October 5, '6g — Bank Street Block Addition. THE BOARD OF TRADE. Reference has already been made to the organization of the Board of Trade in February, 1869, and to the fact that this organization was rendered necessary by the cessation of the Chamber of Commerce, organized in 1857. The Chamber of Commerce after its revival after the war, soon revived and secured the various railroads and other enterprises which it had inaugurated prior to the war. In doing this, many of its leading and most active members became connected with the enterprise which it had inaugurted, and were thus individually employed to such an extent that they could not attend to the affairs of the organization. Beside the objects for which it was instituted were now secured and the era of prosperity which it sought to inaugurate was in fullest existence. The occasion for it having therefore ceased in 1866-7, the organiza- tion itself ceased about the same time. Its success, however, in the securing of railroads, and the era of growth and prosperity which it sought, raised a new class of interests and questions which needed the concerted action of the people, and It was for this purpose that the Board of Trade was organized. This organization came into existence on the 6th day of February, 1869, ^t which time rules and by-laws were adopted and an election for officers held. At this election T. K. Hanna, Esq. , senior member of the jobbing dry goods house of Tootle, Hanna & Co., was elected president; M. Diveley, first vice-president, and S. S. Mathews, second vice-president ; D. M. Keen, was elected secretary and H. M. Holden, treasurer. The board had a membership of sixty-seven, among whom were many gen- tlemen still prominent among the business men of Kansas City. Among these men were such as H. J. Latshaw, M. Diveley, Adam Long, James M. Nave, B. A. Feineman, Thos. Green, H. M. Holden, T. B. Bullene, Col. A. A. TomUn- son, D. M. Jarboe, T. K. Hanna, Gen. Frank Askew, Matt Foster, E. H. Allen, L. Hammerslough, J. B. Wornall, E. W. Patterson, Francis Foster, J. W. Reid, C. M. Ferree, T. V. Bryant, Benj. McLean, Joseph Cahn, D. K. Abeel, J. E. Marsh, C. E. Kearney, J. A. McDonald, T. M. James, Dr. F. B. Nofsinger and T. J. Bigger, though these latter three did not become members until 1870. This organization was very active during 1869, and held weekly meetings, at which were discussed questions of importance to the city at that time, and com- mittees appointed to secure the changes and improvements it decided to be for HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 125 the common welfare. One of the first questions to come before it, was a propo- sition to divide Jackson county, which it vigorously opposed. About the same time it took up the subject of uniform drayage charges, and uniforn freight rates on the roads already constructed to Kansas City. The first of these objects was speedily secured by city ordinance; and the latter, together with all discrimina- tions against the city, was before it all the year, but it finally succeeded with all the roads in securing satisfactory rates and a discontinuance of all discrimina- tions. The movement for paid fire department originated with it and it secured such an establishment. It also secured a license law for drummers selling goods by sample in the city. It endeavored at one time, without success, to have the Kansas Pacific Railroad deliver and receive freight at the Grand avenue depot of the Missouri Pacific Railroad on account of the distance to the State Line depot and the almost impassable condition of Fifth and Bluff streets. Failing in this, it undertook next an extensive system of street improvements, including the grading and paving of Second, Fifth, Bluff and Twelfth streets and Independence avenue. For this purpose it asked the City Council to submit a proposition to the people of the city to vote sixty thousand dollars for these im- provements. The subject was then referred to a committee consisting of H. M. Holden, A. A. Bainbridge, J. W. Reid, A. C. Dyas and J. B. Wornall, to secure the desired action by the Council. They were successful, and the proposition was submitted at an election held for that purpose August 8th. About the same time the board took up this matter, it also took up the ques- tion of voting one hundred thousand dollars aid to the Kansas City & Santa Fe Railroad Company to aid in completing its road between Olathe and Ottawa. It procured the requisite action from the City Council, submitting such a proposi- tion at the same election as that for money to improve the streets. The commit- tee through whom this action was secured was composed of M. Diveley, S. S. Matthews and D. M. Keen, who acted jointly with a like committee appointed by the secretary of the railroad company. These two propositions being thus submitted to the people, Messrs. T. K. Hanna, J. W. Reid and D. M. Keen were appointed by the board a committee to prepare a memorial addressed to the people showing why it should be adopted. Messrs. A. L. Harris, Col. Frank Foster and Peter Soden, from the first ward ; E. M. McGee, L. Hammerslough and Henry Tobener, from the second ward ; Gen. J. W. Reid, A. A. Bainbridge and J. P. Green, from the third ward ; and J. R. Bailis, G. W. Branham and James E. Marsh, from the fourth ward, were appointed a committee to work for the propositions in their respective wards on the day of election, and were authorized to employ bands of music and carriages to convey voters to and from the polls. Both propositions were carried by their efforts, and thus the street improvements were secured and also the construction of this railroad, which was immediately proceeded with, and by means of which the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad was secured to Kansas City. Later in the year, the Board sent a delegate to Springfield, Mo., in the in- terest of the Kansas City & Memphis Railroad, and agitated the question of water works for the city, but it undertook no further enterprises of any magni- tude during that year. 126 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER XII. THE PROGRESS FROM 1870 TO 1872. Improvement and Enlargement of the Railroad Facilities — Inceptioti of the Barge Line — Water and Gas Works Built — The Law Library — The Barge Line — The Exposition — The Board of Trade, and other Improvet?ients. The rapid progress and development of the city at the close of 1869, con- tinued several years afterward, and until causes of a national character depressed immigration to Kansas, stopped railroad building and produced the condition of financial stringency caluminating in the great panic of 1873 and the subsequent general depression. The years of 187 1 and 1872 were years of great prosperity and growth, '^ though before the close of the latter, shadows of the coming depression began to be felt. The year 1872 was less active in buildings and improvements, and in the year 1873 occurred the great panic; after which, for three years, Kanas N City, in common with the whole country, made little progress in visible forms, but in the development of and extension of trade, her progress was uninterrupted, and at the close of 1876, she was alike the market and a source of supply of the New West, embracing Western Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Northern Texas, with Southwestern Iowa and Southern Nebraska, gradually com- ing in. THREE RAILROADS FINISHED. The subjects of chief discussion in 1870, and the ends to which the city was lending its efforts and energies, were the Kansas City & Memphis Railroad, and the construction of the water works. The Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf, the Kansas City & Santa Fe, and the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroads were all secured, and in course of rapid construction, hence were not objects of solicitude to the city. The Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf was completed to Baxter Springs and opened for business in May. The Kansas City & Santa Fe was finished between Olathe and Ottawa, and opened for business August 2 2d, and from the first was operated as part of the Leavenworth, Law- rence and Galveston Railroad. The Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Rail- road reached Thayer, Kansas, by the close of the year, and was completed and opened to Coffey ville, on the southern line of the State, September 4, 187 1. The Kansas Pacific, which was in a very forward state at the beginning of 1870, was completed to Denver on the 15th of August, and thus affected a connection with the Union Pacific, the Denver Pacific, from Denver to Cheyenne, having been already completed. RIGHT OF WAY THROUGH THE INDIAN TERRITORY. About the same time that Congress granted a charter for the Kansas & Neosho Valley Railroad, at the time of which we now write, known as the Mis- souri River, Fort Scott & Gulf, it granted a charter also for the Southern Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad, which was to run from Fort Riley, Kansas, south- wardly to Fort Smith, Arkansas, which would take it through the Indian territory. This was secured at the instance of southern representatives and senators. At the same time, the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Fort Gibson Railroad, at the time of which we write known as the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, was in progress from Lawrence southward. This road, as already noticed, was pro- jected by Senator James H. Lane, of Kansas, and by him and others interested HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 127 was designed to run through the Indian Territory, to connect with the Texas Central for Galveston. Hence the charter for the Fort Scott road introduced by Col. R. T. Van Horn, of this city, and passed in July, was so amended upon its passage, at the instance of the southern senators and representatives, and Senator Lane, as to provide that if either of these latter roads reached the boundary of the Indian Territory before the Fort Scott road reached there, they would have the right to the right of way through the Indian Territory, secured by treaty, and by this charter granted to the Fort Scott road. The Fort Scott road reached the line about a month in advance of the Neosho Valley Railroad, which was con- structed on the charter of the Southern Branch of the Pacific, and which afterward became known as the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. Nothwithstanding this fact the latter road raised a question of right with the Fort Scott road to the right of way through the Indian Territory. The ground upon which it contested the right of the Fort Scott road was that the charter provided that the State line should be crossed in the valley of the Neosho River, and it held that the terminus of the Fort Scott road at Baxter Springs was not in that valley. The map of the route had been approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and thus its location had been approved. Yet the case came up before that officer and the then incumbent decided it in favor of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and thus shut out the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf, THE MEMPHIS RAILROAD IN 1870. In February, 1870, Mr. Edward P. Tucke was engaged by the Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis Railroad Company to survey the line, and he began the work immediately. During the spring months, while this work was in progress, the counties along the line voted aid to it, and it was progressing finely. Early in the summer, however, there appeared in the field another enterprise, the Clin- ton, Kansas City & Memphis Branch of the Tebo & Neosho Railroad Company, proposing to build a line of road from Kansas City to Memphis, by the way of Clinton, in Henry county. Mo., instead of by the way of Springfield. The Tebo & Neosho Railroad charter was an old one granted by the Legislature of the State of Missouri, and upon which the Kansas Land and Trust Company had already built a road from Sedalia, by the way of Fort Scott, to Parsons, Kan. , where it united with the Neosho Valley Railroad from Junction City, Kan. This latter road, as already stated, was built on a charter granted by Congress for a South- ern Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad from Fort Riley to Fort Smith, and by the same parties who built the road from Sedalia to Parsons. When these two roads were united under one management, the consolidated road took the name of Missouri, Kansas & Texas. The Clinton, Kansas City & Memphis Branch of the Tebo & Neosho Railroad was a company organized as a branch of this road under a general law of the State of Missouri, authorizing railroads to construct branches. From the time of its appearance in the field, both companies were canvassing along the line for county aid, and some counties voted aid to one, and some to the other, and the feeling in the country from Kansas City southward was much divided between them. Thus they stood at the end of the year. WATER-WORKS. The necessity of water-works was much discussed during the early part of the year, and finally took shape in a determination on the part of the city to build them. For this purpose the council adopted an ordinance providing for raising $300,000, and it was submitted to the people and adopted by them on the 2d of June. It was soon ascertained, however, that there was some informality in the election — people being allowed to vote who had not registered, as re- quired by law — which made the bonds of doubtful validity, and the scheme was 128 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. abandoned, but not until after much discussion and too late in the year to inau- gurate another enterprise. OTHER ENTERPRISES OF 1870. The Texas cattle movement through this city to the eastern markets, which began in 1868, had assumed such proportions as to render better accommodations necessary, and accordingly in the spring of 1870, the railroads running eastwardly from here built stock yards for the receiving and transfer of stock. In May, the Platte County Railroad from Kansas City to the Iowa line, and the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad from the Iowa line to Council Bluffs, were consolidated, having passed into the hands of the Boston interest, with which Mr. Joy was connected, and it then took the name of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs, by which it is now known. In June a company was organized to build a road from Kansas City to the northward, through Plattsburg, but nothing was ever done with it. James Birch, of Plattsburg, was president of the company, and Col. E. M. McGee, of Kansas City, vice-president. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, the construction of which was began in 1868, at Atchison, was this year put into operation to Emporia. The railroad up the west side of the river to Troy, and the M., K. & T. Railroad between Sedalia and Parsons were finished. Coates' Opera House was finished in September, and on the 6th of October dedicated; Mr. Charles Pope, of St. Louis, being the first manager. THE "journal" again. On the 9th of March Col. John Wilder, the editor of The Journal of Com- merce, which was then being published by John Wilder & Co., was shot and instantly killed by James Hutchinson, at the city court house, about a personal matter. Col. Wilder was a very popular man and editor, and his loss was gready deplored by the people. Hutchinson afterward died before his trial. On the 2 1 St of May following. Col. Van Horn, who had now completed his third successive term in Congress, purchased the interest of Col. Wilder in The Journal. Three days afterward his old ante-war partner, D. K. Abeel, purchased the interest held by Smith Baker, Esq. , and the firm of R. T. Van Horn & Co. came into existence. OTHER NEWSPAPERS. The Advertiser, a Democratic daily was established by a gentleman named Simpson in 1865, but failed in 1869. The Bulletin, a Republican daily, was established by George W. Householder, in March, 1868, and failed in 1873. And the Kansas City Times, the present leading Democratic daily, was established by a company in the spring of 1868. The News, an evening independent paper, was established by a co-operative company of printers in 1870 and failed in 1874. And the Mail, an evening Democratic paper, was estabUshed by Col. John C. Moore in the spring of 1875, and is still published, STREET RAILROADS. The Kansas City and Westport Horse Railroad Company which had been organized in 1869, with W. K. Bernard, Edward Price, Geo. W. Briant, Nehe- miah Holmes, Col. E. M. McGee, J. Q. Watkins and William Dunlap as incor- porators, was built in 1870 from the corner of Fourth and Main streets by Fourth, Walnut, Twelfth and Grand avenue to Sixteenth street. In 1870 the Jackson County Horse Railroad Company was organized with J. Q. Watkins, F. R. Long, A. C. Dyas, D. O. Smart, C. E. Waldron as incorpo- rators. It was to build a line from Twelfth street and Forest avenue to Indepen- dence avenue, thence to Grand avenue, thence to Fifth street, thence to Walnut HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 129" Street, thence to Fourth street and thence to Main street, with another line extending along Fourth to Wyandotte, thence to Fifth and thence by way of Fifth and Bluff streets and Union avenue to Mulbery street, thence to Ninth street, and thence to the State line in the direction of Wyandotte. No work was done on this line that year. CENSUS AND BUSINESS. The United States census, taken in 1870, gave the population of Missouri Valley cities as follows : Kansas City. 32,286- Leavenworth 17)873 Atchison 7) 054 Lawrence 8,315 St. Joseph 19,565 Council Bluffs 10,020 Omaha 16,083 Topeka • 5,79° The increase for Kansas City from 4,418 in i860, was the largest per cent, of increase ever made by any American city, but its real magnitude can only be appreciated when it is remembered that these ten years included five of war, during which Kansas City's population decreased to about three thousand five hundred, so that instead of the increase being from 4,418 to 32,286 in ten years, it was actually from about 3,500 to 32,286 in five years. At the end of the year Kansas City had eight railroads and seven banks ; had built, during the year, 927 houses, at an aggregate cost of $3,454,500, had made 60,000,000 brick, and had a jobbing trade as follows : Dry Goods $2,511,840 Groceries 2,614,425 Liquors 618,108 Other jobbing lines 3,004.320 Total $8,748,693 The whole business of the city, including all lines, was estimated to have been $34,794,880. THE BOARD OF TRADE IN 1870. The Board of Trade was not a very active organization in 1870. The evils it was brought into existence to remedy, and the interests it sought to secure, having been remedied and secured in 1869, its members yielded to the same im- pulses which had caused the decease of the Chamber of Commerce, and devoted themselves to their own affairs. At the annual election, Jan. 25th, T. K. Hanna was elected President, Gen. Frank Askew, First Vice-President, M. Diveley, Second Vice-President and H. M. Holden Treasurer. The principal objects it interested itself in during the year were the Memphis Railroad, an effort to prevent the removal of the city post-office to the Junction of Main, Delaware and Ninth Streets, the collection of business statistics at the request of Col. Van Horn, to aid him in securing from Congress, of which he was still a member, the establishment of a custom house, an attempt to prevent the Missouri Pacific Railroad from discriminating against this city and in favor of Leavenworth, to which place its line was now extended by use of the Missouri River Railroad between Kansas City and Leavenworth, and a few other matters of less importance. EVENTS OF 187 1. In January, 187 1, another commercial organization, called the Merchant's Exchange, was organized, the object of which was to maintain a daily exchange BULLENE, MOORES & EMERY's WHOLESALE BUILDING, KANSAS CITY, MO. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 131 for the sale and purchase of articles of produce, which by this time began to seek a market in Kansas City. Of the doings of this organization no record is now known to be extant, but from the records of the Board of Trade it is learned that an effort was made in January to consolidate the two. Mr. Hanna, President of the Board of Trade, and James E. Marsh of the same organization formed the consolidation, which Mr. Nave and others held that the objects sought by the two were not necessarily identical, and might be better secured by separate organ- izations. This view fin illy prevailed, and they were not consolidated. The Mer- chants Exchange found itself in advance of the times, and after a few months became quiet. The Board of Trade held but a few meetings in 187 1 and under- took no enterprise of importance. The officers this year were : T. K. Hanna, President; Gen. Frank Askew, First Vice-President; James M. Nave, Second Vice-President ; E. L. Martin, Secretary and B. A. Feineman, Treasurer. OTHER MOVEMENTS IN 1 87 1. In January, 1871, an effort was made to establish a furniture factory, and a stock company was organized for that purpose. A building was erected on the southern part of Walnut street, and the manufacture of furniture begun. It con- tinued but a year or two, however, and failed. THE MEMPHIS RAILROAD. The conflict between the rival Memphis Railroad Companies continued through the early half of the year. In March the County Court of Jackson county transferred the county subscription from the Springfield to the Clinton road, and there was much agitation and some litigation about the matter. In June, however, the conflicting interests were united and harmonized, and the road, as projected by them, was to be one line to Harrisonville, and thence two ; one by the way of Springfield, and one by way of Clinton. Work was begun on the Kansas City end July 15th, and continued until sometime in the winter, when the company called upon Jackson county for money, and got into a dispute with the authorities about the amount of work done. Litigation, growing out of this dispute, stopped all further work until 1873, when the matter was adjusted, the company got the Jackson county bonds, and expended the proceeds thereof in grading on the road. When this was done, the road bed was finished for nearly one hundred miles south from the city; but owing to the depression of the money markets, resulting from the great panic that year, was not afterward able to negotiate its bonds, to purchase the iron and rolling stock. The company was finally forced into bankruptcy, and the road sold December i, 1876, for $1,100. WATER-WORKS AGAIN. The city continued to agitate the construction of water-works, as it still felt the need of a better supply of water. In April the City Council adopted an ordi- nance authorizing their construction by a company, and soon afterward a company of citizens was organized for that purpose. Colonel Coates was President of this company, and H.. M. Holden, Esq., Secretary and Treasurer. A contract was let to Messrs. Locke & Walruff, to build the works, and it was expected that work would soon begin. Indeed, the terms of the ordinance under which the company was organized required that it should begin within six months. Nothing was done by the contractors, however, until the time had expired, and the charter was forfeited. There continued much agitation of the matter. In the winter of 1872-3 an act was passed by the Missouri Legislature, authorizing the city to contract with a company for the purpose of building works, and in pursuance thereof, two dif- ferent propositions were voted upon, and defeated by the people in the spring of 132 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 1873. In November of that year, a contract was entered into with the National Water-Works Company of New York, which was approved by the people ; and that company, in 1874 and 1875, constructed the works, consisting of two reservoirs, two Holly engines, about sixteen miles of street main, and two hundred fire hy- drants. By the terms of the contract, the city guaranteed to the company net earnings to the amount of $56,000 annually, until that sum should be received from rents, after which the guaranty was to cease. In the winter of 1875 the company reported its works complete, and demanded that their rents for fire pur- poses and the guaranty should begin ; but at this point there arose a dispute be- tween the company and the city authorities, which was made use of for election- eering purposes that spring and the spring of 1876, and the matter was not adjusted for several years. COAL. In June, 187 1, there arose much discussion about coal, and it was beheved that coal could be found at Kansas City, since it had been discovered at Fort Scott and so many other adjacent places. A company was formed, and an appro- priation made by the city, to be expended in prospecting. The money was ex- pended in drilling a well in West Kansas City, but nothmg resulted from it. The completion of the Fort Scott road, however, made it less of an object, as it begun to bring coal from Fort Scott and along the line, and it has since become a prom- inent article of commerce in Kansas City, from which the Missouri "Valley is sup- plied. THE EXPOSITION. About the 4th of August the establishment of an Annual Industrial Exposi- tion began to be agitated. The first mention of this subject was made by the Bulletin newspaper, in an editorial article written by Capt. D. H. Porter, then its editor. The other newspapers immediately took it up and urged the sugges- tion, and soon brought about a pubhc sentiment in its favor which resulted in the organization of a company for an experimental exposition to be held that fall. Edward Fleischer, Esq., was engaged to superintend it and the work begun. Much interest was taken in it by the people and everything done that was deemed necessary. The buildings were erected, the arrangements completed, and the grounds opened October i6th. It continued six days and was a complete suc- cess, fully thirty thousand people having attended on one day — Thursday. Immediately afterward a permanent association was organized, fair grounds in the southeastern part of the city were secured, and it became a permanent institution with annually increasing interest. Col. Coates, who was elected President of the Association by which the experimental exposition was held, become President of the permanent organiza- tion, which position he has continued to fill. D. L. Hall, Esq., the first Secre- tary, continued in that position until 1880, when he resigned and was succeeded by J. Y. Leveridge, Esq. THE LAW LIBRARY. For several years there had been felt a great need of a law library. The rapid growth of the city had attracted hither a great many attorneys, many of whom were young men who had not yet accumulated libraries of their own. There had been enough agitation of the subject to attract attention abroad, so that about the ist of September, Messrs. Banks & Bros., law-booksellers, of New York, informed some of the attorneys that they had recently been intrusted with the sale of the library of the Hon. A. C. Baldwin, of Michigan, which con- tained complete sets of reports of all the States and Territories in the Union down to 1870. A meeting of the attorneys was immediately called, an association organized, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 133 and the shares fixed at $250 each. Fifty-four shares were immediately sub- scribed, some business men taking part to help the attorneys. The money was thus raised and the Ubrary purchased, the books being received here Octo- ber 30th. Since that time the association has added subsequent reports, and a set of English reports, making the Kansas City library, with perhaps one or two excep- tions, the most complete in the United States. The first officers of this association were John C. Gage, President ; Wallace Pratt, Vice-President; John K. Cravens, Secretary; Henry N. Ess, Treasurer; and Col. A. A. Tomlinson, Judge Nelson Cobbs, Judge Warwick Hough, Judge F. M. Black, J. W. Jenkins, J. C. Gage, E. W. Kimball, Wallace Pratt and L. C. Slavens, Board of Directors. THE CHICAGO FIRE. About this time, that is about the loth of October, occurred the great fire in Chicago, which so nearly destroyed that city, and turned out its hundreds of thousands of prosperous people without homes or means of subsistence. The mayor of that city made an appeal to the generosity of the public for aid to pre- vent the suffering and starvation that must otherwise follow so appaling a disaster. Among the cities of the United States, Kansas City was not least prompt in responding to this appeal. Mayor Warner immediately convened the council, and an appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made and immediately for- warded. About the same time a public meeting of the people was called, and a relief association organized, of which General W. H. Powell was president. This association held a succession of meetings, and appointed soliciting committees for each ward. It also established a storehouse for the reception of donations of food, money and clothing, and in the course of a few days had collected together several thousand dollars worth of money, food, clothing, etc., and promptly for- warded it to the sufferers. THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILROAD. The ist of September the Chicago & Southwestern Railway was completed to Beverly, on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad. It im- mediately became the property of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and until about the ist of January, 1880, made its connections with Kansas City over the line of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs road. At the time above mentioned, however, it made a contract with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad by which it secured the right to use the tracks of that road from Cam- eron to Kansas City, since which it has run its trains through to Kansas City by that route. THE EVENTS OF 1 87 2. In Jaxiuary, 1872, the name of the North Missouri Railroad was changed to St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern. In January, 1872, the Board of Trade and Merchants Exchange having both become non-active, there was a movement among the business men for the formation of another commercial organization. This finally took shape January 1 6th, in a call for a meeting of the members of both the existing organizations at the court-house. After some preliminary discussion, it was determined to unite the two bodies, elect new officers and start anew. M. English, Esq., was chosen President pro tern.. General W. H. Powell, Vice-President, and I.N. Hicks, Secre- tary. Nineteen names were enrolled for the new organization. The next day, a second meeting was held, at which rules were adopted and an election of officers held. Gen. Powell was elected President, Dr. F. B. Nofsinger, First Vice-President; J. A. Dewar, Second Vice-President; A. S. Haines, 134 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Secretary, and Junius Chaffee, Treasurer. Mr. Haines finding it inconsistent with business interests to fill the position of secretary, soon afterward resign- ed, and D. Royce Drake was chosen in his place. At the annual election, January, 1873, Hon. H. J. Latshaw was elected President, A. D. Simons, Secre- tary, and Junius Chaffee, Treasurer. In June following, Mr. Simons resigned the office of secretary, and W. H. Miller was chosen in his stead, and by suc- cessive annual elections has continued to fill the office. At the next annual election, in 1874, Dr. F. B. Nofsinger was chosen President, and continued to act as such, by annual election, until 1878. At the annual election, 1875, Mr. Diveley was chosen Treasurer, in the place of Mr. Chaffee, and served one year. He, with Messrs. Nofsinger and Miller, were re-elected to their respective positions again in 1876, but soon afterward, May 9th, he went out of •office on a re-organi- zation of the board, Howard M. Holden being chosen to fill the place. The Board continued under this organization until May, 1876, and until that time it was only a voluntary association, the memberships continued for one year only, and were secured by paying such annual sum as was decided upon by the mem- bers attending the annual meetings. THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND SANTA FE RAILROAD. When the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad had been extended far into the Arkansas Valley and begun to share largely in the transportation of Tex- as cattle, it found that a large proportion of its business, about two thirds, originat- ed at Kansas City, or was destined for that place. Hence it became desirous of securing a line of its own to the city. Accordingly some gentlemen in Topeka, in the spring of 1872, organized the Topeka and Lawrence Railroad Company, to build a line to Lawrence, and at the same time a company called the Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka, was organized in Kansas City to build the* line between Kansas City and Lawrence, Maj. L. K. Thacher, Col. R. H. Hunt, E. L. Mar- tin, J. R. Bailis, and F. R. Long constituted this company. On the 12th of No- vember the city voted $100,000 to aid the company. No progress was made by this company that year. THE KANSAS CITY AND EASTERN RAILROAD. This important local Hne of railroad was inaugurated in the summer of 1872, under the name of the Kansas City, Wyandotte & Northeastern, and it was at first designed to run from Kansas City through Wyandotte and in a northwesterly direction to the Kansas and Nebraska State line. The company, however, failed to secure the requisite aid, and it was turned the other way, down the Missouri River. August 21, 1872, Kaw township, in which Kansas City is situated, voted it $150,000 aid for the line to the northwest. It was soon found, however, that the requisite aid could not be obtained along the line in Kansas, -and its course was changed as above stated, when, Oct. 15, 1872, Blue township, in Jackson county, voted bonds to it. The following March, 1873, the question of transfer- ring the Kaw township bonds to the line westward from the city was submitted to the people, and authority for the transfer given. The contract was let on the first section, between Kansas City and Independence, in October, 1873, and work begun in December. That part of the line was finished in 1874, and in 1875 the balance of the line at Lexington was put under contract and completed in the spring of 1876. This road is the only narrow gauge road in Kansas City, and is very important as a local road and because of its reaching the great coal mines at Lexington. BARGES ON THE MISSOURI RIVER. The idea of navigating the Missouri River with barges was first proposed on the 23d of April, 1872, in an editorial article in the Journal, which was written by the then commercial editor. In his study of the commercial situation of Kari- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 135 sas City, and of the means that might be adopted for its improvement, he hit upon this idea, and in the editorial article referred to, stated the situation and the ends to be attained by bargt^s. The origin of the idea cannot be better shown than by copying the article entire. It was as follows : ''The business men of this community realize that the great need of Kansas City at the present time is a line of barges on the Missouri river. Quick transit by rail, and the uncertainty and difficulty of navigating the river during the latter part of the summer has rendered steamboating unprofitable, and nearly abolished it. We are compelled to receive and ship our freights by the various railroads, and although we are favorably situated in this regard, we cannot offer the induce- ments needed for the shipment of the products of the country around us to this market, nor to the merchants of neighboring towns to supply themselves here with what they want for their customers. Our advantages in freights east are not sufficient to render it entirely impossible to load grain on the cars in Kansas, Nebraska, Western Missouri and Western Iowa for the markets to which our grain is shipped ; hence the smaller places in the district named, having access to our railroads, become collecting centers for the grain around them and ship it direct to eastern markets. The larger merchants in such places find themselves able to buy their stocks in eastern places and ship them direct to their establish- ment. " A barge line will remove these conditions. By giving cheap freights for grain to St. Louis, it will compel the shipment of all the grain raised in the dis- trict named, to this city, to obtain the benefit of such freights. It will, also, reduce the cost of freights from the east here to such an extent as to bring down the prices of all kinds of manufactured articles, groceries, etc., in this market, and while our dealers will be able to realize their present profits they will also be able to sell goods at such figures as to successfully compete with all the world for the trade of this country. Thus it will be seen that scarcely any other enter- prise could secure such benefits to our city. " The establishment of a barge line will at once create the business necessary to make it profitable. There is no question about the feasibility of barge naviga- tion of the Missouri, for in Europe many streams are thus navigated which are worse than the Missouri. The moment that it is known that a barge line will be established to this city, to begin on a certain date, there will be a movement of the products of the country to this city, attracted by its cheap freights, that will load every barge down the river. After harvest, the grain crop of Kansas, Nebraska, western Missouri and western Iowa will all come down here for the same reason, and during the fall will furnish a barge line all the business it can do. " Return freights will be ample to load all up river barges. As it is, the quantity of goods that would be shipped to this city, of the class that a barge line would certainly handle, is such that it would afford a fair business. The reduc- tion in freights would so reduce the prices of such goods in this market as to cause an immense increase of the trade, and thus naturally augment the amount of business that a barge line would have to do. In view of these facts there can be no doubt of the profit of the enterprise. "It is stated that Capt. Eads has partly promised to put in such a line of barges soon, but it is too important an interest to take any chances. Our Board of Trade can do nothing more important at this juncture than to collect the ma- terial to show to Capt. Eads and others that it will certainly pay, and thus secure, beyond all question, its immediate establishment. " In this enterprise, St. Louis has an interest as well as Kansas City, for while it gives us all the advantages of being a receiving and distributing depot, it will secure to St. Louis the passing of all our receipts through that city, and make it the market which our products will reach first on their way to the consumer. If St. Louis cannot derive a great benefit from these facts, she does not possess 136 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. the enterprise for which she receives credit. Further than this, it will cause the shipment to this place and to St. Louis, via this barge line, the products of a vast area of territory in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, which now finds their market in Chicago. In return, it will enable St. Louis and this city to supply the same area with merchandise, whereas it is now supplied by Chicago." This article excited a deep interest among the mrechants, and it was followed by several others that brought to view more in detail the benefits it was proposed thus to secure. The subject was taken up by the Board of Trade and referred to a standing committee on Internal Improvements, consisting of Col. James E. Marsh, Junius Chaffee, J. A. Dewar, Gen. W. H. Powell and E. R. Thelkeld. On the 29th of April this committee addressed a letter to Capt. Eads, of St. Louis, and one to Col. Octave Chanute, then superintendent of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, with headquarters at Lawrence. On the 9th of May they reported a telegram from Capt. Eads, saying that he "was so constantly occupied that he could not promise a report, but would write a letter strongly urging the plan as soon as he had leisure." They reported also the following from Col. Chanute : Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, Superintendent's Office, Lawrence, Kansas, May 6, 1872. J. E. Marsh, J. Chaffee, J. A. Dewar, W. H. Powell, E. R. Threlkeld, Committee of Board of Trade, Kansas City, Mo.: Gentlemen — I find here upon my return after a short absence, your favor of the 29th ult. , asking my opinion as to the feasibility and practicability of es- tablishing a barge line on the Missouri River to St. Louis and New Orleans, with a view to handling grain, etc. And first, let me say, that I concur most heartily and earnestly with the wis- dom and opportuneness of the proposal. In my judgment, the country to the west, north and south of your city will be worth very little, unless some means be taken to cheapen the transportation of its products, to the existing markets, or new markets opened sufficient to absorb all its surplus ; and the railroads which drain this territory are largely interested in bringing about such a consummation. The business of the cities which border the great bend of the Missouri, has hitherto been confined to the distributing of manufactured goods and supplies, to the fast settling up country beyond them. These have been paid for with the money that the emigrants had brought with them, or that which had been dis- bursed by foreign capital that has been building our railroads. These supplies are nearly exhausted, and there must hereafter be exports of surplus products in ex- change for the consumption of goods ; industry must be directed into the most profitable channels, and a great change take place in the character of the leading business. I confess I have not yet been able to see how the farmers of Kansas and Ne- braska, would be able to compete successfully with those of Illinois and Missouri, in marketing to the eastward their bulkier products, such as corn, with the pres- ent methods and cost of transportation. They can, to be sure, concentrate their corn into cattle, or hogs or highwines, or starch, and so export them, but the profit will be less, and the return less immediate. On the other hand, the railroads to the west and south of you are interested in taking the corn to market in its original shape, in order to secure as much tonnage as possible. For instance assuming a crop of forty bushels to the acre, it requires but seven and one half acres of the tributary territory to load one railroad car, while with the usual allowance of two acres per head per annum, a car carries ofi" the products of forty acres in the shape of twenty head of cattle ; or allowing thirty bushels of corn required per head of hogs for fattening, and HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 137 one-fourth of an acre per head for range, a car will carry off the product of fifty- acres in the shape of so many hogs. Our experience in this country has thoroughly proved, that while railroads are admirably adapted to the gathering of the products of the land, over com- paratively short distances, and the quick transportation of the more valuable and perishable commodities, over long distances, they connot compete successfully with well organized water transportation, for the bulkier products in proportion to value, where time is not so essential. Even under the most favorable circum- stances the cost of rail transportation is from two to six times as much as the cost of carrying by water. Some years ago a Mr. J. McAlpine, then engineer for the State of New York, investigated the subject with much care, and arrived at the following re- sults, as to the cost of various modes of transportation. Ocean — long voyage, 1.50 mills per ton per mile. Ocean — short voyage, 2 to 6 mills per ton per mile. Lakes — long voyage, 2 mills per ton per mile. Lakes — short voyage, 3 to 4 mills per ton per mile. Rivers — Hudson and similar character, 2.5 mills per ton per mile. Rivers — tributaries of Mississippi, 5 to 10 mills per ton per mile. Erie Canal enlarged, 4 mills per ton per mile. Railroads — favorable line and grades, 12.5 mills per ton per mile. Railroads — steep grades, 15 to 20 mills per ton per mile. It must be clearly understood and remembered that the above is the prime cost of the transportation, and that only with sufficient business to keep the lines thoroughly employed. The charges will vary with the rate of profit exacted, the risk attending the carrying, and the volume of business done. At a convention held in Chicago in 1863, to promote the improvement of the existing methods of transporting the products of the west to the seaboard, which even then were felt to be inadequate, and to improve the navigation of the Illinois River, the following table was given of the cost and existing charges of forwarding the leading articles, from the mouth of the Missouri River : STATEMENT SHOWING THE RATES OF TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND NEW YORK IN 1862; ALSO THE COST WITH A COMMODIOUS WATER TRANSPORTATION. TO CHICAGO TO BUFFALO BY TO ALBANY ILL. RIVER IMPROVm't. LAKE. , ERIE CANAL ENl'g'd HUDSON RIVER. TOTAL. FROM ALTON, ILLINOIS. ■ o g 3 O ■ -c O «E ■ o g 3 n o c o O 2.0. n () v o u 3 ft c o • n O n ^1 -1 d 3 3' ~ ft o S-'S n o o 3- n p. m .ftp PC peg. Cts. = "* 3 3 *i Mills. Miles. C. M. M. n C. M. M. c. C. M. M. C. ct c. c. C. 1 Corn. . . 3% 320 3 141 2 950 5 3 9.6 4 350)^ 3.9 2>^ 151 1.0 13.3 13.2 36.8 23 6 Wheat . . . 3% 320 3.2 15 2 950 5.7 10.6 4 350 >i 4.2 2H 151 1.0 15.4 14.2 41.0 26 8 Flour, brls s% 320 11.2 35 2 950 19,0 43.0 4 350 X 14. 2X 151 3.7 70. 47.9 148.0 100 By Rail*. Cts. Dis. Cts. Cts. Cts. Dis. Cts. Cts. Cts. Dis. Cts. Cts. Cts. Dis, Cts. Cts. Cts. Cts. Cts. 2 Corn. . . 13^ 256 8.9 14 1}^ 513 17.9 27.5 i;^ 380 13.3 20 IX 144 5 7 47.6 69.4 56 2 Wheat . . m 256 9.6 15 IX 513 19.2 29.5 IX 380 1.42 21.4 IK 144 5.4 8.5 48.4 74.4. 60 2 Flour . . l)i 256 32 50 l)i 513 64.1 QHVi i}i 380 47.5 7VA IK 144 18 27.0 101.6 246.6 198 7 *For six months, during the suspension of navigation, the cost is given by rail ; but in the last column, from the amount charged is deducted the cost by water. tAmounts charged between Buifalo, N. Y., included in same column. |Existing rates by rail. 138 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. These calculations are based upon the assumption of a reasonable immunity from accidents, and the adoption of such a system as may be best fitted to the character of the stream it is proposed to navigate. If they are correct, the follow- ing would be the cost and charges upon a few of the leading articles, from and to St. Louis : ESTIMATED COST AND CHARGES BARGE TRANSPORTATION OF MISSOURI. DOWN STREAM. ARTICLES. Corn per bushel . Wheat per bushel Flour per barrel . Beef per barrel . . Hay per ron . . . d ?0 n > > p W en w C/2 w p n e- i-H C 3 r> S 3 ro ns |— ; D >-i-l C G. Cu P i-t ^ C/3 3 P •-1 Q 0- • — 5 ^ 35 p (K tn 392 2-5 .02^ Va •02>^ $ .06 392 2-5 •03 .01 •03 .07 392 2-5 .10 .04 .08 .22 392 2-5 .16 •05 .19 •33 392 2-5 .98 . 12 .90 2.00 •-d UP STREAM. Lumber M. F. B. M . . . Iron and Nails per 1000 lbs. Glass per 1000 ths Salt per barrel Anthracite per ton .... 392 5-0 $2.44 .35 $1 .20 $4.00 392 5-0 .TO 03 .07 .20 392 5-0 .10 .06 .08 .24 392 5-0 .29 •05 . 12 .46 392 5-0 1.96 .10 .04 3. CO But, it will be said, no such rates of profits and charges now prevail on the river, and the railroads have nearly driven off the steamboats. True, but this may perhaps be the fault, not of the river, but of the character of the boats now upon it, which, originally designed for a mixed passenger and freight traffic, have not yet had time to adapt themselves to an exclusively freight transportation, and to the altered condition of affairs, as to the class of goods to be carried. Their hulls are built for fast running, instead of capacity for carrying, their machinery uses fuel and steam in the most expensive way, and they carry large crews, who cost and waste enormously, and await in idleness the emergencies of the local traffic. A barge line properly designed must effect large savings under all three of the above heads. I believe that if they understand their permanent interests aright, the exist- ing railroads will favor the proposition to re-organize the river transportation, so as to reduce its cost to a minimum. They may thereby lose a little tonnage for a time, but their permanent interests are that the trans-Missouri country shall be set- tled and profitably farmed, and that the industry of the people shall be organized and directed in the best manner. No permanent prosperity for the railroads can be estabhshed at the expense of the country, its wealth and well-being must pre- cede and form the basis for the success of its transportation lines. Already there is a preposterous amount of carrying back and to, and the road with which I am connected alone, has shipped to St. Louis, during the past season, many car loads of wheat, which it is now bringing back in the shape of flour at the rate of two or three cars a week. It is a significant fact that no railroad in Illinois has as yet paid permanent HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 139 dividends, save those which terminate upon the great lakes. I might almost say that none but those which terminate in Chicago have achieved great success. I can think of no explanation for this fact, save that these alone have been enabled to avail of the cheap water transportation of the lakes, and carry forward the bulkier products of the soil to be emptied into the vessels. In answer to the questions which you more particularly ask, I would say : ist. " Can a barge line be successfully operated on the Missouri River from this city to St. Louis ?" I think decidedly yes, although I believe such is not the opinion of many men who have spent their lives in navigating the river. Much, very much, it seems to me, depends upon how the experiment is inaugurated, and the class of boats and barges which are first put on. A first failure often does more to retard or defeat a worthy project than any intrinsic difficulties in the undertaking. 2d. " What should be the character and cost of the vessels?" As I have had no practical experience of the navigation of the Missouri River, my ideas on this point are necessarily somewhat theoretical and crude. I give them to you for what they are worth, but I would urge that before being adopted, and indeed before any of your plans are carried into execution, the whole should be submitted to the better judgment of old river captains and pilots, and such other experienced persons as are not prejudiced against the experiment. The steamboat should, I think, have great surplus power, for use in time of flood against the stream. It should have no passenger accomodation, except for the smallest crew with which it would be safe to handle it. It should be low above the water, and expose as little surface as possible to the wind. The wheels I would put well aft, and I am by no means sure that a screw propeller would not be much the best, as giving a more useful application of the power, and avoiding all trouble from drift-wood. It ought to be supplied with powerful movable spar machinery, which could be transported at once to any barge which might get aground, and power transmitted to it through adjustable shelves and blocks pref- erably with wire ropes. The boat might also be provided with anchor beams, to hold it at once, should one of the barges get aground, or strike a snag, and the lashings between them should be so arranged that no harm would result to the remainder of the tow, in going down stream, when the force of the current would tend to cause it to swing around upon the damaged barge as a pivot. I am not clear whether high or low pressure of steam would be preferable. I think the former, working steam at 120 to 160 pounds to the inch pressure, and arranged with a variable cut- off and expansion gear. I believe there would be an advantage in a high piston speed, and this could best be applied to a screw propeller. The steam chest and cylinders should be thoroughly jacketed and protected. I would burn coal exclusively ; and to save time, have chutes pro- vided at convenient points on the river, from which the coal, stored upon a slope, could run down by gravity upon the boat, on the removal of a tail board. Such a boat as I have described, with capacity for towing six barges, carry- ing two hundred and fifty tons each, would probably cost about $20,000 on a wooden hull, and about $25,000 on an iron hull. The latter would probably be the best in the long run, but as mistakes might be made, requiring some changes in the construction, I believe I would begin with wood. The barges should, I think, be of iron, divided into compartments by water- tight bulkheads, and stiffened with internal bracing and ribs of wood. The latter I believe important to prevent distortions in case of strain or accident. The ad- vantages of the iron may be briefly stated to be : First, Comparative immunity from destruction and sinking by running over snags, etc. Second, The damaging the cargo in none but the injured compartment. Third, Facility for repairs. ♦ 140 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Fourth, Greater durability ; the Hfe of the barge being probably increased to thirty years, instead of six or seven, as now. Fifth, Exemption from water-soaking, and decreasing carrying capacity. Sixth, Greater value of the old materials when worn out. These advantages would in my judgment more than counterbalance the in- creased cost of iron over wood and greater interest charge. So great do I con- sider them to be, that I would recommend that at first the company should be their own insurers, until their experience should settle what would be a reasonable rate of premium. In order to divide up the load and permit the doubling up around any swift bend of the river, in times of flood, I beUeve a smaller class of barges than those in use on the Mississippi should be adopted. I am inclined to recommend that they be about loo feet long and 24 to 26 feet beam, drawing not more than eigh- teen inches light, and carrying 250 tons on a draught of six feet, which would give about 130 tons on a draught of four feet They should be "model barges" and not flat-bottom scows, in order to offer the least resistance in towing up stream, and in my estimate of cost, I have assumed them be built of one-fourth inch boiler plate. The decks and inner furring might be of wood and they must be arranged by all means so as to carry deck loads, protected by tarpaulins, in case of need : They must be arranged so as to carry grain in bulk, and to be easily loaded and unloaded by machinery. Success will depend greatly upon doing away with hand labor. I estimate the cost to be about $5,000 per barge, and would advise the begin- ning with six, with ample facilities for loading or unloading at either end, so as to detain the steamboat as little as possible. The best manner of making up the tows would have to be ascertained by experience. Whether the barges should be abreast, or somewhat forward, or back of the tow boat, or a number of them grouped to occupy all these positions, I cannot tell. I would begin with two, then try four, and finally experiment with six, but, as already hinted, the lashings should be carefully considered, and so arranged that while they can be released instantly, they will be sure to do their duty when required for hard service. The best mode of working the line would also have to be tested by experi- ence. The experiment clearly will be made upon through freights, and in the in- terest perhaps of a single city, but if it succeeds each town bordering the river will have its own barge, which will be leisurely loaded during the week, to be upon a specified day taken in tow by the steamboat, which is to take it to market, there to be unloaded and reloaded by machinery and sent back with such com- modities as the tributary country requires. Partly with this in mind, and in order to meet the unforeseen contingencies sure to arise, the working capital should be made ample, and a good surplus pro- vided. The estimate is as follows : I steam tow-boat, wooden hull $20,000 6 iron barges at $5,000. . 30,000 Landings and machinery at termini 5, 000 Contingencies 10,000 • Working capital 25,000 Total . $90,000 If we assume your city as an initial point, we find that it is but 100 miles further by water from New Orleans than Chicago is from New York, while you are nearer New Orleans than Alton is from New York. I take the following fig- ures from Humphreys & Abbott's report on the Mississippi River : HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 141 Mouth of Kaw to St. Louis by river 392 miles St. Louis to New Orleans by river 1149 " Total 1541 miles And by the above table : Chicago to Buffalo by lake 950 miles Buffalo to Albany by canal 35°/^ " Albany to New York by river 151 " Total 1451^ miles Difference ^9/4 miles There remains, however, in addition against you, the great disadvantage of the effect of tropical climates upon certain cereals in transit, and these may re- quired to be kiln-dried, to fit them for exportation. The southern local consump- tion, however, can perfectly well be supplied. I regret that I have no data at hand, later than those for 1853, of the cost of ocean transportation from various ports ; they were then as follows : TABLE OF OCEAN CHARGES FOR THREE YEARS PRECEDING 1 853, FROM VARIOUS AMERICAN PORTS To Liverpool. To Havre. To Havana. To Rio Janeiro. FROM. „ 1 Per Ton. Per Ton. g c Per Ton. 2 Per Ton. ? Voy- 1 Per age. 1 mile. Voy- age. Per mile. Voy- age. Per mile. Voy- age. Per mile. 2910 $11 00 3020 ^ 2.5 3150 5 00 329.'i ,5 50 3530 5 75 3395 6 00 4755 7 50 mills 3.75 1.74 1.60 1.70 1.60 1.70 1.60 313C 3000 3318 3385 3620 3485 4845 mills 1960 1480 1250 1220 1215 1170 595 mills 6010 5310 5240 5000 5000 50U0 6555 $4 60 4 on 5 00 6 00 6 00 7 00 mills Boston New York Philadelphia $5 00 4 50 5 00 6 00 6 00 7 5u 1.67 1.35 1.47 1.65 1.72 1.54 $4 00 3 00 4 00 5 00 5 50 4 00 2.70 2.40 3.27 4.11 4.70 6.72 0.75 0.76 1.00 1 20 Richmond 1 20 l.Oli Note, — The rates of freight to Rio Janeiro are proportionately low, because the return freights are generally good. As there is now a barge line in successful operation between St. Louis and New Orleans, I suppose it will be your purpose to connect with that, rather than to attempt for the present to extend as far as New Orleans, the rather as the suc- cessful navigation of tlie Missouri River, will probably require a somewhat dif- ferent class of boats and barges than that of the Mississippi. It will be noticed that in the table given by Mr. McAlpine, the cost of trans- portation on the Mississippi River, is stated to be three mills per ton per mile, and on its tributaries at five to ten mills per ton per mile. This I understand to be the prime cost, and it is undoubtedly high on account of the wasteful methods hitherto practiced on those rivers, and the considerable extra expense entailed by the accommodation of the passenger traffic on the same boats. Without having investigated the subject as thoroughly as I could wish, and made as many calculations as I would have done had I fuller data at hand, I am inclined to estimate the prime cost of barge transportation on the Missouri River at one quarter {)^) of a cent per ton per mile down stream, and about double, or one-half {j4) a cent per ton a mile up stream. It is very likely that even this would require to be enlarged in a short time, to insure the success of the undertaking. If it succeeds, as I believe it can, it will yield handsome returns upon many times the above investment. Pardon me, gentlemen, for inflicting so long, and I greatly fear, so tiresome a letter upon you. It has been written hurriedly, using such materials as chanced 142 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. to be most convenient at hand, and has grown to its present great length in con- sequence of the great interest I take in any proposal to reduce the cost of taking to market the produce of our Kansas farmers, and the conviction that I entertain, that under the circumstances existing at present, they will find it difficult to make their operations profitable. I am, very respectfully, O. Chanute Capt. Eads soon afterward wrote the promised letter, in which he took strong ground in favor of the feasibility of barge navigation on the Missouri, but urged that some improvement of the river would be necessary to insure its success. Thus supported by the opinions of eminent engineers, the Journal continued its agitations of the enterpise, yet singular as it may now appear, met with the opposition of every other Kansas City paper and of the united St. Louis press, by whom the "old river captains" were quoted as ridiculing the idea. Undaunted, however, the Journal continued its agitation, though it was not able to bring about any movement looking to the realization of its idea until the following year. THE city divided INTO SIX WARDS. On the 2oth of February, 1872, the Missouri Legislature so amended the charter of the city as to divide it into six wards. The first ward by this enact- ment embraced all that part of the city between the river and Ninth street and east of Walnut street ; the second all that part of the city between the river and tenth street and between Walnut street on the east, and Lincoln and Bluflf streets and a line from the junction of Bluff and Fifth streets north to the river. The third ward was all between Ninth and Fourteenth streets east of Walnut. The fourth ward was all south of Fourteenth street and east of Walnut. The fifth ward was all south of Tenth street and west of Walnut to Lincoln and Dripp streets. The sixth ward was all west of Dripp, Lincoln and Bluff streets, north to the river, OTHER MATTERS. The principal other matters that interested the city during the year 1872, were as follows: An effort was made early in the year, to induce the railroads centering here, to erect a union passenger depot. The building that was being used for that purpose was a small wooden structure, on the site of the present elegant building, which had been erected by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad on its first entrance into the city. As an encouragement to the railroads, a prop- osition to exempt such a depot from taxation for fifteen years, was submitted to the people at the spring election, but it was unfortunately defeated. The city and the Board of Trade during this year were most interested in the adjustment of the difficulties which had arisen between the county authori- ties and the Memphis Railroad. At one time an effort was made to secure a transfer of the subscription of $450,000 to the Louisiania Railroad, to the Toledo, Wabash & Western, which proposed that if sufficient aid was given it, that it would extend a line direct to this city, by the way of Moberly, Mo. An effort was also made to secure the building of a road between Ottawa, Kansas, and Emporia, and between Ottawa and Burlington. The former of these last two ef- forts was unsuccessful, but the latter finally succeeded, mainly through the efforts of W. H. Schofield, Esq., who was the president of the cbmpany. This road is now known as the Kansas City, Burlington & Santa Fe, and is operated in con- nection with the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad. CITY ADDITIONS. The plotted part of the city was enlarged durmg the years covered by this chapter by the following additions : HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 143 April 4, 1870 — J. C. Merine's Sub di- vision. April 7/70— Wm. Toms' Sub-division. April 8, '70 — Munford & Fancher's Addition. July 9, '70 — Balis' Addition. July 23, '70 — Balis' Sub-division. August 18, '70— Matthew & Hill's Addition. September 10, '70— M. M. Evans' Addition. September 14, '70 — Pratt's Addition. October 21, '70 — Payne's Addition. November 2, '70 — Jarboe's Addition. November, 8, '70 — German Building Association Sub-division. July 10, '71 — M. M. Evans Resurvey March 21, '71 — East Cottage Place Addition. May 2, '71 — Quest's Addition. May 20, '71 — John Meyers' Sub-di- vision. June 2, '71 — Mulkey's Second Ad- dition. October 4, '71 — Tracy's Sub-division. October 24, '71 — Jaudon's Addition. December 16, '71 — M. J. Payne's Sub-division. January 4, '72 — Prospect Place. February 3, '72 — John Johnson's Sub- division. May 6, '72 — Continuation of Smart's Third Addition. June 24, '72 — Sub-division of Blocks in West Kansas Addition No. i. July 13, '72 — Union Place Addition, July 19, '72 — Victorie's Addition. October 24, '72 — Bouton Park Addi- tion. November 9, '72 — German Building Association Sub-division. November 25, '72 — Campbell Block Sub division. 144 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER XIII. THE PROGRESS OF 1873 TO 1876. Street Railroads — Barge Line Agitation — The Panic of 187J — Efforts to get the Indian Territory Opened to Settlement — Efforts for Transportation Improvements — The Mail Delivery — The Securing of the Atchion, Topeka b' Santa Ee and the Missouri, Kansas iff Texas Railroads — Hoiv the Latter was Done — The Grasshopper Plague — The Revision of the City Charter — Efforts to Secure a Mint — The Re-organization of the Board of Trade and Erection of the Exchange Building. But little real progress was made by Kansas City during the year 1873. The depression preceding the panic of that year had already begun to affect public enterprise throughout the country, and Kansas City suffered in common with all other places. The population by this time had increased, by the estimates of the Directory to 40,740, being but a few hundred more than in 1872. There was little improvement or building of any kind, and every movement looking to the advancement of existing enterprises or the addition of new ones felt the weight of the national depression. However, the spirit of the people was such that they still struggled to secure the improvements of a public nature that they felt the city most needed. There was much discussion of the water works matter, and in the early part of the year an attempt was made to form a company to build works. There wai also an effort to secure the union of interest between the Kansas City, Wyandott & Northwestern Narrow Gauge Railroad, which had now been turned to the eastward toward Lexington, and the Keokuk & Kansas City Company, which was proposing to build a road to this city from Keokuk, but it failed. There was also an effort to inaugurate a railroad from Kansas City northward toward Chariton, Iowa. The importance of an extensive white lead manufactory was also much discussed and investigated by a committee of the Board of Trade. STREET RAILROADS AGAIN. Early in this year the Jackson County Horse Railroad Company was organ- ized, and proposed to build a street railroad from the corner of Fourth and Main streets by Fourth street to Wyandotte street, thence to Fifth street, thence by Fifth and Bluff streets and Union Avenue and Mulberry, thence north to Ninth street, and thence by Ninth street to the State Line, to connect with a company that had been organized in Wyandotte. It proposed another line from the corner of Fourth and Main street by the way of Fourth and Walnut to Fifth, thence by Fifth to Grand avenue, thence to Independence avenue, thence to Forest avenue, and thence southward to Twelfth street. About the same time there was organized the Union Depot Company. Its line was to run from the Exposition grounds on Twelfth street to Grand avenue, thence to Eleventh street, thence to Main street, thence to the junction of Main and Delaware, thence down Delaware to Fifth, and thence to Walnut. Another part of the line was to start from Sixth and Delaware, and run along Sixth to Broadway, thence to Fifth, thence down Bluff and Union avenues to the Kansas stock yards. Part of this line was built in 1873 and at the same time the wes- tern part of the Jackson county line, and in connection with it the Broadway line from Fifth to Twelfth street. The next year the depot line had some trouble of a financial character, and was sold, when it was bought in by the proprietors of the Jackson county line, and both roads were put under one management, and not long thereafter the Westport road passed into the same management. Since HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 145 the consolidation of the Jackson county and Depot lines, the latter name has been dropped and that part of the line on Sixth street abandoned and taken up. It is now operated as a double track road from Broadway to Hickory street, and the Delaware and Twelfth street, and Independence and Forest avenue part of the line is operated as a circuit. THE BARGE LINE AGITATION OF 1 873. With the beginning of the year 1873 there was a more determined effort made to secure the establishment of barge navigation of the Missouri River. It was proposed now to make an effort to have this matter tested practically, and to that end the Board of Trade appointed a committee to ascertain if barges could be had, and, if so, what guaranty would be required. This committee corres- ponded with the Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, of St. Louis, then the only party on the western rivers using barges, but got little satisfaction from them. However it was determined to raise a guarantee fund of five thousand dollars, and the money was subscribed. While these events were transpiring the people of St. Louis were arranging for a convention of western Congressmen in that city, the object of which was to awaken a more general interest among them in the improvement of western rivers, and especially the Mississippi. This convention was held May 13th, and the Kansas City Board of Trade was invited to send delegates to attend it. The Board accordingly appointed as such delegates, Col. R. T. Van Horn, Col. James E. Marsh and Hon. H. J. Latshaw. Col. Van Horn could not attend and so appointed as his substitute the commercial editor of 1\\q Journal, of which he was editor. This gentleman had a personal acquaintance with Charles Davis, then editor of the St. Louis Globe, a new and very enterprising paper which as yet had no record on the question of Barge Navigation of the Missouri River. During the three days he remained in St. Louis, in attendance at the convention, he furnished Mr. Davis with three editorial articles on Barge Transportation on the Missouri from a St. Louis point of view, strongly favoring it as a St Louis enterprise. The other St. Louis papers which the year before had ridiculed the idea, now indorsed it. The "Old River Captains" were quoted in its favor, and singular as it may seem the Kansas City papers which the year before had opposed it as chimerical republished all these articles from the Globe approv- ingly, and urged the movement already on foot to secure a practical test. Soon afterward the Board of Trade committee was able to make a contract with the Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, to make the trial trip on a guaranty of $2,700, It was now a very unfavorable season of the year. There was httle grain, which it was proposed to load the barges with, remaining in the country, and the water was getting low. By the time all these difficulties could be over- come, and a load of grain secured, it was found that proper insurance to protect the grain, could not be had and its owners would have to take the risk them- selves. This led to an abandonment of the effort. THE PAMIC OF 1 873. Mention has been made in several places in this chapter of the financial panic of 1873. It is not necessary here to discuss the causes that led to that event further than to remark that it vvas the result of the inflated condition of prices which had prevailed since the war, and a most unwise contraction of the national currency by the action of the Secretary of the Treasury. It was precip- itated in September by the failure of the banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., of Philadelphia, and immediately spread to all parts of the country, causing a sud- den suspension of nearly every bank in the land, and the collapse of prices to an equality with the contracted volume of the currency. The banks in Kansas City suspended payment on the 25th of September, and for a time nearly stopped all 10 TOOTLE, HANNA & CO.'S WHOLESALE BUILDING, KANSAS CITY, MO. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 147 business by the locking up of the funds of their customers. This action of the banks, however, was rendered necessary by the suspension of their correspond- ents east. At that season of the year the movement of currency was to the west, and for them to have continued would have resulted only in paying out what cur- rency they had on hand, which would have been done in a day or two, when they would inevitably have gone into bankruptcy. The merchants held a meeting at the Board of Trade that day and adopted resolutions approving of the course taken by the banks, and pledging them their cordial support in whatever efforts they might adopt to remedy the difficulty. In a few days new accounts were opened by the banks with their customers, and new checks were paid from the new deposits, the banks promising to pay old deposits as speedily as possible. This arrangement was acquiesced in by the people, and soon business was re- sumed, though on a much restricted scale. The First National Bank was at this time the one of chiefest interest to the people. At an annual election in the winter of 1872, Howard M. Holden, Esq., had been elected president, having previously been its efficient cashier. By his enterprise and liberal management he had advanced the bank to a leading posi- tion, and at this time it was the chief dependence of the live stock, packing, and grain interests, which were now considerable, as will be shown in succeeding chapters, for money with which to move the products of the country. It was ac- cordingly determined by the stock-holders, who were all business men of Kansas City, to strengthen it, and to that end its capital was increased from $250,000 to $500,000. The effect of this panic was to cause great depression in local improvements and town development, attended with a decrease of population, and the city did not recover from these effects until 1876; otherwise it was an advantage, for in the depression caused in the surrounding country it led merchants to trade here much more largely than they had done before. In their depressed situation they felt the importance of buying nearer home than they had been accustomed to do, so that they might not have to carry such large stocks, and so that they could turn their capital oftener. For the same reasons a closer market became desira- ble to country shippers of all kinds, which caused Kansas City markets to be more liberally patronized. The same causes affected banks, and after the panic a much larger number of the banks in the adjacent parts of the country, and some in Colorado and Texas, began to keep their deposits here. Hence the effect of the panic was to cause a development of trade and the markets, and make Kan- sas City much more of a financial center than she had ever been before. OPENING OF THE INDIAN TERRITORY. The depression which, it was evident from the first, would follow the panic, led the people to look about them for means of rehef. One thing suggested was the opening of the Indian Territory to settlement, which would cause a large im- migration, and create population for Kansas City to trade with. This was not a new idea at that time, having been embodied in a bill for that purpose, intro- duced into Congress in 1868, by Colonel Van Horn, while representing this dis- trict in that body; but it was revised at this time, hoping that the effort might now be attended with better success. To this end, the Board of Trade joined the National Board of Trade, and caused to be entered upon the official pro- gramme of that body, for discussion at a meeting to be held in Chicago, in Octo- ber, the following resolution, which, it was hoped, might receive the sanction of the National Board, whose indorsement was relied upon, to give the proposition strength in Congress : Whereas, It' is the duty of the Government and people of the United States, to inaugurate and execute such a policy toward the Indian tribes, occupy- 148 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. ing the National Territory, as will most rapidly bring them under dominion, and usages of our laws and civilization. And Whereas, Experience has shown that the Indian tribes may be assimilated to the prevailing civilization of the country, and be gradually brought to a recog- nition of the highest social and civil relations of life. And Whereas, By the exclusive occupancy of the Indian Territory, under tribal laws, the hand of industry and the arts of civilized life have been excluded trom a large area in the midst of the continent; an area rich in agricultural and miner- al resources, with highly favorable climatic advantages ; and whose exhaustless treasures need to be developed, to supply the surrounding and incoming white population now pressing into the southwest, and thus contribute to the prosperity of the whole country. And Whereas, The enlightened and cultured among the tribes have indicated their unequivocal desire for the presence of our civilization in their midst, as a power- ful ally in their struggle for a higher social and civil life. And Whereas, The President of the United States, in a late annual message, invoked such legislation by Congress as will contribute to those high purposes. Therefore : Resolved, That Congress be and is hereby respectfully memorialized to estab- lish, without delay, a Territorial Government over the country known as the Indian Territory, bringing the people thereof under the laws and jurisdiction of the United States, on such an equitable basis as will secure — ist. A homestead to the head of each Indian family, the title to which cannot be alienated, for a designated term of years. 2nd. The sale of the remaining lands on such terms as will induce the rapid settlement and development of the Territory ; the pro- ceeds of said sales to be held or invested by the Government as a fund, the interest on which shall be distributed annually and equitably among the several tribes. 3rd. The establishment of free schools, to the end that the Indians may learn the arts and occupations of civilized life. Col. James E. Marsh and Hon. H. J. Latshaw were selected as delegates of the Board of Trade to attend the meeting of the National Board in Chicago, and urge the adoption of these resolutions. It was not reached at that meeting, but was reached at an adjourned meeting held in Baltimore, in January, 1874, which was attended by Col. Marsh and Col. Van Horn, at which it was adopted and sent to Washington to be presented to Congress and urged upon the attention of that body. At the election in the fall of 1874 Hon. B. J. Franklin, of this city, was elected to represent this district in Congress, and as soon as he could, under the rules and usages of the house, he took up this subject and introduced a bill for the purpose indicated in this resolution, but with no better success than had attended the efforts of Col. Van Horn. THE NEW WEST. At a session of Congress in 1873, ^^^ Senate created a commission to inquire into the transportation facilities and needs of the country with a view, it was understood, of taking such action, looking to improvements as the country might need. Hon. William Windom, of Minnesota, was chairman of this commission. The people of Kansas City watched its movements with great interest, hoping for an opportunity to lay before it the needs of improvements in the country in which she was interested. Learning that the commission would hold a session in St. Louis, the Board of Trade appointed Col. Van Horn and Gen. W. H. Powell to attend it, and lay before it the needs of this country. These gentlemen prepared an address far that purpose which, on account of its able and accurate recital of existing facts, at that time, has great historical value now. It is, there- fore, inserted here entire. It should be remarked that it was in this memorial HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 149 that the country tributary to Kansas City's trade was first styled the "New- West." the new west its resources, agricultural interests, commerce and transportation needs. Board of Trade Rooms, ) Kansas City, October 25, 1873. ) To Hon. William Wifidom, and Members of the Committee of the Senate of the United States : Gentlemen: — The Board of Trade of Kansas City desire to represent to your committee the needs of the country comprehended by its commerce in marketing the products of its soil and receiving the merchandise consumed by it in exchange. The country in question is new to the commerce of the Union — its import- ance dating from the close of the late civil war — its population in that time having increased at a moderate estimate one million in number. It embraces Western Missouri, Western Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, the Indian Territory, Northwestern Texas and New Mexico — covering twelve de- grees of latitude, sixteen degrees of longitude, and comprises an area of more than 600,000 square miles. This vast district of country has but one navigable river — the Missouri — and its lines of commerce are thus exclusively by railway, except the limited margin on either side of that river. The system of railway construction for this interior region — the geographical center of the United States and of the continent — is, so far as the great trunk lines are involved, very far advanced, and are concentrated at the mouth of the Kansas River, the nearest and most available point for all the country to the navigable waters of the Missouri River — as you will see by the map. The agricultural portion of this part of the Union embraces the portions of Missouri and Iowa referred to, the States of Nebraska and Kansas, and the In- dian Territory, and is of a more uniform character in quality and production than any equal area on the globe. The soil is of exceptional fertility, and the official report by the census of 1870 shows it to embrace the largest and most productive corn and winter wheat area in the world. It also embraces the only natural pastoral region in North America, where, from time beyond the knowledge of this continent, have been subsisted the countless herds of aboriginal cattle, exceeding in number the domestic herds of the globe. These are now being supplanted by the cattle of civilization. The present season has brought together for market, at the several points in Kansas, on the feeding grounds of the Kansas City stock market, over $7,000,000 worth of grass-fed cattle alone. In addition to this, a careful computation from the crop statistics of the census of 1870 shows that for the year ending June of that year there was pro- duced in this region 56,452,116 bushels of wheat; 631,353 bushels of rye; 89,- 236,854 bushels of corn; 24,367,214 bushels of oats ; 1,429,946 bushels of barley ; 1,856,138 tons of hay; 6,235,366 pounds of tobacco. In live stock it produced: Of hogs, 2,566,185; cattle, other than exclusively grass-fed, 533,833; of grass-fed, 2,061,343; exclusive of the Indian Territory where there are large herds but from which there are no returns; of mules, 116, 585; of sheep, 2,233,326; of horses, 835,833. The value in soil products of the amount produced by these figures, at the current market rates paid at Kansas City this season, would amount to $85,228, 837. And the live stock, at a low average per head, are in value $26,557,630" 150 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Or, in the aggregate, this portion of the Union produced in 1870, from its soil alone, a wealth of more than $128,000,000. A country thus productive, and which has become so practically within seven years, and which has seen its three most productive years since the census figures were obtained, is, we most respectfully submit, entitled to be heard on a question so vital as that for which your committee was raised to inquire into and report upon — transportation. And we approach this part of the subject with the statement — that, as com- pared with other portions of the Union affected by both the foreign and domestic markets, it is pratically cut off from both, and in times of abundant crops its products do not admit of shipment with profit to the producer — only when prices are high, induced by failure of crops east of the Mississippi or in Europe, or both, can its grain be profitably transported to the Atlantic seaboard by present facilities. From Kansas City, the converging point of the principal great trunk lines, to New York is by rail fourteen hundred miles, being nearer to that city than from any point of the Missouri River above the mouth of the Kansas, and for this reason taken as the standard of computation. Taking the rate of transportation by rail, as we find it in the documents printed by Congress, to be twelve and a half mills per ton per mile, we find that the cost of a bushel of sixty pounds, from Kansas City to New York, would be fifty-two and a half cents — or eighty-seven and a half cents per one hundred pounds for all products. This we may assume to be the rate by all rail, and for our corn and pork, which come into market after the close of navigation, rail transportation is our only dependence. As to corn, it is quoted the day on which this is written in New York at fifty-eight and a half to sixty cents per bushel — leaving to the farmer, the shipper and for all expenses of getting it in the car at Kansas City, a margin of six to eight cents. Is it strange that it is burned for fuel to save the destruction of timber? and cheaper than coal at cost of mining and delivery? It is unnecessary to lengthen the argument by parallel illustrations as to other products, as this one affecting our great staple is sufficient — everything being governed by it. NATURAL OUTLETS. But these disabilities can be remedied. They are artificial, and result from causes which are susceptible of remedy — and which have been in great part removed by private and corporate enterprise. And we are before your committee to day because it is proposed to devise a general system of relief for the whole country, by opening up cheaper channels of transportation by the common fund of the nation. And because what is need- ed in this respect by us can only be done under national authority. There are two outlets for the products we have referred to : One by way of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. One by the harbor at Galveston, Texas. BY GALVESTON HARBOR. We shall consider them irf the reverse order in which they are mentioned. From Kansas City to Galveston it is now eight hundred miles as the rail- road are constructed, but which can be reduced within seven hundred miles — or just half the distance to New York. It is as to cost of transportation, as if Kan- sas City was removed east to Columbus, Ohio. The question as it addresses itself to us is : "Why should Kansas City,' and the country surrounding it, with its one hundred millions of annual production be compelled to seek the market through HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 151 Columbus, Ohio, any more than that Columbus should be compelled to seek her market by way of Kansas City?" If the port of Galveston was made accessible for ocean going vessels, the wheat and corn of the Missouri Valley could seek the ocean at twenty-six and one-fourth cents per bushel, and pay the same rate it does to-day to New York at fifty-two and a half cents — adding a quarter of a dollar to the price of the 150,- 000,000 bushels of these crops, produced in 1870 — or more than $28,000,000 to the farmers of this New West every year. Then the country embraced in this central portion of the nation would be, as to foreign markets, as favorably situated as the States of Indiana and Ohio, and our rich lands increased in corresponding value. And why the national treasury should not improve this harbor equally with those of the lakes and Atlantic seaboard is, we submit, not a question for discus- sion. Its need is all that requires to be estabhshed. And this we feel our illus- tration and the facts recited most conclusively establish. BY THE MISSISSIPPI. The other outlet for the upper Missouri to the markets of the world is by the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. There are two questions to be considered in connection with this route : The navigation of the Missouri River by barges, its seasons of low water and ice — and the low water and ice of the Mississippi River above the mouth of the Ohio. And a connection by railway with the Mississippi at a point below ice, and at permanently deep water. The cost of shipping grain, per bushel, from St. Louis to New Orleans may be fixed by present facilities, at a high stage of water, at eight to ten cents. It may be brought to a lower minimum, but we prefer to be within actual figures, as demonstrated in practical transportation. At present, as the channel is in the Missouri, it would require lighter tonnage in vessels, and thus the cost be somewhat enhanced over the same distances in the Mississippi. We depend entirely upon conjecture when we put the cost from Kansas City to St. Louis, by barges, at about the same figures — or in all about 16 to 20 cents per bushel from Kansas City to New Orleans. This would be a saving to ocean ports, over the present rates to New York, of 32^ cents for all grain for European demand, and of 22^ cents to New York itself, counting ten cents from New Orleans to New York. We know, it is claimed, and we believe within the limits of practical demon- stration, that these figures can be materially reduced, but we prefer to take what has been done, as it is ample to command consideration — leaving to the future and mutual enterprise to reduce the cost by both routes. The point we desire to enforce being the relative cost between the two — both being susceptible of farther cheapening. The Missouri River has not been tested by being navigated by grain barges in tow of steamers, as has the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans. It is believed by practical men that it can be so used successfully, and we have so considered it in estimating the cost of transportation. But frankness requires us to say that it has yet to be demonstrated. But conceding that it is so, it is insufficient as an outlet for the products of the vast area of country dependent upon it. And for these reasons: From August until the close of November is the low water season, when the channel contains but from three and a half to five feet of water. From the last week in November to the middle of March, navigation is suspended by ice. True, in some seasons the interruption from this cause is more brief, but there is no safety within that period, and even by steamboats, it is seldom attempted, until 152 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. the freezing season has entirely passed. And above the mouth of the Kansas River, the obstructions from ice is often some weeks later. Thus the season of good navigation in the Missouri may be included from April to August — at its best after its annual rise in June. Our corn crop is never ready for shipment until ice has closed the river, and our pork crop, made from it, necessarily so, as well as most of the beef — although a portion of this can go forward before ice is formed. The wheat, in part, may go before the close of navigation, but so far as the Missouri can be availed of, most of our products must lie in store until the opening of navigation in the spring. The same obstacles await us between St. Louis and Cairo — both from low water in the autumn months and ice and low water during those of the winter. The general result arrived at by these facts and figures is, that this central area of the country has a common interest with the whole Mississippi Valley, in the removal of obstructions to navigation in the channels of that river and its tributaries, and the removal of the barrier at its mouth, as the cheapest and most available outlet to the markets of the world. But confined as we are to the one river, the main dependence for gathering the crops and concentrating the products of the agricultural lands for transport is, and for all time must be, upon the railway. And for fully one-half the year, we must use the railroad to reach the Mississippi; and to fully utilize that river, it must be reached by rail below the mouth of the Ohio, where an open channel and deep water can be found throughout the year. THE MISSISSIPPI AT MEMPHIS. Private enterprise has already fixed upon the point for this connection at Memphis, and the work of constructing a railroad from Kansas City to that city begun — the first hundred miles being well advanced, and the work going forward at this time. The importance of this connection, and the aid of your committee, and through you of Congress, will be seen from the considerations we present. From the mouth of the Kansas River to St. Louis, by the Missouri, is 400 miles. From St. Louis to Memphis, 450 miles. From Memphis to New Orleans, 750 miles — or 1,600 miles in all, from Kan- sas City to New Orleans. In the season when the Missouri is closed, it is by rail to St. Louis, 283 miles, and from St. Louis to Memphis, 319 miles; 602 miles by rail from the mouth of the Kansas to Memphis, where the permanently open river and deep water is reached. By air line from Kansas City to Memphis it is 365 miles, and can be trav- ersed by rail within 390 miles — in round numbers, 400 miles. The upper Missouri Valley can thus reach the Mississippi River below ice, and at permanently deep water, by 200 miles less by rail transportation than as now employed by way of St. Louis. By employing 107 miles longer rail transit than at present, 450 miles of river are saved, as against the route by St. Louis; and by employing 212 less miles of railway, the same point is reached by all rail, as now. And in both cases the only obstacles now existing are completely and entirely overcome. This obtained, and uniform freights throughout the year are secured, or, if there is any difference, the winter freights will be lower than the summer, from the fact that the boats that are driven from the upper rivers by ice, will seek the lower Mississippi for winter employment, making tonnage more abundant than in the summer. Then with the obstructions at the mouth of the Mississippi removed, or avoided, ocean steamers could land at Memphis just as freely as at New Orleans, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 153 and grain be loaded direct from the elevators, and shipped either to New York, Philadelphia, Boston or to Europe ; and the flour made from our winter wheat, equal to any in the Union, be shipped by the shortest route to the West Indian and South American markets. It would practically place our grain port within four hundred miles of the mouth of the Kansas, and give us both for export and import the lowest rates, and uniform at all seasons. Taking the same rates of charges on freight by river and rail, as we have used above, we could by this proposed route place grain in Memphis at 15 cents, in New Orleans at 20 cents. New York at 30 cents, and Liverpool at 35 cents per bushel — or even by rehandling at New Orleans in addition to Memphis, it would only make the cost of our grain at New York and Liverpool 35 and 40 re- spectively; or a saving over present rates to Europe of 36^ cents for every bush- el of the grain of western Iowa, western Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. At this writing, grain from St. Loui* to Memphis costs 2254 cents per 100 lbs., or about 14 cents per bushel. To New Orleans by barge, 30 cents per 100 lbs., or 18 cents per bushel. By barge from Kansas City at corresponding rates to those now paid, grain at Memphis would cost 20 to 22 cents, and at New Or- leans 24 to 26 cents per bushel. But with railroad to Memphis to-day, we could save 5 to 7 cents at the rates now charged on the Mississippi River ; and this saving would hold good pro rata on any reduction which improved facilities in transportation might give in the fu- ture. It is thus demonstrated, not by presumptive figures and contingencies in the future, but upon actual prices, as paid to-day, that with railway connection be- tween the Missouri River and the Mississippi — at the mouth of the Kansas and at Memphis — the surplus of our annual product of 146,000,000 bushels of grain can find its cheapest and most available outlet to market. There is another element in this proposed route to which we have not allud- ed — that of time. The Missouri river, down stream, is not safe for navigation by night, and has never been used by steamers descending the river — the practice always, and made imperative by the rules of the underwriters, being to land and remain at moorings during the darkness. It would require from three to four days for a fleet of barges from Kansas City to reach St. Louis, and longer in proportion to distance from all points above; while changing cargo at St. Louis and thence to Memphis, would require eight to ten days' time for our grain to reach that point. Cars could be loaded at any point on the railroads of the upper Missouri, or from the elevators at Kansas City and unloaded into vessels or elevators at Mem- phis in from thirty-six to forty hours, thus adding largely to the profit of ship- ment — saving a week in time and the high rates of insurance above the mouth of the Ohio and in the Missouri River. There is but one more proposition in this connection to discuss, and that is the point on the Missouri River at which the railroad connecting with the Missis- sippi should commence. We have assumed it to be at the mouth of the Kansas River — and for the reasons. That is the nearest and most available point for the country in question to reach navigation, as an examination of the map demonstrates : It has been so recognized by becoming the converging point for the great trunk lines of railway already built and in operation — being to-day the commer- cial center of all the country embraced in this memorial. The Missouri River, below the Kansas, is open for navigation later in the autumn and earUer in the spring, making a month's difference in navigation, in some seasons, over points above, and having a larger volume of water, is safer for river craft and heavier tonnage than above the mouth of the Kansas. 154 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. And it is the nearest point at which the Missouri River can be reached for all the country west and north — the distance being increased from either above or below, as the map will demonstrate. And because the construction of this important work has already been com- menced, and over one million of dollars expended upon it. We have thus briefly laid before you the leading facts in regard to the important portion of the common territory of the Union, with which we are bound up in common interests and in common destiny. We have shown that it produces nearly one hundred and fifty millions of bushels of grain annually. We have demonstrated that as a meat and wool-producing region it sur- passes any other portions of the United States — and that as yet it is in the infancy of its development in this respect. We have not averted to its wealth in iron, coal and lead — for the disabilities under which its agricultural labors are immediate and pressing — but in all these mineral resources it is equal to any portion of the Union. We have shown that by distance and other obstacles it is practically cut off from the markets of our own nation and the world. We have shown how by two natural and near outlets it can be placed, as to markets, on a footing with the most favored interior districts of the Union. And we claim that if so favored, and its products allowed to reach a market, that the effect will be not only beneficial to its own people, but will open up to the industrial masses of other portions an abundant and cheap supply of all the staple elements of food, both now and in increasing volume for all time to come. The relief then asked by this portion of the people of the United States may be briefly stated : 1. The improvement of the harbor at Galveston, so as to allow of ocean going vessels to land at the wharves of that city. 2. The removal or avoidance of the obstruction at the mouths of the Mis- sissippi. 3. To aid in securing a connection with permanent deep water and perma- nent freedom from ice with the Mississippi, as indicated, by railway from the mouth of the Kansas River to Memphis. The two first come under the general power of Congress, touching river and harbor improvement. As to the latter, we can see no difference between connecting commercial points by rail and by canal. And we are thoroughly convinced that in all the projects submitted to you for the better accommodation of the different portions of the Union, there has been no one proposed conferring so large benefit upon such important interests and so large an area of country, that can be afforded at so small a cost to the National Treasury as this. Were it within the scope of this memorial, or within the purposes for which your committee has been raised, we could demonstrate that what we ask, to thus connect us with the Mississippi, can be fully accomplished, and that speedily, without the expenditure of a dollar in money by the General Government. And upon a favorable consideration of the matters herein presented, and its recognition by your committee as deserving the attention and consideration of Congress, the method by which it can be thus accomplished will be laid before that body through your committee, R. T. VAN HORN, W. H. POWELL, On behalf of the Board of Trade. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 155 FREE MAIL DELIVERY. The only other movement of importance undertaken by the people of Kansas City during the year 1873 was to secure a free delivery of mail matter in the city. Congress, on the 3d of March of that year, had enacted that this should be done in cities that in 1870 had a population of over 20,000. On the 17th of May the Board of Trade memorialized the Postmaster General to establish a general free delivery in Kansas City, and by means of this memorial and other efforts, it was secured and put into effect on the ist day of July, the number of carriers then employed being eight. THE WATER-WORKS. The subject of water-works presented itself again early in 1873, ^^^^ the Legislature was induced to pass a bill specially authorizing Kansas City to make a contract for the construction of water-works. This bill was passed March 24th, and was regarded as having conferred upon Kansas City such powers as would enable her to offer acceptable terms to some party of capitalists. The National Water-Works Company, of New York, soon became an applicant for the contract, and on the 27th of October, after the matter had been much discussed, the city council adopted an ordinance which became a contract between the city and the National Water-Works Company. The company began the work early in 1874 and completed them in 1875. ENLARGEMENT OF LIMITS — REDIVISION. On the 3d of March the Legislature adopted amendments to the charter of the city, whereby its boundaries were enlarged. The limits fixed in this charter were as follows : Beginning at the river at the intersection of the State line, thence running southward along the State line to Twenty-second street ; thence east along the half section line dividing sections seven, eight, nine, to Woodland avenue; thence north by Woodland avenue to Independence avenue; thence west to the half section line dividing section thirty-three, and thence north to the river. This is the present limits. At the same time the city wards were re-established. The First ward was made to include all that part of the city east of Main street and north of Independence avenue; the Second all that part east of Main street between Inde- pendence. avenue and Thirteenth street east to Campbell street, and from thence to the east limits, all between Independence avenue and Twelfth street ; the Third, all east of Main street and south of Thirteenth, and of Twelfth street east of Campbell, to Twentieth street, and from thence all east of the quarter section line which runs along the alley between Main street and Baltimore avenue; the Fourth ward lay west of the Third, and extended to the city limits on the south, and to the State line on the west, and its northern boundary was Thirteenth street from Main west to Summit street, then Mulkey west to Dripp street, and Twelfth street from Dripp to the State line ; the Fifth ward was all north of Fourth and west of Main street to Penn street and a line in continuation of Penn street from Fifth street to the river; and the Sixth ward was all west of the Fifth and north of the Fourth. EVENTS OF 1874. In the spring of 1874 the Topeka, Lawrence & Kansas City Railway Com- pany, heretofore mentioned as organized at Topeka in 1872, for the purpose of building a road to Kansas City, gave way to a new company called the Kansas Midland Railway Company, of which a number of the officers of the A., T. & S. F. were members, and by August the road was built to Lawrence. In October the Kansas City company contracted with the Midland company to build the Kansas City end of the line, and it was completed in the following 156 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. December. Pi^evious to this, in August, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe com- pany began to run its trains to Kansas City by the way of the Midland to Law- rence, thence over the Lawrence & Pleasant Hill Railroad, which was built in 1872, to Olathe, and thence over the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf to this city. THE M., K. & T. RAILROAD AND GALVESTON TRADE. The same week in August that the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad began to run its trains to Kansas City, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad began to run its trains here also. Tliis came about in this way : This road had been completed to Denison, Texas, the winter previous, where it made connec- tion with the Texas Central for Galveston. Kansas City availed itself of this fact to make an effort, now that it had such connections with Galveston, to realize the old dream of 1856, to effect an outlet by that port to the markets of the world. In May, 1874, Dr. Edward Dunscomb presented the subject to the Board of Trade, which, together with the city press, took it up. In the latter part of that month the Board of Trade sent a delegation to Galveston to investigate the situ- ation. They were received with many manifestations of pleasure by the people and commercial organizations of Galveston. This delegation consisted of Dr. Edward Dunscomb, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Col. Jas. E. Marsh, Col. R. T. Van Horn, Dr. M. Munford, T. J. Bigger, A. C. Dyas, B. A. Feineman, M. Dively and Maj. G. W. Branham. These gentlemen left Kansas City, May 12, and after about a week's absence returned and submitted to the Board of Trade the following report : To the Board of Trade : Gentlemen : Your committee appointed to visit the cities of Galveston and Houston, in Texas, and such other points and parties as might be necessary to the object in view — direct trade with the Gulf of Mexico and the export of the grain of this region of the West — have performed that duty, and beg leave to report what has been accomplished. The committee left Kansas City on Tuesday evening, May 12th, at 5:15 p. m., and arrived at the city of Galveston on Thursday, at three p. m. — forty-six hours — two of which were consumed in Fort Scott — making the actual running time forty-four hours between the two cities. The committee was most cordially and hospitably received by the city au- thorities and the commercial interests of Galveston, which was during our stay, incessant and uninterrupted — every facility on land and water was afforded in furthering the objects of our visit — and we can say in brief, that our stay was made as pleasant as profitable, and crowned by a hospitality and friendly co-oper- ation that admits of no qualification — and for which your committee and your board can not be too grateful — and has incurred an obligation which we trust the future will soon enable us to reciprocate. In the city of Houston we were met in the same open-handed and generous manner. The mayor, the city authorities, the merchants, the manufacturers, the navigation interests — all met us with a hearty hospitality, and an active sympathy with the purpose of our visit, that supplemented in every particular and to the fullest extent the reception given us by their sister city. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad, through their superintendent. Gen. J. Durand, met us at the line of the State, and tendered us the privileges of their various lines during our stay, which enabled us to visit the capital of the State, and see the most thriving portions of Texas. We desire to acknowledge, in this formal manner, our obligations to this road for courtesies in all respects and at all times, and which largely contributed to the purposes of our visit. Our thanks are also due to the Missouri, Kansas and Texas road, through HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 157 Col. R. S. Stevens, general manager, and the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad, through Maj. B. S. Henning, superintendent, for like favors and courtesies. THE RESULTS OF OUR VISIT. The object in view, for which the committee was raised was — direct trade with the Gulf, and particularly the shipment of grain from Kansas City and the Missouri Valley. We can only say that in this direction we have been successful, beyond our expectation and beyond what we had a right to expect. The merchants of Galveston, the ship owners, the shipping agents, the capi- talists, the harbor interests — all met us with every assurance that could be de- sired — low rates of freightage, facilities for transferring grain from cars to ships, adequate to fully test the capabilities of the route, and ample capital to handle all that may be sent. The facilities at Galveston now existing afford the means nec- essary to a full test of the advantages offered by that port. The cars run within a few feet of the ships at the wharf, and in all cases are at a higher elevation than the decks of the ships, thus unloading by gravity, and rendering all cartage, or carrying by stevedores, or lighterage unnecessary. It will require at the beginning, or in the first shipments, some care in tim- ing the shipments, so that delay may not take place in transferring from cars to steamers and ships, until the facilities for a large and constant grain trade are provided. In calculating the practicability of handling our grain with profit, we laid be- fore the merchants of Galveston the present rates from Kansas City to New York, Baltimore and New Orleans, the distances by rail and by water, with all the facts and elements involved in the various routes. And taking rates for distance, they unhesitatingly announced not only their willingness but their ability to han- dle our grain profitably. And as an earnest of their feeling in the matter, two orders were given, for a cargo each, to members of your committee to be for- warded at any time. At Houston we were met in the same spirit. The water route from Hous- ton to the waters of the bay of Galveston is by Buffalo bayou and the San Jacinto River, which is now navigable for boats of the class of our Missouri River steam- ers, and from some six miles below the city has ample water to the bay, at which point there is nearly completed a ship canal to the outer bar of Galveston harbor — thus, when completed, making a water route of the depth of the bar from the City of Houston. As all freight for the gulf must go to Houston, the advantages of this open channel must be apparent at a glance — as it gives competition at once, and a choice of routes, as well as of increased facilities for the rapid transit and speedy shipment of grain that may be sent forward. Not only this, but it will aid in stimulating effort, and be the means of an earlier development of the trade in question than probable with but a single port and a single route to it. Your committee are pleased to say that they found both at Galveston and Houston, only a spirit of emulation as to which should do most to inaugurate this important trade — the rivalry being that of enterprising men intent upon the gen- eral good to their respective cities and of Texas, and not a local jealousy that is too often found in similar situations — a broad and generous policy which the committee cannot but commend to our people and our neighbors. And lastly to crown all these favorable conditions and prospects, we were met by the controlling authorities of the Central Railroad with a spirit of fairness and enlightened policy that makes all that had heretofore promised so much, an assured fact. The Houston and Texas Central road controls three hundred and forty-one 158 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. miles of the eight hundred between this city and the Gulf — from Red River to Houston — and without its co-operation the difficulties would be insurmountable. They had studied the situation well and thoroughly, as we found when the con- ference was held with your committee, and they summed up the whole question, when Vice-President Baker closed his remarks with the declaration — "We will make a rate that will compel the shipment of your grain to the Gulf." This declaration was made with full reference to existing rates to other seaports, and designed to cover the whole case. Of necessity, no rates specific at this time could be given or asked, as a con- ference of the Central with connecting lines will be necessary, not only to estab- lish through rates, but the other details necessary for the working of all lines over which the traffic is to pass, both for out-going and in-coming transportation. But so far as the lines in the State of Texas are concerned, we are warranted in saying that all obstacles are already overcome — and business may commence at once. It does not come within the purpose for which the committee was raised, to go beyond the simple question of grain transportation and export — nor is it neces- sary to enlarge upon the general advantages and commerce to flow from the suc- cessful opening of such trade. We need only advert to that question and say that at Galveston, at Houston, at Austin, and from merchants and business men from all portions of that Empire State, which we met at the State fair, we found the liveliest interest in the establishment of a more direct and intimate commercial relations with Kansas City, and could have spent a month in travel and intercourse with her cities and towns had we accepted half the invitations pressed upon us. This is a suggestive fact to our people. There is really no conflict in produc- tions of Texas and the Missouri Valley. They want what we produce and we need what they grow — it is an exchange of commodities that await both, not a competition in products. And we being nearer to them than any country of similar production, can sell them cheaper than they can obtain elsewhere, and they being nearer to us than any seaport, can supply us at the minimum cost. And the day is not far distant when Texas will furnish from her own soil all the sugar needed in the Kansas City market. In conclusion, your committee do not deem it foreign to the subject to advert to the early policy of Kansas City in the direction of trade direct with the Gulf of Mexico. As early as 1857, a railroad charter was obtained for that purpose, out of which has grown the Cameron road, the bridge and the Fort Scott & Gulf road. In 1865, a like committee, on the part of the city, was mainly instrumen- tal in securing, at the great Indian council at Fort Smith, a treaty concession for a road across the Indian Territory, upon which the Missouri, Kansas & Texas road was constructed — now happily at last a Kansas City road. Many were the obstacles from the beginning that have intervened, but practical courage and per- sistence have at last won the great object, the consummation of which may date from this day ; and, though the struggle was long and trying, yet the results achieved are worth it all, and Kansas City may now look forward to a future that will repay discounting a hundred per cent beyond any of her achievements in the past ! Congratulating your board, the people of our city and the entire Missouri valley, upon the auspicious beginning of a new era in their prosperity, your com- mittee ask to be discharged. ■ R. T. VAN HORN, J. E. MARSH, EDWARD DUNSCOMB, On behalf of the Delegation." In July following, a large delegation from Houston and Galveston made a HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 159 return visit to Kansas City, where they were banqueted and then taken to Colo- rado and back by our citizens. The result of this interchange of visits was that the business men of Houston and Galveston united with those of Kansas City in an effort to bring about an arrangement between the Fort Scott and M., K. & T. R. R. and the Texas Central Railroad, by which there might be an inter- change of business between the people of Kansas City and those of Texas, and by which Galveston might be made a seaport for all the New West. It was through the success of these efforts that the trains of the M., K. & T. R. R. came to be first operated to this city — the same week in August that the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe was completed here. For several years afterward there was a continuation of the effort on the part of both the people of Kansas City and of the Texas cities, to secure modifications of the railroad arrangement which would facilitate business ; and, though much success attended these efforts, there were difficulties in the way of complete immediate success that the cities and the rail- roads could not at once overcome. There were business connections established, however, during these visits, that have continued and increased until there is a fan- share of the Texas trade enjoyed by Kansas City. The infection of this movement was caught by the up river towns, and in January, 1875, Kansas City was visited by a delegation from Omaha, Council Bluffs, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City and St. Joseph, who were on their way to Texas, to seek an opening of trade relations with the people of that State, and to give additional strength to the movement already initiated by Kansas City. They were warmly received and sent on their way with words of encouragement. While here they united with the people of Kansas City, through the Board of Trade, in a memorial to Congress praying for the opening of the Indian Territory, THE GRASSHOPPER INVASION. The invasion of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Western Missouri, by the grasshoppers; or more properly speaking, the Rocky Mountain Locusts, in 1874, occurred in the month of August; and was fraught with great disaster to the agri- cultural interests of those States and to the trade of Kansas City. The locusts came in immense clouds and literally covered the territory mentioned. Their first appearance was generally at a great altitude, flying from the northwest to the southeast, and their appearance was that of a snow storm. Sometimes they were so numerous as to darken the sunlight. They settled gradually to the ground, when their voracity soon made itself apparent; whole fields of green corn being destroyed in a single day. Nothing escaped them; there appeared to be nothing they would not eat; at least there was nothing that they did not eat; and in their progress they left the country nearly as bare of vegetation as if it had been scorched 1^ fire. By the time they reached the Missouri River section, vegetation, at least the crops, was too far advanced for them to do material harm, but on the frontiers, where they appeared earlier, and where the new settlers' dependence was a crop of sod corn, necessarily late and immature, their destruc- tion was great and caused much suffering during the following winter. They matured sufficiently to begin to deposit their eggs when about fifty miles west of Kansas City, and continued until they had advanced to about fifty miles east of it. Hence, in the spring of the year 1875, ^ ^^^ crop was hatched to infest the country, and they proved no less voracious than their progenitors of the year before. A district about a hundred miles wide extending southward from Kansas City a hundred miles and northward to the British possessions, was kept as bare of vegetation as midwinter until June of 1875, when the young brood suddenly took wing and disappeared as mysteriously as their progenitors had appeared, going in a northwesterly direction. The effect of all this was to cost the larger part of the country united by them the bulk of a year's crop, part of it in the 160 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. fall of 1874, and part in the spring of 1875. Such disaster could not but affect detrimentally the business of Kansas City. Early in the winter of 1874-5 it was ascertained that there was great suffer- ing among the people of western Kansas from this cause, and organized efforts for relief began to be made. The east was appealed to and responded liberally. Kansas City organized a local association in January, which collected and for- warded such aid as our people could give. Disastrous as this calamity was to the people of Kansas and to the trade of Kansas City, it had its compensation for Kansas City, in the development it gave to her infant grain market. The loss of Kansas crops in the fall of 1874, made it necessary for the people of that State to import grain from Iowa and Missouri in the spring of 1875. This opened a profitable field for business in Kansas City, and enlisted men in the grain trade who probably would not otherwise have put money into that line of business. The result was that the men and the money to make an excellent little grain market in Kansas City became interested in the spring of 1875, and as the crops of Kansas for that year promised more than usual abundance by the time this importing trade ceased, they continued in it, to handle the exported product in the fall. This circumstance, disastrous as it was, put the grain market of Kansas City on its feet, and secured it that definite organization which only years of labor could otherwise have attained. THE EVENTS OF 1875. The year 1875 ^^^^ ^^^ fruitful of new enterprises. With the shadow of the panic of 1873 still resting upon trade, and the depression resulting from the grasshop- per plague of 1874 and 1875, there was a tendency, on the part of the people, to await the revival of times and the growth of new crops. A REVISION OF THE CITY CHARTER. In the depressed state of affairs resulting from the panic of 1873 to the begin- ning of the year 1875, city taxes were collected with difficulty, and it was found difficult by the city officers to pay the interest on her bonded debt, small as it was, and preserve her credit. The First National Bank and the Mastin Bank had tided the city over to this time, by taking and holding its paper ; but the load began to be too heavy for them. Accordingly, in January, the officers of those two institutions prepared and sent to the Legislature, a draft of amendments to the charter, which would provide for a more economical and business like admin- istration of city finances. As soon as this bill was introduced into the Legislature the people took alarm. There was, at this time, trouble brewing between the city and the Water Company, in which the Mastins were interested. The people feared some scheme in the proposed bill that would give the Water Company the advantage, and hence became very much excited. A copy of the bill was sent for, a public meeting was called, and it was examined and condemned. The meeting then appointed a committee of thirteen, of which Major William Warner was chairman, to prepare a revision of the whole charter. This was done, and it was sent to Hon. S. P. Twiss, then representing Kansas City in the Legisla- ture, by whom it was introduced into the House of Representatives. This bill, after a most memorable contest, in which the dominant party of the State took sides against the people of Kansas City, finally became a law, and is our present excellent charter. Its definition of city limits and division of the city into wards are the same as now exist. Among its other provisions, it forbids the city to cre- ate any debt, and will not allow the Council to appropriate, or the Auditor to is- sue a warrant for, any money, until the cash is in the treasury, to meet it ; and it provided for the debt by setting apart a sufficient part of the revenues of the city to pay our interest, and most of the bonds as they mature. About the same time this charter was adopted — that is March 27, 1875, — ^^ HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 161 act was passed by the Legislature creating a metropolitan police for Kansas City, which has since prevailed, with Thos. M. Speers as chief. THE MINT AND SMELTING WORKS. In the spring of 1S75 Dr. Linderman, director of the United States Mints, was authorized to locate a branch mint in the Mississippi valley. Kansas City at once entered the list with Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and other places as competitor for it. Preparations were made to receive and entertain Dr. Linder- man on his visit to the west, and a statement of Kansas City's advantages for su(^h an establishment were prepared and forwarded to him. He was received here in September, and all the information given him that he required. At a subsequent period, February 1st, 1876, the Board of Trade sent an offer to the Secretary of the Treasury to donate building and grounds for the mint, but still it was not secured. In connection with this affair it appeared that one of the difficulties in the way of Kansas City was her lack of smelting works, for which it was believed her ready command of Colorado ores peculiarly adapted her. This caused an effort to supply that defect, but it was not successful at that time. OTHER EVENTS. Besides a protest against the settlement of the Sioux Indians in the Indian Territory; some fostering of the Narrow Gauge Railroad to Lexington; some efforts to secure alterations in railroad freight tariffs, and a few other matters of less consequence, there were no other other public movements during the year. The water works were completed and put into operation this year, as was also the Washington Street Horse Railroad. This latter was built and is owned by Messrs. Thomas and Bernard Corrigan. This is a double track road, and extends from Main and Sixth streets along Sixth to Washington street, thence to Lykins street, thence to Catherine street, and thence to Seventeenth street. In July, 1875, the Kansas Rolling Mills were established at Rosedale, four miles from the city. They have since been enlarged, and now do a business of about two hundred tons a day, and employ seven hundred men. On the 2d of December, the Kansas City Academy of Science was organized with a fair membership. The society has continued annually to increase in inter- est apd importance. THE YEAR 1876. The year 1876, like that of 1875, ^^^^ ^^ uneventful year in Kansas City. Trade at this time had begun to revive, and merchants were active in their efforts to extend their business into new localities in Kansas. and Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska. By the middle of the summer, there set in a decided change in the situation of affairs. People began again to come to Kansas City in large num- bers, as they had done previous to the panic. AH vacant houses were occupied, \ and rents began to advance before the close of the year. This was the beginning of the era of prosperity which is now upon us. THE BOARD OF TRADE. An important change took place in the Board of Trade in 1876, which be- comes a part of the history of Kansas City The grain market, which by this time was considerable, was located, by accident on Union avenue, west of Union Depot, and the rooms of the Board of Trade were under the First National Bank on the corner of Fifth and Delaware streets. In April, 1876, the members of the board engaged in the grain business, complained of the inconvenience of attending its*daily meetings at the room un- der the First National Bank, where it had been since 1872, and proposed that it 11 TRUMBULL, REYNOLDS & ALLEN'S WHOLESALE HOUSE. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 163 remove to the western part of the city where they were located. Other members proposed that they should remove their offices to the upper part of the city, which they expressed a willingness to do, but office rooms could not be had to accom- modate them. To remedy this deficiency Dr. Edward Dunscomb proposed that an effort should be made to erect a suitable exchange building containing offices for them. This was assented to, and a committee of thirteen was appointed to devise ways and means, of which Dr. Dunscomb was chairman. This committee finally reported in favor of incorporating and re-organizing the board making member- ships permanent and transferable, and fixing them at $ioo each. The money thus raised was to be appropriated to the erection of a building, any balance that might be needed to be borrowed on a mortgage on the property. The plan was adopted, the board incorporated and re-organized May 9th, and ground for the building purchased. Previous to this there had been no membership fee, but only an annual as- sessment of ten and twenty dollars, according to the class of business in which members were engaged. Under this arrangment the board never attained a membership of over one hundred and eight, but under the new, it speedily attained a membership of two hundred and eleven. The ground selected for an exchange building was on the corner of Fifth and Delaware streets and cost $15,- 700. Ten thousand dollars was borrowed of citizens of Kansas City, on second mortgage bonds, during the summer, and the erection of the building began in September. It was not completed, however, until the ist of October, 1877, and cost about $47,000. The grain market was moved to it in July, 1877, and has since occupied it. THE MARKETS AND PACKING BUSINESS. Contemporaneous with the events narrated in the last three chapters, were a series of active events relating to the development here of the live-stock and grain markets, and of the packing business, which will be given in the next chap- ter. Their history will also be sketched through to the present time, thus antic- ipating somewhat the events to be narrated in the chapter following. CITY ADDITIONS. For reasons already stated, there was not much local growth of the city dur- ing the years from 1872 to 1877, and but few additions were platted. The follow- ing is the list : May 26, '73 — A. Kelly's Sub-division. July 9, '73 — Fancher and Day's Sub division. July 31, '73 — Kyle's Sub-division. September 25, '73 — Daniel O'Flaherty's Sub-division. February 12, '74 — Cumming's Sub-division. February 17, '74 — E. H. Websters' Sub-division. June II, '74 — Dr. Hovey's Sub-division. May 3, '75 — Tracy's Addition. January 7, '76 — Coates & Hopkins' Addition. April 10, '76 — Coates & Hopkins' Second Addition. 164 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER XIV. THE MARKETS AND PACKING HOUSES. History of the Texas Cattle Trade — Its Final Concentration at Kansas City — The Growth of the Alarket and Character of the Present Supply — The History of the Packing Business — Why it Came to Kansas City — Its Statistics — The Grain Market, When and How It Started — Its Development and Circumstances Attending It — Its Present Facilities and Magnitude. When Cortez overran Mexico in the sixteenth century, he introduced into this new Spanish possession the long-horned cattle of Spain, and they became the cattle of the Spanish possession to the exclusion of all others, and continue to this day to hold undisputed possession, although the control of the country has long since passed from Spain to the republics of Mexico and the United States. These cattle thrive best on the plains of western and southern Texas, though they prosper in New Mexico, and, it has been found since their settlement, in Colorado and Kansas also. Old Mexico has not had a surplus of them during this century, because of the disturbed condition of society which makes all prop- erty insecure, and the natural triflingness of the people who prefer pillaging each other to honest industry. The plains of western and southern Texas became their great pasture ground after that State was annexed to the United States, and orderly government gave protection to property. THE FIRST NORTHWARD DRIVE. These plains soon became the source of beef supply for the southern States, and largely of Mexico also ; but the production was in a more rapid ratio than the growth of the demand, and as early as 1857 the stock growers of that State began to look for other markets. The first attempt to drive them to the north on record was in 1857, when about 20,000 head, with some horses and mules, were driven to Missouri, passing through Kansas City and crossing the river at Ran- dolph Ferry, three miles below town, in June of that year. This is reported to have been an unfortunate venture, except so far as the mules were concerned, which were sold at remunerative prices. There was at that time great demand at Kansas City for oxen and mules for the Santa Fe trade, and in 1858 larger numbers of cattle and mules were driven hither from Texas, and such cattle as were suitable were sold to the freighters for oxen. Many others were sold as stock cattle to immigrants to California, Utah and Oregon. In 1859 and i860 the business was continued, and the droves were larger, and during these two years attempts were made to get fat cattle suitable for beeves through to Chicago, but with what success is not recorded. The breaking out of the war in 1861 stopped the rapidly growing trade. During the war the market for Texas cattle became exceedingly restricted. In the earlier years of the struggle the southern States and Confederate armies made a fair demand for them, but this was practically cut off by the occupation of the Mississippi River by Federal troops in 1863. Cattle could, after that event, be got to the southern States and Confederate armies only by running the blockade of the Mississippi, which was attend with such hazard that the business was not profitable and hardly possible. THE BEGINNING OF THE DRIVE NORTHWARD. Owing to these causes, and the continued rapid increase of cattle in Texas, that State was utterly overrun with them at the close of the war, and there was HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 165 no market for them. The southern people were not in a condition to buy and Mexico needed but a small part of the annual increase. It is said that cattle men then almost wholly neglected their herds, and a prevalent mode of estimat- ing a man's poverty was by the number of cattle he owned — the more the worse. Cattle that could be bought for from three to six dollars per head, were worth ten times that amount in the northwest. This fact soon becoming known, the drovers began to prepare in 1865 and 1866 to drive to the north, and the movement be- gan in 1866. The exact number of cattle that crossed Red River that year for the north is not known, but it has been generally estimated at 260,000 head. These herds passed through the Indian Territory, and attempted to enter south- western Missouri in the general direction of Sedalia and other points on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in Central Missouri. The story that these cattle spread the fearfully fatal Spanish fever among the native cattle of the north, and that contact with them was certain destruction to natives, led to the most determined resistance to their entrance into the settled parts of Missouri and Kansas. This resistance afforded an excellent opportunity to lawless characters to pillage the drovers, and beside the farmers who honestly opposed them from good but mis- taken motives, there were mobs organized by men who had no property to be injured and for the sole purpose of robbery. These mobs attacked the drovers and lynched many of them, managing meantime to stampede their cattle, after which it was easy to steal large numbers of them. But few of the herds of 1867 got through to shipping points, while many were turned back, so that the new field of inviting profit and speedy fortune was realized only as a field of wrong, abuse and ruin. OPENING A PLACE OF RENDEZVOUS. The attempt and the struggle, however, widely advertised the quality and cheapness of Texas cattle, and hence attracted much attention throughout the north and northwest. They became as determined to have the cattle as the Texas drovers were that they should have them, or the farmers of Kansas and Missouri that they should not be driven through these States. The next point then was to find a point to which Texas cattle could be driven where northern dealers could buy them, and where there were adequate shipping facilities. In the study of this problem it occurred to Mr. Joseph G. McCoy, now of this city, but then a cattle dealer in Illinois, that a common point might be found somewhere in western Kansas or the Indian territory outside of the settlements, or somewhere on the southern rivers, from whence cattle could be shipped by boat. Before he had fairly decided in his own mind which would be best, he had occasion to visit Kansas City. Here he met some parties who were interested in Texas cattle, and talked over the project to them, and with their encouragement he went up the Kansas Pacific road to look at the country. Impressed with the favorableness of the situation he returned, and, in an interview with the officers of the Kansas Pacific, they told him that they thought it might pay; that they would encourage it, but were not sufficiently sanguine of its success to put money into it. He got an understanding, however, that if he would erect shipping yards at his own expense, they would arrange with him so that he should have shipping facilities and a fair share of profits. With this understanding he went to St. Louis to ascertain from the Missouri Pacific what rates of freight would be given from Kansas City to that place. He went beforenhe president of that road and^ex- plained the scheme, when the president remarked that it occurred to him that he (Mr. McCoy) had no cattle to ship, and he had no assurance that he ever would have. Very soon afterward Mr. McCoy made an agreement about rates with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. 166 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. THE MARKET AT ABILENE. He then closed up his business in Illinois and went to Abilene, Kansas, where he built the necessary stock yards and a hotel for the accommodation of drovers, and by the time the herds of 1867 began to reach Kansas, he was ready for them, and that year received into the yards about 35,000 head. As the place was wholly unknown as a cattle market, Mr. McCoy and his associates in the yards were about the cnly buyers. They bought and shipped to Chicago about 3,000 head; of the balance, a large number were shipped through in first hands and packed in Chicago on the owner's account, but many were driven further north. The first shipment from Abilene was on the 5th of September, 1867, and consisted of twenty car loads. The shipments from Abilene that year reached about one thousand car loads, all of which went to Chicago by the Han- nibal & St. Joseph Railroad, except seventeen car loads which went to St. Louis by the Missouri Pacific. The railroad bridge at Kansas City was not then fin- ished, and the proprietors of the Abilene yards, thinking Leavenworth a more eligible place for crossing the river than Kansas City, built the necessary feeding and transfer yards at that point, and shipped their cattle by that place. Leaven- worth, however, took no interest in the movement and offered it no advantages, besides which it was found that the advantages for forwarding cattle were much inferior to those at Kansas City. Hence, the next year, 1868, they transferred their trans shipping business to Kansas City. THE MOVEMENT IN 1 868. Owing to various causes the operations of the year 1867 were not satisfactory to the drovers, chief among which was their failure to meet buyers at Abilene or elsewhere in Kansas. The proprietors of the yards, comprehending the situa- tion, spent about five thousand dollars in the winter of 1867-8 in advertising Abilene as a cattle market, both in Texas and northwest, assuring the one that buyers would be there in 1868, and the other that many cheap cattle would be offered there. This had the desired effect, and that year there were an abund- ance of buyers, and the number of cattle arriving there was fully seventy-five thousand head. Fortunes were made this year, and the Texas drovers were en- couraged to make larger drives the next year. Many of the cattle bought at Abilene in 1868 were shipped immediately into the feeding districts of Illinois and other western States, and soon spread the Spanish fever over the country. Its destructive effects were such as to call forth hostile legislation in most of the western States. It was much investigated and at last ascertained that there is no danger of it after frost; hence after that year it became the practice to hold the cattle on the plains, where they thrive and fat- ten until after frost. Such as were bought for packing or for beef were, however, shipped when needed, as they did not go into feeding districts, or come in con- tact with native cattle, and hence were not liable to spread disease. NEW YARDS AT KANSAS CITY GLORY AND DESTRUCTION OF ABILENE. In 1869 not less than one hundred and fifty thousand cattle were received at Abilene, while many more went further north, some to feed Indians, some to government posts and to Utah and Montana, while many found their way to market by the way of the Union Pacific Railroad. This year success attended the drovers, and in 1870 they drove not less than three hundred thousand head. The yard facilities at Kansas City having been found inadequate, in 1869 the North Missouri, Hannibal and St. Joseph, and Missouri Pacific Railroads all built yards of their own. That was the year of Abilene's glory, and her great prosperity attracted the attention of other towns and raised up a host of rivals. The next year the HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 167 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road induced some parties to build yards at New- ton, when that place and other points along the line of the Kansas Pacific began to compete successfully with Abilene. There already existed a strong feeling against the trade among the farmers in the country adjacent to Abilene, and catering to that sentiment the representatives of the country in the Kansas Legis- lature procured the enactment of a law at the session of 187 1 that drove the trade from Abilene. With the completion of the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf, and Leaven- worth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroads to the southern line of the State of Kansas in 1870, both began to compete for the trade, the unsettled country over the line in the Indian Territory affording ample pasturage and feeding grounds. For two or three years these roads secured a liberal share of the trade, and would have been preferred because of the shortness of their lines to Kansas City, but for the fact that the Indians levied a tax upon the herding of cattle or the driving of them through their country that made it unprofitable to drivers and supressed the trade. Meanwhile, the receiving and forwarding of cattle began to be divided between Ellsworth, on the Kansas Pacific, and Wichita, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and so continued for several years, and until cattle fresh from Texas ceased to be forwarded into the Northwest. For two or three years the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe attempted to take all cattle it received by the way of Atchi- son to Chicago, but the lack of adequate yards and bridge facilities were found to be an insuperable barrier, and in 1873 it turned over its cattle to the Missouri Pacific at Atchison for shipment to Kansas City, and the next year effected arrangements for delivering them here itself. ORIGIN OF THE KANSAS CITY .MARKET. In 1868, 1869 and 1870 Kansas City was merely a re-shipping and feeding point, and this was done in the yards belonging to the railroad companies Four packing-houses were that year operating here, but packers had to send to the prairies for most of their cattle and send to the adjacent country for their hogs. This was out of their line of business, and made a demand for the employment of another class of men, who should attend to that part of the business and furnish the stock. Again, the large number of cattle passing through the railroad yards at Kansas City required better attention than could be given them by railroad em- ployees or the shippers themselves accompanying the stock in transit. There was a need of commission men located here, to whom the stock could be consigned, and who would take care of it. There was a great need, also, of better yard regulations. A single yard under one management, where feed and water were provided and which should be used alike by all the railroads was much needed. These facts led to the formation of a joint stock company in 1871, and the construction in time to receive the shipments of that year, of the Kansas Stock Yards. When these yards went into operation, June i, 1871, Jerome D. Smith was elected superintendent. It soon became evident that with this additional convenience men were going into the live stock commission business here, and hence a building was erected to furnish offices for them. When the season opened there were several commission firms ready to begin operations. William A. Rogers was one of the first to engage in business at the Kansas yards. This was the beginning of the live stock market in our city. Packers finding that they could supply themselves here ceased to go to the prairies for their stock. Feeders and others purchasers from the northwestern States had always regarded it as a great hardship to have to go to the frontiers of Kansas to buy their stock, and they, too, welcomed the new market with pleasure, and began at once to give it their patronage. The packing demand for hogs led the comniission men 168 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. to make an effort to attract that class of stock to the market, and they were soon in control of the crop of Kansas and western Missouri. Sheep came as a matter of course, and by the close of 187 1 this city had an established live stock market. The development of the market from that time has been rapid. All the re- ceipts of cattle in 187 1 were Texas cattle, and probably not more than one-third of them were sold here, the other two-thirds going forward in first hands. By 1872 the number sold here was nearly equal to the whole receipts, and in 1873 cattle ceased to go forward in first hands. From that time the Kansas City market controlled the Texas cattle, and has been steadily better than any oher market, as is shown by the fact that no man escaped loss who attempted the business of buying here for sale in other markets. Money has been made, how- ever, in buying and shipping into the feeding districts on orders. The market for hogs grew as rapidly as for cattle, and as early as 1873 this market controlled the product, not only of Kansas and all the country west and south, but the adjacent parts of Missouri half way to Quincy, and northward into south- western Iowa. For all this country and southern Nebraska, this city has been found to be a better market than any other. Packers have taken all suitable offerings, while the country adjacent and west of this city has demanded all stock hogs that could be had. Receipts steadily increased until in 1874, when the short crop incident to the destruction of the corn crops that year cut down the supply. In 1872 native and wintered Texas cattle began to come into the market and since that time the proportion of natives has increased until the larger part of the receipts are of that class. Texas cattle driven to Colorado have stocked up that young State, and for the past few years Colorado cattle have become almost as prominent a feature of the market as those from Texas. The following statement of the number of cattle driven from Texas is as nearly accurate as can be made. Since 1872 it is nearly exact : 1866 260,000 1867 35.000 1868 75,000 1869 350,000 1870 300,000 187 1 600,000 1872 350,000 1873 400,000 1874 166,000 1875 151,618 1876 321,998 1877 201,159 1878 265,646 1S79 257,927 1880 394,784 The following table shows the receipts of different kinds of stock into the Kansas City market. Receipts prior to 187 1 were bought in the country and shipped here fOr packing and for beef : Year. Cattle. Hogs. Sheep. 1868 4,200 13,000 1869 4 450 23,000 1870 21,000 36,000 1871 120,827 . 41,036 4,527 1872 236,802 104,639 6,071 1873 227,669 220,956 5,975 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 169 Year. Cattle. Hogs. Sheep. 1874 • 207,069 112,532 8,875 1875 181,114 59>4i3 24,987 1876 183,378 153,777 55,045 1877 215,768 192,645 42,190 1878 175,344 427,777 36,700 1879 211,415 588,908 61,684 1880 244,709 676,477 50,611 The tendency to drive Texas cattle to the plains of Kansas, Colorado, Ne- braska and New Mexico to winter, and to bring them to this market during years subsequent to their removal from Texas, began about 1876, and has continued until few fresh Texas cattle come into this market. At the same time there began to be a large increase in the proportion of native cattle brought into the market, until now nearly all receipts are of that class, the wintered Texas cattle being absorbed in the western States and Territories, and by the army and Indian contractors. A PROMOTER OF THE MARKETS. As much is due to Howard M. Holden, of the First National Bank, as to any other individual, for the development of the stock market. As early as 1868 he perceived the advantage of such an institution, and, together with C. J. White, Colonel Bucklin and others, organized a live stock and drovers' association, to help the cattle men open the way to the city. The association accomplished bu> little, but Mr. Holden was always the friend of the cattle men, and by his liberal treatment soon taught them where to look for financial aid. He made something of a specialty of the commission trade from 1871 down, and was al- ways ready to help the commission merchants. His liberal hand similarly favor- ed the packing interest, and subsequently the grain market, and greatly stim- ulated the development of these interests. Other banks were also liberal, and the Mastin Bank early became an active friend of the cattle men and packers. THE PACKING BUSINESS. As the events of 1867 demonstrated that a supply of cattle would thereafter be found on the western prairies, packers were attracted to the frontier. The first attempt at packing was at Junction City in 1867, by Edward W. Pattison, for- merly of Indianapolis. He formed a company at Junction City, and in 1867 packed about one thousand cattle. The. acquaintance with the country thus ac- quired satisfied him that Kansas City, possessing as she did the largest commer- cial facilities near the frontier, offered the best advantages for that business. Hence, in 1868, in company with J. W. L. Slavens, he built the first beef pack- ing house here — the stone house now occupied by Jacob Dold & Son. And that year they bought on the prairies and packed about 4,209 cattle. This was the first beef packing done in this city. The same year Thos. J. Bigger, formerly of Belfast, Ireland, came here and went into the business of packing hogs for the Irish and English markets. This was the first hog packing done in the city after the war. Previous to the war, about 1858, M. Diveley and some others had packed a few hogs, and in 1859, J. L. Mitchener, now of the Kansas City stock market, came here, backed by Chi- cago capital, and opened a packing house on the east levee, but his business was stopped by the war. In 1868 Mr. Bigger built a small stone house on St. Louis avenue, West Kansas City, where he packed away his meats, the slaughtering being done for him by Messrs. Pattison and Slavens. In the spring of 1869, Mr. Slavens disposed of his interest in the packing house of Pattison & Slavens to Dr. F. B. Nofsinger, who had just come here from Indianapolis, and formed the co-partnership known as Furgason, Slavens & 170 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Co., by which was built that year the large brick packing house now occupied by Slavens & Oburn, thus adding the third packing house. The next year, 1870, Mr. Bigger built the house he afterward occupied, near the mouth of Kaw River, and Messrs. Plankinton & Armours came and rented the house of Pattison & Nofsinger, in which they operated that year, and built their own house. This gave Kansas City her present four packing houses, which, with frequent additions, have kept pace with the growth of the city and the packing interest. Messrs. Plankinton & Armours had already two large houses, one in Milwaukee, and one in Chicago, but were impressed with the advantage of packing Texas cattle nearer the source of supply, had, after investigation, become satisfied that this city was the best point. It was so situated that the cattle, as driven to the plains of Kansas annually, would be available, and possessed a much better climate or the purpose, while, as already an assured railway center, it offered all n .essary transportation facilities. S. B. Armour, the head of the house here, wao not at the time connected with the firm, but was living on a farm in New York. His brothers induced him to come to this city, take an interest in the business, and conduct the house here. Thus our city became a packing point, by 1870, before it was yet a stock market. The next year, 187 1, the creation here of a cattle and hog market greatly facilitated packing, and by 1872 Kansas City had attained great importance as a packing point. In 1874 she was the principal source of supply for packed beef, and since that time has attained nearly a monopoly of the trade. Hog packing did not prosper equally for the sole reason that hogs could not be had, the packing capacity of the city being in excess of the supply. The following table shows the packing done here since the war : HOGS. CATTLE. 1868-69 i3)Ooo 1868 4,200 1869-70 23,000 1869 4,450 1870-71 36,000 1870 21,000 1871-72 83,000 1871 45'543 1872-73 180,000 1872 20,500 1873-74 175.000 1873 26,549 1874-75 70,300 1874 42,226 1875-76 72,500 1875 25,774 1876-77 114,869 1876 26,765 1877 180,357 1877 27,863 1878 349,097 1878 18,756 1879 366,830 1879 29,141 1880 . . , 539,097 1880 30,922 During the summer of 1878, Messrs. Fowler Bros., large packers in Chicago, observing that the supply of hogs had now become sufficient at Kansas City to make it a large packing point, determined to establish a branch house here. They came for that purpose, but found that in addition to the excellent facilities offered by the large stock market and excellent transportation facilities, Kansas City was not disposed to offer much inducements. That is, Kansas City feeling that she possessed advantages for that kind of business unequaled elsewhere in the Missouri Valley, was not disposed to offer any inducements in addition there- to. The City of Atchison, however, was; and offered such inducements in the way of land, etc., as to tempt the Messrs. Fowlers to locate there. That fall they built a large packing house at Winthrop, on the opposite side of the river and went into the business of packing hogs. It was soon 'found, however, that they could not conduct the business successfully in the absence of a hog market ; HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 171 and they and others addressed themselves to efforts to develop one at Atchison. The effort was futile, however, the market at Kansas City continued to attract the shipments, and for two years Messrs. Fowlers continued the business there, buying a large part of the hogs in the Kansas City market. It was found, also, that for a large part of their trade in meats their product had to be shipped to Kansas City for distribution. Competition with Kansas City packers, under such circumstances was, of course, unprofitable, and hence in the spring of 1880 they came to Kansas City, secured a large tract of ground near the junction of the Kaw and Missouri Rivers, and built there one of the largest and best appointed packing houses in the west. In the summer of 1880 Messrs. Dold & Son, of Buffalo, New York, came to Kansas City and bought the packing house of Nofsinger & Co., who had not been operating it very extensively for several years. They opened business with the opening of the season 1880-1, and are now proposing to build a much lar- ger house. Mr. Bigger having gone out of the packing business several years age, the houses now operating here are Plankinton & Armours, Slavens and Oburn, Fow- ler Bros., and Jacob Dold & Son. Of these houses Plankinton & Armours and Slavens & Oburn still pack a considerable amount of beef. It is mostly put up in cans, however, rather than in tierces and barrels as was formerly the custom. The houses all do a large business in packing pork and most of them continue the business through the summer. THE GRAIN MARKET. From the earliest dates to 1870, Kansas City imported flour from eastern Missouri and Illinois. This country had become self sustaining, so far as this part of Missouri was concerned, before the war, but the great demand by immi- grants to Kansas, and the trade with New Mexico and Colorado, made a demand that local production could not supply. By the time Kansas became a State, she was producing large amounts of grain, but the immigration took all surpluses. Between the close of the war and 1870, the same conditions existed, though the production of the country had immensely increased. By 1870, however, pro- duction began to exceed the local demand, and that year the railroads took small amounts of grain to the eastern markets. Perceiving this fact, the people, in the latter part of 1870 and the early part of 187 1, began to agitate the estab- lishment of a grain market. The spring of the year 1871 gave promises of a good yield of all kinds of grain ; and the press opened on the subject again. Its agitation caused the Board of Trade to take it up and discuss it. THE FIRST ELEVATOR THE INFANT MARKET. The result was that in July, 187 1, Messrs. Latshaw & Quade began the erection of an elevator of about one hundred thousand bushels storage capacity. This was situated on nearly the same ground as is now the Union Elevator. It was finished and open for business in December. But there were no grain dealers to use it, and Messrs. Latshaw & Quade went into the business themselves, and were the first men to conduct a grain business in this city as a strictly commercial pursuit. Messrs. Branharn & Sons owned and operated a corn mill on Fourth street, near Broadway, and Messrs. Dewar & Smith owned and operated the Diamond mills. These gentlemen were buying grain in the country and shipping it to their mills. Soon after the construction of the elevator they began to do something more than this, and shipped some grain to the east. In 1S71 Messrs. Price & Doane took a large house on Santa Fe street and Union avenue, and opened a grain business, but for a long time their business was largely of a retail character. Messrs. Latshaw & Quade, however, were the principal dealers until the close of 1873, ^^""^ by that time had built up a considerable order trade 172 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. in the east and south. Their business was, however, summarily closed in Decern ber, 1873, by the burning of their elevator. TWO MORE ELEVATORS. By the close of 1873, the extent of the grain business had become such as to attract others, and the next spring Messrs. Vanghan & Co. and Gillespie, Reed & Co. went into business. Messrs. Vaughan & Co. undertook the building of Elevator "A," and a stock company, of which A. J. GiUispie became president, commenced the erection of the Kansas City elevator. Both of these were begun in the spring of 1874, and finished in time for the movement of the wheat crop of that year, and had a storage capacity of about 200,000 bushels each. Messrs. Branham & Sons had the fall previous built the Advance mills, in connection with which they provided a storage capacity for about 20,000 bushels and all necessary elevator appar .us. From the time of the burning of the ele- vator of Messrs. Latshaw &: Quade until the erection of the Kansas City and "A," this was the only facility, and was much used. In the latter part of the year 1876, it was purchased by Col. E. Lynde and converted into an elevator with about 40,000 bushels storage capacity. It was then made regular by the Board of Trade, and has since continued as the Advance Elevator. \ THE MOVEMENT OF 1874 AND 1875. The prospect for 1874 was excellent until in August when the Rocky Moun- tain Locusts came down upon Kansas and cut short the corn crop. For a time the outlook was very discouraging but it soon became evident that owing to the shortness of the supply in Kansas, corn w^ould have to be shipped into that State. The Kansas City grain men seized the situation with their characteristic enter- prise and began the purchase of corn in Iowa and northern Missouri for Kansas. This afforded them such an excellent business that numbers of others engaged in it and brought a large amount of capital into the trade. The grain movement that year was the largest that had yet been known in Kansas City, but in the contrary direction from what was expected. The movement of wheat, rye and barley that year was to the eastward, but that of corn and oats was to the west- ward. By the time the westward movement of corn ceased in 1875 the eastward movement of wheat had began. Our commission men in anticipation of the movement had opened business correspondence with millers and dealers throughout the Middle and Western States, and obtained their orders. When the market opened the existing through rates of freight enabled them to fill their orders at from three to five cents less than the same grades could be supplied from St. Louis, and at the same time pay the country shipper from three to five cents more than they could realize by sending their wheat to St. Louis. St. Louis had formerly been the only western market for winter wheat, and beside this city is still the only market near enough for small shippers in the Missouri Valley. This situation was greatly stimulating to the Kansas City market, and allured many other men into the business, and brought her a number of Chicago, Baltimore and New York buyers. OTHER ELEVATORS. The extent to which the market had grown rendered more elevator capacity a necessity, and in the fall of 1875 a new company was formed, and the erection of the Union Elevator begun. It has a storage capacity of about 500,000 bushels, and went into operation in February, 1876. The movement of corn during the winter and spring of 1876, proved that even with this additional facility there was still not enough, hence during the summer another company was formed, and the Arkansas Valley Elevator was built. It was finished and HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 173 went into operation on tlie 2d of June, 1877. In the fall of 1877 Elevator " B " was built in the Hannibal & St. Joseph freight yards. It had a storage capacity of 250,000 bushels, and went into operation March 19, 1878, but it was faulty in its foundations and fell down, December 7th, 1878. The Alton Elevator was built near the line of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, in the northeastern part of the city, in the summer and fall of 1879. It went into operation November 2 2d, 1879, and has a storage capacity of one hundred and seventy-five thousand bushels. The Novelty Elevator was first built as a small transfer house, in the summer of 1876, but was subsequently enlarged to a storage capacity of about twenty thou- sand bushels, and so continued until the fall of 1879, when it was increased to a storage capacity of two hundred and twenty-five thousand bushels, and became regular on the 28th day of June, 1880, The State Line Elevator was built as a small elevator, having a storage capacity of about twenty thousand bushels, in 1877 and so continued until 1879, when it was enlarged to a storage capacity of one hundred thousand bushels, and was made regular on the ist day of March, 1880. THE GRAIN CALL. The call of grain, which is now one of the features of the Board of Trade, was established in June, 1876. At that time the grain merchants were concen- trated about the corner of Union avenue and Santa Fe street, and finding it in- convenient to attend the daily meetings of the Board of Trade at the rooms under the First National Bank on the corner of Delaware and Fifth streets, they organized themselves into a Call Board, subject to the rules and regulations of the Board of Trade, and elected Maj. W. A. M. Vaughan, moderator, to conduct the call. In November this call was formally recognized by the Board of Di- rectors of the Board of Trade, and rules for its government were established. Maj. Vaughan continued to make the call until July, 1877, when that duty was devolved upon the secretary of the Board of Trade. The following statistics of the grain trade will be found interesting. STORAGE AND TRANSFER CAPACITY OF REGULAR ELEVATORS AT KANSAS CITY. NAME. Union .... Arkansas Valley "A" Advance . . . Alton. . . . . State Line . . . Novelty. . . . Total . . . Storage. Bushels. 400,000 425,000 175,000 60,000 175,000 100,000 225,000 1,560,000 Daily Transfer Capacity. Bushels. 100,000 125,000 30,000 15,000 250,000 30,000 40,000 590,000 174 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. TOTAL GRAIN RECEIPTS AT KANSAS CITY PER ANNUM FROM THE FIRST OF THE MARKET, DATE. 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877, 1878, 1879 1880 Wheat. 687,000 289,726 750,400 371,273 1,256,337 1,820,297 2,259,572 9,014,291 6,417,952 4,093,528, Corn. 350,000 601,864 836,300 711,367 1,258,700 5,769,395 5,881,703 4,911,529 4,121,904 4,421,760 Oats. 93,695 105,200 210,475 382,850 117,241 180,657 155,089 276,775 366,486 Rye. 12,921 10,500 3,400 40,000 396,612 329,887 352,262 184,046 65,267 Barley. 3,087 12,380 37,450 15,100 109,045 203,341 163,257 92,591 82,894 The Kansas City Elevator having become inoperative and having ceased to do business on the 29th of May, 1880, it is dropped from the above table of storage capacity. THE PRODUCE AND FLOUR MARKETS. Produce from the country began to be handled in Kansas City in a small way prior to the war, but first took the form of a commission business soon after that struggle. A. L. Charles, A. S. Haines and R. C. Crowell & Co., were among the first merchants to engage in it. And Kansas City is now a large market for this cjass of articles. The handling of flour grew up about the same time, in the same way and was conducted by about the same men. An effort was made in July, 1880, to organize this trade and put it on 'change. To that end the Board of Trade adopted rules for its government; appointed G. W. Elliot, inspector, and provided sample tables. It has not yet succeeded however in effecting its object. THE COAL MARKET. With the competition of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad to the city in 1867, of the North Missouri (now Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific), and of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf to Fort Scott in 1869, they began to bring coal to Kansas City from the mines adjacent to their respective lines. The trade in coal had however begun before this, probably about 1868. Geo. W. McLean, since grain inspector, and A. S. IngersoU, now a grain merchant, were the first to engage in it. They got their coal at Lexington, Mo., shipped it to Kansas City in sacks, by steamboat, and sold it at forty-five cents per bushel. These gentlemen were soon followed by Pat Casey, T. McKinley, J. A. Bovard and others. The first record preserved of receipts was for the year 1870, during which the Fort Scott road is recorded as having brought to Kansas City 18,000 bushels, but the Hannibal & St. Joseph and North Missouri brought coal to the city at the same time, the amount of which cannot now be ascertained. The market grew rapidly from the first, and by 1872 Kansas City was receiving and distributing over two million bushels. At this early date all the upper river towns and cities as far north as Omaha were largely supplied from here, as well as accessible parts of Kansas and Nebraska. The railroads in these States and western Iowa were also supplied from here, and have continued to be since. The following table shows the receipts of coal into this market each year from 1870 to 1880 inclusive, as near as can now be ascertained. It must be remembered, however, that these figures for years prior to 1877 are not exact, there having been no report of the coal brought here by the Hannibal & St. Joseph HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 175 Railroad prior to that time and no report of that received here from the North Missouri for 1876. For 1877 and subsequent years the figures are taken from the Board of Trade reports, which are nearly exact. Years. * Bushels. 1870 18,000 1871 1,408,760 1872 2,722,750 1873 2,755,500 1874 2,799,000 1875 3.226,500 1876 2,788,000 * 1877 3,107,050 1878 4,621,725 1879 5,307,000 1880 5,772,405 * No report for the North Missouri road. 176 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. CHAPTER XV. . THE PROGRESS OF THREE YEARS. The Events 0/1877 — '^^^^ Alton Road — The Union Depot — The Test of Barges on the Missouri — The Great Railivay Strike — Bank Suspensions — Railway Extensions Affecting Kansas City — The United States Court House and Post- Off ce, and United States Courts — Rapid Growth of the City. It was mentioned at the close of the last chapter that Kansas City began to revive from the effects of the panic of 1873, about the middle of the year 1876, and that population began again to come in and fill up the vacant houses, and revive the general tone of business. This revival was not local only, but general, and the whole country shared in it. In the west, especially, there was marked improvement, and not Kansas City only, but the whole west, entered upon a new era of prosperity and development, which, happily, has not yet received any serious check. THE EVENTS OF 1 87 7. One of the first institutions to take advantage of the revival of times, to ad- vance its interests, was the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, which, as pre- viously noted, had extended its line to Mexico, Missouri, on the old Louisiana charter, and for some years had been making its connections to Kansas City from that place over the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern. On the 27th of February, 1877, T. B. Blackstone, President, J. J. Mitchell, Vice-President, and J. D. McMulUn, General Superintendent, of that road, came to Kansas City, to confer with the people here, relative to extending that road along the route origi- nally proposed for the Louisiana road to Kansas City. After such conference, they returned by the way of Glasgow, accompanied from this city by General John W. Reid, who had always taken an active interest in this line of road. During the spring and summer the sense of the people along the route was taken at a series of public meetings, and in the fall a new company was organized, called the Chicago, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad Company, for the purpose of building the road. Mr. Mitchell was president of this company, and most of its members and stockholders were Chicago & Alton men. In October Mr. Mitchell submitted to Jackson county and other counties along the line, proposi- tions for aid to the road. Of Jackson county, he required fifty thousand dollars in subscriptions to the stock of the company, and procurement of the right of way through the county. This was submitted to a meeting of the people, and referred to a committee, of which General Reid was a leading member, to raise the subscriptions, and it was soon accomphshed. A like result having attended the effort in other counties, the construction of the road was an assured fact be- fore the close of the year. The establishment of barge transportation on the Missouri River was again taken up, March loth, at a meeting of grain merchants, and referred to a com- mittee consisting of Messrs. M. Diveley, H. J. Latshaw, E. R. Threlkeld, T. J. Lynde, Major W. A. M. Vaughan, Colonel C. E. Kearney, and A. J. Gillespie. This meeting was brought about by some correspondence with the Great Central Dispatch Company, which proposed to put barges on the river. Nothing came of this proposition, however, and subsequently a committee was sent to St. Louis for the purpose of securing, if possible, some relaxation of the railroad pool rates from the Missouri Pacific and St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Railroads. But this mission was unsuccessful, and on the return of the committee, an inef- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 177 fectual effort was made to start a company to build barges, after which the inter- est was allowed to slumber for another year. The Memphis Railroad project, in which Kansas City and Jackson county had been so largely and so unsuccessfully interested since 1870, re-appeared this year, and claimed a share of attention. On the 12th of April it was sold in bank- ruptcy, and was bought in by a company of Kansas City men for fifteen thou- sand and twenty-five dollars. Mr. J. D. Bancroft, formerly cashier of the First National Bank, and at this time a grain merchant, became manager for the pur- chasers, and made an effort to raise the money to build it, but without success ; and it slumbered in the hands of this company for several years without anything further being done to build it. Other railroad enterprises, however, were more fortunate, and. the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad began the construction of branches from Emporia south, since finished to Howard, Kansas, and from Florence to Eldorado, since finished through to a connection with the main Hne again at Ellinwood. During the early part of the year there was considerable discussion of a proposition to put a dam across the Kaw River a few miles above the city for the purpose of creating a water power for manufacturing purposes, and Mr. Pierson, engineer for the water company, made a favorable report concerning it, but nothing was ever done about it. The long-continued effort to induce the railroads centering here to build an eligible Union Passenger Depot was this year successful. Early in the year a company was organized for that purpose, composed of the representatives of the different lines, and the work begun. On the loth of July the old wooden shed which had been used for that purpose was abandoned, and the point of inter- change moved to the State Line Depot. Immediately afterward the old shed was taken down and the construction of the present elegant building begun. It was finished in January following and opened to the public with C. H. Dunham, Esq., as superintendent, A. vV. Millspaugh, ticket agent, and John Hale, bag- gage master.- Its cost was about two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. One of the most exciting events since the close of the war occurred this year. It was the great railroad strike which, beginning with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in July, swept over the country like a cyclone, causing much loss of property in Pittsburg and other cities, and demoralizing railway business serious- ly for some time. It reached Kansas City on the afternoon of the 23d of July, in the refusal of freight-train men to work further without an advance of wages. That night meetings of the strikers were held, and the next day a mob of lawless individuals, made up chiefly of idlers, paraded the streets and forbade working men generally to proceed with their work. This looked ominous, and aroused the people. Meetings were quietly held that night and measures taken to protect property. Capt. H. H. Craig promptly raised a company of men and had them sworn in as special police, to protect the city. This prompt preparation for the mob crushed the lawless spirit of that class of idle adventurers, who were evident- ly seeking to take advantage of the railroad strike, create disorder and destruc- tion, such as had prevailed in Pittsburg. The matter was thus confined to the railroad men and their employers, who succeeded in adjusting their difficulties so that freight business was resumed on the 30th of July. The passenger trains were not stopped at any time, as they carried the mails, and the strikers did not apparently seek a collision with the government authorities by stopping the mails. From this affair arose the Craig Rifles, which have since been quite an interesting military and social organization. The Board of Trade Building, which had been begun in the fall of 1876, was so far completed that the daily meeting of the Board was removed to it July 28th. On the 2nd day of August the office rooms in the building were let at public auction, only members of the Board engaged in grain, produce, provision or COAXES HOUSE, KANSAS CITY, MO. Kersey Coates, Proprietor. Cor, Tenlh and Broadway. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 179 flour, being allowed to bid. The letting was at the rate of $13,270 per annum, or about twenty one per cent on the investment. During the year 1877 there was considerable improvement in the city, re- I lating more, however, to its general condition. The Board of Trade report for that year thus sums up some of its leading features : " The population of Kansas City has been increasing rapidly for the past year and a half. The last estimate of population published in our city directory was in 1873, when it appeared that the population was 40,740. I am informed by Mr. J. H. Ballenger, who compiles our directory, that the population in June of the year under review, was 41,786, showing an increase since 1873 of 1,046. Mr. Ballenger also informs me that immediately succeeding the panic of 1873, the population fell off considerably — a fact attributable to the depression of in- dustrial interests and the cessation of public improvement. About July, 1876, this lost population began to come back to us, and by the beginning of 1877 the J tenement houses of Kansas City \Vere again full. Since that time, several hun- dred additional houses have been built and filled, and all vacant rooms over busi- ness houses have been occupied also: so that it is estimated that the, new popula- tion coming within the past year and a half does not fall materialy short of eight thousand people. " The movement of real estate likewise shows an improvement. There has I not beeh so much improvement in the number of transfers, as in the better tone ' of the market, the higher valuation at which it is held, and the advance of rentals, which latter will average not less than fifty per cent. " There has been no great enlargement of the industrial interest of the city, but estalishments previously existing are doing much more business and employ- ing a larger number of operatives, and are generally much more prosperous. " The markets of Kansas City have experienced marked improvement during the year. The amiount of property coming into them for sale has much increased, and, in many respects, was of improved quality. There has been an increase of merchants engaged in purchasing and forwarding the produce offered, and with the increase of men there was also an increase of money. The markets have been active during the year, and have sustained their former high valuations as compared with other markets." The extension of transportation facilities, other than those mentioned already in this chapter, consisted of the extension of the Clay Center Branch of the Kan- sas Pacific Railroad to Clifton, and the extension of the Central Branch Union Pacific to Concordia. This latter road made its eastern terminus at Atchison, Kansas, but met with such competition in the Republican Valley, from the Clay Center Branch of the Kansas Pacific, that it was compelled to make rates to Kan- sas City, by the way of the Missouri Pacific from Atchison, and thus became vir- tually a Kansas City road. The Joplin Railroad was also built this year from Girard, on the Fort Scott and Gulf, and at the end of the year it was proposed to extend it to the line of the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railroad, in Arkansas, thus securing a through line to the Mississippi River at Chicot, by the latter road and the Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas, which was then about to be completed between Little Rock and Pine Bluff. THE EVENTS OF 1 878. The year 1878 began under very favorable auspices, and great activity and improvements were promised. These promises, however, were not fully realized, yet the year was an eventful one. In January all the arrangements for the building of the extension of the Chicago & Alton Railroad were completed, except the procurement of the right- of-way through the city. An effort was made early in the year to find a route and procure right-of-way into the southeastern part of the city by the valley of 180 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. O. K. Creek, but it was found that the right-of-way was so expensive, and the grades so high, that it was abandoned, and about the ist of July the company decided to adopt the route on which the road was subsequently built. Much difficulty was experienced in obtaining this right-of-way from the city, owing to the opposition of a few members of the city council. It was formally refused by a vote of that body July 17th, which led to a spirited public meeting at the Board of Trade hall on the evening of the i8th, at which the action of the council was severely commented upon by leading business men. The matter was brought up in the council again on the 8th of August and the right-of-way granted. Tlie construction of the road meantime was progressing rapidly below, and on the 4th of December work was begun in the city limits by the contractor, Peter Sedan. BANK CHANGES AND SUSPENSIONS. About the beginning of the year 1878 was a time of great strain upon the banking houses of Kansas City, owing to the fact that the winter was very mild and very wet, which retarded the movement of the grain crops, depressed hog packing, and hence the live stock market, and materially depressed all kinds of trade. Merchants and others who were customers of the banks could not, there- fore, meet their paper prompdy, and, in addition to having to ask for extension, had also to seek further accommodation. The Watkins Bank was consolidated with the Bank of Kansas City on the 8th of December, 1877, and from subsequent developments was not in a very strong position when it did so. This bank was originally established by H. M. Northrup & Co. in 1857, and was the first regular banking institution in Kansas City. It was conducted by Messrs. Northrup & Co. until 1864, when it was transferred by them to J. Q. Watkins & Co., and Messrs. tNorthrup & Chick went to New York, where they did a successful banking business until 1873, when they were so badly injured by the great panic of that year that they again came West. Mr. Chick became cashier of the Kansas City National Bank, which had been established in 1872. This bank was subsequently re-organized as a private bank, under the name of the Bank of Kansas City, with Mr. Chick as president. Thus the original bank, with the establishment of which he was connected in 1857, passed again into his hands, when the Watkins Bank was consolidated with the Bank of Kansas City in December 1877. The event however that affected Kansas City most was the failure of the First National Bank, which occurred on the 29th of January, carrying down with it the Commercial National Bank, a fine little bank of one hundred thou- sand dollars capital. The history and character of the First National up to this time has already been given in these pages. It had come to be regarded as the great bank of Kansas City by all classes of people, and owing to its enterprising, liberal management there was not a hne of trade, and scarcely a merchant or business man of any class, that was not indebted to it for favors. It had been its practice, since Mr. Howard M. Holden took the management of it, to foster all kinds of business. It had been a great promoter of the markets, and at this time was the leading source of accommodations for live stock and grain merchants and packers. Usually, in the latter part of the year it was liberal with these classes, and so enabled them to carry forward their business until they could begin to realize in the winter. The bad weather of this winter prevented them from meeting their engagements with it and its suspension was unexpectedly announced on the morning of January 29th. The same day the Commercial National closed, being weakened by a similar state of affairs and overborne by the drain that usually results to all Banks by the suspension of one so promi- nent as was the First National. This made a great sensation in Kansas City and the surrounding country, as the First National was the leading depository in Kan- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 181 sas City, for the country banks, but the sentiment of the people contained noth- ing of blame for the officers of the Banks. On the contrary, they were the recipients of universal sympathy for their loss, while the people deeply deplored the loss to the city of so valuable an institution. The expression of this senti- ment was so remarkable, and so different from that which ordinarily attends the failure of a bank that it merits a place in our history. On the 30th of January, at a meeting of the Live-Stock Merchants, the following paper was adopted and signed : Kansas Stock Yards, January 30, 1878. "We, the undersigned Live-Stock Commission Merchants, of Kansas City, Mo., in view of the suspension of the First National Bank, of our city, as announced in the morning papers, take this method of expressing our unquali- fied faith in the statement of the Bank officers that every depositor will be paid in full, and in this connection we wish to record our unbounded confidence in H. M. Holden, President of said Bank, as a just and upright man, of unimpeacha- ble integrity, and financial ability of the highest order, to which Kansas City and the country adjacent thereto as largely indebted for their rapid and solid growth. [Signed] "W. H. Kingsbury & Co.; Quinlan, Montgomery & Co.; James H. Payne; J. T. Johnson & Co.; Gillespie, Reed & Co.; Shough & Clements; Rogers & Rogers; White & Holmes ; J. F. Foster; John F. Gregory; Irwin, Allen & Co.; Rial, Cox & Co.; Stoller & Hill; L. M. Hunter; T. J. Allen; Barse & Snider; A. B. Mat- thews; L. V. Morse (Supt. Yards); Nofsinger, Harper & Co.; J. K. Proudfit ; W. B. Grimes." On 'Change the grain merchants had a meeting and adopted the following resolutions : "Whereas, Financial events in our city may lead to a feeling of uneasiness in business circles, and as this board has ample evidence as to the ultimate solvency of the First National Bank and the Commercial National Bank, therefore, '■^Resolved, That our confidence in the integrity of the management of these banks is unimpaired, and we believe fully the statement of their officers, that all depositors and creditors will be paid to the utmost satisfaction of all demands, and we say this, that causeless panic and uneasiness may be prevented. '■'■ Resolved, That such is our confidence in these institutions and their officers and stock-holders, that we hope for and desire an early resumption of business, and pledge ourselves to extend all the aid we can to that end — both to the man- agement and to the public." At the annual election of the Board of Trade, about three weeks preceding these events, Mr. Holden had been unanimously elected president of that insti- tution. Hence, from a sense of delicacy, he sent his resignation to the board, on the 30th, the day following the suspension of the bank. This document was laid before the board on the ist of February, when, on motion of E. R. Threlkeld, the board voted unanimously for the appointment of a committee to wait upon Mr. Holden and request its withdrawal. That committee in the discharge of this duty presented Mr. Holden with the following note, which further exhibits the sentiment prevailing in the community at the time : "Kansas City, Mo., February ist, 1878. " H. M. Holden, Esq., '■'■President Board of Trade. '■'■Dear Sir: — At a meeting of the Board of Trade to-day, your resigna- tion as president was tendered, and the undersigned were appointed a committee to return it to you with renewed assurances of our confidence and respect, and to inform you that it is the united wish of the membership that you reconsider your 182 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. action, and withdraw your resignation, and that you continue in the office to which you were unanimously elected. " We indulge the hope that you will cheerfully comply with this request. " Yours very respectfully, [Signed.] "E. R. THRELKELD, N. J. LATSHAW, C. E. KEARNEY, J. D. BANCROFT, WEB. WITHERS." A few days later, Feb. 4th, after people had taken time to reflect, the mer- chants and business men, who were not connected actively with either the live stock or grain markets, called a public meeting at the Board of Trade Hall, to express themselves concerning the matter. This meeting was largely attended and adopted the following resolutions : "Whereas, A combination of circumstances which no reasonable sagacity could forsee or skill prevent has compelled the First National Bank of Kansas City to suspend, and "Whereas, The officers of said Bank have assured the public that its assets are fully adequate to pay all depositors and creditors, and "Whereas, The First National Bank has always stood ready to help the public and private enterprises of Kansas City and the adjacent country, and thereby has exerted a most potent influence in developing the business, commerce and resources of Kansas City and the country, therefore '■'•Resolved, That we, the merchants and business men of Kansas City, inter- ested as patrons or depositors of the First National Bank, and in the interests and institutions eff"ected by its suspension, have full and complete confidence in the officers of the bank, and in their assurances that all depositors and creditors will be paid in full. '•'■Resolved, That we believe the suspension of said bank was the result of circumstances that could not have been prevented, and that the officers of said bank are not in any respect blamable therefore, '■'■Resolved, That the loss we apprehend from said suspension is that incident to the reduction of our banking facilities, should the suspension become perma- nent, and the withdrawal, from the banking business in Kansas City, of the peculiarly wise and liberal management which has heretofore directed the affairs of the First National Bank, and though it exercised such a beneficent policy in developing the trade and commerce of Kansas City and the resources of the country commercially tributary thereto, '•'■Resolved, That inasmuch as we have ever regarded the First National Bank as peculiarly the friend of Kansas City, and the strongest supporter and promoter of our trade, that we cannot contemplate its permanent suspension and withdrawal from business except with apprehension of results of the most unfortunate character, and bordering upon public c^amity, therefore we wish here to express our earnest hope that it may speedily resume business, and in that event we stand ready to give it the utmost support in our power." The papers signed by a large number of depositors and expressing sentiments similar to the above were presented and read at the meeting. The suspension of these banks was a severe blow to Kansas City. Owing to the mildness and dampness of the weather, merchants had been unable to dispose of the stock provided for their winter trade, and the products of the country were still unmarketed. Hence, in addition to being deprived of the assistance that might otherwise have been reasonably expected from the banks, the people sud- denly found themselves confronted with the necessity of repaying loans already secured, which caused no little embarrassment, depressed the markets, cut short the HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 183 supply of currency for a time, and stopped several enterprises which the people were inaugurating for the ensuing year. THE BARGE LINES Among the enterprises thus stopped, and the most important of all, was barge navigation on the Missouri River. The grain business had now attained such proportions that the people felt that this facility must be provided. To that end a meeting was held at the Coates House on the evening of January 17th, at which the matter was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. H. J. Lat- shavv, C. H. Prescott, T. J. Lynde, R. W. Quade and F. J. Baird, for the pur- pose of maturing plans. Two days afterward, January 19th, another meeting was held at which this committee reported, recommending the organization of a Kansas City company with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, to own and operate the barges. The proposition was so favorably received that four thousand, five hundred dollars was subscribed at the meeting. Resolutions were adopted asking Congress for appropriations to remove snags and other obstructions from the channel ; and a committee of twenty was appointed to place the stock of the company. On the 20th this committee met at the Coates House and laid out their work, and on the 23d a large public meeting was held at the Board of Trade, which was addressed by Messrs. Col. Coates, H. M. Holden, Hon. Stephen A. Cobb, of Wyandotte, James M. Nave, H. J. Latshaw, Capt. A. J. Baker, T. K. Hanua, John Freeland and Capt. McClelland. The committee of twenty was making very satisfactory progress and had placed about twenty thou- sand dollars of the stock, and had promises for ten thousand more when the banks failed, after which it was found impossible to place more of it. However, it was believed that the balance could be procured during the spring, and on the 12th of February a meeting of thesubscribers decided to organize the company and appointed Messrs. Latshaw and Lynde to prepare the papers. The work of this committee was reported at a meeting held February 14th, at which the com- pany elected as directors for the first year : Messrs. K. Coates, B. A. Sheidley, T. B. Bullene, T. J. Lynde, H. J. Latshaw, John Freeland, J. M. Nave, H. M. Holden, Thomas Corrigan, S. B. Armour, C. H. Prescott, D. B. Powers and John J. Mastin. This company finding it impossible in the existing state of financial affairs to place the remainder of its stock, never filed its papers, but it partly accomplished its objects in another way. On the 20th of March, Messrs. Coates, Latshaw and Freeland went to St. Louis for the purpose of ascertaining if barges could be had. They did not succeed in finding barges that could be bought, but their mission brought them into communication with the Mississippi Valley Transportation company and with the Babbage Transportation company, and they both became so favorably impressed with the project that they sent fleets of barges to Kansas City that year. The first of these fleets to arrive at Kansas City was that of the Mississippi Valley Transportation company, and consisted of the steamer Grand Lake and three barges. It left Kansas City July 5th, taking out 83,540 bushels of corn. The barges connected with this fleet were very large for the river ; one of them left our wharf drawing six feet of water, yet there being a good stage of water at the time the fleet reached St. Louis in safety, and without material hindrance. The next fleet was the first of the Babbage company, and consisted of the steamer A. J. Baker and three barges. This fleet made three trips during the season. The first, July 27th, took out 62,038 bushels of corn, the second, August 12th, took out 50,938, and the third, August 31st, took out 44,198 bushels of wheat, and all were very successful. The cost of freight by these barges was, to the shipper, five and a half cents per hundred, including insurance, the railroad rate being about eight cents on corn and thirteen on wheat. It cost the barge companies about two and a half cents to carry the grain to St. Louis, and Capt. Lowery, of the Babbage company, estimated that grain could 184 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. then be carried from Kansas City to New Orleans at a cost to the shippers of seven cents, and pay a reasonable profit to the carriers. These facts were re- garded as a demonstration of the feasibility of barge navigation of the Missouri River. THE FAILURE OF THE MASTIN BANK. The city had fairly raUied from the effects of the failure of the First National and Commercial National Bank, when on the 3d of August the Mastin Bank failed. Prior to the suspension of the First National, that Bank and the Mastin were the two leading banks of the city, hence when the First National failed the Mastin took quite a leading position. Other banks, however, notably the Kansas City, and the Kansas City Savings Association, were brought into much greater prominence by that event. With the failure of the Mastin Bank in August these two became the leading banks. For a time, however, there was considerable embarrassment in business circles, for the lack of currency. The statement of the Mastin Bank at the time of its failure showed a large advance of money to the Water company and considerable investments in mines, and it was probably the tying up of its resource in this way, more than anything else that led to its failure. The capital of the other two banks mentioned was enlarged soon after the failure of the Mastin, and the Armour Bros, immediately began arrangements to estabnsh another bank. This bank was opened for business on the 15th of September, in the room previously occupied by the Mastin Bank, in the Board of Trade, with A. W. Armour, Esq., as President, and C. H. Pres- cott, for many years previous auditor of the Fort Scott road, as cashier. It at once took a prominent position. OTHER ENTERPRISES OF 1878. On the 19th of January a number of leading citizens organized a Mining Stock Board for the purpose of locating here a market for Mining Stock. Col. C. E. Kearney was President, T. F. Oakes and H. M. Holden, Vice-Presidents, Col. John C. Moore, Secretary, and Mead Woodson, Treasurer. It tried to arrange for the opening of the Board May loth, but did not succeed, and before the close of the year passed into entire quiescence. BLOODED STOCK SALES. On the 15th of May there was opened here the first great sale of blooded cattle, the stock coming mainly from the blue grass regions of Kentucky. It was tried as a venture by parties owning the stock, and was so successful that it has been since maintained as a semi-annual sale. At this first sale two hundred animals were sold at an aggregate price of twenty-four thousand dollars. This and subsequent sales have brought into the country adjacent to Kansas City large numbers of blooded animals, the effect of which in the improvement of cattle is already perceived. THE COURT HOUSE AND POST-OFFICE. On the 8th of March, a bill authorizing the construction of a public building in Kansas City, for Post-Office and Custom House purposes passed Congress. It was introduced by Hon. B. J. Franklin, of this city, who at that time represen- ted this district in Congress, and provided for a building to cost two hundred thousand dollars, one hundred of which was appropriated at that session. Besides this bill for the benefit of Kansas City, Mr. Franklin secured the passage of a bill authorizing the holding of United States Courts in this city, and introduced a bill providing for the organization of the Indian Territory and its opening to settlement, for the passage of which he made great, but, unfortunately, unsuc- cessful efforts. In this latter he received the support of the people in unanimous resolutions adopted at pubUc meetings and forwarded to him. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 185 RAILWAY EXTENSION. The extension of railway lines in which Kansas City was interested during the year was thus stated at its close in the report of the Board of Trade : " The extension of railroads centering at Kansas City was very considerable during the year. Chief among these extensions was that of the Chicago & Alton from Mexico, Missouri, to Kansas City, making another through line to Chicago and St. Louis. This road was nearly completed during the year, and in a few weeks will be opened for business. The next in immediate importance — probably the most important for this place — was the extension of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad from Pueblo, Colorado, to Clifton, New Mexico, from whence it is to be rapidly extended to a connection with the Southern Pacific, of Califor- nia, making a southern trans-continental route, a more valuable and important road than the Union Pacific. This road has also been engaged in building a branch to Leadville, Colorado, which will give railroad facilities to the rich San Juan country. The Central Branch Union Pacific has also extended its line to Beloit, Kansas, which brings to Kansas City the trade of the upper Republican and Solomon Valleys of Kansas. The Kansas Pacific extended its Clay Center Branch to Clyde, and built a branch from Solomon City to Minneapolis, which have the same general effect as the extension of the Central Branch. The Kan- sas City, Burlington & Santa Fe Railroad was further extended from Williams- burg to Burliagton, which brings Kansas City an important addition to her trade from the southwestern part of central Kansas." The pool that had existed since September 15, 1876, was dissolved on the 1 6th of March of this year, and was followed with the first severe railroad war in which the lines at Kansas City were ever engaged. This fight was apparently sought by the St. Louis lines, as against those leading to Chicago, and was inau- gurated by the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern, on the ist of April, with a cut of rates to about one-third. It raged furiously for a short time, when the pool was re-organized. It was during this year that Mr. Jay Gould first became interested in lines of road leading to Kansas City, since when his operations have led to many lively manipulations. This came about in this way: Mr. Gould was the chief owner of the Union Pacific, which, by its charter, was required to pro-rate in equal terms with the Kansas Pacific, for California business — a thing it had always refused to do. T. F. Oakes, Esq., who had, for many years, been general freight agent of the Kansas Pacific, had now became its general superintendent, and in that po- sition was able to give the company most efticient aid in its long struggle with the Union Pacific, for its charter rights. Early in the year he got Mr. Chaffee, of Colorado, to introduce into Congress a bill to compel the Union Pacific to respect the rights of the Kansas Pacific, and a large public meeting in Kansas City, held February 8th, gave it a strong indorsement, and memorialized Congress on the sub- ject. Similar action was taken at other places, and resulted in the favorable report- ing of the bill in March, with a good prospect of its becoming a law. Mr. Gould could not defeat the measure by opposing it, and hence, in April, he sent agents to St. Louis, who succeeded in buying a controlling interest in the Kansas Pacific, and then withdrew the opposition of that company. In June the Kansas Pacific and Union Pacific pooled on Colorado business, but the through rates to Califor- nia, which the public interested in the Kansas Pacific had been struggling for, and were led to expect, were not granted. Notwithstanding the bank suspensions and financial embarrassments of the year, 1878 witnessed much substantial progress in Kansas City, due to the large influx of people and money. The population July ist was estimated by the di- rectory at 50,126, an increase of 8,340 since the same time in 1877, and it was estimated that 5,000 had come in between July and January. There were 706 new 186 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. houses built during the year, at a cost of $1,040,000, many of them elegant busi- ness and residence houses. THE EVENTS OF 1879. Early in the year 1879 a proposition was made by some of the old members of the old Chamber of Commerce to revive that organization, but after several meetings and a conference with the Board of Trade, the scheme was abandoned and the Committee of Commerce of the Board of Trade was appointed in its stead. This committee has never been an active one, yet several important en- terprises have been inaugurated and secured by it, among which Avas the smelting works and barge line of 1880. One of its first acts was to memorialize Congress on the improvement of the Missouri River. On the 7th of January Messrs. Camp, McDowell and Poe, Government Commissioners to lo^ .tte the court house and post-office, arrived in Kansas City, and, after acquai.:! ng themselves with the views of the people and examining the different oi*^c:3 offered, accepted the corner of Ninth and Walnut streets, January 25th, and it was purchased for $8,500 and the work of constructing the building soon afterward begun. In May a party of United States engineers, under J. W. Nier, Esq., arrived in Kansas City, and commenced work on the improvement of the river a few miles north of the city, an appropriation of $30,000 for that purpose having been se- cured by Mr. Franklin. About the same time the first term of the United States District Court jvas begun in Kansas City, Judge Krekel presiding. In the latter part of the month, Robert Gillham, a young engineer who had recently located in the city, proposed to improve the means of transit between the western and eastern parts of the city by building a tramway down the Bluff on Ninth street. He secured the interest of many of the best men in the city, but the project has met with such unfavorable treatment at the hands of the City Council that it is still one of Kansas City's uncompleted enterprises. In August, the first effort was made to organize a Provident Association in Kansas City. Mr. J. T. Howenstein was the projector of this movement and about forty prominent business men joined it; but for lack of attention it was allowed to expire. In September, much interest was taken in a proposition to convert the roads of Rosedale and Independence into boulevards, but after a number of public meetings the interest was allowed to die out ; yet it will doubtless be done at some future time. This year was one of great activity in business and individual enterprises of all kinds. Trade was rapidly extended in all directions ; the population increased, according to the directory estimate, to 60,372. Real estate became very active, and transfers increased $1,943,350; beside which there were thirteen additions platted and largely sold, some of which were outside the city limits. And there were about thirteen hundred new houses built, at an estimated cost of about $1,- 500,000. RAILROAD MATTERS. The chief feature of this year was the construction of new railroads in the country in which Kansas City was interested, and changes in ownership of other roads. The report of the Board of Trade for the year, thus summarizes the matter : "The building of new railroads was revived with the beginning of the year, and the roads in which Kansas City is interested were extended or built branches. The Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad built a branch from Baxter Springs to Joplin ; the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern extended its Independence branch to Greenwood, and is pushing it on to Arkansas City. The main line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe was extended from Clifton to Las Vegas, New HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 187 Mexico, its Cottonwood Valley Branch was extended to McPherson, its Eureka branch to Howard, and its Wichita branch to Wellington and Arkansas City. The Kansas Pacific extended its Clay Center branch to Concordia, its Solomon Valley branch to Beloit, and built a branch from Sahna to McPherson. It also bought up and rebuilt and put into operation the old Lawrence & Carbondale road, which had been unused for several years. It also bought up the Denver Pacific from Denver to Cheyenne, and the Colorado Central and Boulder Valley, and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The Central Branch Union Pacific, now a part of the Missouri Pacific, extended its Concordia Branch to Cawker City and built a branch to Kirwin and Stockton. The Atchison & Nebraska Railroad was extended from Lincoln to Columbus, and the St. Joe & Denver to a connection with the Union Pacific. Besides the new railroads thus actually built, much more has been laid out for the coming year. The old ill-fated Kansas City & Memphis road has been sold to a party of Boston capitalists, who propose to build about one hundred miles of it the coming year, and extend it afterward as. occasion may require. The Burlington & Southeastern Railroad, which now runs from Burlington, Iowa, to Laclede, Missouri, has announced its intention of coming through to Kansas City during the coming year, and has made four sur- veys in search of a suitable route. The Kansas City & Northeastern Company has also surveyed a line from Kansas City to Chillicothe, Mo., and expect to begin the construction during the coming year." " Besides the enterprises here enumerated, the Missouri Pacific Company extended its line between Holden and Paola to Ottawa, and built the old Fall River Railroad from Paola to Leroy; and the Lexington & Southern from Pleas- ant Hill, on the Missouri Pacific, to Nevada on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas had been projected." The same report thus states the sales of roads : " Great changes have taken place during the year in the ownership of the rail- roads at Kansas City. Mr. Jay Gould and associates, who previously held control of the Union & Kansas Pacific and St. Joe & Denver Railroads west of the Mis- souri River and the Wabash road east of the Mississippi, bought early in the year a controlling interest in the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern and consoli- dated it with the Wabash under the name of Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific. This connected the roads except the Union Pacific, and to make connection with it the Pattonsburgh Branch of the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern was extended through to Omaha. Soon afterward the same parties bought the Missouri Pacific and the Central Branch Union Pacific and have since consolidated them, making two divisions, connecting with each other at Kansas City. The same parties also bought an interest in the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad during the year, and latterly have bought the Missouri, Kansas & Texas." In addition to the sales of roads here mentioned, the Fort Scott Company bought the Springfield & Western Missouri road in June, and has since com- pleted it to a connection with the main line at Fort Scoit ; and Mr. Gould bought the Kansas City & Eastern Narrow Gauge in November, and in December it was leased to the Missouri Pacific, which he had previously bought, and became a division of that road. Another important addition to Kansas City's railway facil- ities was the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, which in December made a con- tract with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad for trackage rights over that road from Cameron, Mo., and it began to run its trains to Kansas City on the ist of January, 1880. The year 1879 ^^'^^ characterized by another great railroad war, which seemed to be the result of the completion of the Chicago & Alton Railroad to Kansas City. In view of its early completion the pool was dissolved again on the 1 2th of April, and a promiscuous cutting of rates opened on the 14th. The Alton, however, was not opened for business until the 18th, and did not begin 188 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. running passenger trains until May 13. The war arose over the allotment of its share of business to St. Louis, and was inaugurated by the St. Louis roads. On the 7th of June the war was extended to passenger business also, and for the re- mainder of the summer passenger rates between Kansas City and St. Louis, and Kansas City and Chicago were but fifty cents ; and 'freight rates went so low that for a considerable time grain was carried from Kansas City to St. Louis for five cents, and to Chicago for seven cents per bushel, and at one time reached the al- most incredible limit of three cents to St. Louis and five to Chicago. The trouble, however, came to a close in September, and on the 12th of that month a new pool was formed which took in the Alton. While this fight was pending, in June and July, the contract between the Hannibal & St. Joseph and the Wabash, by which the latter road used the track of the former from Arnold Station to the bridge, and the contract for right of way across the bridge, expired, andtlc ^esult was a lively individual conflict between the two roads. It was ended, '.owever, in the Wabash building a track of its own, and making a new bridge contract, but the end of the fight was reached only through the courts. CITY GROWTH. The growth of the city during the years included in this chapter was rapid, and the following new additions had been added to the city during this and the preceding year : September 3, 1878 — Mastin's Sub-division. September 3, '78 — Park Place Addition. December 9, '78 — Traber's Sub-division. April 19, '79 — Hunt's Sub-division. May 28, '79 — Hyde & Foster's Addition. June II, '79 — Lott's Addition. November 12, '79 — Bovard & Dickson's Sub-division. June 28, '79 — E. S. Brown's Sub-division. July II, '79 — Winter's Addition. July 25, '79 — R. Salisbury's Addition. August 13, '79 — Vineyard's Third Sub-division. August 18, '79 — Woodland Place Sub-division. August 23, '79 — Marty's Addition to Woodland. September 3, '79 — Brigham's Addition. September 9, '79 — Craig's Sub-division. October 2, '79 — Wm. C. Arrs' Addition. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 189 CHAPTER XVI. THE EVENTS OF 1880 AND 1881. The Establishment of the Smelting Works — The Barge Company Organized — The Missouri River Improvement Convention — The Missouri River Improvement Association Formed — Street Improvements — Col. Van Horti's Election to Congress — Railway Construction and Railway Changes — The Great Flood of 1881 — The Growth of the City — Statistical Exhibit of the City^s History. One of the earliest events in 1880 was the opening of the American Union and Atlantic and Pacific telegraph offices in Kansas City, which occurred on the 5th of January. The Atlantic and Pacific had, at one time before, had an office in Kansas City, but several years previous this company had been bought out by the Western Union, and was under the control of that company. When this sale took place the office in Kansas City was abolished. The American Union was a new company, organized about two years before by Mr. Jay Gould, and having now completed an extensive system of lines, was put into operation, and the Atlantic & Pacific was again put into operation to fight it. Besides some cutting in rates little occurred to affect the interests of Kansas City until February 27th, when the Union Pacific Railroad Company, with which the Kansas Pacific had been consolidated in January, and which was now con- trolled by Mr. Gould, took possession of the Western Union Wires along the old Kansas Pacific road. This was done by force, and on the ground that the railroad needed them for its own business, but the real object doubtless was to unite them with the American Union system. This led to litigation which resulted in the restoration of the wires to the Western Union Company, by order of the United States Courts, on the 15th of April. All three of these companies continued to operate in Kansas City until January, i88t, when they were consolidated and all offices abolished except the old Western Union. THE SMELTING WORKS. The project of smelting and refining works for the smelting of the ores of Colorado and New Mexico, had been discussed for several years in Kansas City. T. F. Oakes, Esq., was probably the first mau to propose it, and that was while he was general freight agent of the Kansas Pacific Railway. Early in the year 1879 the Committee of Commerce of the Board of Trade took up the subject, and tried to organize such an enterprise, but as there was no man available who under- stood the practical part of the business, little was done with it until December, when Col. W. N. Ewing, who had had charge of the Copper Hill Works, in Colorado, came to Kansas City and took an interest in it. During the four months following stock was placed to the amount of fifty thousand dollars, and the company was organized May 12, 1880, with Col. C. F. Morse as President, John Doggett, Vice-President; W. H. Miller, Secretary; and J. M. Coburn, Treasurer. Col. Ewing was engaged as Superintendent, and immediately set about the construction of the works, which were completed and ready for opera- tions by the middle of November. Col. Ewing then went to Colorado to buy ores, where he met with Messrs. Aug. R. Meyers and N. Wetherill, of Leadville, proprietors of two large smelters there. They wanted some place for a refinery where that part of the work could be done more advantageously than it could be in Leadville, and, after a conference with Col. Ewing, they came to Kansas City and submitted a proposition to the company to take an interest in it, and increase 190 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. the capacity of the works to double that originally designed. This proposition was accepted, the stock increased to $160,000, and the works have since been doubled in capacity. THE INDIAN TERRITORY MOVEMENT. During the year 1879, there had been much discussion throughout the west of a proposition to forcibly invade the Indian Territory, and take possession of a large body of land there, to which the Indian title had been extinguished. This dis- cussion caused the enforcement of the Indians tax upon the numerous herds of cattle held in or driven through the Territory, and caused some herds to be driven out of it. This was quite an injury to cattle men. Early in 1880 this agitation was resumed ; a company for the purpose of effecting such invasion and settle- ment had been organized in Wyandotte, December 24, 1879. ^ meeting called for the purpose of giving this movement a good send off, was held at the Board of Trade Hall, March 4th, though its real object was not publicly disclosed. The meeting was largely attended, and was addressed by Hon. B. J. Franklin, Colonel E. C. Budinot, a Cherokee, and other prominent men, and adopted a memorial to Congress, strongly urging the opening of the Indian Territory. It gave little countenance, however, to the proposed illegal invasion. The agitation continued, however, and before the close of the year a large number of people joined it, and under the lead of a man named Payne, got as far as Caldwell, Kansas, in the direction of the promised land. NEW PAVEMENTS. Early in March, Mr. B. F. Camp, patentee of the Camp pavement, came to Kansas City, with a proposition to pave the streets with that pavement. The City Council, after much discussion of the matter, made a contract with him to pave Fifth street, between Bluff street and Broadway, as a test. The work was begun late in the year, and is yet unfinished, but the people are so well pleased with the pavement that it is to be laid on Wyandotte street, between Fifth and Ninth, and probably some others. This is the first permanent pavement laid in Kansas City, though there are many miles of macadam, made of common lime- stone. THE BARGE LINE. The year 1880 saw the long discussed project of barge navigation of the Missouri River put upon a sure footing. The agitation of this subject, which had annually presented itself for discussion since 1872, was brought about by a com- bination between the Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, which went into effect April 14th, and by which freight from the line of the latter road was taken through to St. Louis at much less cost than the rate from the same places to Kansas City, and thence to St. Louis. This hurt the live stock and grain markets badly for a few days, until other roads leading east from Kansas City were inform- ed of it, and cut rates from Kansas City east. This awakened the people to the nature of the power into whose hands the railroads had fallen, and warned them of the danger. Protection was sought in the utilizing of the river. In the latter part of April a meeting of the Committee of Commerce of the Board of Trade was held, at which this plan was decided upon. The secretary was instructed to pre- pare a memorial to the people of the city on the subject, which was done May 2d, and a subscription to stock in a barge company, to have a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, was at once put into circulation. On the 8th of May a meeting was held at the Board of Trade Hall, for the purpose of fostering the movement; and at this meeting it was decided to call a river improvement con- vention, to consist of representatives from all prominent places along the river, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 191 and for all the section of country to be affected by the improvement of the river. Colonel K. Coates, chairman of the Committee of Commerce, was made chairman of a sub-committee to place the stock of the barge company, and he did a large part of the work personally. Several meetings of the committee were held dur. ing the summer, but it was not until December that the matter was finally con- summated. On the 6th and 7th of that month, meetings of the subscribers to the stock were held, and at the latter a proposition was presented from Capt. Thomas Poe, of St. Louis, who had commended the Babbage fleets in 1878, to put in the boat Peerless, which he owned, as stock in the Kansas City Company. At this time $65,000 had been subscribed in Kansas City. Messrs. Colonel Coates, Wit- ten McDonald and H. J. Latshaw were appointed a committee to visit and nego- tiate with Captain Poe in St. Louis, and they left at once for that city. Within a few days the remainder of the stock was subscribed, and the company was or- ganized, with Colonel Coates as president, Witten McDonald as secretary, and Jos. S. Chick treasurer. Captain Poe was engaged as commander and general manager. Five barges have since been bought, and early in the spring of 1881, the fleet made its first trip between St. Louis and New Orleans, while waiting for the Missouri River to open. THE RIVER CONVENTION. As was mentioned above, at one of the meetings in the interest of the barge enterprise, it was proposed to hold a convention at Kansas City to memorialize Congress on the improvement of the Missouri River. This was the first effort ever made for an improvement of that stream on an extended scale. The Com- mittee of Commerce of the Board of Trade caused a memorial on the subject to be prepared, and issued it with a call for the convention for September 21st. The objects sought by this movement cannot be better explained than by the memorial sent to the country, which was as follows : Board of Trade, | Kansas City, August 7th, 1880. ) To the People of the Missouri Valley : The undersigned, the committee of commerce of tlie Board of Trade of Kansas City, address you at this time for the purpose of inviting your attention to the importance of improving the Missouri River, and if possible of securing your co-operation in measures looking to that end. The object had in view is to secure congressional appropriations adequate to pay for such improvements of the river as will make it an adequate channel for the commerce of the Missouri Valley country, and the immediate expenditure of such appropriations in the actual work of improvement. It is true that in the present state of information concerning the Missouri river no estimate can be made of the extent of improvement that will be neces- sary, nor of the aggregate cost of such work when completed, but accurate surveys of the river by competent engineers will soon develop both facts. Such surveys we propose as the first thing to be done, and we feel assured by the gen- eral knowledge of the stream and by the expressed opinions of eminent engineers that the improvement needed and outlays required will be found far within the reasonable capacity of the Government and not exceeding the improvement and outlays bestowed upon other American waters of like or less importance. As stated above, the object of such improvement is to make the stream an adequate channel for the commerce of the whole Missouri Valley country. It is a well known fact that water transportation of equal perfection with the best other methods costs but a small fraction of the best and cheapest of other meth- 192 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. ods. Among the methods now in use it is found that the railroad is the only competitor of water routes, and it is found also that with its greater speed and all other advantages it possesses it is still unequal to water routes, except where the latter are so unimproved as not to admit of the use of the most expeditions and economical craft. The capacities of the Missouri River, in this respect, have been tested, and even in its present wholly unimproved state it has been found far superior to railroads, although the dangers of its navigation are such as to make men hesitate to put their money into the necessary craft. In 1878 four tows of barges loaded with grain were taken from this city to St. Louis. The transportation of this grain, including insurance, cost the shippers five and a half cents per bushel, when the railroads were at that time, charging thirteen cents on wheat and eight cents on other grain. There was a saving therefore of seven and a half cents on the wheat and two and a half on the corn to the shipper; but the most significant fact in connection with these shipments was that it cost the carriers but two and a half cents per bushel including insurance, which ena- bled them to make a little over one hundred per cent, while saving the shippers the amount above stated. With this experience before them, the carriers estima- ted that, with improvement of the river, grain can be carried at a handsome profit to carriers from Kansas City to New Orleans for seven cents per bushel. Now from New Orleans to the European markets it costs but three cents per bushel more than from our Atlantic ports. The rates from Missouri River points to the Atlantic ports are usually about thirty-six cents per bushel on wheat and thirty-three on other grain. Thus it is found that the difference in favor of the river route is, to the seaboard twenty-nine cents per bushel on wheat and twenty- six cents on other grain. Deduct from these the three cents excess which it costs from New Orleans to European markets and we find that the river route will save twenty-six cents per bushel on wheat and twenty-three on other grain. These figures represent the additions that will be made to the present profits of producers, for the price of grain at every railway station in the Missouri Valley are the prices in European markets less carriage, and the reduction in cost of carriage does not affect European prices. A reduction in that item makes a corresponding addition to the profits of the American producer. Nor is this all; the proposed improvement will bring the farm lands of the Missouri Valley as near market, so far as regards cost of carriage, as the farm lands of New York and Pennsylvania, and it will make them worth more than the lands of those States, in proportion to their great fertility, instead of one-tenth the value as they are now. With such a change in the situation the increased prosperity of the Missouri Valley country is something that cannot be estimated in advance. We use here the rate from Kansas City only because that rate has been tol- erably defined by experience, not because we suppose that, with proper improve- ment of the river, the business would be monopolized by Kansas City ; for in that event every point on the river would have its share ; and the ascertainment of what the difference would be from Kansas City but illustrates what it would be proportionally from all other points on the river. It must be borne ip mind also, that grain is not the only product we export, and, therefore, the saving in that item but serves to illustrate what it would be proportionally on other prod- ucts, such as pork, bacon, lard, mess beef, dairy and barnyard products and field products other than grain. Nor is this all ; a like saving would be found in the cost of imported articles, which constitute the staple of our merchandise and the freight charges for which constitute the bulk of present cost. These are too numerous to be enumerated here. With such double saving of such extent, the increased prosperity of the country is not a thing to be estimated. It is some- thing of far more than local importance, for so considerable a portion of our common country could not be thus benefited without all parts feeling its bene- ficial eff'ects. Thus, in what we propose to ask of the General Government, we HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 193 appear not in the attitude of supplicants for a local favor, like the improvement of a harbor, the building of a court house or light station, but we seek an im- provement that will be felt in the remotest parts of the country and that will benefit the whole people. We feel, however, that the people of the Missouri Valley have a right to such improvement of their river without reference to other considerations than local benefit. The revenues of the Government are derived from internal taxation and from custom duties. Of the former, we pay in proportion to the amount of the business taxed that we have among us. The latter, while paid immediately by the importers, is added to the price of imported articles, and is paid ultimately by the consumers. Thus it happens that we pay our share of this part of the revenues also. Among other expenditures the Government annually pays large sums for improvements of the same class as the one we claim, and as the money thus expended is drawn from the revenues contributed by the whole people we have heretofore paid our proportion of such as have been made. Our river beino- the only considerable stream in the United States that has heretofore received no attention, we feel, in view of the benefit to be derived from its improvement that we have a right to claim that it shall now be done at public expense, the same as like improvements have been made elsewhere. We are induced to present this matter at this time for two reasons. The first is that, with the settlement of political disturbances in the States about the mouth of the Mississippi River and the jetty improvements made thereat the trade of the Mississippi Valley country is rapidly falling into its old river channel. Two years ago one line of barges on the Mississippi river from St. Louis south was found adequate, while now two are required. These are over taxed with business and have usually contracts for months ahead, notwithstanding they have so increased their capacity as to have enlarged the tows beyond all precedent accompanied, of course, with an equally unprecedented increase in the amount of property conveyed, Such being the present tendency of commerce the Missouri Valley should be prompt to avail itself of it, and take such measures as will secure its share of the benefits. The second reason is that, the peOfJe of Kansas City have subscribed nearly all the money required to put a line of baro-es on the Missouri River and will soon organize a company for that purpose. This line of barges is proposed simply as a pioneer line, and if we can secure the improvement requisite to make it a successful venture the way will be open for similar enterprises from all points, which will fill the entire navigable river and make its advantages equal to all alike. Accompanying this will be found a call for a convention at Kansas City in September, the purposes of which convention is to bring together people from all parts of the Missouri Valley to discuss the matter, to define and oro-anize public sentiment concerning it, and to provide the means and measures for en- forcing that sentiment upon congressional attention. Very Respectftflly, K. COATES, R. T. VAN HORN, T. B. BULLENE, H. J. LATSHAW, HOLDEN, C. E. KEARNEY, ALLEN, T. F. OAKES. ARMOUR, BENJ. McLEAN, MARTIN, F. B. NOFSINGER, NAVE, C. H. PRESCOTT, M. MUNFORD, Committee of Commerce. The convention was largely attended, as the following list of delegates will show : 13 H. M E. H S. B E. L J. M. RAMSEY, MILLETT & HUDSON'S PUBLISHING HOUSE, KANSAS CITY, MO. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 195 MISSOURI. Merchants^ Exchange, St. Louis — E. O. Stanard, A. O. Grubb, W. H. Scud- der, Henry Armstrong, George J. Kinsley, N. G. Larimore, Francis W. Crane, Walter S. Barclay, Capt. T. H. Handbury, A. P. Guibert, John D. Hinds, C. B. Carter, H. B. O'Reilly, Hugh Gilham, F. W. Smith, C. S. Rogers, John D. Rankin, P. F. Shirmer, Fred. Schwartz, H. W. Olmstead, O. M. Edgeley, Thos. Warren, Jr. Boonville — Jno. S. Elliott, W. Speed Stephens, S. Merstetter. St. Joseph, City — J. A. Piner, G. W. Belt, Seymour Jenkins, M. M. Clag- gett, E. V. Riley, VVm. Fitzgerald, J. A. Owens, Maurice Hickey, James H. Ringo, C. W. Campbell, Mike Gleason, Stephen Geiger. St. Joseph Board of Trade —John D. Clue, Hanson Gregg, H. R. W. Heart- wig, W. A. P. McDonald, J. M. Frazier, E. D. Marsh, J. A. Owens, F. S. Som- mers, A. N. Schuster, Isaac Weil. Buchatiati County— Y)x. Stringfellow, Judge P. M. Mclntire, E. V. Riley. Miller County—]. M. UUman, T. E. E. Tumber, P. S. Miller, A. Falkerson. Vibbard, Ray County — Thos. R. Grant. St. Charles — Glover Johns, Hon. A. A. Stonebraker, J. K. McDearmon, T. F. McDearmon. Eighth Mo. Con. District — Hon. S. L. Sawyer. Lexington — James Davis, John Reid, George S. Rathbun, W. V. L. McClel- land, John E. Corder, J. Q. Plattenberry. Moberly — Hon. G. F. Rothwell. Jefferson City~Dr. J. G. Riddles, J. R. Willis, H. W. Kolkmeyer. Richmond— C. J. Hughes, E. F. Esteb, S. B. Crispen, L. C. Centwell, J. T. Child, J. D. Bogie. Saline County— Dr. M. T. Chastian, Hugh Gilliam, Jas. D. Dill, W. L. Ir- vine, Judge S. M. Thompson, W. L. Erwin. Kansas City Board of Trade — K. Coates, H. J. Latshaw, R. T. Van Horn, Frank Askew, E. H. Allen, S. B. Armour, W. A. M, Vaughan, T. B. Bullene, W. S. Gregory, T. K. Hanna. Kansas City—]. M. Nave, M. Munford, Geo. J. Keating, John W. Reid, A. L. Mason, B. J. Franklin, C. F. Morse, E. L. Martin. Washington — T. W. B. Crews. NEBRASKA. Arago — Joseph Kitt. Lincoln Board of Trade— ^. G. Owens, L. C. Pace, T. P. Kennard, L. Meyer, H. J. Walsh, J. M. Burk, A. J. Buckstaff. Kansas. Monticello, Johnson County — R. T. Bass. Abilene—^. R. Dyer. Severance-^K. W. Waters. Farsons—T. C. Cory, A. G. Cory. Lola — J. H. Richards. Wyandotte City—]. S. Stockton, H. M. Northrop, J. P. Root, B. Judd. Wyandotte County— Y. ]. Lane, D. E. Cornell, S. N. Simpson, John Arthur, D. B. Hadley, E. L. Beusche. Kansas City, Kansas— B. M. Brake, C. H. Van Fossen, S. N. Simpson, W. S. Carroll, L. E. James. Olathe- -Alfred Taylor, John Hindman, T. J. Kay, Wm. Henry, Hiram P, Mitchell. Emporia— Yi. C. Cross, Lewis Lutz, S. B. Warren. Leavenworth— YLow. W. M. Fortescue. 196 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. Doniphan County — F. Harpster. Girard — E. Fanger. Columbus — Lewis Prell. Besides the prominent gentlemen embraced in this list of attending delegates, there were a number of letters from others. Among these were Geo. L. Wright and Capt. E. W. Gould, of St. Louis, Senators Saunders, of Nebraska, Cockrell, of Missouri, and Allison of Iowa. Gov. Stanard, of St. Louis, presided at the convention and W. H. Miller, of Kansas City, was secretary. It continued its session for two days, and adopted the following resolutions : Whereas, The Missouri Valley country, including two-thirds of Missouri, one-third of Iowa, and all of Kansas and Nebraska, but not Dakota and part of Montana, which might be properly added, embraces an area of over 215,000 square miles, contains a population of 4,000,000 people and a taxable wealth of $700,000,000, produces annually nearly 500,000,000 bushels of grain, and is in- creasing in population, wealth and productiveness at a rate not less than five per cent per annum. And Whereas, Water transportation is the cheapest known to commerce, and can be supplied to the commerce of this vast area of country by the Missouri River, which is naturally one of the most easily navigated rivers in the world, for ten months in the year, and was prior to the creation of artificial obstructions, a great highway of commerce, and which with the removal of artificial and acciden- tal obstructions can be made available for economical craft, adequate to the wants of the country, whereby the cost of transportation will be reduced fully one-half, and landed property enhanced in value more than fifty per cent. Whereas, The banks of this river are composed of a rich alluvial soil, inad- equate to withstand the force of its current, whereby thousands of acres of valuable lands are annually swept away ; and Whereas, It has always been the policy of the General Government to ap- propriate money for the improvement of rivers and harbors, and to prevent the property of citizens from destruction by the incursive action of great streams ; having thus expended $200,000,000, of which but $657,500 have been expended on the Missouri River ; therefore. Resolved, That this convention, representing Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, most respectfully, but most earnestly, demand that Congress bestow upon the Missouri River a consideration commensurate with the magnitude of the interests to be served by its improvement, and immediately provide for a thorough remedy for all artificial obstructions it has permitted to be created by railway bridges, for the thorough removal of all accidental obstructions, such as snags and drifts of floating timber, and for a thorough survey of the river by competent engineers, with a view to determining the speediest and most economical plan of deepening its channel, and protecting the property of the citizens along its banks. Resolved, That we also demand that when such surveys shall have been made and such plans approved, that Congress shall make such appropriations and take such other action as will secure the speediest, permanent and adequate improve- ment of said river. Resolved, That in view of the magnitude of the interests to be served by such improvement, the additions thereby to result to the profits of industry and the value of landed property in the Missouri Valley, it is the judgment of this con- vention that devotion to such improvement should be a test of qualification for the ofiices of senator and representatives in Congress, Governor and members of State Legislatures. And, therefore, we would recommend to all political parties that they refuse to nominate for these ofiices men not known to be so devoted to this interest, and to the people that they refuse to support at the polls candidates HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 197 who do not stand pledged to the public to hold this interest paramount, and to make all reasonable effort to secure the ends herein sought. Resolved, That for the purpose of inculcating this last resolution, to see that existing laws relating to bridges be observed, to collect and compile statistical and other information relating to the subject, and to impress upon representatives and senators in Congress the importance of the improvement desired, the convention proceed now to organize a permanent Missouri River Improvement Association which shall continue to keep alive this interest until the ends sought shall have been obtained. Resolved, That the president of this convention appoint a committee of three to prepare a memorial to Congress embodying the action of this convention and the policy demanded, to be forwarded when prepared to the officers of the respec- tive Houses of Congress, and to the senators and representatives from the States here represented. Resolved, That the survey of the Missouri River, now in progress and nearly completed from its mouth to Sioux City, should, in the opinion of this convention be continued up to Fort Benton, Montana. Before closing its session the convention organized a permanent association, to be known as the Missouri River Improvement Association, and elected the following list of officers : PRESIDENT. Col. Kersey Coates, Kansas City, Mo. VICE-PRESIDENTS. Hon. E. O. Standard, St. Louis, Mo. John A. Scudder, " " Dr. J. P. Root, Wyandotte, Kan. W. M. Fortescue, Leavenworth, Kan. John Hinman, Olathe, Kan. Hon. Charles Robinson, Douglas Co., Kan. P. B. Maxon, Emporia, Kan. John A. Martin, Atchson, Kan. S. J. Crawford, Topeka, Kan. Geo. W. Belt, St. Joseph, Mo. Gen. C. W. Blair, Fort Scott, Kan. J. R. Willis, Jeff"erson City, Mo. John 8. Elliott, Boonville, Mo. Col. John Reid, Lexington, Mo. Geo. R. Buckner, St. Charles, Mo. J. J. Hochsteder, Nebraska City, Neb. T. P. Kennard, Lincoln, Neb. J. S. Stockton, Wyandotte, Kan. John W. Chapman, Council Bluffs, la. Hon. Alvin Saunders, Omaha, Neb. P. P. Elder, Ottawa, Kan. Hon. T. D. Thacher, Lawrence, Kan. W. S. Catroll, Kansas City, Kan. W. R. Dryer, Abilene, Kan. H. J. Lathshaw, Kansas City, Mo. R. T. Van Horn, " SECRETARY. William H. Miller, Kansas Citv, Mo. Dr. J. P. Root, Wyandotte, Kan. W. M. Fortescue, Leavenworth, Kan. G. W. Belt, St. Joseph, Mo. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Col. Kersey Coates, Kansas City, Mo H. J. Latshaw, " " " Col. R. T. Van Horn, '' " " E. O. Standard, St. Louis, Mo. It also appointed as a committee to prepare a memorial to Congress on the subject of the improvement of the river, Messrs. Col. R. T. Van Horn and W. H. Miller, of Kansas City; Dr. John Stringfellow, of St. Joseph; Hon. T. Dvvight Thacher, of Lawrence, and George L. Wright, of St. Louis. THE RECEPTION OF GEN. GRANT. In May it was ascertained that Gen. Grant would, in July make a long promised visit to Kansas City, and the people began to prepare for an appropriate 198 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. reception for the distinguished soldier and ex-President. Meetings were held and a committee appointed. This committee, which was very large, appointed sub-committees on reception, banquet, finance, decoration, procession, transporta- tion, invitations and music, each of which entered at once on the discharge of its duties. Gen. Grant came on the morning of July 2d, and was met some dis- tance from the city on the Chicago & Alton Railroad by the reception commit- tee, consisting of Mayor C. A. Chace, Gen. John W. Reid, Col. R. T. Van Horn, J. M. Nave, Esq., President of the Board of Trade, Geo. H. Nettleton, L. R. Moore, J. D. S. Cook, Rev. Dr. Bell, Dr. D. P. Bigger, Col. J. H. Day- ton, Rev. Thos. Haggarty, Rev. B. F. Watson and Col. H. Wood, of Kansas City. J. T, Crowder, superintendent of Meriam Park ; Maj. A. Pickering, of Olathe; W. S. Chick, of Shawnee; S. N. Simpson, of Riverview ; D. B. Hadley, of Wyandotte; J. B. Albert, of Desota; J. B. Bruner, of Gardiner; Alexander Davis, of Spring Hill, and Rev. D. P. Mitchell, of Hutchins, Kansas. On the arrival of the party at the Union Depot, they were met by Gov. J. S. Phelps, of Missouri; Gov. J. P. St. John, of Kansas; Mayor Stockton, and Dr. J. P. Root, of Wyandotte; and other distinguished gentlemen from Kansas. The distinguished party, attended by many citizens of Kansas and Kansas City went to Meriam Park, a few miles from Kansas City, on the Fort Scott road, for the afternoon, and on this occasion that park was formally opened to the pubHc. Returning to the city the banquet was attended in the evening, and the next day there was a military and civic parade, which was reviewed by Gen. Grant from a stand erected for that purpose at the junction of Main and Delaware streets. The parade was an extensive and imposing affair. It was led by mounted police, followed by the band of the 19th U. S. infantry. Following this came the carriage drawn by four horses, containing Gen. Grant, Col. Van Horn, of Kansas City, and Gen. C. W. Blair, of Fort Scott, attended by a com- pany of Union veterans. The military companies followed, and there were in the procession, the Craig Rifles, of Kansas City; the Drought Rifles, of Wyan- dotte; Paola Rifles, of Paola; Saxton Rifles, of St. Joseph; Carthage (Mo.) Light Guards; Company K, Kansas Volunteers, from Council Grove; Capital Guards, from Topeka; Ottawa Cadets, a finely drilled company of boys; the Ottawa Rifles, Metropolitan Guards, of Leavenworth ; Missouri Guards, of Kan- sas City; St. John Battery, and Winfield Rifles, of Winfield, Kansas; the St. John Guards (colored), of Lawrence, Kansas. The fire departments of Kansas City and Wyandotte and a long line of civic exhibitors, beside numerous bands of music, among which was the Dolby Female Band, of Independence, Kansas. The stands along the line of march were elaborately decorated with flags and flowers. For two days the people of Kansas City, and the numerous visitors from Kansas and Missouri, gave themselves up to the enjoyment of the occasion, and made it it one of the most notable affairs in the history of the city. THE CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN. So far in this history it has not been deemed necessary to refer to the con- flicts or triumphs of political parties, except in a general way to the conflict about slavery in Kansas, and that of i860 leading to the great war of the rebellion. The contest for member of Congress from this, the Eighth district of Missouri, during the fall of 1880 had more than ordinary significance, and may properly enter into this history. The district contains about 23,000 voters, of which nearly two-thirds are Democrats. From 1870 to 1878 that party had uniformally elected the member of Congress by large majorities. In 1878, however, a division had arisen in the party, which resulted in a revolt against the regular nominee. Col. John T. Crisp, and the presenting of Judge Samuel L. Sawyer, of Independence, as an independent Democratic candidate. He was more accepable to the Re- HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 199 publicans than Col. Crisp, and as the choice lay between them, the Republicans voted for Judge Sawyer, and he was elected. In 1880 a division again arose, and Col. Crisp, of Independence, and Hon. D. C. Allen, of Liberty, were both presented by the Democratic party under such circumstances that one seemed to be about as much the regular candidate of the party as the other. This situation gave the Republicans hope, and on the 7th of October they nominated Col. R, T. Van Horn, believing that his long and faithful devotion to the commercial interests of Kansas City and the Missouri Valley, would give him greater strength with the people than any other candidate they might nominate. His canvass was made as a business man's canvass against mere politicians, and his election was urged specially on account of his services to this section when in Congress from 1866 to 1870, and on account of his well-known devotion to the improve- ment of the Missouri River. The result was his election by a plurality of seven hundred and thirty-nine, and it has always been construed as the verdict of the business men of Kansas City and the district in favor of a business representative rather than merely a political one. It was the first fruit of the third resolution of the River Improvement Convention in September. THE PROVIDENT ASSOCIATION. The idea of a provident association, for the relief of worthy poor, presented itself again in the fall of 1880, and on the 22d of November such an association was organized, with Col. T. S. Case, President ; George H. Nettleton, Vice-Presi- dent; C. S. Wheeler, Secretary; W. P. AUcut, Treasurer, and F. M. Furgason, Superintendent. During the winter it collected and distributed several thousand dollars and relieved much distress. THE RAILROADS. Movements in railroad matters affecting Kansas City were very active dur- ing the year 1880, as they had been during 1879. The new roads built were the Lexington & Southern, from Pleasant Hill, on the Missouri Pacific, to Nevada, on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas. It has since been consolidated with the Mis- souri Pacific, and trains are now run from Kansas City by that route over the M., K. & T. to Texas. The Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame road was built in Kan- sas from Burlingame, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, to Manhattan, on the Union Pacific. The Fort Scott road built a branch from Prescott, Kansas, to Rich Hill, Missouri, to reach the coal fields of Bates county, Missouri. This road also built the long-desired switch from the main line near Turkey Creek into the southern part of the city. The Wabash road built a line into Chicago in July, thus adding a fourth through line between Kansas City and Chicago ; and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe extended its main line west, reaching El Paso, New Mexico, soon after the close of the year. In March, 1881, this road connected with the Southern Pacific, of California, making a second trans- continental line by way of Kansas City, but it has not, at this writing, been opened for trans- continental business. The Fort Scott road also built part of the line between Fort Scott and Springfield, and decided to extend this line to Mem- phis, Tennessee. There were also some other extensions, but nothing very im- portant. There were many changes in lines already existing. The Central Branch Union Pacific west from Atchison became a division of the Missouri Pacific, in January, and was afterward, in March, consolidated with the Union Pacific. Later in the year the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs road was sold to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. And in May the Missouri, Kansas & Texas was leased for ninety-nine years by the Missouri Pacific, and virtually con- solidated with it. In February the general offices of the Union Pacific were con- 200 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. solidated and located at Omaha, and in May the long-contended-for through rates to the Pacific Ocean by this Hne were granted Kansas City. A number of new enterprises were also inaugurated. The first of these was the revival of the old Memjjhis road. The Kansas City party by Avhom this in- terest had been bought, sold it in December, 1879, to Messrs. Lyman and Cross, of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, but they failed to execute the con- tract. It was again contracted in January to Mr. j. I. Brooks and friends, by whom it was re-organized as the Kansas City & Southern, in June. This company was composed of Theodore Welderbald, W. P. Campbell, John E. Young, and John Sidle, of Illinois, Lloyd B. Fuller, of Emporia, Kansas, and E. L. Martin, of Kansas City. Besides a few surveys, nothing was done during the year, but early in 1881 the company was re-organized, a new contract was made for the property, the capital stock of the company increased, and its early continuation provided for. In January, 1880, the Wyandotte, Oskaloosa & Western Narrow Gauge Company was organized in Wyandotte, but it did nothing and soon be- came quiescent. In March the Union Transit Company was organized in Kan- sas City for the purpose of taking charge of and facilitating switching among the various companies operating here. A large amount of land was purchased west of the Kaw River for yards, but they have not yet been put into operation. The Directors of this company were Geo. H. Nettleton, Col. C. F. Morse, J. S. Ford, T. F. Oaks, and Wallace Pratt. In April the Des Moines & Kansas City Railroad Company was organized in Des Moines, Iowa, for the purpose of build- ing a line to Kansas City, and it is now at work making its survey. In Decem- ber the Kansas City Railway Company was organized in Kansas City, with T. B. Bullene, President, and J. N. Finley, Secretary. This company proposes to build a road from Kansas City by way of Baldwin City, Osage City, and Council Grove to Salina, Kansas About the same time the Kansas City, Nebraska, and Northwestern Railroad Company was organized in Kansas City with Col. K. Coates, President, W. H. Miller, Secretary, S. B. Armour, Treasurer, and T. J. Lynde, general manager. It proposes to build a road from Kansas City, by way of Oskaloosa and Valley Falls, Kansas, to Falls City, Nebraska. This year was not destitute of the annual railway war. This was brought about by the opening of the new Wabash line into Chicago, in July, though hostilities did not break out until October i6th. The fight raged with great fierceness for a few days, when it was temporarily stopped only to break out again in a few weeks with increased violence. It soon involved the roads leading to St. Louis, and before the close of the year the roads east of Chicago and St. Louis, and became far more general than any previous war. THE GREAT FLOOD OF APRIL, 1 88 1. The chief event of interest since the close of 1880, except as already men- tioned, was the flood of April, 1881, which was the greatest rise in the river at Kansas City since 1844, and at points above was reported greater than that cele- brated flood. The winter preceding had been unusually long and cold, having begun at Kansas City about the 20th of November, nearly one month earlier than usual. There was also an unusual snowfall throughout the Missouri Valley. In the latter part of March the weather became as warm as was due to the season in a few days' time, and the snows in Kansas aftd Nebraska were converted into water, flooding some parts of the latter State and doing much damage. Early in April the water from this source reached the Missouri River and caused it to rise to within a few inches of the highest point reached since 1844, when the water subsided for a few days. It began to rise again in the upper river about the middle of April, flooding Omaha and other up-river places, and doing much damage. This rise soon reached Kansas City. On the 26th it broke over a levee that had been built to protect the bottom lands opposite the city, and the bottom HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 201 became flooded. At this time nearly all the bottom lands from Sioux City to Kansas City were under water, the river in most places presenting the appearance of a great lake from four to ten miles wide. There were many fine farms inun- dated, and thousands of people left their homes in boats where such water had never been known before, since the settlement of the country. About the 25th of April it began to threaten the western part of Kansas City, and parties went to work at low places throwing up embankments to prevent its breaking over into the streets. This work was ineffectual, however, for on the 28th it flooded a large part of the "bottoms," as it is called, surrounded the packing houses and disabled several elevators, among which were "A," Union, and State Line, in the west bottoms. At this time the river covered the entire bottom north of the city. Harlem was submerged, part of the houses washed away, and railroad operations on that side of the river suspended. Part of the embankment leading to the bridge was washed away, together with nearly three miles of the track of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad, while the Hannibal and Wabash were much injured. The Hannibal and Rock Island roads, however, continued to operate to Randolph Bluffs, making' the connection to Kansas City by steamboat, while the Wabash transferred its business to the Chicago & Alton. The Missouri Pacific was, for a time, unable to reach Kansas City with its trains, and the Union Pacific used the track of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe from Topeka, in consequence of the inundation of its track between Armstrong and the Kaw River. Armourdale, lying in the vicinity of this road on the west side of the Kaw River, was completely flooded. Still the water continued to rise and at its highest point, which it attained on the 30th of April, it stood twenty-seven feet above low water mark. The people from a large part of West Kansas, lying south of Ninth street and between Wood street, Kansas City, Kansas, and the bluff at the Advance Elevator, had to leave their homes, and for a time large numbers of them were quartered in the Exposition buildings. The destitution and suffering caused by this fact was very great, aside from the loss of prop- erty, and relief measures became necessary. About five thousand dollars were raised for this purpose. After the 30th of April the water subsided rapidly, and by the 3d of May had withdrawn from the lowest part of the city, and within ten days afterward the railroads were so far repaired that trains were resumed as usual. This flood has been suggestive of the necessity of preparing for the pro- tection of the lower part of the city, which subject was soon afterward brought to the attention of the council by a message from the mayor. THE GROWTH OF THE CITY. During 1880, and up to the present time in 1881, the growth of the city was as rapid as in 1878 and 1879. The United States census of 1880 accredited Missouri Valley cities with populations as follows :' Kansas City proper 55)8i3 Kansas City and adjoining towns included in the same com- mercial city 62,977 Leavenworth 16,550 Atchison 15,106 St. Joseph 32,484 Council Bluffs 18,059 Omaha 30,518 Topeka i5>45i The growth of business in Kansas City during 1880 is best shown in the clearing house statement, which, for 1879, ^^^s $68,280,251.55, and for 1880 $101,330,000.00. Real estate transfers this year were $5,467,900 as against 202 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. $3,604,072 for 1879, and the following new additions were added to the place during the year and the first three months of 1881 : January 6, '80 — Armstrong's Addition. January 20, '80 — J. L. Brown's Sub-division. February 7, '80 — Murdock's Addition. February 28, '80 — Smart's Partition No. i. February 28, '80 — Smart's Partition No. 2. February 28, '80 — Smart's Partition No. 3. March 30, '80 — P. S. Brown's Addition. March 3, '80 — Loring's Sub-division. March 12, '80 — Hope & Twitchell's Sub-division. March 18, '80 — Aldine Place Sub-division. March 18, '80 — Adam's First Addition. June I, '80 — R. G. Estill's Re-survey. June 25, '80 — Primrose Hill Sub-division. March 22, '80 — S. C. Moody's Sub-division. March 22, '80 — Whipple's First Addition. March 30, '80 — Bellmere Place Addition. March 30, '80 — Hazzard Place Sub-division. April T, '80 — Austin's Addition. April 2, '80 — B. E. Dye's Sub-division. April 28, '80 — Woman's Addition. May 5, '80 — Phelps Place Addition. June 12, '80 — P. S. Brown's Re-survey. October 2, '80 — City Park Addition. October 5, '80 — Dudley & Cook's Addition. October 13, '80 — Whipple's Second Addition. December 29, '80 — Clatanoff & Stowe's Re-survey. December 13, '80 — Brown & Brook's Sub-division. January 19, '81 — Winningham's Sub-division. January 20, '81 — Ellison & Murdock's Addition. January 20, '81 — Murdock's Sub-division. January 25, '81 — Re-survey Payne's Addition. February i, '81 — Cosby's Addition. February 28, '81 — Commissioner's Plat Payne's Addition. March 7, '81 — Amended Plat of Hyde & Foster's Addition. March 14, '81 — Forest Place Sub-division. March 15, '81 — William Askew's Sub-division. March 15, '81 — Haefner's Second Addition. March 22, '81 — Haefner's First Addition. March 30, '81 — Forest Home Addition. A STATISTICAL EXHIBIT. The following statistical exhibit will show at a glance the growth of Kansas City since its beginning : POPULATION. STATEMENT showing the population of Kansas City at different periods. 1838 300 1846 700 1855 300 1857 2,000 1858 5,185 1859 8,000 1865 5,000 1870 32,260 187 1 36,000 1872 40,115 1873 40,740 1877 41,786 1878 50,126 1879 • • . 60,372 1880 62,977 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 203 WEALTH. STATEMENT showing the assessed valuation of Kansas City at different periods. 1846 $ 500,000 1858 1,802,000 1861 1,814,320 1862 1,448,284 1863 1,313,790 1864 1,698,460 1865 1,922,670 1866 3,587,875 1867 3,710,813 1868 5,978,068 1869 8,408,111 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 $ 9,629,455 10,191,910 10,957,250 12,708,290 12,357,730 11,728,750 8,923,190 9.370,287 9,092,320 10,706,660 13,378,950 Note— The decline from 1873 to 1876 was due to changes in standard of valuation. CLEARINGS. STATEMENT showing the clearings of the Kansas City Clearing House, by months, for a series of years. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. January .... $ 5,156,094 03 ? 7,137,32946 $ 5,971,704 01 $ 4,604,911 00 $ 8,009,700 00 February 4,566,721 09 4,704,922 97 1,471,811 18 4,286,200 13 6,285,100 00 March . 4,302,291 87 5,463,610 38 2,052,400 00 4,405,301 00 7,412,600 00 April . . 4,605,502 34 5,270,327 02 2,283,800 00 4,092,101 10 7,116,600 00 May . . 4,664,984 17 5,206,200 86 2,361,312 14 5,052,501 II 7,642,600 00 June . . 5,742,539 II 5,256,514 19 1,924,740 00 4,713,70000 7,713,600 00 July . . . 4,769,684 32 5,112,38932 2,696,111 34 4,696,901 21 7,780,400 00 August . 4,448,729 19 5,548,123 17 2,235,213 64 5,601,400 00 8,039,400 00 September. . . 5,504,501 35 6,337,525 72 3,390,711 23 6,252,200 00 8,092,200 00 October .... 6,915,521 82 6,892,287 14 5.533,511 00 9,087,200 00 9,684,900 00 November . . . 5,857,91892 6,129,097 17 5,542,801 01 7,215,700 00 11,772,900 00 December . . . 6,306,420 55 6,154,684 II 5,236,201 01 8,271,836 00 11,830,000 00 Total. . . . $62,840,608 76 369,213,011 51 Mi, 000,3 1 7 56 $68,280,251 55 $101,330,000 00 INTERNAL REVENUE. STATEMENT showing the amount of Internal Revenue paid to the Government by Kas- sas City for a series of years. On what Account. Beer . . . Cigars . . Tobacco . Licenses Banks . . Spirits . . Penalties 1875. 9,114 10 11,717 00 28,877 09 11,669 00 3,708 66 7,059 20 1876. 11,642 50 16,365 60 22,054 56 20,000 00 5,52431 1877. 11,598 00 16,911 65 11.954 13 11,384 00 5-524 II 14.155 10 2,758 20 1878. 13,752 00 16,107 50 5,010 82 11,110 00 6,935 20 4,740 00 2,460 13 1879. 14,198 00 21,922 00 6,252 40 14,264 16 12,444 00 6,600 00 5,000 00 $ 16,742 00 26,530 60 5.357 32 17,78942 28,712 14 7,200 00 420 00 Total $ 72,144 95 $ 75,586 97 $ 74,285 19 $ 60,115 65 $ 80,680 56 $102,751 48 TABLE SHOWING THE MOVEMENT OF FREIGHT FOR FOUR YEARS. Years. Received, Pounds. Forwarded, Pounds. 1877 1878 1879 1880 1,852,900,694 2,425,995,917 3,188,710,298 4,629,344,019 1,621,900,538 2,038,366,446 2,739,752,881 2,911,892, 163 I— I o H en O Ph w H " O 00 r^ O 00 fO r^^C ^^ *^ "^ 0^ " N » ' ^ ». ^ N N "I 00 ir> N CO P) oo w I^ ly^ M N O\00 N N O 1^ "^ N O fnoo 00 r^i/t O t> r^io— O CI LT) u-> m O CO O ro «9= M ro^ T)-rot^N t-^i-iOO OnO Oni-" ro •-> i/1^0 vn O OO 1- o pj 00 -^ .;;^ /C Tl- O t^ t^ " O Nt^N 'H " Ti-fO„ M m N T^ vO t^ '-' 00 r^^ ►1 ■rf- r^ O 00 "TsO u-i>0 >-. Tj- O "^ u-)O00~O OOOO i-c r^oo Ocyjoo i-i On f o ^ i ^ 0\vO •>*• t^>o 00 vo t^ ^ " _r «a O On N yj »J^ tJ- ro r^^O 00 cO On N ON" rOfOfOt^roi-H vo lovo M Oi ■* — O N On O On O "-100 "-> 00 " MD "" J^^ J^ t^T I>ioo lO ■0"-ii-. . ro ro I- ON N On N "^ N ro o^ (11 r^ ^s£ <-> fl) D U -C "" 2 ■" *-■ o 1) >». 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The History of the Press — Local Societies — Masons — Odd Fellows — Knights of Pythias — Other Secret Orders — The Churches, Schools and Social Institutions . " THE JOURNAL." The Journal was established by a stock company composed of William Gillis, W. S. Gregory, H. M. Northrup, J. S. Chick, M. J. Payne, Dr. B. Troost, E. M. McGee, Thompson McDaniels and Robt. Campbell, and made its first appear- ance in October, 1854, under the name of The Kansas City Enterprise, with D. K. Abeel, Esq., as printer and business manager, and William A. Strong, Esq., as editor. One previous attempt had been made by a Mr. Kennedy to establish a paper called the Public Ledger but it failed, and its failure led to the organization of the above named company. In October, 1855, Col. R. T. Van Horn pur- chased the paper and took editorial charge. In 1857 its name was changed to The Western Jourrial of Comtnerce. About this time Col. Van Horn took into co- partnership with him Mr. D. K. Abeel, who had remained with the paper from its first issue. In June, 1858, a telegraph line having been built from St. Louis to Boonville, Messrs. Van Horn & Abeel made arrangements for telegraphic reports, receiving them by express from Boonville, and established a daily edition, which made its first appearance on the 15th of June, 1858. In the summer of i860 Col. Van Horn sold his interest in the paper to Mr. Abeel, but continued his editorial connection with it until the war broke out in 1861. Mr. Abeel con- tinued the publication of the paper as sole proprietor until June 14, 1863, when he sold it to T. Dwight Thacher, now editor of the Lawrence, Kansas, fournal. It was suspended, on account of the war, March 7th, 1861, and continued sus- pended for about a year, though it was issued as a daily news bulletin from May i6th to August 20th, 1861. March 23d, 1865, Mr. Thacher sold the paper, Col. Van Horn and A. H. Hallowell being the purchasers. On the 2d of March, 1867, Col. Van Horn having been elected to Congress, retired from the paper, and on the 28th of April following, Mr. Hallowell sold it to Messrs. Foster, Wilder & Co. On the 9th of March, 1870, Col. Wilder was shot and killed by James Hutchinson, about a personal matter, and Mr. Abeel again became connected with the paper by the purchase of the interests held by Col. Wilder and Smith Baker. On the 30th of August, 1871, Col. Van Horn purchased the interest of C. G. Foster, and on the 15th of February, 1872, the Journal Company was organized and incorporated under the State laws. Col. Van Horn continuing as editor, Mr. Abeel continued as business manager until August 9th, 1872, when he disposed of his stock in the company and was succeed- ed by Isaac P. Moore, Esq. Mr. Abeel, Chas. N. Brooks, M. H. Stevens and W. A. Bunker purchased a controlling interest in the paper and took charge of it August 8th, 1877, Col. Van Horn retaining his interest and continuing as editor- in-chief. On the loth of January, 18S1, Messrs. Abeel, Brooks and Bunker retired, and A. J. Biethen became business manager. Since its first issue, under Col. Van Horn's management, in October, 1855, the Journal has been an able and influential paper. From that date it became thoroughly and fully devoted to Kansas City's commercial development, and has since been a most potent and watchful advocate. During the years interven- ing prior to the war its columns teemed with projects and schemes for the ad- 206 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. vancement of the city, and among these was outlined and developed every rail- road project which Kansas City has realized. And in subsequent years it has been none the less ardent and devoted in the development of other projects calculated to advance Kansas City's commercial welfare. At the same time it has always stood prominent as a newspaper, careful and consistent in its positions, and newsy, without being sensational. It was Democratic until the war, and sup- ported Douglas, in i860, since which time it has been one of the leading Repub- lican papers of Missouri. Its stock is now $40,000, and during the past year has sold at a high premi- um. It owns Its own building, an elegant structure on the corner of Sixth and Delaware streets, worth probably $50,000. It is issued daily, tri-weekly, and weekly, and has a very large circulation, considering the population of the city in which it is published, the daily alone averaging nearly 10,000 per day. To print this large edition it now runs a Scott-Webb Perfecting press, the third of its kind set up in the United States. It receives the paper in a continuous roll, prints it on both sides from stereotyped plates at the rate of 15,000 per hour, and delivers it folded for the mail or carrier. The position of the Journal in public esteem is unsurpassed by any western paper, and in influence, character, and circulation, it stands at the head of Missouri Valley journals. THE "KANSAS CITY TIMES." On Tuesday morning, September 8, 1868, the first number of The Kansas City Times was issued. In starting the Times there was experienced that risk which every journalist that attempts to establish a new paper, encounters. For some time after its first issue the venture did not prove a succeess financially, but its later managers possessing a determination to succeed, in time placed it on a solid foundation. The first paper was an eight-column folio, the size of the sheet being 26^x 44 inches. At its head it bore the national Democratic ticket for president and vice-president, and also for State officers. B. R. Drury & Co., were proprietors. On December 22, 1868, the paper changed hands, and a company was organized under the name of The Kansas City Times Publishing Company Messrs. Wm. E. Dunscombe, Chas. Durfee, J. D. Williams and R. B. Drury were elected directors. Mr. Williams served as business manager, and Messrs. John C, Moore and John N. Edwards, editors. In April of 1869, Mr. James E. Mc- Henry was installed business manager, and held the position until June 28th of the same year, when he was succed by C. E. Chichester. On September 29th, 1869, the office was removed to the corner of Fifth and Main streets, and on February 20th, 1870, the company was dissolved and the paper sold at public sale. Mr. Chas. Dougherty, of Independence, together with John C. Moore and John N. Edwards, were the purchasers. The paper moved along with vary- ing fortunes until the 20th of August, 1871, when it again changed hands, and passed under the management that has controlled it since that time. Amos Green was elected president ; Thos H. Mastin, treasurer, and M. Munford, sec- retary and general manager of the new company. John N. Edwards was made editor-in-chief. In September of that year the Times removed to commodious quarters on Missouri avenue, betweeen Main and Delaware streets. On January 3d, 1872, the paper appeared in a new dress and enlarged to a nine-column folio. With that issue an extensive review of Kansas City was given in a supplement. The great panic of '73 was safely passed, and after the gloomy days the Times smiled happy and serenely. In April, 1872, Messrs. Mastin transferred their interests to Messrs. Green and M. Munford, and later Mr. J. E. Munford acquired an interest. In May of 1875, Mr. Green sold his interest to Messsrs. Munford. The "Old Titnes Publishing Company" was then dissolved, and on November 29, 1875, the property was transferred to the present organization, HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 207 ♦'The Kajisas City Times Company," which Messrs. Munford, in connection with Mr. Samuel Williams, had organized. Upon the retirement of the latter in 1878 his stock was purchase by the company. The directors of the company after Mr. Williams' retirement were James E. Munford, Morrison Munford and Chas. E. Hasbrook; and the officers were James E. Munford, President; M. Munford, Secretary and General Manager; and Chas. E. Hasbrook, Vice-President and Business Manager. The enterprise of the Times has been marked. It was the originator of the great Oklahoma movement for the purpose of opening up the Indian Territory ; m 1876 it published a nine column twenty page review of Kansas City; it con- trolled a special train carrying its own papers containing the proceedings of the Kansas Legislature, between Kansas City and Topeka ; on the 15th of Septem- ber, of the Centennial year, it established a branch office at Denver, Colorado, publishing a Colorado edition during the presidential campaign ; and previous to the nomination of a Democratic candidate for the Presidency 1876, it published an edition in St. Louis in opposition to the nomination of Samuel J. Tilden. These wonderful enterprises characterized the Times as the New York Herald of the west. On the 20th of August of the present year, the Tirnes will have been under the sole control and management of the present general manager for ten consec- utive years. From a mere shell of a newspaper when he took it in August 1871, it has grown and increased steadily, keeping pace with the growth of the city and section until now it is pre-eminently one of the "institutions" of Kansas City. It occupies its own building on Fifth street between Main and Delaware, where it has one of the finest counting-rooms in the city — and a thoroughly equipped outfit of machinery, presses, etc., required to publish its immense cir- culation. It is a newspaper estabUshment that any city of 100,000 inhabitants might well feel proud of. THE KANSAS CITY "MAIL." The Evening Mail Publishing Company was incorporated as a stock company May 4th, 1875, by a few prominent business men of Kansas City, with E. L. Martin as President and John C. Gage as Treasurer, having for its object the publication of a journal opposed to the movements of the water works clique as it then existed. Col. John C. Moore was acting editor-in-chief. In April, 1876, Mr. E. L. Martin resigned his official connection with the company, M. James T. Kelley being elected to the vacancy. John C. Gage and T. V. Bryant also resigned as directors, their places being supplied respectively by Col. John C. Moore and Frank Grice. Messrs. Moore, Kelley and Grice, all practical newspaper men, having come into possession of the stock, were pub- lishers and proprietors of the Evening Mail. On April 29th, 1876, a re-organization of the company was effected, and at a meeting of the directory John C. Moore was elected President, Frank Grice Secretary, while J. T. Kelley held as Director and Business Manager. On the 7th of May, 1877, Joseph B. Strickland was admitted to the com- pany, and held the practical position of foreman of the mechanical department and was elected director. Meantime Mr. Grice had retired, his stock having passed through W. Scott Ford to Strickland. Col. Moore was yet president of the company, while the secretaryship had fallen to J. T. Kelley, upon the retirement of Frank Grice. On the above date the title of the company was changed to '' The Mail Publishing Company," the word " Evening " at the same time disap- pearing from the title page of the paper. At a meeting held November 2 2d, 1877, Col. Moore resigned his connection and retired from the Mail, having assigned his stock to Messrs. Strickland & Kelley. Mr. J. B. Strickland was chosen president and Mr. A. D. Gerard secretary of the company. A new pro- 208 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. prietorship was effected December 3, 1877, by the purchase from Messrs. Kelley & Strickland of a controlling interest in the stock by Messrs. A. A. Whipple and T. Ambert Haley, the latter becoming president and Mr. Strickland, who still held an interest, being secretary. The organization took on a better working shape than it had presented since the first few months of its history, and the for- ward movement of the paper indicated the results. Mr. Haley took active position as business manager, Mr. Whipple as treasurer, and Mr. Strickland as head of the typographical department. On the 6th of May, 1878, A. A. Whipple transferred a portion of his stock to his brothers, B. F. and Wayne Whipple, after which the organizatian stood as follows : Wayne Whipple, President. B. F. Whipple, Secretary. A. A. Whipple, Treasurer. Directors— A. A. Whipple, T. A. Haley and J, B. Strickland. Major W. W. Bloss was political editor, Wayne Whipple city editor and Mr. Haley, business manager. September 4, 1878, Mr. T. A. Haley and Whipple Bros, having sold their interests in the Kansas City Mail to S. M. Ford and Samuel Williams, Mr. Haley tendered his resignation as director and business manager. Mr. Ford was elected to these vacancies and the secretaryship. Messrs. Whipple also retired. On the day following an election was held with the following result : S. M. Ford, President. Samuel Williams, Secretary. Directors — S. M. Ford, Samuel Williams, J. B. Strickland. On the 20th of January, 1879, the interest of S. M. Ford was purchased by John C. Shea and Col. Williams, and a few months later the interest of J. B. Strickland was bought by W. L. Campbell. The organization of the Mail Publishing Company, as it now exists, is John C. Shea, President; Samuel Williams, Secretary. Directors — Samuel Williams, John C. Shea, W. P. Campbell. The above gentlemen occupy the following posi- tions on the paper : Samuel Williams, Editor. John C. Shea, Business Manager. W. L. Campbell, City Editor. The growth of the Mail has been remarkable. In the winter of 1878-9 the Mail suffered severely from the effects of fire. The present management found the material of the paper in ashes and cinders. The expense of fitting up a re- spectable place of business on Missouri avenue was considerable, but the increase of business in the spring and summer of 1879 cleared the office of indebtedness and left a margin for future operations. So flattering was the outlook in the be- ginning of the present year that a new three-revolution Hoe press was ordered and a removal to a more commodious building determined upon. The J/ 3 3" > ■a •< c 3 n 3 H ^ 39° 03' 96° 35' 95° 16' 96° 40' 96° 32' 94° 54' 1,300 884 1,300 1,000 896 .... 0.44 2.30 50 3.50 1 44 1.65 0.54 0.65 20 1 35 1.07 0.82 1.11 2.30 50 1.70 1.50 1.42 1.01 2.86 1.40 2.30 1.40 1.79 2.30 1.41 2.98 2.70 1.00 2.09 4.22 3.58 4 31 5 65 3.55 4 26 9.62 13 45 38° 58' 39° 12' 38° 42' 32° 21' 9 89 17 20 Fort Leavenworth 9.96 12 02 The following table shows the rainfall at the stations named, west of sixth principal meridian, from January ist to July ist, 1874: HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 253 Names of Stations. s r o 3 ffq > Fort Havs 38° 59' 99° 20' 2,107 1,932 ' Fort Wallace Fort Larned • . . Mean 38'^ 10' 98° 57' 1.33 U.09 0.27 0.f« 1.80 7.2(i 0.68 0.20 2.47 I 0.53 1 65 2.66 2 34 0.50 2 (iO 1.81 3.68 3.31 3 45 3.48 2.18 19 1.15 1.18 3 H o ^ 3 _, 18 58 4.97 10.47 1J.34 THE EXTENT OF THE FALL. The Agricultural Department furnishes the following statement of the average fall of rain in the several States below named, in the months of May, June, July and August, for a period of ten years, which shows favorably for the New West : Inches. Indiana ^S-So Missouri . 1 5-37 New York. 15-25 Nebraska 14.96 Vermont 14.69 Illinois 14.68 Rhode Island i4-45 New Hampshire 14-27 Wisconsin i4-i5 Michigan 14.01 Inches. Kansas ip-ip New Jersey 17.21 Iowa 1 7- 05 Connecticut 16.70 Massachusetts 16.47 Pennsylvania 16.28 Maryland 16.12 Kentucky 16.12 Maine 16.10 Minnesota i5-9i Ohio 15.75 Col. R. S. Elliott, late industrial agent of the Kansas Pacific Railway, made this subject a special study, and in his " Industrial Resources," says: " Within a few years the rain-gauge has been brought into service at points distant from each other, but located at irregular intervals across the continent, and its record shows not only greater precipitation than was formerly believed to takfc place on the plains, but that the distribution is unequal in time, giving us the largest proportions in the growing seasons — spring and summer." In his late work, "The Mississippi Valley," Prof. J. W. Foster, says: "The rains which water the Atlantic slope are equally distributed, the variations being very slight; while those which water the Mississippi Valley are unequally dis- tributed, those of spring and summer being greatly in excess — a fact," he says, " which has been overlooked by most meteorologists in reference to the geograph- ical distributions of plants." As we pass westward from the Atlantic the inequal- ity increases until we pass the Rocky Mountains. "Contrasting the two stations, New York and Fort Laramie," says Prof. Foster, " it will be seen that on the sea- board about forty eight per cent, of the yearly precipitations occurs during the fall and winter, while on the plains only twenty-five per cent, occurs during that period, and that, while on the sea-board the precipitation is nearly uniform during the four seasons, three-fourths of the precipitation on the plains occurs during spring and summer." At Fort Riley about sixty-nine per cent, of the annual precipitation is in spring and summer ; at Fort Kearney, eighty-one, and at Fort Laramie, seventy- one per cent. From observations at Forts Harker, Hays and Wallace on the line of the Kansas Pacific, the same rule seems to hold good. Records have not been long enough continued at these three posts to give a long average, but the mean appears to be between seventeen and nineteen inches at Hays and Wallace, and probably more at Harker. A popular belief exists in Kansas and Nebraska that since the settlement, the planting of trees and the cultivation of the soil, the rainfall has increased, and upon this is founded the prediction that within a brief period dry seasons will become unknown. Referring to this subject, Col. Elliot wrote to Prof. Henry a few years ago, as follows: 254 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. ^ " Facts such as these seem to sustain the popular persuasion in Kansas, that a climatic change is taking place, prompted by the spread of settlements, west- wardly, breaking up portions of the prairie soil, covering the earth with plants that shade the ground more than the short grasses ; thus checking or modifying the reflection of heat from the earth's surface. This fact is also noted, that where the prairie soil is not disturbed, the short buffalo grass disappears as the 'frontier' extends westward, and its place is taken by grasses and other herbage of taller growth. That this change of the clothing of the plains, if sufficiently extensive, might have a modifying influence on the climate, I do not doubt ; but whether the change has been already spread over a large enough area, and whether our apparently, or really wetter seasons may not be part of a cycle, are unsettled questions. " The civil engineers of this railway believe that the rains and humidity of the plains have increased during the extension of railroads and telegraph across them. If this is the case, it may be that the mysterious electrical influence in which they seem to have so much faith, but do not profess to explain, has exer- cised a beneficial influence." Weston's Guide to the Kansas Pacific, published in 1872, commenting upon the statements of Col. Elliott, gives the observations of another gentleman who had devoted much attention to the subject. He says: "It is certain that rains have increased; this increase has coincided with the increase of settlements, rail- roads and telegraphs. If influenced by these, the change of climate will go on ; if by extra mundane influence, the change may be permanent, progressive or retro- grade. He thinks there are good grounds to believe it will be progressive. With- in the last fifteen years, in western Missouri and Iowa, and eastern Kansas and Nebraska, a very large aggregate of surface has been broken up, and holds more of the rain than formerly. During the same period modifying influences have been put in motion in Montana, Utah and Colorado. Very small areas of tim- bered land west of the Missouri have been cleared — not equal, perhaps, to the areas of forest, orchards and vineyards planted. Hence, it may be said that all the acts of man in this vast region have tended to produce conditions on the earth's surface to ameliorate the climate. With extended settlements on the Arkansas, Canada and Red rivers of the south, as well as on the river system of the Kaw Valley and on the Platte, the ameliorating conditions will be extended in like degree ; and it partakes more of sober reason than wild fancy to suppose that a permanent and beneficial change of climate can be experienced. The appalling deterioration of large portions of the earth's surface, through the acts of man in destroying the forest, justifies the trust that the culture of taller herbage and trees, in a region heretofore covered mainly with short grasses, may have a converse effect. Indeed, in Central Kansas, nature seems almost to precede settlements by the latter grasses and herbage." From the writings of Dr. Latham we glean the following additional facts : " From the same authority (Surgeon General Lawson) the rainfall for the whole year east of the summit of the Snowy Range, is as follows : " All the country west of Omaha, on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, as far as Fort Kearney, is in this belt, where twenty-five inches of rain fall yearly. " West of Fort Kearney, extending to the Sierra Madre, on this railroad line, including the Black Hills and Laramie Plains, is the belt where twenty inches ^fall annually, with the exception of a small portion of country in Texas called the Staked Plain. These two belts include all the trans-Missouri country west from the Missouri and Mississippi to the Snowy Range, This rainfall includes the snow reduced to water measure, twelve inches of snow making one inch of water. This water falls mostly in the spring in gentle rains, during the month of May, which is the rainy season of the country. HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. 255 " This month of May's rain gives our grasses their growth, and by the first to the 15th of June they are fully matured. Our rains th^n come in short showers, and the fall for the summer is small. Our grasses begin to cure, and by the first of September they have become perfectly cured, uncut hay. This one fact alone is the key to the great superiority of this country for grazing. " Our grasses cure instead of decomposing, as there is neither the heat nor the moisture, both of which are necessary for the chemical process of decomposi- tion. " As you leave the Missouri River you enter the belt of country where two feet of snow falls. This Delt extends like the first belt of rain to Fort Kearney. West of that point to the mountain's foot is the belt of eighteen inches. These two belts include all the country east of the mountains. The snow falls at a single storm are very light, three inches being exceptionally large, and this amount being dry and light, never lies on a level; in twenty-four hours from the time of fall the ground is bare." SOIL. The soil of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa is composed of what geologists call the Drift, Loess and Alluvial deposits. The first is of comparatively limited extent, and is mostly found combined with the Loess in what is known as Modified Drift. In this form it is very fertile, and yields sixty bushels of corn to the acre. The second embraces all the upland soil, and the third the bottom lands. Of the upland soils. Prof. Samuel Aughey, of Nebraska, says : " As would be expected, from the elements which chemical analysis shows to be present in these deposits, it forms one of the best soils in the world. In fact, it can never be exhausted until every hill and valley of which it is composed are entirely worn away. Its drainage, which is the best possible, owing to the remarkably fine comminuted silica of which the bulk of the deposit consists. When the ground is cultivated the most copious rains soon percolate through the soil, which, in its lowest depths, retains it like a huge sponge. Even the un- broken prairie absorbs much of the heavy rains that fall. When drouths come the moisture comes up from below by capillary attraction. And when it is con- sidered that the depth to the solid rock ranges generally from five to two hundred feet, it is seen how readily the needs of vegetation are supplied in the driest seasons. This is the main reason why over all the region where these deposits prevail the natural vegetation and the well-cultivated crops are rarely dried out or drowned out. I have frequently observed a few showers to fall in April, and then no more rain until June, when, as will be considered farther on, there is generally a rainy season of from two to four weeks' continuance. After these June rains little more would fall till autumn; and yet, if there was deep and thorough cultivation, the crops of corn, cereals and grass would be most abund- ant. This condition represents the dry seasons. On the other hand, the ex- tremely wet season only damage the crops over the low bottoms, subject to over- flow. Owing to the silicious nature of the soils they never bake when plowed in a wet condition, and a day after heavy rains the plow can again be successfully and safely used. " For all purposes of architecture this soil, even to the most massive struct- ures, is perfectly secure. I have never known a foundation of a large brick or stone building, if commenced below the winter frost line, to give way. Even when the first layers of brick and stone are laid on top of the ground there is seldom such unevenness of settling as to produce fractures in the walls. On no other deposits, except the solid rocks, are there such excellent roads. From twelve to twenty-four hours after the heaviest rains the roads are perfectly dry, and often appear, after being traveled a few days, like a vast floor formed from cement, and by the highest art of man. The drawback to this picture is that sometimes during a drought the air along the highways on windy days is filled 256 HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY. with dust. And yet the soil is very easily worked, yielding readily to the spade or the plow. Excavation is remarkably easy, and no pick or mattock is thought of for such purpose. It might be expected that such a soil readily yielded to atmospheric influences, but such is not the case. Wells in this deposit are fre- quently walled up only to a point above the water-line, and on the remainder the spade marks will be visible for years. Indeed, the traveler over Nebraska will often be surprised to find spade-marks and carved out names and dates years after they were first made, where ordinary soils would soon have fallen away to a gentle slope. This peculiarity of the soil has often