Salina History One of Steady, 'Dull' Progress
Bv LARRY BOSTON
As towns developed in the early West, their histories seemed to be filled with grim and gory details of how local citizens had participated in daring escapes.
Kansas towns were no different from those of other states. However, the history of Salina seems to indicate that not so much fiery "settling" took place there as in other towns. Salina's history sounds dull in comparison with others. So dull, in fact, that it was established three times before anyone stuck around to make a town out of it!
Salina, located in Salina county is in almost the exact center of Kansas. A map folded two ways will have creases which intersect within 20 miles of its location.
The first site of Salina was founded by three men named Plumb, Pierce and Hunter, who traveled west from Ft. Riley in 1856 to the mouth of the Saline river. This town was called Mariposa and was occupied during the winter of 1856. but was later abandoned.
Col. P.B. Plumb, one of the founders of Mariposa, returned to Emporia that year, becoming United States senator.
Later that year the Buchanam Town company was formed. This organization came from Manhattan and Ft. Riley to a spot south of the Mariposa town site. Here eight cabins were erected, two of which were occupied for a time but later were abandoned.
Thus, within two years, two settlements had been established and abandoned. Salina seemed destined to become just another ghost town.
Finally, in 1857, W. A. Phillips set out from Ft. Riley on foot to select a townsite in the Smoky Hill valley. He returned to the fort after discovering the abandoned cabins of the previous settlers. He later returned with A. M. Campbell and James Muir, and these three men did much of the original building of the town.
Salina grew slowly as an agricultural community until 1859, when gold seekers traveling to Colorado and Pike's Peak invaded the town. At that time, Salina was the westernmost station on the Smoky Hill river route to the West. Although gold prospectors are usually associated with gambling and shooting, these itineraries seemed to have very little effect on Salina, other than to boost its commercial trading.
In 1861, W. A. Phillips set up a saw mill in the town by hauling by team and wagon materials from Kansas City. This increased trade in Salina made Phillips a rich man and gave him some measure of fame, for this hauling job was considered a great feat at that time.
With the coming of the Civil War business in Salina declined. Some men left to enlist; those who stayed found tough going in the town, for most immigrant travel to the West had been shut off.
Friday. March 26,1954
At this time H. L. Jones was elected the first representative from this district of the new state of Kansas. With no opposition, he carried the area by receiving 24 votes, which probably represented most of the eligible voters of the time.
Following the war the Kansas Pacific railway reached Salina in 1867. The coming of the railroad in any town meant trouble for the local citizens. T h e roustabouts laying track meant money in the merchant's pockets but they also meant abandonment of law and order. A quiet town, Salina wanted little to do with the railroad workers, and histories report that "the local citizens were happy to see them leave." Contrasted to this attitude, Brookville, the next stop on the line, took advantage of the railroad trade and grew to a larger population than that of Salina in 1868. It is now a town of about 300 people. Ellsworth, 30 miles west, had one of the worst records of killing and robbery in the state when the railroad came through, but took full advantage of the Kansas Pacific payroll.
University Daily Kansan
War Delayed a Decade By Compromise of 1850
Bv LETTY LEMON
A step in the stairway to statehood for Kansas—this phase characterizes the Compromise of 1850.
Nullifying the Missouri compromise, settling a slavery dispute arising from the acquisition of new territory, and setting the stage for a 10-year postponement of secession, the 1850 compromise was sponsored in the Senate by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Calhoun in their last appearance as a powerful forensic triumvirate.
The bill, made law Sept. 9, provided for California's admission into the Union as a free state, thus pacifying the slave law complying northerners to return run-away slaves, thus placating the South.
A neutral measure was the organization of the territories of Utah and New Mexico with no provision for slavery during the territorial period. Then, as their constitutions were ratified and they attained statehood the states themselves could be slave or non-slave.
Another enactment was the government payment of $10 million to Texas in return for an area of disputed land on her west and north borders. This was agreeable to the North, as it took territory from the slave state of Texas and added to the territory of New Mexico, which could be carved into new free states.
Concessions were made to both sides in the District of Columbia. Slavery was continued, but slave trade was ended in the federal district.
The Compromise of 1820—the Missouri compromise also—had been brought before the Senate by Clay. It provided that slavery be allowed in Missouri but not elsewhere west of the Mississippi river nor north of the parallel cutting the southern boundary of Missouri.
But this act was disputed as President James K. Polk high-pressured
England into partitioning the jointly held Oregon country at the 49th parallel, and in 1846, while that was still under way, contrived a war with Mexico to acquire California and the territory east of Texas. American forces quickly overran northern Mexico and California, but a fiercely contended march from Vera Cruz through the mountains to Mexico City proved necessary before President Polk achieved his goal in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo early in 1848.
The conquests approximately completed the present continental boundaries. The immediate effect, however, was to arouse sectional dissension over the Missouri compromise as a great new land mass was opened that might upset the pro-slave, anti-slave balance in the Senate.
As the new Congress met in December 1849, tension was at a height. New Mexico was in need of a territorial government and Utah was asking for statehood. But California's was the most urgent problem. The discovery of gold there early in 1848 had sent 81,000 immigrants scrambling to the new "El Dorado," and the military government there was not devised for such a situation.
Had the course of history been different, Kansas would still have been a participant in the Civil war —but perhaps on the losing side.
Music Played Integral Part In Lives of Early Settlers
By LA VERLE YATES
As the territory of Kansas grew, so grew the music of Kansas. Thousands of settlers came to Kansas in the decade following the Civil war, bringing the popular tunes of the day with them and writing the ballads for the tunes.
In 1878, after a year at Harvard, a faculty member of Washburn college returned to Topeka and organized what is said to be the first college glee club west of the Mississippi.
Some of the ballads were humorous and some plaintive describing trials of pioneer life. Two popular ballads of the time were "Frank Baker," sung to the tune of "Irish Washerwoman," and "Kansas Land." sung to the tune of "Beulah Land."
The first serious approach to music in Kansas came in 1869, when Mrs. Samuel J. Crawford, wife of the Civil war governor, founded the Topeka Music union. The Modo club, organized in Topeka in 1876, is still active today. It toured the country from coast to coast and became one of the best known male choruses in the Midwest.
It is indeed surprising that the words of "Kansas Land" were not revived this past summer. The chorus went like this:
We went away awhile last fall
A month or and so that was all;
We earned enough to last us through,
Up to this time we made it do.
"Home on the Range" became the first widely known song of genuine Kansas origin. It was written in 1873 by Dr. Brewster Hilley, a homestealer on Beaver creek, and Dan Kelly, who lived near Harlan.
The Dodge City Cowboy Band was
Oh, Kansas sun, hot Kansas sun,
As to the highest bluff we run
We took away across the plain
And wonder if it ne'er will rain.
And as we look upon our corn\
We think but little of our farm.
Lawrence was the home of the first formal musical organization in Kansas. Both were founded in 1854. The organization consisted of a four-biece band formed by Forest Savage.
The prohibition movement added much to Kansas music. The Kansas Women's Christian Temperance union added by compiling lists of "battle hymns" which were taught to school children and used at temperance rallies. Usually these consisted of inspirational words combined with the melody of a hymn.
The first accredited course of music study in the secondary schools in the United States was given at Parsons in 1908. Today every high school in the state has one or more musical organizations, and music has become an established course in the curriculum of every college.
The Oratorio Society of Lindsborg, which annually presents "The Messiah," was organized at Bethany college in 1882. It originally had 40 voices; today it has 500.
formed in 1879 to provide "Wild West" atmosphere and a good quality of instrumental music. The band, sponsored by the local cattlemen's association, achieved national renown, appearing in many large cities of the United States.
During World War I Kansans sang "Old Gray Mare," "There's a Long, Long Trail," "Frankie and Johnnie," and "I've Been Working on the Railroad."
Kansans who have received recognition for outstanding work in the field of music are Dr. Charles Skilton, formerly of the University, for his choral and orchestral work, including several American Indian themes; Prof. Carl Pryor, formerly of the University, for instrumental compositions; Dean Thurlow Lieurance of Wichita, for interpretations of Indian music, and in the concert and operatic field, Laura Townsley McCoy, Great Bend; Kathleen Kresting, Wichita; Harold B. Challis, Atchison, and Marian Talley, formerly of Colby.
Karl Krueger, Atchison, former conductor of the Seattle Symphony orchestra is the best known Kansan conductor. He returned to the Midwest in 1934 to form the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kansas City, Mo. Under his direction it developed into an orchestra of national importance.
A special postage stamp commemorating the territorial centennial of Kansas will go on sale at the first post office established in the state at Fort Leavenworth May 31.
Stamp to Honor State's Birthday
A program will be held in connection with the issuance of the commemorative stamp. Sen. Frank Carlson will give the main address and Gov. Edward Arn will preside.
1959 to Mark K.C. Centennial
By JACQUELINE BAYLISS
Although May 20, 1954 marks a 100-year milestone in Kansas history, the city of Kansas City must wait until 1959 to observe its centennial. Kansas City, Kan., was the largest city in Kansas until recent years and is today one of the great centers of the Midwest business activities, though it was not incorporated as a city until 1859, five years after Kansas was admitted to the Union as a territory and seven years after it was recognized as a state.
When Lewis and Clark passed through Kansas City on their expedition in 1804, the site of the present city was completely undeveloped. As late as 1818 it was made part of an Indian reservation and remained that way until 1843 when it was acquired by the Wyandot Indians. The Wyandot Indians were a civilized group from Ohio who actually founded the city—originally named for them, Wyandot City. Kansas City was incorporated 16 years later as Wyandotte.
The early Kansas City was definitely "small townish" as compared with the present Kansas City. As late at 1900 the population was only 51,418. The present metropolis came into being in the 1880's through consolidation of several communities, and in 1920 the population passed the 100,000 mark. Presently Kansas City is the seat of Wyandotte county, second largest county in the state.
Kansas City has never been divorced from its next-door neighbor, Kansas City, Mo. Though in adjoining states, these two cities are contiguous, their only division being an imaginary state line. Kansas City, Mo., is a focal point in the exchange of goods through many states. The stockyards are extensive and busy. The two cities have flour mills, oil refineries, railroad shops, and factories turning out a varied list of products. Strategically located in connection with the grain-growing regions of the Southwest, Kansas City has unsurpassed grain storage facilities.
Today, in looking at another side of Kansas, one sees a Carnegie library with a collection of fine paintings, a large number of public and parochial schools, several hospitals, of which one, together with a school of medicine is maintained by the University; churches of many denominations, service clubs and parks and playgrounds
Special schools located in Kansas City are the State School for the Blind, Western university, Kansas City Junior college, St. Augustine seminary, and the Kansas City Baptist Theological seminary. The Kansas City Conservatory of Music, a separately operated branch of the Kansas City, Mo., conservatory, presents courses leading to the B. S. in music.
Still several years from the observance of its centennial, Kansas City has time to accomplish much more.
Gazette of Emporia Noted in Journalism
Emporia lies at the gateway to the Kansas "bluestem pasture" region, and becomes a cattle town during the grazing season.
The city is the site of one of the most celebrated newspapers in the history of American journalism, the Emporia Gazette, which, bought by William Allen White in 1895, became perhaps the nation's most influential small town newspaper.
Kansans Fought Missourians in 'Battle of Blue'
By CHUCK MORELOCK
Kansas-Missouri rivalry is confined mainly to football and basketball contests in 1954. But 90 years ago, inter-state friction was expressed in a more colorful form—border warfare.
The bitter clashes between pro- and anti - slavery advocates that raged along the border led to one of the biggest battles of the Civil war—the Battle of the Blue—although it seldom rates more than a sentence or two in history texts outside the state.
The skirmish began Oct. 14, 1864, and ended 11 casualty-filled days later. It was no conflict between two well-trained, smartly-clothed armies. On the Kansas side was a motley crew of citizen-soldiers. On the Missouri side was a conglomeration of veteran Confederate infantrymen, homesick country draftees, and just plain rufifiers—men who joined the ranks in anticipation of lust and looting.
All of Kansas had watched uneasily while a growing band of Confederates began a drive up through Arkansas and Missouri in late September 1864. When the danger appeared that the force would plunge into eastern Kansas in order to capture the vast supply of war material at Ft. Leavenworth the governor declared martial law. All men between 18 and 60 were ordered to join the second regiment of the Kansas militia, commanded by Col. George W. Veale.
With a 56-1 manpower advantage, the Confederates planned to put a quick end to the citizen-soldiers across the border. They launched a cavalry attack but succeeded only in producing a gaping hole in their ranks.
This outfit consisted of nine companies, seven mounted, two infantry, and one artillery. The majority of its men were untrained lawyers, doctors, editors, or clerks Few had experienced combat.
After this assault, the rebels withdrew and confined their action to long-distance rifle and cannon shots. Later, they regrouped themselves, formulated plans, and launched invasion No. 2 against a weak spot in the Kansas lines a few miles from the farm. But a small Jayhawker cavalry unit supported by the lone howitzer withstood the attack after an hour of bitter fighting.
Nobody in the rebel army would have forecast a long, drawn-out battle during that electrifying moment. But in true storybook tradition, the outmanned Kansans fought the enemy on even terms for one bloody week.
The 12,000 man crew—plus a lone 24-pound howitzer—left Topeka Oct. 11, marched across the Kaw valley, and halted at a camp near Westport, Mo. Each man had two blankets, a tin cup and plate, and his own rifle. The militia couldn't provide the men with such luxuries.
At the same time, a 30,000-man pro-slavery force under the command of Lt. Gen. Sterling Price was moving westward. It was near the Mockabee farm by the Blue river in western Missouri—eight miles from the Kansas line—that the rival forces spotted each other.
Gen. Price's frustrated force then used all the military tricks in the book. It tried flanking movements surprise attacks, and infiltration. But each time the Kansans managed to hold, although suffering heavy losses at some point.
The non-military background of the Jayhawker fighters resulted in frequent desertions and AWOLs. Their meager food supply ran out in a few days. They suffered from thirst and primitive medical equipment. But they checked the westward movement of the enemy. And in doing so, they wrote a colorful chapter in Kansas' history.
The first governor of Kansas was Andrew H. Reeder, a Pennsylvania Democrat who had never before held public office. Gov. Reeder arrived at Leavenworth Oct. 7, 1854, making that community the first capital of the territory.