Iass„ F6g6 l)()()K W99 l^KKSKNTKI) HY THE rRAYER OP THADDEUS HYATT TO - ^ f JA.MES BTJCH^]N^A.ISr, I'RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, IN BEHALF OF KANSAS, ASKING FOR A Postponement of all the Land Sales in that Territory, AND FOR OTHER RELIEF; TOGETHER WITH CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS SETTING FORTH v\ ITS DEPLORABLE DESTITUTION FROM TH^ , ■ DROUGHT AND FAMINE. - .,; ^^. ■ Submitted under oath, October 29, 1860. < • « • > WASHINGTON : HENRY POLKINHORN, PRINTER. 1860, 9i 4 0'07 CONTENTS. Page Prefatory, affidavit 4 Letter to the President of the United States, October 29, 1860 5 Do do do.. 16 6 Do do do 8 Letter to the Secretary of the Interior, October 16 1860 9 Do do do.... 24, 1860 10 Letter to the Secretary of War, October 24, 1860 9 Letter to Professor Henry, October 18, 1860 11 Reply of Professor Henry, and report on the drought in Kansas 11 Reports from Shawnee county 17 Breckinridge 26 Linn 32 Anderson 37 Allen 39 Bourbon 41 Waubunsee 43 Osage 45 Coffee 46 Miscellaneous testimony for counties of Butler, Hunter, Ottoe, &c.. 53 Extracts from letters 57 Story of a poor family 58 Letter from Black Jack 60 Appeal of Highland Presbytery 61 Extract from Philadelphia " Press" on suffering in Kansas 63 Concluding appeal to President Buchanan 67 District of Columbia, \ City and County of Washington. ) I hereby certify, that, on this 29th day of October, A. D. 1860, before the subscriber, a Notary Public in and for the county of Washington in the District of Columbia, personally appeared Thaddeus Hyatt, of the city of New York, and made oath that the statements hereinafter set forth are true to the best of his knowledge and belief; that he has no pecu- niary interest in the question involved ; and that this prayer is not made for any other purpose than for the relief of the unfortunate people of Kansas. Thaddeus Hyatt. Subscribed and sworn before me, this twenty-ninth TsEAL.] day of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty. JOHN S. HOLLINGSHEAD, Notary Public. LETTERS OF THADDEUS HYATT Addeessed to the President, the Secretary of War, AND the Secretary of the Interior. Washington, October 29, 1860. To President Buchanan : Sir: As your verbal reply to my communications [see infra, A 1, A 2, A 3] of the 16tli instant gave me no positive assurance that the land sales in Kansas will be postponed ; and as your failure to give me this assurance seemed to rest upon a necessity for more authoritative and formal data for official action, I have delayed my departure from Washington in order to throw into a more convincing and satisfactory shape the materials in my possession. In addition to my own memoranda, I have also sent commu- nications to the War Department and to the Secretary of the Interior asking information, as appears in the copy herewith submitted. [See infra^ B and C] I have as yet received no reply from those Dej^artments. On the 18th instant I addressed a communication to Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, the reply to which and my own letter accompany this. [See infra, D and E.] It will be seen that his report exactly harmonizes with all the other testimony. That your Excellency may understand the value of the array of facts which I herewith present under oath, permit me to say, that to collect them my journey through Kansas 6 THE DESTITUTIOJSr IN KANSAS. covered nearly one thousand miles, and occupied twenty-five days ; that rising of two thousand persons met together at a series of meetings held in the counties mentioned below, the most of whom I saw, and whose statements I heard ; that letters and petitions have been sent to me on behalf of the sufferers, signed by over eight hundred persons, and rej) re- senting twice as many thousands; and that the counties already reported by organized committees with whom I am in communication, embrace nearly the whole region of Kan- sas south of the Kaw river, who are looking for relief to my efforts in their behalf, as fully appears in what follows. That my present petition in behalf of these suffering people may be so moderate and reasonable as to command a positive and immediate assurance from the Executive that the whole of the threatened land sales shall be at once postponed, I ask respectfully in their name, that your Excellency will grant a contingent and temporary postponement of ninety days, to enable me still further to accumulate proof upon proof of the utterly impoverished condition of the people. With the greatest deference to your Excellency, let me say that an array of facts such as is now presented by me here, and under oath, would, if presented in a Court of Chancery, be sufficient for obtaining an injunction in any case of a parallel character. Yours, &c., respectfully, THADDEUS HYATT. A 1. Washington, D. C, Octoher 16, 1860. To James Buchanan, President of the United Stales : Sir : Having just returned from the Territory of Kansas, where I have been an eye-witness to the deplorable and THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 7 starving condition of that scorclied and famine-stricken land, I come to implore of the Executive, as an act of clemency in behalf of its suffering inhabitants, that all Government lands now offered for sale in that Territory may be withheld from market, and more especially those lands embraced in what is known as the New York Indian Eeserve, (Proclamation No. 667.) You need be informed, sir, of but half the desolations and heart-rending scenes I have witnessed among that heroic and industrious, but unfortunate people, to arouse your utmost sympathies. Thousands of once thrifty and prosperous American citi- zens are now perishing of want. Winter is upon them ; of clothing they are nearly bereft ; food they have not to last them through the cold season that is approaching. Of over a hundred thousand people upon Kansas soil six months ago, at least one fourth or one third have left ; of the remainder it is safe to say that forty thousand at this moment see nothing but exodus or starvation at the end of the sixty days now just before them ; from ten to twenty thousand look with only despairing eyes upon November ; thousands connot subsist a month longer unaided ; other thousands are living upon the little which the neighbors deprive themselves of to give to them — neighbors equally unfortunate, and with whom the starvation is merely a question of but a few days longer ; while still other thousands, if not at once relieved, must perish from hunger or the diseases that follow in its train. Some have already died, others are daily dying ; while the hours grow darker and the days wax longer for the living to whom relief comes not, and whose eyes are aching with watch ings for the succor that delays. In confirmation of these frightful statements, I refer your Excellency to the accompanying extracts from my diary while in Kansas recently, and from numerous letters sent to me from various districts of the famine-land. Had the blood of this i)oor j^eople in 1860 been as valuable 8 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. for coinage into votes as it was in 1856, your department would have long since been made aware of their miseries, and it would not have remained for the discharge of a mere mechanical duty to have brought to your notice the sickening- fact that the mere performance of the duty was in its terrible workings a practical cruelty, such as no Despotism on earth Avould intentionally be guilty of, and such as, being once brought to the notice of your department, it cannot but rejoice to have escaped committing. Commending these facts to your careful consideration, I have the honor, sir, to subscribe myself, Yery respectfully, yours, THADDEUS HYATT. A 2. Washington, D. C, October 16, 1860. To James Buchanan, President of the United States: Sir : As the condition of Kansas admits of no delay, I have to request that the extracts herewith submitted for your Excellency's inspection — of which I cannot make copies in time for you to-day — may be returned to me this afternoon, together with your action thereon, as I leave in the morning for the East, to raise funds for the relief of these people. I will, however, furnish you with copies of these and other documents, to be left on file, if desired. Very respectfully, yours THADDEUS HYATT. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. A 3. Washington, D. C, Oclohcr 16, 1860. Hon. Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior : Sir: In my interview with the President, as I have already informed you, yesterday, he desired me to procure from you the following data, viz : 1st. What amount of lands are offered for sale in (the New York Indian Keservation) Kansas ? 2d. What is the urgency of the necessity for the sale ? By furnishing these data, and more especially by your favorable consideration of the accompanying appeal, and your favorable recommendation in the premises, you will perform an act of humanity, that will fill the hearts of thou- sands with gratitude towards yourself and the administration — while all the people, despite the asperity of party strife, will join in approbation of the act. I have the honor to be, yours, sir,respectfully, THADDEUS HYATT. B. Washington, October 24, 1860. Hon. John B. Floyd, Secretary of War: Sir : Being about to furnish the President with some sta- tistics in reference to the unprecedented drought which has afflicted Kansas Territory for more than fourteen months, I have to request that you will favor me with replies to the following queries, viz : 1st. What amount of rain has fallen in that Territory du- ring the last fourteen months ? 10 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 2d. What has been the state of the atmosphere ? Together with such comments as you may deem proper to submit as to the causes of the existing famine in said Terri- tory. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, THADDEUS HYATT. C. Washington, October 24, 1860. lion. Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior: Sir: Will you please answer the following queries? I wish to lay them before the President in the matter of the present application which I have made for the relief of the settlers in Kansas. 1st. What is the present population of Kansas as appears upon your records, county by county ; when taken ; and state the date when taken? 2d. What amount of corn and provisions were raised last year, county by county ; when taken ; date when taken ? 3d. What amount of corn and provisions were raised this year, county by county ; when taken ; date when taken ? 4th. What amount of corn and provisions have the people on hand for the coming winter, county by county ; when taken ; date when taken ? 5th. What amount of money and moveable wealth was there in Kansas, and how distributed, county by county ; when taken ; date when taken ? 6th. What amount of public lands are now oftcrcd, or about to be offered, for sale in said Territory, in what local- ities, and date of sales ? By furnishing the above from your census returns, &c., you will much oblige, &;c., Yery respectfully, THADDEUS HYATT. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 11 THE DEOUGHT IN KANSAS. D. — Thaddeus Hyatt to Professor Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, October 18, 1860. Sir: Bing about to furnish President Buchanan with some statistics in reference to the unprecedented drought which has aflflicted Kansas Territory for more than fourteen months past, I have to request that you will favor me with replies to the following queries, viz : 1st. What lias been the average fall of rain in that Terri- tory for the last ten years? 2d. What amount has fallen during the last fourteen months ? Together with such comments as you may deem proper to submit as to the causes of the existing famine in said Ter- ritory. By so doing, you may contribute something to the relief of suffering thousands, and assist his Excellency in the dis- charge of an important duty. I am, sir, very respectfully, yours, THADDEUS HYATT. Prof. Henry, Secretary Smithsonian Institution. E. — Reiiort of Professor Henry, furnished in reply to the re- quest of Thaddeus Hyatt. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C, October 25, 1860. Dear Sir : In answer to your letter of the 18th instant, I send you herewith — The mean fall of rain for every month at Forts Atkinson, 12 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. Leavenworth, Riley, and Scott, from the Army Meteorological Observations. The amount of rain at Burlingame and Manhattan, during a number of months in 1858, 1859 and 1860 ; at Neosho Falls in 1859 and 1860 ; and at Gardner from April to August, 1860, from our own records : Also from our records, remarks on the drought in Kansas from the Meteorological Registers of G. F. Meriam, at Gardner, from April to September, 1860, and from the Register of B. F. Goss, at Neosho Falls, from July 1860. It is evident from the facts thus furnished, that a severe drought has prevailed during the past season in Kansas Territory. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HENRY, Secretary. Thaddeus Hyatt. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 18 O . J= CO -c >J^ c — ^ o -3 5) re o o-^ i^ -3 VO „ J* CO •^ >-oo « CO CS-^ ^ re ^ o) ^^-^ a» 3 ra >>' ° C o tJ= o = >: a c, « rt ' re 01 oi o s :§ § 3 3 a- cd o S •jaqcuaaaQ •j3qai9A0\[ ''S CO 00 d -^ ^ rH (M »0 "^ -* O 00 ( -L o CD < Corn planted. 1— ' 00 CO bs 1 1 o< 1 en tf=- -:r s Corn raised. to 1 1 1— ' h- ' to CO O ra- O Ot O hii- O ?" Potatoes planted. 1—' 1 1 H-i 1 (—1 1 1 1 Potatoes raised. to CO 1 1 Oi H-^ CO Oi cn C7t ;? OS O f' Buckwheat sown. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Buckwheat raised. 1 1 to i-j CO ;:| 01?= Beans sown. o 1 1 gl. 1 1 1 Beans raised. 1 1 *- Oi to ?> Turnips sown. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t Turnips raised. to to 1 1 ..1 o o ?> Hung'n grass sown. o 1 1 1 1 y ' CO ^ Hung'n grass raised. o 1 1 Ol 1 OJ 1 '^ Old wheat on hand. o t 1 1 ^ o »■ X. o <: :^ o c -i H-i (-1 fca r. to CO ^ D O O ?^ Old corn on hand. o •"J CO > '2', o o w o > CO o CO W W t— I >^ o ^" oo O 26 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. WiLLiAMSPORT TowNSHiP. — The farmers sowed to wheat, turnips, buckwheat, Hungarian grass, and planted to corn, potatoes, and garden vegetables, all the lands in the settlement, amounting to about 1,000 acres, and raised nothing — neither grass, roots, or grain of any kind. Auburn Township. — The report of tliis township was sent by the township committee direct to Mr. Hyatt ; hence we can only report that its condition is like the other townships in the county, and the crops are an entire failure. The foregoing report of Shawnee county is necessarily very imperfect, owing to the limited notice given. Many farms are not reported, and many details of interest are entire- ly omitted. We are, however, informed that garden vegetables have been an entire failure. Chinese sugar cane was planted on many farms, and except in Tecumseh township, and a small portion of Topeka township, is reported a failure, where it is estimated 500 gallons of molasses will be made. By the above report it will be seen that there was planted and sown in the county (making a fair estimate for Auburn township) f 17,500 acres, from which has been raised 435^ bushels of wheat, 5,187 bushels of corn, 11 bushels of pota- toes, 10 bushels beans ; add estimate 500 gallons molasses, 10 tons Hungarian grass, and you can see all the products of our farms for the year 1860. It is estimated that 100 families have left the county, and as many more must leave, or have immediate aid, by donations or employment, which they cannot at present procure ; and nearly our entire stock of cattle and horses must be driven out of the territory to winter. James Fletcher, Chairman of Committee. Topeka, Shawnee county, September 22, 1860. BRECKINRIDGE COUNTY. the meeting at ITALIA. At a meeting held at Italia, Neosho Rapids, Breckinridge county, September 7, 1860 — Jacob Kisling, of Jackson township, said that there had THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 27 not fallen five and a quarter inclies of rain in eleven and a quarter months, as he had accurately measured it. He had planted corn, and would not get seven bushels to the acre, •where last year he raised forty-eight. Of all other crops he will have nothing. Uriah Carter, of Weller creek, said he has planted corn on ground that last year produced about sixty bushels to the acre, and this year he will get no corn and but little fodder. No one in his neighborhood, except Mr. Ashpole, has raised any corn this year, and he, out of forty acres, will get but ten bushels an acre from five acres — all the rest will yield but fodder. There is not enough corn to do the people two months. Potatoes are dead. Some families have left, others are unable to go. There is no money and no provisions ; only a little meat in the neighborhood. There is a settle- ment of Norwegians on Fall river, twenty miles south of Willow, who have scarcely anything, and no means to get away. They must sufler, if not soon relieved. There is not in that vicinity one bushel of flour to one family in fifty. Great sacrifices have been already made. Had the land sales luhich took place a short time since been postponed, the people would have had some means to get through the season. Judge A. J. Mitchell, of Jackson township, said that out of sixty acres in corn, from ten to fifteen will produce from five to ten bushels to the acre — the remainder will give nothing but fodder, which would not be fit for use in a good season. No wheat, no potatoes ; and if it does not rain he will have no buckwheat. This was the picture of the coun- try near him. Mr. Baily said he had fifty acres in com last year, on which he raised more corn than he will get from two hun- dred acres this year. In good seasons the yield will be from eighty to one hundred bushels to the acre, and corn will grow here without rain as well as in any country in the world. Will have some turnips, if it rains; \norainfelli\ There is grass and fodder enough to feed the cattle, but 28 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. some of tlie hogs must " root, or die." Calves are dying with the black-legs. Samuel Van Gundy, on the bottom in Jackson township, said he had eighty acres of corn. Seven acres will yield about thirty bushels, the rest five bushels to the acre. He has plowed his wheat up and planted it in corn. There is no corn upon the upland farms, and the worms are in the bottoms. Sylvester Adams, of Jackson township, had twenty acres in corn, which will yield ten or twelve bushels to the acre. The people have nothing but corn ; and no money — all used to pay for land. Alexander Baily says he sowed spring wheat, and sixteen acres of fall wheat ; raised nothing. Ploughed it up and put in buckwheat, and if he gets his seed he will do well. Of eighty acres of corn, the average will be one bushel to the acre — all old ground except ten acres. Last year averaged thirty bushels. There is little old corn in his neighborhood. His corn is losing every day, and he is cutting it up to save the fodder. Such is his neighborhood, where the cattle are dying of Spanish fever. Dr. G. J. Tallman says he thinks the people in his vicinity may have enough for themselves, but nothing to spare for other neighborhoods. Mr. Fennemore, northwest corner of Coffee county, says that there will be half a crop in the valley, and one-fourth of a crop of corn out of it. All other crops entire failures, except buckwheat, and that will be slim. Good husbandry has nothing to do with the failure, as all are alike, and there has been no lack of industry, but the very opposite. Crops till this year have been good. Lands have been mortgaged, and claims will be lost. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 29 THE MEETING AT EMPORIA. At a meeting lield at Emporia, Breckinridge county, September 8, 1860, and largely attended. Dr. J. II. Watson cliairman, and J. "W. Eandall secretary — Messrs. N. Bixler, E. H. Abraham, J. M. Miller, of Fre- mont township ; Dr. Hunt, John Triggs, Joel Hawortli, and James Jackson, of Pike^township ; R. W. Cloud, of Waterloo township ; John Fowler, Dr. C. C. Slocum, John Hammond, J. P. McElfresh, and James W. Randall, of Emporia town- ship, and others, stated the condition of the people in their respective townships. A report of a meeting held the night previous in Jackson township, was read. In Fremont township it was agreed that there are not over 800 bushels of old corn, and the new crop will not produce on an average over two bushels to the acre ; the wheat, oats and potatoes nearly a total failure, and the buckwheat de- stroyed by grasshoppers. In Pike township, but two men had old corn to sell. This township is the most productive in the county, (as stated by !the chairman.) It has more bottom land than any other township. The new crop will yield an average of one or two bushels to the acre, it being injured by grasshoppers and t* worms. Wheat and other crops were a total failure. Several \ families have left this township, and others preparing to de- \ part. Jackson township reported an average of about ten bushels of wormy corn to the acre on the bottom land ; scarcely fodder on the upland. The old and new corn of that township will not more than furnish bread for its population. Araericus townsliip (as reported by Thomas H. Stanley and Judge Baker) has not corn for its inhabitants. This joins the Kaw reservation, and they stated that there are so THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 300 whites and about 900 Indians in that section who will not have half corn enough to bread them till next spring. In Emporia township, a general failure of crops except corn, and that will not produce more than the fourth of a crop, and it will be generally wormy. Men have already worked two days for a bushel of corn. It was stated that last year many farmers raised 75 bushels of corn to the acre, and the universal testimony was that Kansas can withstand drought better than any of the States from which the settlers came. The testimony of all was that the people of this country were generally very industrious and persevering in their endeavors to raise crops. Last fall they sowed winter wheat ; this they plowed up and put in spring wheat and oats ; that not coming up, they planted it in corn, and in some instances re-planted ; and laterly buckwheat has been sown, which bids fair to be blasted and unproductive. In some portions of this county the cattle disease has pre- vailed. In Emporia township about 70 head of choice cattle have died within the last three weeks. It was stated that money was very scarce, and that stock could not be sold for money ; and that owing to the land sales many had to use their last dollar to save their claims, and that a considerable number borrowed money and mort- gaged their land, expecting to pay it out of this year's crops. Judge Grraham of Madison county, Myrock Huntley of the Verdigris, H. J. Barton of Butler county, A. E. Rhodes of Ottoe and Hunter counties, and A. Studebaker of Chase county, gave statements of the crops in those counties, which represent the people in a worse condition than in Breckin- ridge county. After the statements were concluded, a committee of two persons from each township was appointed to obtain ad- ditional statistics, to seek out the destitute, and to report the same to Thaddeus Hyatt as soon as possible. The com- mittees were as follows : Pike township, James Jackson and Dr. F. Gr. Hunt ; Fremont, P. B. Maxson, J. M. Miller ; Ame. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 81 riciis, George Shockley, W. E. Denison; Emporia, G. D. Ilumphrcy, W. 0. Ferguson, Joseph Hall ; Jackson, Dr. G. J. Tallman, H. S. Sleeper. THE WATERLOO MEETING. At a meeting held at Waterloo, Breckinridge county, September 10th, 1860, E. W. Cloud president, John Way- man secretary — Sylvester Hill, north of Santa Fe road, said he planted 18 acres of corn and will only get about two loads of fodder. Buckwheat and beans are killed, and no prospect for pota- toes — last year he raised forty bushels to the acre, this year a total failure. There has been no rain to soak the ground since 1859. The corn-fields have been given up to the stock. There is no corn in the neighborhood for bread. Land war- wants are bought on time for $235, with 4 per cent, per month after due. There about sixty families in this neigh- borhood in this fix. Five families have left, others will go if they can. In Ohio, with such a drought, no green thing would have been seen. Albert Watkins says he has lived six years in the Terri- tory, has raised heretofore 4,000 bushels of corn on 40 acres ; this season he may, from 90 acres, get 200 bushels of corn and worms together ; from 50 acres of wheat sowed, not a ker- nel ; his buckwheat, turnips, and beans are all a failure ; had sold most of his old crop — has only 100 bushels of old corn left, and cannot sell his stock at any price. This is the gene- ral condition of his neighborhood. There will not be 50 bushels of c(5rn raised in his township, north of the Santa Fe road. Near Waterloo the cattle were dying of the Texas fever. J. D. Wiggins, of Duck Creek, said he had planted 10 acres of corn and one of garden produce — got no corn, and nothing but a saucer of peas. There are ten families on the Creek, and only one has corn enough to bread them ; many cattle had died, others are diseased. 32 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS LINN COUNTY. At a meeting called and held in Mound City, August 30, 1860, of representatives from tlie various townships of that county and some from counties along the southern line of Kansas, the following statements, among others, were made. The condition of this county may be taken as a fair illus- tration of the true situation of the whole Territory. David Eeese, one of the old settlers, says : " Things are worse now than they were in 1856. Then we had money ; now we have none. I believe that if all the money in Linn was distributed out even, it would not count three dollars to a man. I have been here since early in ^oQ, and gone through the troubles then ; was taken prisoner and dragged away from my family; saw my neighbors' houses burnt and robbed — but, sir, this hour is a darker one for Kansas than even that ! The crops are an entire failure. I planted twenty- four acres of corn, and will not get twenty-five bushels. There is not a vegetable in my garden. Everything is gone. Over there [pointing to a neighboring farm] lives an Illinois farmer. lie came in here with ten thousand dollars in '67, and has a splendid farm; to-day he cannot command cash enough to pay trifling debts. He understands farming well, and has put in one crop after another in succession, hoping for rain with each one, but all have failed. He has now gone to Missouri with some cattle to sell for ready money. We regard him as one of our rich men, and yet he is that hard up for cash. Down on Mine creek I know of eighteen families who have left for the States within the past week.' Dr. Samuel Ayers, who has traveled in the north portion of Linn, the south portion of Lykins, and to the east line of Anderson county, saysf "There will be almost universal destitution. There are about three thousand bushels of old corn in that whole extent of country. In a short time it will be so that the people cannot get corn at all ; unless THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 33 aided, they cannot live. Their general fare now is nothing but corn bread and water. Crops were put in, but they have failed. I planted twenty-five acres of corn, but shall not get four bushels of corn from the whole of it. The corn will produce scarcely fodder enough for the stock. There is not corn enough to feed the hogs. Wheat and spring crops are an entire failure. The sick cannot get medicine, nor can they get such food as they require. I have ex- pended all my means for medicines, and cannot now supply the demands upon me. In the west portion of the county, where the lands were last year ordered to be sold, the desti- tution is peculiarly great, because the people have no money, and they have no money because they were last year forced to pay for their lands. Many of the poor settlers had no alternative but to mortgage their claims to raise the money demanded of them by the Government. The drought has come, and pay day has come ! These poor people, unable even to subsist, and quite unable to pay borrowed money, will be driven from their claims, and lose all. Ilad we a homestead bill, this state of things could not exist." Josiah Lamb, Potosi township, Mine creek, from ten acres of planted wheat, raised nothing ; from sixty acres of corn he will realize nothing but fodder — not a roasting ear ; has 100 bushels of old corn, and in that respect is better off than his neighbors ; twelve families left his neighborhood during the last week ; for land warrants and pre-emption claims the people are paying heavy interest and sacrificing their im- provements. J. H. Wilson, farmer, has twice planted forty-seven acres this season, and would sell his whole crop for two dollars. Theodore Wilson, farmer. Mound city township, from forty-four acres planted in corn, potatoes, and other vege- tables, he will have but fodder foi" his stock, and this is the general condition of his neighbors. J. C. Holmes, Potosi townshi[) : lias not seen any corn 3 34 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. without worms. The crops are a failure along the Missouri State line — people industrious — corroborates Still well's letter. Rev. J. S. Swagerty, says, there are not four hundred bushels of corn on Lost creek ; no wheat raised, and not corn enough to bread the families ; the people are industrious and worked hard, yet many have sacrificed their claims and left. Eev. Reuben Lamb, Potosi township, corroborating the above, adds, that cattle are dying of " Spanish fever ;" the people are moral and industrious ; would have been prosper- ous but for the drought. The sorghum is the only thing that has yielded even half a crop. Rev. William Phillip : The grass is burnt, the corn is withered, where he had been in Lykins and Coffee counties, even up to the Santa Fe road ; the people of Lykins county held a meeting to devise means to keep them from starving this coming winter. Elder Hobbs, Baptist minister, corroborates the statements of distress and destitution in Allen, Anderson, Linn and Bour- bon counties ; many will lose their claims. Thomas Jones, Mound city township, corroborates, the statements of Elder Hobbs ; many will leave ; others are un- able to go. Mr. Converse : The corn crop will not average over five bushels to the acre. Buckwheat, turnips, and garden pro- duce all failed. The county is destitute. Mr. Winship corroborates the above. Mr. Davenport says, bread will be wanting ; there will be need of seed spring wheat and corn. C, Wheaton, farmer, has traveled over the territory ; many families are leaving, because they have not provisions ; the cattle are dying ; on a portion of the Osage, people must starve if they are not supplied ; the want is o"\ving to the drought, and not from want of industry. H. A. Smith, lawyer : There is an impression that a confes- sion of the true condition of the people will lessen the price of THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 35 lots ; but it is better to stare the truth in the face, and make known our wants and be relieved. Dr. Jennison : I have traveled some through the country, and seen enough to confirm the statements made here. When a traveler stops at a cabin, and the poor woman is an hour getting him something to eat — and then it is nothing but water, and corn-bread made of meal and water, and but little of that — you may judge that something is the matter with the people. As many as can go are getting away, and I know of some who have left without even the few shillings necessary to pay ferriage across the Missouri. Jonathan Lyman, printer : Has not this season seen any- thing green but two messes of corn ; he affirms the bank- rupt condition of the people and failure of the crops. Andrew Stark, farmer, says there will be required seed and corn for spring planting ; one third of the citizens are leaving the county. Chas. Clark, of Paris township, planted twenty acres of corn, and will not raise enough for his wife and child. Mr. Blanchard, farmer, Turkey creek, planted sixty acres in corn, and will not raise anything ; fourteen families south- west of Mound city township, have left. L. Whitney, assessor : Not enough corn to keep the peo- ple until spring ; few fields that yield much. Eli Babb, county clerk, says, of twenty-five thousand acres put in corn this season, there will not be enough in the county to keep the people. Solomon Mason, Paris township, planted seventy acres of corn ; will not have a bushel to the acre ; one tract of three hundred acres, that yielded five thousand bushels last year, will not average one bushel to the acre. Father Cummings, from the north portion of Potosi town- ship, said: "I planted sixty acres of corn, and out of it will get four aeres of nubbins ; the balance is nothing but fodder^ There is not enough corn in the neighborhood to supply 36 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. bread. The beans are promising, but the prairie chickens are eating them up." Kev. Mark Robinson: Endorses Stillwell's letter to the New York Tribune, even the cooking of eggs by heat of the sun ; has traveled extensively over the territory on the Ver- digris, Walnut creek, Fall river, Butler, Hunter, and Green- wood counties ; the crops are an entire failure ; the people are industrious ; have put in crop after crop and all have failed. George Burchard confirmed the Stilhvell letter. Mr. and Mrs. Stillwell being present, reiterated its truthfulness, as did also several of their immediate neighbors from Mine creek. It was " resolved " by this meeting of the people of Linn, that, " The statement of wants and destitution in this vicinity, and the necessity of assistance, made by S. C. Stillwell, Esq., through the columns of the New York Tribune, is, in the judgment of this meeting, essentially correct." Dr. Danforth corroborated the general destitution, and moved for a committee of relief, which was appointed. The following is the report of the census taker, as fur- nished by Mr. Babb, the county clerk : Number of farms 600 Improved land 28,000 acres. Unimproved land 78,000 '' Corn raised in 1859 375,381 bushels. Oats 8,575 Potatoes 10,801 Buckwheat 2,979 Beans 752 Sweet potatoes 541 Wheat not reported. Sorghum molasses 9,441 gallons. On hand June, 1860 — Old corn 32,000 bushels. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 37 Number of horses 1,477 Number of mules 85 Number of milcb cows 1,695 Number of oxen 1,415 Number of othercattle 2,227 Number of bogs 7,600 Number of inhabitants 6,433 Number of voters 1,500 Note. — In the above report I have quoted the bushels of corn on hand June 1st, at thirty-two thousand. My figures, copied from the book of the county clerk, read thirty-two hundred; but, fearing an error, I have put it at thirty-two thousand, to avoid a seeming disposition to make a picture overdrawn. Even thus, the picture is bad enough, for upon the assumption of thirty thousand bushels of corn in Linn county, and presuming that there remains of last year's crop twenty thousand bushels — say fifty thousand bushels in all — we find, that to give to each person of the population the bare allowance of a slave, one peck per week, and make no account of the et ceteras allowed him in addition, this corn would support the population but till next June, even if they could live on it alone, and this upon the supposition that the few who have divide with the many who have not. But this is not supposable. Let us, therefore, call the et ceteras equal in value to one-third the peck per week of corn ; there is then but corn enough to barely keep the people alive till the 1st of next March, even upon the agrarian principle, while the cattle are left unprovided for ; and it would require more corn than they have got to fatten the swine alone. ANDERSON COUNTY. At a meeting held in Anderson county, September 1, 1860, Joseph Eaton, Esq., chairman, B. F. Ridgway secre- tary — 38 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. Many spoke, and from various statements of the farmers present, the probabilities are, that not more than five bushels of corn will be realized to the acre, and that of an inferior quality. Mr. Jones, the census taker, said, that " he had visited every cabin in the county. In Walker township, Anderson county, he found an entire family living on the milk of a single cow, having nothing else to subsist upon. In Ozark township, in a single section, he found five fam- ilies living on nothing but corn bread and water, while another family of four were subsisting entirely on the milk of one cow, with nothing whatever to eat." He also said that he found actual starvation. One woman had really starved to death. A neighbor testified to the fact, acknowl- edging that their own wants had blinded them to the poor woman's actual condition until the hour for her relief had passed, and it was too late to save her. He also stated that he traveled for two days over a region so entirely destitute, that he could get nothing to eat himself, nor anything for his beast, except grass ; and that in the entire county of Anderson, in which, to-day, the crops are more promising than any other county in Kansas, except Leavenworth, Don- iphan, and Atchison, there is but two hundred bushels of wheat ; that there will be neither potatoes nor other vege- tables, and that the county will not this year raise half enough corn to support her population, the old being added in. It is represented by Judge Arny, who resides in this county, that it has a population of 2,403 persons, 467 farms, 107,677 bushels of corn raised in 1859. This old corn has nearly all been used up, and much of the new corn is so wormy that it cannot be used for bread, and is not even fit to feed to horses. W. Q. Wickersham, of Ozark township, reports for the same, as follows : Names of families who require help on Osage, Anderson county : THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 39 B. Butler, no crop ; two yoke cattle, two horses, one wagon, one cow. A. P. Horton, no crop ; one yoke cattle, one cow. Mr. McMullen, no crop ; no stock ; lias promise of work, but no clotliing for his family. A. Daly, no crop ; one cow, two horses, no other means 5 destitute. J. Mills, no crop ; one yoke cattle ; no other means. DEER CREEK. John Volk, no crop ; two horses, one wagon ; no other means. G. W. Temple, no crop ; one cow, two horses and wagon ; nothing else. L. M. McGomb, no crop ; two cows, one yoke cattle ; no other means. Franklin Hull, no crop ; two yoke cattle, one cow ; no other means. Mr. Hook, one yoke cattle, three cows ; no other means. Two unknown families, (forgot their names,) three yoke cattle, one span horses ; out of provisions and means, and have been sick. There is no sale for stock nor labor to perform. This township is comparatively favorable. ALLEN COUNTY. At a meeting, held at Humboldt, on the Neosho, Septem- ber 4, 1860, Dr. Miller chairman, J. H. Signor secretary, the following facts appeared : Mr. Stewart, of Cottage Grove township, said that a large amount of wheat was sown last fall on the Neosho bottoms, and well put in, but not a bushel was realized from it. Upon the same ground spring wheat was so-\vn, which also failed ; then oats, which failed also ; then Hungarian gi-ass, which will produce less than a quarter crop. From thirty acres of corn he will not have in all thirty bushels. One 40 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. neighbor has forty acres, from which he may get two bushels to the acre. Buckwheat was largely sown, but promises next to nothing ; upon one-third of an acre, which last year yielded one hundred and thirty bushels of potatoes, this year he does not expect ten bushels. There are not one hundred bushels of old corn in the township : and not a man who could give even board for work. No soaking rain has fallen for fourteen months past. Eichard Jackson said, there is not corn enough in my neighborhood to bread the people, and they have no money to buy it with. Six families near Osage city have left because they could get no provisions, and numbers of other families would leave if they could. B. B. Vining, of Owl Creek, Humboldt township, said that he had examined the corn in his neighborhood, and his opin- ion was that there may possibly be on an average one bushel to the acre. Potatoes are alive, and that is all. Knows of families now that are destitute. This morning saw a number who were starting for the East, who had actually no provi- sions to take with them for the way. The cattle disease, too, has been very bad. One man has lost six head, and has fifteen more that are sick. Another neighbor has lost three oxen out of four yoke, and had two more then sick. And the people generally have no money to pre-empt their lands with. E. Young, of Humboldt township, said : "I have lived here five years. Last year I raised, on bottom land, forty bushels corn to the acre, where this year upon the same ground, I shall not get one bushel to the acre." Lyman Rhodes, of Coffachique township, said : " I have one hundred acres of ground, which has been plowed and planted three times this season, to no purpose. First wheat, then corn, then turnips — all lost. In four acres planted with potatoes, I cannot find the first one. Sorghum is doing tolerably well. Last year upon the same ground had forty bushels corn to the acre. In favorable seasons, the land THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 4l produces as well as Illinois. ' Spanish fever' has carried off many cattle in the neighborhood of lola." James A. Hunt reported sixty head of cattle as dead and dying with " Spanish fever" on Owl creek ; also a suffering family of eight persons — six children and the parents, and others whom he knows of that will require aid. The meeting appointed N, B. Blanton and J, B. Hunt a committee to report to Mr. Hyatt on the condition of Hum- boldt township. These gentlemen, on the 18th September reported as follows : " One hundred families in this township will need seed wheat — four bushels to the family, four hundred bushels in all ; two bushels of seed corn each, making two hundred bushels in all ; the same number of bushels of potatoes ; food also will be needed for thirty-five families for eight months ; and before the first of April next the number of needy families will probably be increased." BOUEBON COUNTY. At a meeting held on the Little Osage 29th September, 1860, (W. R. Grif&th, from the Marmaton river, neighborhood of Fort Scott, chairman; H. Knowles, of the same place, secretary,) the following statements were made by citizens of Bourbon county : Mr. Anderson, farmer, says that he has forty-five acres of corn, the best in the township, and it will not average three bushels to the acre. In three weeks one-fourth of the people of the township will leave ; half that want to go have not the means. There is not one dollar to the man in the township. The chairman said one-fourth of the citizens will need to buy bread, and will not have money to do it with. The secretary confirmed this statement, and thought that many will not only suffer,, but will perish unless they are helped. 42 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. Mr. Burnett, farmer, corroborated the above as applied to his district ; said one-sixth of the population, to his know- ledge, will suffer, unless relieved from abroad. Sheriff Moore, of Freedom township, said the corn crop is almost a failure. The crops generally in the county are a failure. Corn on the bottom lands will not yield five bushels to the acre. W. Deeds, farmer, of Timberhill, has forty acres of corn, which is said to be the best in the county, and will not aver- age eight bushels to the acre, and wormy at that. John Janeway, farmer, of Mill Creek, Marmaton town- ship, says the corn on Mill creek is much worm-eaten. Wheat, oats, Hungarian grass, and vegetables, are all a failure. Many are leaving the county ; many more have neither bread nor the means to get it. The above facts are corroborated by the statement of Dr. Norman T. Winans, of Bourbon county, near the Allen county line, who says that in a tract of land in Allen county, embracing about nine hundred persons, where twenty-five hundred acres are under cultivation, there are not two hun- dred and twenty-five bushels of old corn for seed and sub- sistence ; that the present crop will not yield two bushels to the acre, and even that is being eaten by the worms. The people have exhausted their all in improvements, and have not the means to live, and will lose their claims if offered for sale. Many have left ; more would have gone, but lack the means. Valuable claims are already abandoned. This portion of the country has been settled within the last eighteen months. To his knowledge, within eight weeks one hundred and sixty persons have left the county. J. C. Burnett, W. K. Grif&th, and Sheriff Moore were appointed a committee to furnish a statement and open a correspondence with Thaddeus Hyatt, of New York, to obtain relief. The census report, it is thought, will give to Bourbon county four thousand inhabitants. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS, 43 WAUBUNSEE COUNTY. Harvey's Settlement, September 11, 1860. Editors State Record : Will you please publish tlic follow- ing statement of facts, reported at an adjourned meeting of tlie citizens of this neighborhood, and unanimously adopted ? J. F. Ballard, Secretary. To our fellow-citizens of the neighboring States, greeting : Whereas^ various rumors have gone forth with respect to the existing state of things in connection with the unpreced- ented drought now prevailing over our own and the section of the country surrounding us, we have deemed it a duty we owe ourselves, our families, and others, to make known to you our situation with reference thereto, by a plain statement of facts. Although we have had occasional showers, there have been but three or four sufficient to moisten the ground to a greater depth than two inches since the memorable storm of the 19th June, 1859. During the summer and the latter part of the spring, the ground has been perfectly dry at a depth of three or four inches. How far downwards has not been ascertained — the fact that many forest trees are withering and dying, is suggestive. In consequence of the smaJl supply of rain, unprecedented, probably, in the history of our common country, our crops are a total failure ; our wells and springs are dried up, and the water in our creeks fast receding and disappearing. At the present time, the little corn that has grown, is being cut for fodder. In a few days not a stalk will be standing in our fields worth the expense of cutting it down. We shall not have an ear of corn for seed. No spring wheat was sown, and the little that was sown in the fall withered and died as the moisture, induced by the light snows and frosts of winter, receded. 44 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS In our gardens the effects of the drought have been fatal. We may say, nothing, absolutely nothing, has gladdened our eyes, or gratified the palate from them. Our peas did not even blossom. Although tomatoes, cabbages, and other veg- etables were watered by our own hands with assiduity and care, our labor has been entirely lost. A few weeks ago we sowed buckwheat. A few light showers which fell soon afterward, revived our hopes, and we flattered ourselves that that labor had not been in vain. But the same causes which militated against us in our other labors, have prevailed against us in this. , We had hoped, too, that a favorable season might favor our crop of potatoes, a much larger breadth of ground hav- ing been appropriated for that purpose than heretofore. But that resource has failed us ; everything has failed us but the determination to make the very best we can of the future. What that has in store for us, is known only to Him who " tempers the winds to the shorn lamb." It is needless for us to appeal to you for help in this time of famine. We believe a knowledge of our actual necessities will be sufficient to induce those who have " enough and to spare," the magnanimous and liberal of more favored parts of the country, to help us in this, our time of need. We have been induced to take these steps by the assur- ance that many of you have expressed a willingness and de- sire to furnish those who, by the famine here, have been de- prived of the ordinary resources for obtaining the staff of life with the means of subsistence, until we can again culti- vate our fields and obtain sustenance therefrom. We will cheerfully submit to any self-denial here, rather than leave our homes to become strangers elsewhere. Some are already leaving, but the most of us, if we desired to do so, cannot. Those conversant with life in a new coun- try, need not be reminded of the reason of this. We must stay and abide the consequences. Allen Hodgson, President. T "FT. BATiLARD, Secretary. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 45 The above is from the Topcka State Eecord, and fully confirms all the other testimony. OSAGE COUNTY. The condition of this county is very forcibly set forth in the following, letter, written to the Lawrence Republican by O. H. Sheldon : Superior, August 21, 1860. Editor Eepublican : As you have solicited communica- tions from the farmers concerning their prospects as to crops, I will say that in this coimty, not one hundred bushels of grain has been or will be harvested, excepting corn ; and even corn will not bear more than one-eighth of an average yield. A large portion of the fields will not even produce roasting-ears. I have under cultivation about sixty acres, but shall not have over one hundred bushels on the whole. Our potato crop, without doubt, is an entire failure. To my knowledge, but two persons in the county have old corn for sale. One of them refuses to sell, only for family use, which is much better than to sell for feed to stock. I hope others will follow his example. We shall need all the corn to " keep the breath of life in us" during the next year. Grass is very light in this portion of the county ; south of here, on that portion of the Sac and Fox reserve lately treated for, it is more plenty. Those having claims arc making preparations for putting up a large quantity for sale. Would it not be better for them to winter stock on shares. ? If they will not, much of the stock will die, as but few are able to buy hay. There will be much suffering here this winter for the want of food and clothing. Many have struggled for the last five years through all the troubles and trials incident to a pio- neer's life, expecting to realize the pleasures of a comforta- ble home ; but alas ! how sadly they are disappointed ; their hopes are forever blasted — their money is gone, their health ruined ; they have not funds to return to their friends ; and, 46 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. worse than all, their farms which they have prized so highly are soon to fall into the hands of the speculator. What is to be done for the afflicted I hardly know. I have but little faith in sending agents East, for they will want, and will take, nearly all they receive for their time and trouble. Nearly all the goods that were sent to this set- tlement for the poor, were sold to the highest bidder, cash down. So the poorest got nothing. One half of the mortgages on our lands are held by Le- compton Democrats, who have no sympathy for " Black Re- publicans ;" and they are ready and willing to take our lands as soon as the law will allow them. If Eastern capitalists can be induced to lend us money, at ten per cent, per annum interest, to take up our old mortgages with, we might get through ; if not, we must struggle on and abide the conse- quences. The drought of this season may give Kansas a hard name, but it should not. It is the first one of the kind that has ever happened with us, while it is quite common in the States It has convinced me that our soil is better than all other soils in standing the drought. With a drought of half the duration in the East,nothing would have grown. It is strange that we even have pastures for our stock. To those who think of leaving the Territory, let me say that produce will be high next year, and if they can stay to raise another croi^, it is their interest to do so. Times are easier East, and if our friends will only help us until we can help ourselves, they will save from an inevitable calamity many of the poor pioneers who have suQered long in Kansas. 0. H. S. COFFEE COUNTY. THE LEROY MEETING. At a meeting held at Leroy, Coffee county, September 5, 1860, Rev. B. Wheat, chairman : Dr. Butler stated that many cattle have died of the Texas THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 47 fever on the route of the droves from Texas. No wheat has been raised, and there is but little old corn in the county. Elisha Amesdale, miller, said there is not old corn enough to do the people for more than two months, if used to feed hogs or any other purpose than bread. There is not one fourth the fall wheat that should be for seed. It is two dol- lars per bushel, and money so scarce that the people cannot buy it ; there are not over two hundred and fifty bushels, and that of an inferior quality. Mr. Johnson, merchant, says the wheat in the country is of very poor quality, and the corn will not average five bushels to the acre. Hiram McMahon says, the average will not be five bush- els to the acre, and very wormy. One third of the people in the neighborhood have left ; there will not be corn fodder enough for the cattle. Alexander Hamilton, farmer, says the corn will not aver- age two bushels to the acre. He has been over the whole country. Eighty acres of corn that he planted this year will not yield one bushel to the acre. All the corn is much damaged by the worm. There are not five thousand bushels of old corn in the whole county. If people should use corn as they did last year, he is confident that it would not last two weeks. The cattle are dying, and their disease is con- tagious. There are no potatoes; if rain should come in a few days there may be a few turnips ; [none came.'] From lands of which he raised sixty bushels to the acre last year, he has no corn this year to feed his hogs. His hogs he was willing to give away to the destitute, but he would not sell them to speculators. Elder Wheat (Methodist) was of the opinion that the des- titution was not exaggerated ; there was no alternative but great suffering or relief. The only green thing that he had been able to raise was three cucumbers, and he had planted in garden produce, &c., thirty acres. Did not want, himself, but felt for others, whom he was unable to relieve — and they 48 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. were so numerous be had little hope of any effectual relief at all adequate to their necessity. The people were indus- trious, but their crops were all failures, and they could only look to God and their friends. Mr. Hyatt received his thanks for his disinterested benevolence, and through him he would appeal for further aid. Elder Phillips (Christian preacher) said he had traveled twenty-five or thirty miles to-day to look for grass, but found none. He confirmed the statements of Elder Wheat, and thought Kansas better adapted to stand drought than any of the States. D. K. Debbie, farmer, said he planted thirty acres of corn ; will get about fifty bushels. Sowed twenty acres of field wheat ; got nothing. Of twenty-five acres of spring wheat, got fifteen bushels. Cutting fodder, it will require one day to cut enough for eight head of cattle for two days. More than half the people had to borrow money to pre-empt their lands, and many others made great sacrifices. He complained of the hardship of having to pay for their lands. Much other testimony was given, but all confirming the above. W. A. Jenkins and Elder B. Wheat were appointed a com- mittee to correspond with Mr. Hyatt for relief. THE BURLINGTON MEETING. At a meeting held at Burlington, Coffee comity, September 6, 1860, Colonel ^Leonard chairman, B. A. Kingsberry sec- retary — Mr. Ebenezer Hooper, of Leroy, farmer, said he had sowed eighty acres of wheat, and planted thirty of corn ; the chinch- bug killed the wheat, the drought and the worm destroyed the corn. He also planted potatoes, which would not pro- duce anything. There are many persons in this township in a similar situation. A great majority of the people in this county will be destitute of seed next spring. Mauy families are leaving to avoid starvation. THE DESTITUTION IX KANSAS. 49 Clark Fritt, farmer, Neosho township, has thirty-two acres broken — okl ground ; plowed three times and hoed it three times, and does not believe there is five bushels of corn fit for bread. He had lost six head of cattle of the Spanish fever ; forty hogs must die, as he has no corn to feed them. There are not a hundred and fifty bushels of old corn in the township ; not wheat enough for seed. His land last year produced fifty bushels corn to the acre. Nine families had left his neighborhood, and many more would leave if they had the means. David Manly started with his family of six children, with but $1.50, thirty pounds of flour and a little meal. Mr. Wood worth left with his family and team, having no provisions. G. N. Simms, Avon township, says he has forty acres un- der cultivation, which was broken four years ago ; he planted in April and May, and has no corn at all ; averaged forty bushels to the acre last year. He sowed wheat last fall and this spring, but realized only two bushels and a half, and unfit for seed at that. One acre of navy beans never blos- somed. He will only have a few sweet potatoes, and one- third of a crop of sorghum ; of seven acres of buckwheat, nothing. James A. Grimes of Avon, has about thirty bushels of old corn to bread him. W. AVatrous, of Avon, said that for six miles on Lost creek there is not over a hundred and fifty bushels of oil corn. William A. Ela, of Hampden, says he has one hundred acres in corn ; will have five bushels to the acre of " corn and worms ;" has not found an ear without the worm in it. Has travelled through the county, and, bad as Cofi'ee county is, it is better off than many others, especially in the north- ern part. Such a drought as they had in Kansas would have killed even the trees in Massachusetts. John T. Cox, Ottumwa township, says: In our township 4 50 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. the early corn has suffered much. There are about four hundred bushels of old corn in the whole township ; no money. The people being compelled to pay for their lands many have left the neighborhood. "Wm. Martindale, Ottumwa township, says, wheat crops last year and year before averaged forty bushels, and weighed sixty-two pounds to the bushel ; but we have no crop this year ; he might get five bushels to the acre on forty acres. Thomas Arnold, Burlington township, says that he has raised, before this year, one hundred bushels to the acre ; he will not this year average eight bushels to the acre ; two acres of potatoes will produce nothing ; buckwheat has wholly failed, and there are not twenty-five bushels of old corn in his neighborhood. Gen. Whistler, Burlington, says he has heretofore aver- aged fifty bushels of corn to the acre ; this year he may get ten bushels from fifty acres, and has worked it better than usual. He has known Kansas fifteen years, and never knew anything like this drought ; usually, with good cultivation, the Neosho bottoms will produce one hundred bushels to the acre. There is not sufficient old corn to keep the people of the county ; a great many persons are leaving the country for want of the necessaries of life. Township committees were appointed to make further in- vestigations, and report to Thaddeus Hyatt, with a view to some relief for the people. Note. — It will be observed above that Mr. Cox reports /om?* hundred bushels of old corn in his township of Ottumwa. A reference to his subsequent report, [see the Ottumwa meeting below,] after a rigid investigation, shows but one hundred and thirty-nine, a worse condition than had been supposed. This has been the result of thorough investiga- tion everywhere, as appears throughout the testimony. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 61 THE OTTUmVA MEETING. A meeting was licld at Ottumwa, Coffee county, September 6, 1860, Jolni T. Cox chairman, W. F. Mills secretary — Jesse Kennedy of California township, said he had sixty acres in corn, which will not average ten bushels to the acre. Last year he raised forty. Wheat, oats, and potatoes had all failed in the county. There is a little old corn in the county, which might do some service if divided. Money is very scarce ; the people had borrowed money on their lands, and will now loose their claims. Mr. D. A. Hawkins believed Kansas a better country to stand drought than Kentucky, but this year it has been fatal. Of twenty-five acres only will he hope for half a crop of corn. Potatoes had failed entire. Many of his neighbors' crops are not so good as his. Some will find it very hard to get through the winter. William Brewer, of California township, said his wheat and oats both failed, and buckwheat is not good ; the pros- pect for crops in the whole country is very slim ; it will be a tight rub to feed the people, and but little for stock. John M. Singer, California township, says he has got ninety acres, twenty of which will not produce anything, while a portion will yield, at most, fifteen bushels to the acre ; all other crops have failed. There will not be corn enough to do the neighborhood, and many must suffer ; last year he averaged forty bushels to the acre ; there is no grass of any kind that will pay for cutting, and there is no corn for sale. Jacob Hoover, California township, says, last year his wheat yielded forty bushels to the acre, this year he may get twenty ; there is no country where corn can better stand the drought. Much other testimony was given ; after which a committee was appointed to make further investigation, and to report 52 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. to Tliaddeus Hyatt. The committee completed their labors, and sent their report to Mr. Hyatt, at Atchison, which exhi- bits the following, viz : Wants of Ottumwa township, as condensed from the re- port of John T. Cox, Esq., made September 15, 1860 : Whole number of families in township 66 Whole number of persons in township 344 Land paid for — acres 4, 1 80 Land not paid for — acres 7,020 Land planted in corn last season 862J Probable yield in bushels 5,366 Bushels of old corn on hand 139 Acres of buckwheat sown this season 77 Probable yield in bushels 40 Acres of wheat sown this season 77 Amount of yield in bushels 16 Amount of potatoes planted this season 7f Number of head of horses to winter 448 Number of hogs — one third to fatten 688 Acres of garden this season 12|- Value of garden stuff" — mostly consumed $87 Amount of cash on hand 70 80 Amount of seed wheat wanted in bushels 315 Amount of seed corn wanted 190 (A greater amount of corn for seed will be required, as that raised will not be lit for seed.) Amount of seed potatoes wanted in bushels 160 Number of families without money 54 Number of families without any supply for the coming winter 48 Number of families with half a si»pply 8 Number of families supplied 10 There are, in addition this, some twenty young men, who have raised no produce, but paid their way by labor. The report from California township is very similar, and quite as bad as Ottumwa. Note. The condition of this township presents the most favorable aspect of any township I found in all my travels, it having been blessed with a fall of about six inches of rain. MISCELLANEOUS TESTIMOi^Y, AS NOTED IN Jjiuvj! of lHwcnU^-Uvt §ix\p ^mximpxp THROUGH THE FAMINE LAND, From August 22, to September 15, with Extracts from Letters. BUTLER, HUNTER, GREENWOOD, MADISON, and OTTOE COUNTIES. Mr. J. C. Larabdin, in a letter to Judge Arn}'-, from Chel- sea, Butler county, September 20, 1860, says that he has visited and heard from many families in these counties whose destitute condition is truly alarming. Mr. Lambdin con- tinues : "As to crops in these counties, there are none ; they are a complete failure. There will not be twenty bushels of corn raised in Butler, Hunter, and Ottoe counties, and not exceeding that amount of wheat; no potatoes; the buckwheat crop is entirely destroyed by grasshoppers. In Butler county there are about six hundred inhabitants ; in Hunter one liundrcd, and in Ottoe one hundred and fifty, and at least three-fourths of that number are almost destitute of money, clothing, and provisions. Very few have more stock than can supply their immediate wants. Some, indeed, have been deprived of their last cow by a disease that has prevailed in this country to some extent, called Spanish fever. I found many families that had not more than one 54 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. bushel of corn meal in tlie house ; that, with some buffalo meat, and the milk they get, composes their daily food. The people are in a wretched condition, and unless sujjplics arc furnished from some source, much suffering will be the re- sult. Most of the settlers have been here over two years ; their means are exhausted ; they have nothing. I have tra- velled several hundred miles in Southern Kansas, and this state of things does not only exist in these counties, but, ac- cording to my observation, in all Kansas south of tlie Kaw river." Judge Lambdin is senator elect under the Wyandotte constitution. There are six or eight families (in Ottoe county) of colored persons, who have been driven from Arkansas by the law compelling " free negroes" to leave the State. They are represented as industrious, but now in want, owing to the present drought. H. T. Hunter, of Madison county, states that he has eight acres of corn, which he thinks may yield fifteen bushels to the acre, but very wormy. Wheat through his section is an entire failure. There is but little old corn in his townsliip. On the Verdigris, the crops are almost an entire failure. Mr. B. F. Vanhorn has a large field of corn which he has offered to sell for twenty-five cents per acre. There is not corn enough in the county to do the people. Population on the creeks, about five hundred ; represents their condition as deplorable. Many have borrowed money to pre-empt, and have mortgaged their claims. Myrock Huntley, of same county, from four hundred acres planted, will realize nothing but fodder. Corn is a legal tander. A few will have bread and water. Many are going away. Bread and groceries are needed. Judge Graham, of the same county, states that tlie corn crop in his neighborhood may yield ten bushels to the acre, but very wormy. Very little old corn in the county ; only ten bushels in the mill. If it does not rain in a week [it did not] there Avill be no potatoes. The population of the THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 55 county cannot be sustained by the present crop. Fifty-three head of cattle died in a week. Thomas A. Hill of Greenwood county says there will not be a bushel of corn to the acre in Greenwood county. Eighty or ninety families have already left, and others would go if able. Mosely, the celebrated buffalo hunter, reports that the waters have ceased to run in the big bend of the Big Arkan- sas. He has formerly lived on the Little Arkansas, where the destitution became so great, that to the extent of fifteen miles square not a white settler remains, and the only inhabitant who has not deserted is '' Buckner," the negro. Mosely, to better his condition, changed to Greenwood county, where he is now staying. He says there is, even there, not a bushel of corn, as he believes, in the whole county. They have no groceries ; no money. The people have lost even the seed they planted ; for meat, they are depending upon the buffalo ; and to purchase bread, having no money, they depend upon wolf skins, the legal tender of the country. "Wolf skin," remarked Mosely, quaintly, "wolf shin is lawful tender here; and you^ve got first to catch him, at that! " John L. Pratt, of Chelsea, Butler county, says there arc no crops in his county — not a cucumber even. No old corn in the county ; not much money ; and what wheat could be raised has been used for pre-emption of land. Many per- sons were compelled to mortgage their claims, and others gave up entirely and left the country. There is not a dollar in money to the man. Fifteen townships of land were offered for sale at Fort Scott on the 13th of August, and the people were compelled to go about one hundred and fifty miles to pre-empt their lands. Buffalo meat is a legal tender. There is not a grain of old corn on hand on Walnut creek — an extent of sixty-five miles — except what has been hauled from Cottonwood, a distance of fifty miles. The grasshoppers came to that country in a cloud about two weeks ago, and 56 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. after destroying the corn and the buckwheat, arc now eating the leaves of the trees. He saw clouds of them in the sky ; at that time they came from the northwest. Aug. 24. — Met Peter Welsh, from the neighborhood of Fort Scott, in the Osage country, who testified as follows : Has lived thirty years in this country, and never saw anything like this ; has to haul provisions for his family one hundred and fifty miles. The Osage Indians have gone to the Buffalo country to keep from starving. Chetopee, the chief, 93 years old, never knew till this year a want of grass for the ponies to live on, and corn has always been raised till this year. Unless there is some help for southern and western Kansas, it will be depopulated ; homes are vacated ; people are mov- ing out ; women have been compelled to cut squashes with the bloom on to cook for their children. Met five wagons and twenty-four persons from Walnut creek, Butler county. William Sherman said he had a good place and was well fixed, but could not stay and starve. The people are now living on corn bread and corn coffee. Last spring he was offered seven hundred dollars for his improvements ; in order to leave the country, he now sold them for a yoke of cattle and a wagon not worth one hun- dred dollars. The people have stayed till they have worn out all their clothes, and, having nothing to eat, must leave or starve. Extracts from Letters. A very intelligent man, in behalf of himself and another sufferer, writes from Owl creek, Woodson county, under date of September 14, as follows : ''Dear Sir: Men under some circumstances, become des- perate. * * Men of sensitive feelings would scarcely appeal to strangers until the last resort — until hope had well nigh fled. We are bold, but it is the boldness that desperation gives. * * ''^ We ask of you a little money to buy bread. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 57 You have seen our faces. * -5^- * We must have aid from some source. We have raised no crop ; we liave no team ; not a dollar in money — how can we get away ? S. N. II. lost well nigh all by fire. I have lost more than all ! She who was the life, the light, the joy and pride of my home ; who never murmured ; who always welcomed me ; the mother of my children; — she now lies within the clay, sleeps her long death-sleep now beneath this Kansas soil! Do not repulse us ; do not slight our request. We ask not for our- selves, but for our hungry, ragged, motherless, destitute children I We do not wish to heg; we ask it as a loan, not as a pure gift; we are willing to work. Can you aid us ? Will you? E. C. " P. S. No rain yet. Indeed, rain would do but little good: vegetation is dead! A general exodus seems about to take place. Whole neighborhoods — without exaggeration, wliole neighborhoods are being deserted ! E.G. " N. B. The utterly helpless and the utterly hoggish alone remain! E. C." The allusion in the above letter, " You have seen our faces," refers to the fact that I had met and conversed with both these gentlemen about ten days previous. The condi- tion of Woodson county, as above depicted, is affirmed by the assessor of the county. Mr. Condict, having visited every cabin in the county, and seen all the people, represents an entire destitution, such as prevails in nearly every county of the Territory. lie states that the amount of money in Woodson county, as verified under oath, would not exceed one dollar 'per man! The Eev. T. P. Killen, in a letter written from Carlyle, Allen county, under date of September 19, 1860, and ad- dressed to me at Atchison, says : " We are truly in the deep waters, and I fear many must suffer. We will labor for the best, but I must confess we are at a loss to know how to advise our people. In the midst of our troubles to know what we shall eat and drink, the official news of our land sales on the 3d December, comes DOWN UPON us LIKE A THUNDERBOLT ! What shall WC do ? Will our friends in the East answer the question? * * * 58 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. Hoping we will hear from you, and feeling confident that the great and good who have plenty will not close their ears to the cries of the snfi'ering, I remain, Yours, &C., J. P. KiLLEN." STORY OF A POOR FAMILY. The following story is from my diary of September 9th. The simple, touching narrative of this poor family is but a picture of thousands, and shows the practical working and cruelty of the land sales. The condition of this family was brought to my notice by an old man named Bryant, who had come over to the Emporia meeting of September 8th, and called on me at the hotel in order to tell me what he knew of the distress in his neighborhood. " There's a family near me, named Adams," said Bryant ; " a father, mother, and seven children ; but the eldest is away from home — jest as good people as any on us; and they hevn't a mouthful to eat but what the neighbors gin 'em I've kind o' kept the critters along as well as I could, but I can't dew it much longer ; we're on our last bag of flour our- selves, and not a dollar in the world to get more. Why, sir, people at the East don't know nothin about our situation ! they hevn't any idee on it !" and the old man detailed to me his own history. His speech, his looks, his earnestness, his active movements, and everything about him showed him to be one of those industrious and thriving men from New Eng- land, whose hands are never idle for want of something to do. But the trouble, as Bryant represented it, was that when he had got his job of blacksmi thing done for a neigh- bor, the poor neighbor had no means of paying him ! — nei- ther money nor provisions ! Continuing his story of the poor family, he remarked : "What on airth the poor woman and her children are to dew I don't know. I don't see but they Tixust starve ! Looks like it." And every muscle of the old man's honest countenance expressed more forcibly than his earnest words how deeply he felt for them. THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 59 HOW I FOUND THE FAMILY. They were living in a little " shake house," a few miles from Em})oria, in which they had passed the whole of last winter. On entering the cabin, its poverty was at once appar- ent. Two poor looking beds, an apology for a table, no chairs, a miscellaneous trunk, and a broken box which answered for a seat, constituted the household furniture entire. A yoke of oxen, nine fowls, and three young pigs inventoried the wealth of the family. A woman, whose face had evi- dently known more beauty and less sorrow, responded' to my questions. Anxiety, suffering, and want were now plainly written upon her countenance. " Eather poor looking walls madam," I remarked to her, " to keep out a winter's wind." "Yes, sir," she replied, ''we find it pretty cold; I pasted paper over all the cracks, as well as I could, but the March winds blew them off; we had a cold time of it ; but we got through." " Your house, madam, has not the appearance of very great abundance ; how are you provided for ? How much flour have you?" "Not any, sir." " What groceries ?" " None ! " " No tea ? " " No, sir." "Nor coffee nor sugar ?" " None, sir ! " " What have you ? " "About a peck of meal" " When this is gone, what then ? " A shade of anxiety passed over the poor woman's face as she looked at her chil- dren, and I could see that she struggled with her feelings. " Well, sir, I don't know." " Have you no means of getting anything ? Neither money nor work ? " " As to money, sir, my husband may possibly hnYO fifty cents, but not to ex- ceed this, and this is all the money we have. As to work, there is none to be had ; I have helped along by making baskets ;" and here she stooped down and brought out a few willow baskets from under the bed, apologizing at the same time, for the character of her storehouse j "these, sir, are such as I make and used to sell ; but now, no one wants to buy; it seems like as though no one had any money." 60 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS " Wlierc is your husband ? " " lie is over at his landlonVs doing a small job of work to x>^y ^^^^ ^^^^^ of this house! " " Then you hire ? " " We are compelled to ; we have no HOME NOW ! " " Had you one ? " " Yes, sir, my husband took a very fine claim, and put up a cabin, which we lived in for nearly a year, but the land sales came, and we could not iKiy for the land; my husband knew he could not pay /owr ]jcr cent, a month for money, and so we had to give it up ! and now, sir, we are without any home of our own ! " From the Washington Intelligencer, July 31, 1860. The Drought in the Southwest. — The St. Louis Eve- ning News of the 25th instant gives some gloomy accounts of the general and disastrous drought that has prevailed over the whole South and blasted the hopes of the planting region in their corn crops. The News says : * * * "The southwest portion of our own State is also visited, and we have a letter giving a most melancholy ac- count of the blasted cornfields in the counties of Benton* Polk, St. Clair, Bates, Henry, Hickory, and other counties." [These counties border on Southern Kansas.] Black-Jack, Douglas county, Sept. 23, 1860. Dear Sir : Necessity has compelled me to appeal to you for relief. I would state I have lived here near four years, and have had a series of bad luck ever since I have been here. I first settled on Indian land ; I did not discover it for nearly a whole year ; I lost all that year's labor. I moved out on the prairie, and commenced again to open another farm ; that year I was sick with the typhoid fever. Last year was the first year that I was prospering, but my means being exhausted I could not make much headway, but calculated that this present year would make all right THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 61 with US. But alas ! we are mistaken again. My crop is all gone ; I Lave not been able to get any seed from corn, pota- toes, or buckwheat, and all garden truck is failed. The Span- ish fever has got in among our cattle. I lost two last week — one a very fine milch cow, the only cow we had. I have used up most of my grain sacks, to make dresses for my daughters to hide their nakedness. Our diet is composed of corn meal and water, and it is most all gone. I have been sick with the fever the last two weeks, and am not able to do a day's work, if there was work to be had. This is the condition I am placed in at the approach of winter — no work ; not able to work if I had any ; nothing to sell, to procure food and clothing ; no crop ; with a family of a wife and seven children, the oldest twelve years, the youngest three months. I, therefore, in behalf of my family, appeal to you for relief. Hoping you will give this a favorable consideration, I remain your humble servant, C. B. Rice. To Hon. M. F. Conway. I also submit the following Appeal of the Highland Pres- bytery of Kansas Territory. The Presbytery at Highland, in session at Wyandotte City, Kansas, desire to make known to the Church and friends abroad, as nearly as they can, the wants and destitu- tions of our Territory, consequent upon the drought of the past year. Since Kansas has been known by red or white man, she has not before, so far as is known, failed to produce abund- antly from her rich soil, and to repay largely and bounti- fully the labors of the husbandman. This year it has not been so. The rains have been withheld, crops have failed, and great destitution prevails in parts of our Territory. We see, and we recognize the hand of God in this. We 62 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. see liis footsteps, we hear his voice, and we would " be still and know that he is God." With painful interest have we listened to the statements made by brethren coming up from all parts of the Territory, and we trust that we have now the facts that will enable us to make some correct, though very general and very brief statements in the case. The counties bordering on the Missouri, and some districts along the Kansas river and larger streams, are not in a suf- fering condition. In most of these districts a half crop has been raised, and from some of them something can be spared to help the more destitute. In the south and west, and on the high prairie lands crops have been, in most cases, entire failures. Nor has it been for want of labor and effort on the part of farmers. Early in the spring, large fields of spring wheat were sown^ This failing, the ground was ploughed over and planted in corn ; this again failing, the ground was sown in turnips or buckwheat ; and this also proved a failure. Many have really nothing. Most persons have come to the Territory with small means, spent what they had in improving and in living, depending on an expected crop to meet the wants of the future. There is also an alarming destitution of clothing. Wool and flax are but little raised here, and not yet manufactured ; and men have been depending upon the crops to procure these from abroad. Winter is near, and large families may be found where there is not a shoe, and scarcely a comforta- ble woolen garment for the winter. In this state of things, Presbytery deem it a duty to publish the facts, and address them mainly to our own church and people in the States So far as our own church and people are concerned in Kan- sas near one-half of them do not stand in need of any help from abroad. The Churches of Carlisle, Wyandotte, Leaven- worth, Atchison, Highland, Iowa Point and Lecompton, and Lawrence in part, are provided, and some of them can spare THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 63 something for others. The remainder of our Churches, con- taining a membership of about two hundred and fifty, and a connection with perhaps two or three thousand persons, do stand greatly in need. Other parties of large means* have, as we understand, in view plans to meet, to some extent, the wants of the Territory, and it seemed proper in us to make a special effort, mainly in behalf of our own people. * * "We only ask of those who have received largely of God's bounties, that they divide us a small portion. And especially do we desire that your earnest prayers may accompany your gifts, that these chastisements, which "for the present may seem grievous, may work in us the peaceable fruits of right- ousness." J. S. Eeasor, Moderator. S. M. Irvin, Stated Clerk. * ^^ Other parties of large mcansy — My twenty-five days tour, of nearly a thousand miles travel, through the Territory, awakened a wide-spread hope and a general expectation that speedy relief would in some way follow my investigations. I judge that the remark above, ''■ other 2>artie» of large means,'''' &c., refers to those expectations. Had the New York Tribune been as true to the Kansas of 1860 as it seemed to be to tlu? Kansas of 1856, this reasonable expectation of a starving people would have been realized. But my letters to that journal, dated from and "written in the famine-land, and appealing for the suHerers, were supjynssed! and to this honr its columns that know so well how lo thunder, and that might have saved, have remained as cold and dead a.s the speecliless^ and livid lips of the starved mothers and perishing babes whom it heart- lessly abandons in this their mortal hour of extremity, of agony, and of despair. Had it bestowed upon these poor people even one-half the attention it gives to a " Heenan and Sayers" prize fight, hundreds might have been saved, who must now inevitably perish before assistance can reach them. The following I clip from the Philadelphia " Press" of the 27th instant. How painfully it confirms all that I have stated above ! Alas ! hour by hour the accumulating facts become more and more terrible. "The Great Kansas Famine — Extreme Suffering among the Inhabitants — 30,000 People Wanting Food. " The Chicago Press and Tribune says : The facts cannot 64 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. longer escape the attention of the most tardy and incredulous, that an extraordinary condition of affairs prevails throughout a large share of the new Territory of Kansas, where there is at present 'a famine in the land,' so general, so inclusive, reached by such stages and falling upon a community so situated, that it is doubtful whether it has had any parallel within the present century. The thrilling descriptions that reach us from various and reliable sources, painfully rea- lize the most vivid and painful narratives of such visita- tions, in Scripture, which we have been to apt to deem well nigh impossible to our age of civilization, and certainly among our own citizens, on our own soil. Even the great famine in Ireland, historic in the tales of suffering and lists of generous deeds, whose memory will live in the plaintive " ' Give nie three grains of corn, mother,' seems to promise to be unsurpassed in the scattered homes of a new Territory, unless help speedily reaches them, for thousands now suffering for food, to whom November, now at hand, will usher in fresh terrors," By and by, when the ears of the country shall tingle with tales of the dreadful sufferings of our poor Kansas popula- tion, and when the heart of the country shall grow sick with the horrors that will then be hourly accumulating upon it, the question will be asked in a thousand quarters, Why were not these things foreseen in time to avert and to save ? And my reply to the country in that hour will be as it now is : They were foreseen ! and they might have been averted ! and they would have been, had the New York Tribune done its duty. I wrote with warmth and with feeling indeed, for who could help it under the circumstances ? Take one instance or two. As I was writing in my room at Atchison one evening, a friend came in, remarking, with much feeling: " Hyatt, I begin to say as you did yesterday, ' I would not stay sixty days longer in this place, empty handed, to inherit a life to come ! ' A poor fellow met me in the street just now, and looking me full in the face, says : ' I've got to break into some store to-night ! my family have'nt a mouthful of THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 65 food, and I can't let tliem starve ! ' " And my friend con- tinuing, said : '• Hyatt, I am growing sicker and sicker every hour." And then he told me of a poor man who had walked ninety miles from the back country to reach Atchison, beg- ging a night's lodging and a meal's victuals on the way ; got a few dollars together at Atchison by a few days work ; pur- chased provisions with it for his starving family and then, with the provisions on his back, walked ninety miles to save them from perishing ! Another case that he brought to my notice was that of a poor family at Winthrop, opposite Atchison : two dead chil- dren in the cabin, another sick, and the father and mother both down with fever at the same time ! This, not as the di- rect consequences of starving, but resultant effects from hard- ships and want, following loss of crops ! I may as well say, right here, that the friend alluded to above is General S. C. Pomeroy, of Atchison, who, with Judge Arny, of Hyatt, accompanied me through the whole tour. These friends arc generously devoting all their time and energies now to the suffering : the former at Atchison receives and forwards to the needy whatever aid my friend Arny may succeed in getting at the West, or I may possibly- secure by personal exertions at the East. CONCLUDING APPEAL. I think your Excellency will not regard as out of place an explanatory word here touching the origin of this present movement of the undersigned in behalf of Kansas. My connection with Kansas affairs in 1856, (which was purely moral,) had given me too clear an insight into the condition of that noble and brave, but unfortunate people, to permit any apathy on my part under so burning an appeal as is contained in the following : From the Washington Intelligencer, August 6, 1860. The Drought in Kansas. — We have had frequent re- jiorts within a few months of the terrible drought prevailing in the Territory of Kansas, more particularly in the southern section. For nearly or quite a year there has but little rain fallen in the Territory, and in southern Kansas it is stated that not more tban four or five inches of rain have fallen during the year. The consequence is there will be no crop, and how the people of that unfortunate section of country are to be fed during the coming winter becomes a question of the gravest imjiortance, A letter from Mound City, dated July 7th, published in the New York Tribune, says : "Our corn is near or quite dead ; our grass for hay is en- tirely out of the question, for there is none ; the hot sun has entirely destroyed it." The letter speaks almost bitterly of the impending ruin staring the pco})le in the face. It saj's : "Hear me tell God's truth. As I write in my house the wind Haps over me; the sun heats it so that the wind almost burns me ; my wife is now roasting eggs on the stone steps in front of my house ; the stove and tin boiler are too liot to bear my hands on them, standing in the house Avhcre tlie sun cannot touch them ; they are hot by the wind blowing on them through the open door. Why, every flap of the wind is like the heat of iire from a burning building. I have just sliut the door io kee[) the hot wind from blowing on niu, so that 1 can write 'J'o say that it lias not rained lor twelve mouths wonUl not be telling th(^ tiiith ; Imt to sav that n«")t 68 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. more tlian four or five inches of rain had fallen in that time would be nearly or ci^uite true. Now, for God's sake, what are the people to do ? We can't stay here without food for ourselves or cattle." The letter here quoted was written by Mr. Stillwcll, who lives on Mine Creek, in Linn county, and whom, when there in August, I saw and conversed with. The fearful picture drawn by this gentleman in the above, is fully confirmed by the reports embraced in Professor Henry's letter, as well as by testimony at the Mound City meeting herein ab(jve recorded. I read Mr, Still well's letter as soon as jiublished ; my heart burned. He alluded to the help once vouchsafed to famine-stricken Ireland, and asked imploringly if some " good Samaritan from the East " would not have compassion on the perishing people of Kansas. I looked for some one to start — but mme went: so leaving all, I said I must go. Though I have not means sufficient to relieve so wide-spread a calamity, I will at least explore and report. Tlic country cannot fl\il to listen : the heart of the country Avill surely respond. I did not doubt that the |)?-t'ss of the country would heartily co-operate. I went to Kansas. I traversed its burnt-up prairies ; I crossed its dried-up streams ; I saw where great rivers had shrunk to stagnant pools ; I saw expiring fishes in the shallow waters, })ar-boiling under the scorching heavens ; I felt the hot breath of the siroccos ; I cooled my temples with wet compresses, as day after day I rode through the flooding heats of the glaring sun. The people gathered ; they saw hope in tlie fact tliat the country was to be appealed to; they took courage; some who were preparing to leave, reconsidered and remained, believing now that help would surely come. I traveled by day and wrote letters by night. I mailed the letters to the New York Tribune, thinking thus to introduce to the press generally, and through them to the country, a knowledge of the fearful things I had been eye-witness to, I was ill when I started, but worse when I returned, for the ( THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. 69 press of the country ivas silent/ Only 07ie of my letters liad been permitted to sec the light ! My " Appeal " was entirely suppressed. As its style did not difler materially from many I had written in 1856, this certainly could not have caused its suppression. From Atchison (to which j)lacc I returned again from the tour) I sent telegram after telegram to New York to know why Kansas received no attention. Ilaving myself in 1856 acted in good faith for a suffering people, I had never credited the partizan charges of a contrary nature against a rival party. I had regarded the party advantages and disadvantages of that struggle as mere incidents ; and I bad gone into it, as I would to-day enlist under Garibaldi, purely in behalf of liberty, striking only for great principles; for humanity only ; not for party. Naturally enough, then, I looked for the same co-operation and for the same earnest- ness, and to the same quarters. I beg your Excellency to contrast the files of the N. Y. Tribune for August, Septem- ber and October of 1856, with the Tribune of August, Sep- tember, and October, 1860. And my purpose in this exjyosc, at this time, and in this way, is that your Excellency may realize, as I do with a sick heart, how utterly abandoned the wretched people in Kansas are at this trying and terrible hour, with a cold winter just upon them. My purpose is to induce the Executive of this nation to adopt some plan for the relief of a starving people, additional to the mere post- ponement of the land sales ; for even this postponement will not put bread in their mouths. Seeing that the press of the country will do nothing effect- ual for them at this fearful crisis ; seeing that only extraor- dinary remedies can reach so extraordinary a case, I come to your Excellency as the proper source, and ask for somo official action, I care not what it is, so that speedy relief may reach a multitude of starving American citizens, even though they cannot vote. Yoiu- Excellency can surely get these dreadful facts before 70 THE DESTITUTION IN KANSAS. the country in a way to awaken sympathy, and insure aid, though I am powerless to do it. And this is my prayer. But if the Executive of this great nation should, in his better judgment and broader knowledge, see no way for him to succeed where an humble citizen has failed, I shall then have but one resource left ; I can make only one effort more. But this I must make, for having moved thus far and awak- ened the expectations of the starving, it is impossible that I should now desert them until the last promise has faded from the heavens ; until my own heart with theirs has utterly died out. One last hope remains ; it is that the people of another Government, and in another hemisphere, may take compassion upon starving Americans, as in former years of misfortune Americans took compassion upon them. I am, sir, very respectfully, yours, THADDEUS HYATT. lllIl iO