Page 8 University Daily Kansan, November 5, 1981
Wells Overlook brings back memories of county's settlers
By PAM ALLOWAY Staff Reporter
After William Clarke Quantrill and his band had burned and ravaged the peaceful town of Lawrence on Aug. 21, 1863, they headed directly south, crossing the Wakarusa River at Blanton's Bridge.
Lackly for its inhabitants, the Confederate raiders probably didn't even notice a small stone farmhouse that rested on the side of a bluff.
That farmhouse still stands, though it has long since been abandoned. The shingles on the roof are caving in now and the windows are gone.
An old plow rests in the backyard beside two broken down buildings that had once served as a shed and an outhouse.
The decayed farmhouse is clearly visible from a road that leads to Wells Overlook, on an ablt three houses of Lawrence on county road 583, just off Highway 59.
A guard rail on the right protects overly exuberant visitors who ignore the 10 mph warning. The smashing road is flanked by cattails, wildflowers and "No Parking" signs. A lone sunflower in brown withered stalk beside the road.
Finally, at the top is an open lot where cars are parked and man has left his mark on this small piece of wilderness.
The park features a 25-foot observation tower, nature trails, a picnic shelter, picnic tables and wooden toys like the "Frontier Fort."
The 16-acre park was donated in 1970 by Mr. and Mrs. William H. Wells in the memory of Wells' father and grandfather. The land was first offered to the Lawrence, according to Alice Elizabeth, Lassman, Wells' oldest daughter.
limits, her father offered it to Douglass County on the condition that it be used as a public park and that the natural resources may be preserved as much as possible.
Lassman, who lives by the park, said that after the city refuses the donation to build a new bus stop, she
"Our family had talked about making it a park for years," Lassman said as she relaxed in front of a cozy fireplace in the home she and her husband, William, built in 1965. The Lassmans' home is next door to Wells Overlook.
"We hated to see the view destroyed, what with everything building out like it does," Lassman said. "We didn't want to see houses all over the side of that building to be laid off. You wouldn't believe what they wanted to build out there."
Lassman said her great-grandfather William D. Wells was one of the earliest settlers in Douglas County when he homesteaded in the area.
Josiah S. Houghton fitted the original
ornate cabin and land with wrought
horns on April 1, 1864. Wells
and Co., Wichita, KS.
acquired the actual land where the park is a few years later.
Lassman said her great-grandfather owned about 60 acres in the area. Besides farming and raising livestock, he also ran supplies to Fort Leavenport and used his trips to Leavenworth when Quantrill raided Lawrence, Lassman said.
The stone house that sits just off the drive leading up to the overlook was Lassman's childhood home, although the house was more long before her family moved into it.
"That house is very old," she said. "It was one of the first houses built in this area. This area was settled in the early 1800s. That house was built shortly afterward."
"It ited to have a wooden kitchen and a room that we used as a living room and dining room, but they're gone now."
Lassman said the small two-story house also had two rooms upstairs besides the two rooms downstairs.
Her father let sheep, horses and mules graze on the hill. Though the hill is now engulfed in dense undergrowth and trees, Lassman said that her father had to drive the hill cleared, and when she was a child the hill was covered with grass.
"You couldn't lose me on that hill," she said. "Some people don't believe me, but even if it were dark, I wouldn't lose my way. As kids we tramped that hill too many times to forget any part of it."
The thick growth now covering the bluff has been an attractive cover for violations of park regulations. When the park originally opened up in 1971, regulations governing the park were made by the county but not enforced very strictly, Lassman said. They are now.
After an incident that happened in December 1978, when the stairs on the tower were set on fire, the park was closed for a short time, and when it
reopened, the rules were strictly enforced.
The rules, which were adopted in 1974, forbid camping or hunting; firearms or intoxicating liquors; horseback riding or driving vehicles on the grounds; fires except in provided places; destroying property—including picking plants and wildflowers; destructive conduct; and unattended dogs.
The park opens daily at 6 a.m. and is locked by the county sherriff's department at 10 p.m.
According to Rex Johnson, Douglas County sheriff, the police force has had any problems at Wells Overlook in the last few years.
"We haven't had any problems at all. The gate is closed at 10. Whoever's out there, we just tell them to leave," Johnson said.
Any violation of the park rules is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $100 or imprisonment in the county jail for up to 30 days.
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