Friday, March 26, 1954 University Daily Kansan Page 3 Rock Chalk, Jayhawk
—Kansan photo by Gene Bratton
A GLIMPSE INTO YESTERDAY—Here is a photograph of a portion of the Lawrence room in Watson library, where rest scores of relics of early day Lawrence.
Early Lawrence Relics Rest in Library Room
By LETTY LEMON
Century-old photos, a Civil war uniform, a demolished but recognizable brass cannon, the original Lawrence land plat—all these and many more early Lawrence relics are tucked away in a corner of Watson library, Room 401, entitled—appropriately enough—the "Lawrence room."
The room was begun and the®
police were collected in Guerrilla City.
son, head librarian from 1887 to 1821. The room's first items once had belonged to Charles Robinson, first curator of the library, and continued the collection after Miss Watson retired, and Miss Smelzer left her post last year.
The Lawrence room is small and rectangular. Immediately eye-catching are two display cases, a roll-top desk first used by Chancellor Snow, and an entryway case containing former Chancellor Fraser's Union blues, worn when he was a brigadier general in 1862.
Hours could be spent pouring over the historical materials. For example, a complete history of the brass cannon, "Old Sacramento" lies alongside the remnants of the cannon. The paper tells of the capture of the weapon during a Missouri raid on Mexico, its use by anti-slavery forces, and its eventual ruin by overloading while firing it into the Kansas river in hopes that a shot in the water would bring two drowned bodies to the surface.
The lone survivor of the fire in the Free State hotel—a call bell—is located in one of the display cases. A corresponding card explains that "Sheriff" Jones, a Missouri man pretending to be a federal officer, came over from Missouri, rang the bell, routed the guests from the hotel, then burned the structure to the ground. Somehow, the bell was saved. The hotel was rebuilt to be the Eldridge, then was burned again in Quantrill's raid and rebuilt for the second time.
A framed account from an 1863 newspaper telling of Quantrill'sraid is one of the more interesting pieces of wall display. The one-column headlines and the chronological style are certain evidences of another era. Well-preserved is a Bible with an ornately lettered front-piece reading 1867. A china cup and saucer from Gov. Robinson's home, an old, rusted pistol, and other small antique Lawrence knick-knacks fill the display cases.
A total of 145 pictures line the wall. Numbered index cards, giving in many cases complete biographical information about the person pictured correspond with the numbered pictures.
Among the photos are one of the First Emigrant Aid society; a bleak picture of North College hall, the first University building; portraits of Col. and Mrs. Eldridge, original
proprietors of the hotel; two pictures of John Brown; two shots of a windmill then located near the site of the present Sigma Nu house, where women hid during Quantrill's raid; a picture of the 12 members of the 1861 Senate, and an 1830 vintage oil painting of Amos Lawrence, for whom the town is named.
If surveyor A. D. Searl, who first formulated the land plot of Lawrence, had had his way, there would be north and south streets named Winthrop, Henry, Warren, and Berkeley. These names later were changed to numbers to lessen the confusion. Another interesting aspect of the early map is the spelling of the Kansas river. Mr. Searl spelled it "Kanzas," an often-used early spelling.
Statues are prominently placed throughout the room. There is a bust of Gov. Robinson, one of Lewis Lindsey Dyche, and one of James Lane, an early state senator and close friend of Abraham Lincoln.
Two of the most interesting weapons on display are a pike—a long pole-like weapon with a flat double-edged blade atop it—and a "Beecher Bible" rifle. The pike was one obtained by John Brown for use at Harper's Ferry. Originally intending to recruit freed slaves at the landing, Brown knew that fighting would ensue and realized the Negroes would not be able to handle firearms.
The "Beecher Bible" rifle has an absorbing history. All supplies were shipped down the river to Westport Landing, rather than by a circuitous overland route, whenever possible. But Westport Landing, now Kansas City, was in pro-slavery hands, and the Missouri gentlemen confiscated arms intended for the Free Soil crew. So the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher sent cases labeled "Bibles" to Kansas. But after they were opened in Lawrence, the wooden boxes revealed breech-loading, long range rifles—of advanced design for the times.
These facts and many others in detail can be garnered from a visit to the little-known but extra-interesting Lawrence room.
The first newspaper ever printed in Kansas issued its first edition in Leavenworth on Sept. 15, 1854. It was called the Kansas Weekly Herald and sold for $2 a year—in advance
If it had not been for the deciding vote of the speaker of the house of the State Legislature in 1863, KU students would be trudging to class in Emporia, not Lawrence.
Emporia Almost Site of KU
By NANCY NEVILLE
Edward Russell's vote established Lawrence as the site for the University of Kansas. Three denominations tried to start a college in the pioneer town, but hard times and the Civil war prevented it.
On Sept. 12, 1866, 26 "ladies" and 29 "gentlemen" climbed the hill to the first class.
The congressional act, admitting Kansas to the Union, had granted 72 sections of land for a university endowment, and the Wyandotte constitution provided for such an institution to "promote literature and the arts and sciences, including a normal and an agricultural department."
So with these provisions, Russell's vote passed the law establishing a state university at Lawrence, pro-
viding 40 acres and endowment of $15,000.
Their classroom was in the only building -old North College hall - located west of where Corbin hall now stands. Eight recitation rooms and a chapel comprised the building.
The faculty members of the opening session were E. J. Rice, president, and professor of mental and moral sciences and belle letters; D.
H, Robinson, professor of Greek and Latin, and literature, and F. H, Snow, professor of mathematics, and natural sciences. Albert Newman gave lectures on hygiene and sanitary science.
As far as can be determined, John William Fisher of Lawrence was the first student to enroll in the University.
Not one of the 55 prospective students was prepared for college work, so a two-year preparatory course had to be inaugurated.
Candidates for admission to the collegiate department were required to be at least 14 years of age and were expected to present evidence of good moral character.
No attention was paid to the ruling that "there shall be two branches of the University—a male and a female branch. The female branch may be taught exclusively by women, and buildings for that branch shall be entirely separate from the buildings of the male branch." Instead, both sexes worked together in the classrooms.
As enrollment increased, North
College was soon too small. John Fraser, first active chancellor of the University, was responsible for building Fraser hall, opened in 1872. At the time, it was the largest school building in the country.
Fraser was succeeded two years later by the Rev. James Marvin, during whose time the law and music departments were established, and the College of Arts had nearly doubled its enrollment.
The selection of courses increased still further during Chancellor Lippincott's administration, w he n courses in pharmacy and art were added.
During the administrations of F. H. Snow and Dr. Frank Strong, the Schools of Liberal Arts, Engineering, Law, Fine Arts, and Pharmacy were founded. New buildings added to the campus were the chemistry building, Dyche museum, and Green hall.
Enrollment during the 18 years that Strong was chancellor increased from 1,200 to 4,200. The years that Dr. Ernest Lindley was chancellor saw erection of the Student Union, stadium, Hoch auditorium and Snow hall.
Strong hall, or the "Ad" building, as it was called, was begun in 1911 and completed in 1923.
Dodge City: Frontier Town
By COURT ERNST
Between motion pictures and the historical novel, early day Dodge City undoubtedly has received more publicity than any other city and is a famous name in American history.
Following the Louisiana Purchase, a treaty with Spain in 1819 placed a boundary corner at the 100th meridian and the Arkansas river. Dodge City is located at this old Spanish corner.
Boot Hill, an emergency burial
Mexico, freed from Spain, encouraged trade with Santa Fe. The first westbound pack train in 1822 was snowbound four miles west of what is now Dodge City. Losing the animals, merchandise was cached on the slope of a hill north of present highway 50-S, and the depressions left by the later removal of goods are known today as the Caches.
The first of many trail herds from Texas was driven into Dodge City for shipment by "Doc" Barton in 1872. On his arrival, he found the Santa Fe had not been completed, and drove on east. During the next 14 years, however, Dodge City was the shipping point for an estimated 10 million cattle from Texas, Oklahoma, and eastern Colorado.
The Santa Fe railroad was built into Dodge City from the east in September 1872. A supply camp for buffalo hunters and travelers on the trail had been established before that time. A town company was organized in July 1872 and the settlement named Buffalo City. The town was later renamed, honoring Col. Richard I. Dodge, then commander at Fort Dodge. (The fort had been named for his brother, Col. Grenville Dodge.) Buffalo hides were legal tender in the area, and thousands of hides were shipped from Dodge City.
U. S. Army engineers surveyed a route for the Santa Fe trail in 1825, Fort Dodge, an army outpost for the protection of the trail and settlers from Indians and Texas privateers, was established in 1835. Rock buildings put up in 1864 are still in use. Also in this area were Fort Atkinson, scene of a great Indian powow in 1853, and Fort Mann.
During these 14 years, Dodge City known as the Cowboy Capital of the World, was the wildest town on the western frontier. Under the administration of Webster, the town's "Fightin' Mayor," the city was gradually brought into a more conventional state. H. B. "Ham" Bell, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Bill Tilghman, among other famous lawmen, made their reputations in Dodge City.
Dred Scott was a Negro slave, belonging to Dr. John Emerson, an Army surgeon, who took Scott from Missouri, a slave state, into Illinois and Minnesota, in 1836. Illinois was a free state and Minnesota was part of the Wisconsin territory. Two years later, Scott was taken back to Missouri.
Dred Scott Decision Helped To Inflame Slavery Question
By COURT ERNST
After Dr. Emerson's death in 1846. Scott sued for his liberty, contending that his residence in a free state and in territory made free by the Missouri Compromise had given him his complete freedom.
Slavery was the burning issue of the day on a national level when Kansas first became a territory 100 years ago, and of all the cases involving slavery, the Dred Scott case was the most f
The Circuit court of Missour
ground, held probably 50 unmarked graves, and was used from 1872 to 1879. Memorials built on this site to the pioneers, the cowboy, and to Mr. Bell now draw about a half million visitors annually. A mock cemetery, a museum, and a souvenir shop today display many old relics from Dodge City's historic days.
The only bull fights ever held in the United States were held in Dodge City on July 4 and 5, 1884. Matadors were brought in from Mexico, and great publicity was given the events. As a result, humane societies were up in arms, and laws prohibiting such events were cited to the governor of the state, who wired Mayor Webster, stating bull fights were illegal in Kansas. The mayor replied by wire, "Dodge City not in Kansas. The fight goes on."
Early writers describe the area around Dodge City as abounding with wild game-antelope, deer, herds of buffalo, quail, prairie chicken, and many species of water fowl. The prairies were covered with a tall grass, often two or three feet tall, under which grew the short buffalo grass. Cheyenne, Sioux, and Osage Indians roamed the area.
Coronado in his search for the Seven Fabulous Cities of Gold 400 years ago crossed the Arkansas river about seven miles east of Dodge City. The site is marked by the Coronado bridge and a wooden cross high on the bluff overlooking the river valley. Fort Dodge is now a state home for veterans.
Dodge City is now as modern as tomorrow. While it retains a firm grasp on its historic past, it also reaches for an ever more progressive future. With a present population of about 12,000, it is now the largest city in southwest Kansas, and certainly one of the state's most interesting places.
ruled in favor of Scott, saying he was free. However, the case was appealed to the Missouri Supreme court, which reversed the decision, it ruled that he voluntarily returned to Missouri and therefore automatically resumed his slavery.
By a fictional sale, title to Scott was transferred to John F. A. Sanford of New York, and suit was brought in federal court. Again the court ruled Scott was still a slave, and the case was appealed to the United States Supreme court.
The issue involved Scott's right, as a citizen, to bring suit. A majority of the Democratic justices decided he was not a citizen of Missouri and could not bring suit, and instructed Justice Nelson to write the opinion of the court.
When it became known that Justices John McLean and Benjamin R. Curtis were writing dissenting opinions, each of the other justices of the court wrote opinions concurring with Nelson's.
In making public the court's decision on March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's opinion was read first, so public attention focussed mainly on it. Taney said Scott was not a citizen of Missouri and could not sue, and the rest of his written decision was of an "obiter dictum" nature (incidental remarks not material to the decision and therefore not law) in which he emphasized three main points.
They were that Scott had never been and could never be a citizen; that the Missouri Compromise, which had been repealed in 1854, which included the prohibition of grass had no power to restrict or regulate slavery in the territories.
Southern pro-slavery men began demanding a Congressional slave code for the territories, and the antislavery forces rallied behind the Republican party in denouncing Taney and the court.
The Supreme Court had hoped to settle the slavery controversy with this case, but unfortunately the other justices, in their majority opinions, also delivered "obiter dictum" discourses agreeing with Taney's three points which inflamed public wrath as a fresh aggression of the slave power.
The entire question was soon settled by the Civil war. Scott and his family were inherited by Calvin S. Chaffee of Massachusetts, then a member of Congress, were conveyed by him to Taylor Blow of St. Louis for emancipation, and were emancipated May 26, 1857.