Jackson County, Missouri - Chapter 18: Kansas City - Why She Is and What She Is, 1881 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 18: Kansas City - Why She Is and What She Is

A Summary of the Facts of Her History - The Facts that Caused Her Growth - Het Markets, Her Railroad System, and Fast Freight Lines - Steamship Agencies - The New West, and Its Resources,

The origin and development of Kansas City were based upon certain facts inherent in the nature of things, which, in this closing chapter, it will be well to review.

It will be seen in the preceding pages that these facts relate to transportation facilities. The situation now is as advantageous as in the beginning, and will in the future, as in the past, maintain for this city a controlling position.

In the first place, it was the junction of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers at this point that induced the early French traders and trappers to locate here. Their means of transportation was by packing and by batteaux on the rivers, the latter being by far the best. The junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, therefore, afforded them this facility in a much more extended area of country than any other point in the west. It practically controlled the entire north and west, from the British Possessions to the 38th degree of latitude, and west to the Rocky Mountains.

Again, it was the angle in the Missouri River, at this point, that directed the Santa Fe trade hither. Steamboat navigation on the Missouri being begun almost simultaneously with that trade, afforded cheaper transportation than by wagons; hence it was employed to this, the nearest point to Santa Fe. The character of the country between this angle in the river and Santa Fe, and its superior facilities for making wagon roads and subsisting trains, held it here against all attempts to divert it to the waters of the Red and Arkansas Rivers. Between here and Santa Fe were high divides, with plenty of grass and water, while from the Arkansas and Red Rivers there were more streams to cross, yet less water and wide stretches of sandy plains.

The same superior natural facilities for transportation made this the starting point for the expeditions to Mexico during the war. In was the nearest point to Mexico to which troops and supplies could be moved by water, and afforded the best roads.

great California and Utah emigration. It was the most westerly point to which water transportation could be had, and the country beyond afforded the best roads water grades, and fewer streams.

Why The Trade Came To Kansas City

These facilities, however, were equally available to Independence and Westport, and as both these places were in existence before Kansas City, and fast grew rich in the Santa Fe trade, the outfitting of Mexican expeditions, and the overland emigration to Cahfornia, it was another fact that finally concentrated these interests at Kansas City. This fact was the superior natural landing for steamboats at this point. The angle in the river here threw the water against the shore at the point where the city is located, making here a rock levee, better than any improvement could make one at any other point on the river. This made this a preferred point by the river men. Again, the contiguity of prairie for holding and feeding teams made this a preferred point by the freighters and emigrants. These facts led'to the concentration of these interests at the spot where the city now stands, and caused the growth of the city up to 1857, by which time it had distanced all existing rivals.

It was the same natural facilities that diverted overland freighting to Colorado, which began in 1858. It was the most westerly point to which the freight could be transported by water, and hence nearest to the destination of the freight ; whether for mines or government posts, the water, grades and light ascents afford the best wagon roads. It was largely the lack of these advantages that caused Leavenworth, Atchison and St. Joe to fall behind in competition for this trade. It was no nearer to the destination of the freight to take it to those places, while it was further from the starting point and cost more as river freight. At the same time the country between them and the points of destination did not afford such good roads. This fact was illustrated in the case of Leavenworth to a marked degree, as she, after spending two years and considerable money in attempting to open a route of her own, was at last compelled to make a road to the Kansas River and bridge that stream a few miles west of Kansas City to obtain access to Kansas City's route.

When railroads began to be extended westward from the Mississippi river, the facts above stated had already caused the development at Kansas City of so large a trade as to make it an attractive point for them, besides which the natural faciUties for trade beyond Kansas City made it almost necessary for them to come here to connect with the trade of the plains and mountains. In addition to this, they could reach Kansas City on water . grades, which made it cheaper and easier to build and operate the roads. No such advantages could be secured by seeking other places. These facts controlled their direction.

In the construction of roads to the westward a similar state of facts existed. In the first place, there was a trade already established, and in the second place there were water grades. Therefore, Congress, in fixing the eastern terminus and route of the great Pacific Railroad, fixed it at Kansas City, and defined its route as the existing route of trade.

Again, when Southern Kansas was settled the Kansas River was found to be a great barrier between the people and the river cities of their own State, while Kansas City, located at the mouth of that stream, was accessible to them. The same facts had previously concentrated here the trade of the Indians, after their removal to the west. This brought the trade to Kansas City, and railroads have been constructed to accommodate it. So great were these natural advantages that the disturbed condition of society during the war, and the depredations of thieves and bush-whackers upon the trade of Kansas City could not entirely drive trade to other places. And so soon as this unnatural order of things passed away the trade fell naturally into its old channels.

When the stock growers of Texas began to seek a market for their cattle they soon found Kansas City the nearest point to their herding grounds at which they could avail themselves of competing rates to eastern markets.

When beef packers, attracted by the cheapness of Texas cattle, sought an adjacent point for packing purposes, they found Kansas City the nearest point to the source of supply where adequate transportation and banking facilities were available.

The location of the packers here, together with the necessity of re-shipping the cattle here, brought into existence a market for Texas cattle, which in its turn brought here the product of cattle and hogs of the adjacent country, and created the live-stock market.

The directions of the railroads, as determined by the facts above stated, existing at the time of their construction, made Kansas City the gateway through which all merchandise going into the country west of her, and for all grain products'going to market, must pass. The fact that one system of railroads was projected to Kansas City and another beyond made this the terminalpoint for both and rendered re-shipment necessary. These facts have greatly stimulated the jobbing trade which had already grown out of the outfitting of freighters and the supplying of immigrants, and have called into existence here the grain market.

It is a well established policy with railroads to make such rates as will control, as far as possible, the shipment of freight to their termini instead of allowing it to be switched off to other roads at intermediate stations. It is also a well established policy with railroads to make rates for long distances proportionately less than short. These facts make Kansas City a preferred point by all the railroads, because it is their termini, which is a great advantage over any other place in the Missouri Valley, and secure to her such favorable rates to and from the Atlantic cities, that she is able to maintain a higher range of prices in her markets than any other place in the valley, while she can supply merchandise at lower prices. These facts have greatly stimulated her markets and her trade.

These latter are existing facts that for the future give Kansas City a controlling position, as they have done in the past, and will remain so as long as railroads continue to be managed as they are now.

But there must come a time when better regulations will be established'and the present confused and arbitrary changing of rates abolished. When such a change takes place, the new system cannot but embrace a reasonable allowance of profit on their business. Then roads that can be most cheaply operated will be the cheapest roads to commerce. These will of course be the water grade roads. In that situation Kansas City will be still the possessor of superior advantages, as she has two water grade roads to the Mississippi River, two to the Rocky Mountains, two to the north to Sioux City and Omaha, and two to the south, which, owing to the topography of the country, are equal to water grade roads.

The Lessons Of History

The facts narrated in this history impress two important lessons. The first of these is that, in a free country like America, commerce establishes its own capitals, and that in doing so it is governed by natural laws as fixed and immutable as the laws governing the manifestation of physical phenomena. The purpose of commerce is primarily to make profits for those engaging in it, and the profit being fixed the less the exertion and hazard of making it the better, or the exertion and hazard being fixed the greater the profit the better. The tendency of commerce, therefore, is to accomplish its purposes in the speediest and easiest way, and when left free it invariably finds and accepts that way. In other words, motion follows the line of least resistance, which is the great physical law to which commerce no less than all other kinds of movement is subservient. The second of these lessons is that, a people active and united for common purposes, and possessing equal advantages are far more likely to succeed than a people who are divided or inactive. Nay, they may, and often do overcome even superior advantages. This is illustrated in a most marked degree in the efforts of the people of Kansas City at the close of the war of the rebellion. Prior to that time, they had great natural advantages which made her well nigh invincible by any rivalry. But at that time her trade had been dissipated and her people driven away by the facts and exigencies of war. A new era was dawning in which the railroad was to succeed the steamboat and wagon as a means of transportation and travel. The advantage was now with her rivals, except that she was situated at the junction of water grades, which were not then appreciated as they are now. At this juncture her people became united again, notwithstanding the acerbities of war from which they had so recently emerged, and by promptness, vigor and sagacity, secured the advantages others thought they had already in their hands. Kansas City has but to preserve this unity of action to acquire the trade of the whole trans-Missouri country west to Arizona and south to Mexico.

The Position And Trade Of The City

She is the undisputed metropolis of the New West, embracing western Missouri, Kansas, southwestern Iowa and southern Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico and northern Texas.

She has the only live stock market west of St. Louis - a market that ranks as second or third in the United States, and where the hogs and cattle of the country mentioned are marketed.

She is the grain market for all the country mentioned, and is the best winter wheat market in the United States, and she has the only grain market west of St. Louis where grain is sold on call.

Her Railroad System

Second - The Missouri Pacific to Leavenworth and Atchison, connecting with the Central Branch of the Union Pacific, for northern and northwestern Kansas, and the Atchison & Nebraska for Lincoln and Columbus, Nebraska.

Eighth - The Union Pacific, to Denver, Salt Lake and San Francisco. It connects with the Colorado system of railroads, which it controls, except the Denver and Rio Grande.

Ninth - The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, to Pueblo and Canon City, Colorado, Santa Fe, New Mexico and California cities, by the Central Pacific.

Fast Freight And Steamship Lines

The following named fast freight lines have agents located here soliciting business for them : Star Union and National, Great Western Dispatch, Erie and Pacific Dispatch, Canada Southern, Merchants' Dispatch, Continental, White Line. Blue Line, Southshore Line, Commercial Express and the Midland.

The following named steamship lines have agencies' here and contract for freight to Europe at this point : National, White Star, Great Western, Guion, Cunard, Inman, Anchor, State, Wilson's, Hamburg, American Packet Company, North German Lloyd, White Cross, Netherlands, American, of New York, Montreal and New Orleans, Red Star and American, of Philadelphia.

As A Manufacturing Center

As a manufacturing center, Kansas City has unequaled advantages in her cheap and abundant coal, and in the cheapness and abundance of materials afforded by the contiguous country, a brief summary of which will be found further on in this chapter.

Position And Trade

True, this city does not yet supply all the merchandise, nor market all the products of the vast region tributary to her. The country and the city, commercially speaking, are but a quarter of a century old. The people coming in from all quarters, as emigrants always do, at first look back to the point from whence they came for supplies and for markets. It takes time to establish new associations. This city, as a depot of supply, is not to exceed fifteen years old, and as a market not to exceed ten, but her development in these respects is, for rapidity, without a parallel in the history of cities. She has trade relations established throughout the domain, and now she reaches a point where all competitors must give way forever. She sends merchandise to Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, New Mexico and Texas, and though this trade has not been in existence to exceed ten years she has now nearly excluded all competitors from the markets for the cattle of Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, the Indian Territory, New IMexico and western Missouri; the hogs of western Missouri, Kansas, southeastern Iowa, southern Nebraska and northern Texas ; the sheep and wool of Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, and the wheat of western Missouri, Kansas and southern Nebraska, and partly of southwestern Iowa.

That she will in a few years market all the products of this vast area and supply it with all its merchandise, is certain. Her railway lines penetrate it, radiating from her in all directions. The railway systems of the entire area centers at Kansas City, the roads that do not terminate here making their connection wiih those that do. The absence of navigable waters makes the railways the sole arteries of commerce, and that they will bear the products of the country to Kansas City, and bear the merchandise from Kansas City, is as certain as that they radiate from Kansas City to all parts of the country.

It is a remarkable fact that the markets of Kansas City came into existence and grew to nearly equal importance with those of St. Louis and Chicago - in some respects to a controlling position - within five years, while there was little visible growth in the city and little immigration into the country. It is a remarkable fact also that during the same period, and under the same conditions, the mercantile business of the city was quadrupled, and has continued to grow with unprecedented rapidity since. The significance of these facts is unmistakable. It simply means the rapid, intense concentration of the trade of the country at Kansas City.

Since, therefore, Kansas City already so largely controls the trade of this vast area, and since its intense and speedy concentration here is assured by the facts above stated, it manifests that her growth will be measured by that of the country. It remains only for us to review the resources of the country and compare them with those of districts commercially tributary to the great cities of the world, to arrive at some idea of what Kansas City must become.

In this we cannot avail ourselves of the exact statistics offered by old, settled and developed countries ; ours is so new that we as yet scarcely know the extent of its possibilities - we know only the nature of them, and have estimated magnitudes below which they can not fall.

The New West And Its Resources

The area in which Kansas City trades may be defined as between the 17th and 29th meridian west from Washington and the 23d and 41st parallels of latitude, embracing a greater variety of climate and mineral and soil products than can be found in any similar area in the world. The great agricultural belt of the United States crosses it. It contains the greatest pastoral region in the world, and embraces the famous lead, zinc and coal mines of Missouri and Kansas, and the lead, coal, iron, silver and gold mines of Colorado and New Mexico. There are no adequate statistics of its population or productions. It is so new, and has been settling and developing so rapidly since the general census, in 1870, that the (acts of that census would grossly misrepresent its present condition, and the census of 1880 is not yet available.

The general conditions of a country have much to do in determining its fitness for the habitation of man. These may be said to consist of climate, rainfall and soil, and we propose first to take a brief view of these.

Climate

As above stated, this country embraces a wide range of climate, due partly to the number of latitudes it embraces, and partly to the difference in altitude, the country rising from about seven hundred feet at the Missouri River, to about five thousand at the base of the mountains. However, the most desirable latitudes cross it, the country between the 38th and 42d parallels, both in this country and Europe, having been found to be the best adapted to vigorous manhood, longevity, and physical and mental effort. These parallels embrace, on both hemispheres, the largest per cent, of the population north of the equator, and the seat of man's highest achievements.

The country between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains is specially favored in regard to climate. In the summer the prevailing wind is from south southeast to north northwest, and it comes from the Gulf of Mexico laden with moisture, which tempers the summer heats to a degree not experienced in the country east of the Mississippi River. In winter the prevailing wind is from north northwest to south southeast. It comes from the streams and currents of Pacific Ocean, and in crossing the mountain ranges of the west, its moisture is precipitated in snow, hence it comes to the prairies east of the mountains dry and bracing. It is needless to state the fact that a cold air that is dry is vastly less disagreeable or unhealthy than one that is damp. And this makes the difference between the country west of the Mississippi River and that east of it, in winter time; for while it is dry and healthful west of that stream, the northern wind east of it crosses the great lakes, and is laden with unhealthful moisture.

It is due to this fact that the western plains are so healthful for man, and so favorable for live stock. Thousands of people who have become invalids in the east, have been restored by removing to the west. It is needless to cite instances ; they are so numerous as to have already established the reputation of the country, and to have made some parts of it, as Colorado, an asylum and resort for health- seekers. The atmosphere of the western plains is in winter delicious - cool, dry and bracing. All animal life is invigorated, man grows stronger, and animals thrive and fatten better without shelter than they do with it in most eastern longitudes. Sounds penetrate to great distances, and the air is so elastic and clear . that it seems, if it could be successfully struck as a bell, it would resound throughout the Heavens with clear, ringing music. Vegetation and dead animals do not decay, but dry up, the former retaining all its nutritive properties. The western prairies are covered in winter, not with dead grasses, but with fine, well cured and nutritive hay, upon which the immense herds of buffalo, elk and deer have lived and fattened throughout all the ages, and upon which it has now been found that cattle and sheep thrive eqally well.

"The great belt of country between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean is bisected about equally north and south by the great snowy range. As you leave the Pacific Ocean or Missouri River, and approach these lofty mountains, you gradually rise until you are on the elevated table lands of the continent.

"Through these immense grassy tables the streams run which drain this mountain range of its snows and running waters. As you approach nearer to the mountain base, you reach greater elevations, and find the country better watered.

"Intersecting this country, extending from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to the foot of the mountains, one thousand and one hundred miles north and south, and five hundred miles east and west, is the great Rio Grande, Neuces, San Antonio, Gaudaloupe, Colorado, Brazos, Trinitj, Main Red, Washita, Canadian, Cimarron, Arkansas, Smoky Hill, Saline, Solomon, Republican, North and South Platte, Loup Fork, Niobrara, White Earth, Big Cheyenne, Little Missouri, Powder, Tongue, Rose Bud, Big Horn, Wind River, Yellowstone, Milk River, Mussel Shell, Marias, Jefferson Fork, and the head of the Missouri itself above the Yellowstone ; each one in itself fitted to take rank with the great rivers of the world, and all aggregating fully twenty thousand miles of living crystal water. Each one of these is made up of innumerable smaller streams, some of which would be called great but for comparison with the larger parent streams, all making a complete network of mountain streams, draining every mountain and hillside, and watering every valley.

"The western slope is equally well if not better watered. I do not think there is another country so well watered as the two Rocky Mountain slopes. From El Paso del Norte, on the Mexican boundary, to the headwaters of the Missouri River, a distance, if measured by the windings of the great mountain range, of from eighteen hundred to two thousand miles, there is not five miles between the small mountain streams that run down the great slopes to form these larger ones. The valleys of these little, and even of the larger streams, are covered with a den^e growth of tall grass ; while the higher grounds between these streams are covered with a shorter but sweeter growth. The blufis bordering on the large streams on the plains are not high nor precipitous, but rounded and regular, and grass-grown. Nearer the mountains, these bluffs are higher and steeper, and in some instances amount to canons, and afford the best protection to all kinds of stock.

' ' The country west of the foot of the Sierra Madre or Snowy Range, is divided into the great mountain valleys, such as the great parks of Colorado and the Laramie plains, all of which, to the height of nine thousand feet, are covered with luxuriant grass. These valleys are elevated table-lands like the steppes of Asia, with soil, chmate and productions similar. I have devoted this much time to the physical geography of the trans-Missouri country, that your readers may know of its general formation, of its streams, etc.

of this country. It is entirely unlike the Atlantic and Mississippi Valley States. Judged by the climate of the States in the same latitude, and at the same altitude, four-fifths of this larger division of our country would be uninhabitable from snows and frosts.

"On the Atlantic coast, on the White and Alleghany Mountains, the perpetual snow line is or would be, seven thousand feet above the sea. In the same latitude on the Rocky Mountains the snow line is from twelve to fourteen thousand feet above.

" The terminal line of vegetation on the White Mountains is five thousand feet; on the Alleghany Mountains it is five thousand five hundred feet; on the Black Hills, at Sherman, eight thousand and two hundred, and the still higher points, as high as nine thousand feet, are covered with luxuriant growth of grass.

'- Strawberries are picked on the Snowy Range to the height of eleven thousand feet, and evergreen trees grow to the tops of the highest mountains, which are over fifteen thousand feet high. The great table lands and the elevated plains and valleys of the mountains, such as North, Middle and South Parks, and the Laramie plains, are one and two thousand feet above the tops of the Atlantic coast range mountains, arid in the same latitude, are as mild as the Atlantic sea le^el.

" England, in latitute 62", has a warmer climate than Long Island in 40°. Nova Scotia, 45°, is nearly frigid in temperature, while in France, in 49° north latitude - 4° farther north - is vine clad. While the inhabitant of Nova Scotia shivers over his fire, the Frenchman reclines in the shade of his ' ' vine and fig tree."

"The climate of Europe is tempered by the eternal waters of the Gulf Stream, which has been heated in the tropics. Not only is the climate on the immediate coast directly influenced and changed by the Gulf Stream, but the winds warmed by it give the vine, the ivy and the geranium to the Seine, the Rhine and the Elbe, and even invade the realms of the winter king on the sides of the lofty Alps, the Ural, the Appenines and the Pyrenees.

" Thus it is here. The western coast of our continent is washed by a tropical stream greater and warmer than the Gulf Stream, and which makes San Fancisco, in the same latitude as Richmond, 14° warmer ; makes Astoria, in the same latitude as Fort Brady, Michigan, 28° warmer in winter, and 12° warmer all the year round ; makes Sitka, Alaska, in the same latitude as Nain, Labrador, 32° warmer in winter, and 17° the whole year round

"The currents of air heated by the thermal waters, are forced east, and spreading through the valleys of the great mountain range, give to Utah (four thousand and five hundred feet above the sea), grapes, peaches, apricots, cotton, the sugar cane, and other tropical productions. To Colorado, along the eastern base of the mountains, at an altitude of five thousand feet, it gives the climate of Virginia and Tennessee.

" This heated wind, the warm, balmy breath of the topics, makes the snow and ice shrink and retire up the sides of the lofty Sierre Madre ; giving up the land to the wild rose, the mountain lily, and honey suckle, the columbine, and the trailing arbutus, and hundreds more of all the flowers, all spreading out into a floral carpet of the richest and most varied colors.

" Mild temperatures in our high altitudes and latitudes are not of their kind wonderful in comparison with Asia, whose table-lands in the great Himalayas are many degrees north of ours, and higher than the tops of Long's Peak and Fremont's Peak and Mt. Hood.

"The Plains of Sadak, belonging to the Rajah of Cashmere, in latitude 40°, are fifteen thousand feet high. Their snow and rain fall is less than ours. Herds of cattle, sheep, and horses gaze upon them the year round, while still higher on the hill sides which surrou,nd them, the Tartars grow barley and oats each year.

"All the Missouri River, from Omaha to one hundred miles north of Fort Benton, has a mean temperature for the year of 45° Fahrenheit. All the country intervening between the North Platte on the south - the line of 59° temperature - and the Missouri River on the north, has a temperature between 45° and 50°- There is no part of the country north of the Union Pacific Railroad and south the British line, north and south, and between the Missouri River on the east, and the Rocky Mountains on the west, that has a lower annual temperature than 45°. South of the Union Pacific Railroad, to the Rio Grande, the mean annual temperature varies from 50° to 60°. No single point has been found south of the Union Pacific Railroad, east of the mountains and west of the Mississippi, where the temperature is below 50°. Nor is there a point where it is higher than 65°."

The Rainfall

The facts above stated concerning the prevalent directions of the winds explain the mystery of the western rainfall. The southern winds coming up from the gulf in spring and early summer hear moisture which is precipitated into rain in the higher latitudes. In the latter part of the season the winds coming inthe other direction their moisture is precipitated in snow upon the mountains, and they reach the great plains dry and cool. Owing to this fact, three-fourths of the annual rainfall in the country west of the Missouri River occurs in April, May and June - just the season when the growing crops and grasses need it, while in the latter part of the year, when dry weather is needed to mature the crops, it presents exactly the requisite conditions.

That is what manifestly gave rise to that popular myth of twenty years ago - "The Great American Desert." Travelers, voyageurs a.\)d emigrants crossing the great plains, leaving the Missouri River in May, reached the supposed locality of this great arid plain after the larger part of the rainfall of the year had been precipitated. They found it dry and covered with a short bunchy grass which was unknown to them, and which was, therefore, supposed to be a worthless, scrubby product, incident to an arid and desert region. Later experience and more adequate observation develops the facts that the rainfall is not so much less than in other districts, as had been supposed, but occurs at a particular season, and that the short bunchy and supposed worthless grass is the best grass in the world for all ruminant animals.

The Extent Of The Fall

The Agricultural Department furnishes the following statement of the average fall of rain in the several States below named, in the months of May, June, July and August, for a period of ten years, which shows favorably for the New West :

Col. R. S. Elliott, late industrial agent of the Kansas Pacific Railway, made this subject a special study, and in his " Industrial Resources," says :

"Within a few years the rain-gauge has been brought into service at points distant from each other, but located at irregular intervals across the continent, and its record shows not only greater precipitation than was formerly believed to take place on the plains, but that the distribu-tion is unequal in time, giving us the largest proportions in the growing seasons - spring and summer."

In his late work, "The Mississippi Valley," Prof. J. W. Foster, says: "The rains which water the Atlantic slope are equally distributed, the variations being very slight; while those which water the Mississippi Valley are unequally distributed, those of spring and summer being greatly in excess - a fact," he says, "which has been overlooked by most meteorologists in reference to the geographical distributions of plants." As we pass westward from the Atlantic the inequality increases until we pass the Rocky Mountains. "Contrasting the two stations. New York and Fort Laramie," says Prof. Foster, " it will be seen that on the seaboard about forty eight per cent, of the yearly precipitations occurs during the fall and winter, while on the plains only twenty-five per cent, occurs during that period, and that, while on the sea-board the precipitation is nearly uniform during the four seasons, three-fourths of the precipitation on the plains occurs during spring and summer."

At Fort Riley about sixty-nine per cent, of the annual precipitation is in spring and summer ; at Fort Kearney, eighty-one, and at Fort Laramie, seventyone per cent. From observations at Forts Harker, Hays and Wallace on the line of the Kansas Pacific, the same rule seems to hold good. Records have not been long enough continued at these three posts to give a long average, but the mean appears to be between seventeen and nineteen inches at Hays and Wallace, and probably more at Harker.

A popular belief exists in Kansas and Nebraska that since the settlement, the planting of trees and the cultivation of the soil, the rainfall has increased, and upon this is founded the prediction that within a brief period dry seasons will become unknown. Referring to this subject, Col. Elliot wrote to Prof. Henry a few years ago, as follows;

'- Facts such as these seem to sustain the popular persuasion in Kansas, that a climatic change is taking place, prompted by the spread of settlements, west-> wardly, breaking up portions of the prairie soil, covering the earth with plants that shade the ground more than the short grasses ; thus checking or modifying the reflection of heat from the earth's surface. This fact is also noted, that where the prairie soil is not disturbed, the short buffalo grass disappears as the 'frontier' extends westward, and its place is taken by grasses and other herbage of taller growth. That this change of the clothing of the plains, if sufficiently extensive, might have a modifying influence on the climate, I do not doubt ; but whether the change has been already spread over a large enough area, and whether our apparently, or really wetter seasons may not be part of a cycle, are unsettled questions.

" The civil engineers of this railway believe that the rains and humidity of the plains have increased during the extension of railroads and telegraph across them. If this is the case, it may be that the mysterious electrical influence in which they seem to have so much faith, but do not profess to explain, has exercised a beneficial influence."

Weston's Guide to the Kansas Pacific, published in 1872, commenting upon the statements of Col. Elliott, gives the observations of another gentleman who had devoted much attention to the subject. He says: "It is certain that rains have increased; this increase has coincided with the increase of settlements, railroads and telegraphs. If influenced by these, the change of climate will go on ; if by extra mundane influence, the change may be permanent, progressive or retrograde. He thinks there are good grounds to believe it will be progressive Within the last fifteen years, in western Missouri and Iowa, and eastern Kansas and Nebraska, a very large aggregate of surface has been broken up, and holds more of the rain than formerly. During the same period modifying influences have been put in motion in Montana, Utah and Colorado. Very small areas of timbered land west of the Missouri have been cleared - not equal, perhaps, to the areas of forest orchards and vineyards planted. Hence, it may be said that all the acts of man in this vast region have tended to produce conditions on the earth's surface to ameliorate the climate. With extended settlements on the Arkansas, Canada and Red rivers of the south, as well as on the river system of the Kaw Valley and on the Platte, the ameliorating conditions will be extended in like degree ; and it partakes more of sober reason than wild fancy to suppose that a permanent and beneficial change of climate can be experienced. The appalling deterioration of large portions of the earth's surface, through the acts of man in destroying the forest, justifies the trust that the culture of taller herbage and trees, in a region heretofore covered- mainly with short grasses,' may have a converse effect. Indeed, in Central Kansas, nature seems almost to precede settlements by the latter grasses and herbage."

" All the country west of Omaha, on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, as far as Fort Kearney, is in this belt, where twenty-five inches of rain fall yearly.

" West of Fort Kearney, extending to the Sierra Madre, on this railroad line, including the Black Hills and Laramie Plains, is the belt where twenty inches fall annually, with the exception of a small portion of country in Texas called the Staked Plain. These two belts include ail the trans-Missouri country west from the Missouri and Mississippi to the Snowy Range. This rainfall includes the snow reduced to water measure, twelve inches of snow making one inch of water. This water falls mostly in the spring in gentle rains, during the month of May, which is the rainy season of the country.

" This month of May's rain gives our grasses their growth, and by the first to the 15th of June they are fully matured. Our rains then come in short showers, and the fall for the summer is small. Our grasses begin to cure, and by the first of September they have become perfectly cured, uncut hay. This one fact alone is the key to the great superiority of this country for grazing.

" Our grasses cure instead of decomposing, as there is neither the heat nor the moisture, both of which are necessary for the chemical process of decomposition.

" As you leave the Missouri River you enter the belt of country where two feet of snow falls. This belt extends like the first belt of rain to Fort Kearney. West of that point to the mountain's foot is the belt of eighteen inches. These two belts include all the country east of the mountains. The snow falls at a single storm are very light, three inches being exceptionally large, and this amount being dry and light, never lies on a level ; in t'wenty-four hours frcm the time of fall the ground is bare."

Soil

The soil of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa is composed of what geologists callthe Drift, Loess and Alluvial deposits. The first is of comparatively limited extent, and is mostly found combined with the Loess in what is known as Modified Drift. In this form it. is very fertile, and yields sixty bushels of corn to the acre. The second embraces all the upland soil, and the third the bottom lands. Of the upland soils. Prof. Samuel Aughey, of Nebraska, says :

" As would be expected, from the elements which chemical analysis shows to be present in these deposits, it forms one of the best soils in the world. In fact, it can never be exhausted until every hill and valley of which it is composed are entirely worn away. Its drainage, which is the best possible, owing to the remarkably fine comminuted silica of which the bulk of the deposit consists. When the ground is cultivated the most copious rains soon percolate through the soil, which, in its lowest depths, retains it like a huge sponge. Even the unbroken prairie absorbs much of the heavy rains that fall. When drouths come the moisture comes up from below by capillary attraction. And when it is considered that the depth to the solid rock ranges generally from five to two hundred feet, it is seen how readily the needs of vegetation are supplied in the driest seasons. This is the main reason why over all the region where these deposits prevail the natural vegetation and the well-cultivated crops are rarely dried out or drowned out. I have frequently observed a few showers to fall in April, and then no more rain until June, when, as will be considered farther on, there is generally a rainy season of from two to four weeks' continuance. After these June rains little more would fall till autumn ; and yet, if there was deep and thorough cultivation, the crops of corn, cereals and grass would be most abundant. This condition represents the dry seasons. On the other hand, the extremely wet season only damage the crops over the low bottoms, subject to overflow. Owing to the silicious nature of the soils they never bake when plowed in a wet condition, and a day after heavy rains the plow can again be successfully and safely used.

"For all purposes of architecture this soil, even to the most massive structures, is perfectly secure. I have never known a foundation of a large brick or stone building, if commenced below the winter frost line, to give way. Even when the first layers of brick and stone are laid on top of the ground there is seldom such unevenness of settling as to produce 'fractures in the walls. On no other deposits, except the solid rocks, are there such excellent roads. From twelve to twenty-four hours after the heaviest rains the roads are perfectly dry, and often appear, after being traveled a few days, like a vast floor formed from cement, and by the highest art of man. The drawback to this picture is that sometimes during a drought the air along the highways on windy days is filled with dust. And yet the soil is very easily worked, yielding readily to the spade or the plow. Excavation is remarkably easy, and no pick or mattock is thought of for such purpose. It might be expected that such a soil readily yielded to atmospheric influences, but such is not the case. Wells in this deposit are frequently walled up only to a point above the water line, and on the remainder the spade marks will be visible for years. Indeed, the traveler over Nebraska will often be surprised to find spade-marks and carved out names and dates years after they were first made, where ordinary soils would soon have fallen away to a gentle slope. This peculiarity of the soil has often been a God-send to poor emigrants. Such often cut out of the hill-side, a shelter for themselves and their stock. Many a time when caught out on the roads in a storm, far away from the towns, have I found shelter in a "dug-out" with an emigrant's family, where, cozy and warm, there was perfect comfort, with little expenditure of fuel on the coldest days. In summer such shelters are much cooler than frame or brick houses. I shall never forget one occasion in 1866 when, bewildered by a blinding snow-storm, I came to a " dug-out," and although all the chambers were carved out of the soil (Loess) they were perfectly dry. The walls were hidden and ornamented with Harper's Weekly, with the emanations of Nast's genius, made to occupy the conspicuous corners. My hostess, whose cultivated intellect and kindly nature made even this abode a charming resort, was a graduate of an eastern seminary. Her husband, after a failure in business in New York, came here to commence life anew on a homestead by stock-raising. To get a start with young stock, no money could be spared for a house. Eight years afterward I found the same family financially independent and living in a beautiful brick mansion, but I doubt whether they had any more substantial happiness than when they were looking for better days in the old temporary "dug-cut." Thousands who are still coming into this land of promise are still doing the same thing. So firmly does the material of this deposit stand that after excavations are made in it, underground passages without number could be constructed without meeting any obstacles, and without requiring any protection from walls and timber."

Of the bottom lands - the alluvium - Prof. Aughey says: "When now we bring into our estimate all the river bottoms, and the tributaries of these rivers, and reflect that all these valleys were formed in the same way, within comparatively modern geological times, the forces which water agencies brought into play almost appall the mind by their very immensity. So well are these bottom lands distributed that the emigrants can, in most of the counties of the State, choose between them and the uplands for their future home. In some of these new counties, like Fillmore, where bottom lands are far apart, there are many small, modern, dried-up lake-beds, whose soil is closely aUied to that of the valleys. Not unfrequently is the choice made of portions of each, on the supposition that the bottom lands are best adapted for the growth of large crops of grasses. But all the years of experience in cultivating upland and bottoms in Nebraska leave the question of superiority of one over the other undecided. Both have their advocates. The seasons as well as the locations have much to do with the question. Some bottom lands are high and dry, while others are lower and contain so much alumina, that in wet seasons they are difficult to work. On such lands, too, a wet spring interferes with early planting and sowing. All the uplands, too, which have a Loess origin, seem to produce cultivated grass as luxuriantly as the richest bottoms, especially where there is deep cultivation on old breaking. Again, most of the bottom lands are so mingled with Loess materials, and their drainage is so good that the cereal'grains and fruits are as productive on them as on the high lands. The bottom lands, are, however, the richest in organic matter."

"The alluvial deposits in Kansas are so similar to those of the older western States that no particular description becomes necessary. The river bottoms are usually broad and level, but well drained. The thickness varies from five to fifty feet. In various places in the valley of the Neosho, unaltered wood has been found at the latter depth in digging wells. The nature of this alluvium, or surface, is very rich in vegetable matter, and in many places furnishes a nourishing soil throughout its whole thickness. In some cases it is, in part, composed of modified drift. At the salt well in Brown county, a metamorphic boulder was found fifty-two feet below the surface. The humus, or vegetable mold, of the high prairie is from one to three feet in depth. It is the usual development of the prairie features, so common in the other western States. It is the same fine, black, rich loam which has become noted as the most fertile soil in the world."

J. B. Lyman, Esq., agricultural editor of the New York Tribune, after a tour of five thousand miles through the West, in 187 1, read an article before the Farmers' Club at Cooper Institute, in which he made the following statements:

" The prairie is substantially unbroken and homogeneous in its character from the valley of the Wabash to Fort Kearney. It is by nature an immense grassy plain, sometimes quite flat, generally more or less rolling, and occasionally broken by bluffs and sharp acclivities, with a region not adapted to the plow. But I think four-fifths, and probably seven-eighths, of the Prairie States can be plowed with as little difficulty and with as ample returns as any part of the rich alluvial places of the East.

" Yet I speak advisedly and not without a full impression on my mind, of the exceeding attractiveness and fertifity of land in southern Minnesota, when I say that the most attractive country that I saw is west of the Missouri River."

In 1868 Prof. Louis Agassiz visited Kansas. He declared that he never before had seen so good a soil as he had seen in Kansas and Missouri, and he declared its fruits to be equal to any he had ever tasted.

Edward Everett Hale, in a book on Kansas, quotes from another writer who says: " It is unrivaled for the fertility of its soil, the value of its timber and forest trees, the amenity and beauty of its broad prairies, the number of its crystal streams and the salubrity of its climate." Mr. Hale himself adds : " For nearly two hundred miles west from the Missouri, a rich vegetable soil, sufficiently wooded, is found throughout the whole of this valley (the Kaw). It is the region of which the eastern part has been principally occupied by the Shawnees, Delawares and Pottawatomies, whose indolent farming even produces them the most remarkable results. The soil produces wheat, corn and hemp in great abundance, and is to all appearances inexhaustible. Every variety of timber known in the western forests is found there in sufficient quantity to answer the purposes of settlers. * * * The general appearance of the country is that of vast rolling fields inclosed with colossal hedges."

In a book entitled, " Irish Immigration to the United States ; What it Has Been and Is," written by Rev. Stephen Byrne, and published by the Catholic Publication Society of New York in 1873, occurs the following statements relative to Kansas :

" The soil is very productive throughout, mostly presenting a rolling surface, thus affording superior drainage. Every kind of fruit and grain can be grown ; it is especially adapted to the growing of the grape. The rich, black soil is generally from two to six feet and more thick.

"The cHmate is very salubrious throughout; new sections of the country are visited by intermittent fever in the spring and fall, which disappears with the progress of the cultivation of the soil. Vast numbers of people who have been in feeble health in the more Eastern States, contend that they have been greatly benefited by the climate. The summer heat is rendered less oppressive and excessive by a continual breeze, and the nights are very refreshing."

Agriculture

The foregoing facts concerning the climate, soil, and rainfall of the New West, leaves but little to be said concerning its agricultural resources, except to show what may be produced and what yields may be expected. But the smallest part of the agricultural land is yet in cultivation, and the aggregate yields, immense as they are, constitute but a moiety of what they will assuredly become.

No country could be better adapted to agriculture. The whole surface of the country, away from the timbered streams, is one vast rolling plain. All the agriculturist has to do, is to plow and plant it. It has been the usual experience of immigrants to Kansas and Nebraska, that their crops the first year paid for the first year's work, and it is not unusual that it is the only dependence of the immigrant for support, and the means with which to make a second. That it usually suffices for this purpose is the highest testimonial to the agricultural capabilities of the country.

In western Missouri and Kansas, winter wheat and corn are the great staples. In western Iowa and Nebraska, spring wheat and corn are the great staples. Besides these, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, sorghum, broom-corn, castor beans, flax, hemp, and all kinds of grasses, native and cultivated, flourish; and in southern Kansas and Texas, cotton and sweet potatoes are grown successfully.

The following statement of yields will be found interesting. It is the average of the States named, for nine years, from 1864 to 1872 inclusive:

In Kansas winter wheat makes a better average yield than spring, and the average at least one-fourth higher than that above given, or about twenty bushels. Spring wheat succeeds best in Nebraska and Iowa, and in Nebraska has been known to make a yearly average of twenty-eight bushels.

The Centennial edition of the report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture makes a comparison of the yield of corn and wheat for twelve consecutive years in Kansas and several other States - Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri - in which it will be seen that the average for the seven States was: Of corn, 33 bushels ; Kansas, 36.3. Of wheat, the average for the sevenStates was 13.4 bushels ; of Kansas it was 15.8 bushels.

Western Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa have about as large yields of corn as Kansas. Western Missouri yields about the same in fall wheat as Kansas. Iowa and Nebraska yield about the same average per acre of spring wheat. But of the aggregate yields of the country, we have no statistics later than the general census of 1870 - the census of 1880 not being yet available. A careful computation from the census shows for that year, ending June, there was produced in this region 26, 4.i;2, 116 bushels of wheat; 631,353 bushels of rye, 89,236,854 bushels of corn ; 24,367,214 bushels of oats, 1,429,946 bushels of barley, 1,846,- 138 tons of hay, 6,235,366 pounds of tobacco.

In live stock it produced : Of hogs 2,596,185 ; catde other than exclusively grass-fed, 533,833, of grass-fed 2,061,343 ; exclusive of the Indian Territory where there are large herds, but from which there are no returns; of mules, 116,585; of sheep, 233,326; of horses, 885,833.

The value in soil products of the amount produced by these figures, at the current market rates paid at Kansas City, would amount to $85,228,837. And the live stock, at a low average per hea,d, are in value $26,557,640.

Or, in the aggregate, this portion of the Union produced in 1870, from its soil alone, a wealth of more than one hundred and twenty-eight millions of dollars. In 1880 the production was many fold greater.

Fruit Growing

The country is yet so new that its capacity for the production of fruit is but inadequately developed. The effort so far has been largely experimental, for the climate and soil, differing somewhat from the country already settled, produces different results with the same varieties. Some of those which succeed best in more eastern localities do not succeed well here, hence the country may be said to be just ascertaining what fruits will pay.

Of its natural adaptability for fruits there can be no question. In no country in the world is there a greater variety or abundance of wild fruits, and in no country do they present more vigorous growths or finer natural flavors. Of the natural adaptation of the country we quote from Prof. Aughey, of Nebraska. What he says of the natural adaptability of the country applies equally well to all parts as well as Nebraska, because it is all of the same character. Referring to the soil deposits he says :

" As would be expected, these deposits are also a paradise for the cultivated fruits of the. temperate zones. They luxuriate in a soil like this, which has perfect natural drainage and is composed of such materials. No other region, except the valleys of the. Nile and of the Rhine, can in these respects compare with the Loess deposits of Nebraska. The Loess of the Rhine supplies Europe with some of its finest wines and grapes. The success that has already attended the cultivation of the grape in southeastern Nebraska, at least, demonstrates that the State may likewise become remarkable in this respect. For the cultivation of the apple its superiority is demonstrated. Nebraska, although so young in years, has taken the premium over all the other States in the pomological fairs at Richmond and Boston. Of coarse there are obstacles here in the way of the pomologist as well as in other favored regions. But what is claimed is that the soil, as anilysis and experience prove, is eminendy adapted to grape and especially to apple-tree culture. The chief obstacle is particularly met with in the interior of the State, and results fro-n the climate. In midsummer occasional hot, dry winds blow from the southwest. These winds, where the trunks of apple trees are exposed, blister and scald the bark on the south side, and frequently kill the trees. It is found, however, that when young trees are caused to throw out Hmbs near to the ground, they are completely protected, or if that has not been done, a shingle tacked on that side of the tree prevents all damage from that ource. Many fruit-growers also claim that Cottonwood and box-elder groves on the south side of orchards is all that is necessary to protect them from these storms. I mention this here to put any new settler who may read this and who has not learned the experience of fruit-growers in this State, on his guard."

In addition to the fact above stated by Prof. Aughey, that Nebraska took the premium over all other States at the pomological fairs of Boston and Richmond, it needs only to be stated that Kansas took the premium over all other States at the fair of the National Pomological society, at Philadelphia, in 1869, at the fair of the American Pomological society, at Richmond, in 1871, and has taken highest premiums at the fairs of the Pennsylvania Horticultural society, at the St. Louis fair, at the State fairs of New York, New Hampshire, and at the New England fair at Lowell, Mass.

These facts sufficiently establish the character of Kansas and Nebraska as fruit growing States. In 1873 a collection of Missouri fruits from the western part of the State took the premium at the Kansas State Fair, which sufficiently testifies to the quality of Missouri as a fruit State. At this fair there was an extensive display of California fruits, intended for exhibition only, which brought the fruits of Kansas and Missouri into close position and critical comparison with those of the most famous fruit State in the Union. And they did not suffer either as to size, perfection, or flavor.

Although the fruit interest of these States is young and but Httle developed, displays of fruit have become a prominent feature, and a most attractive one at all their fairs. And it is the verdict of visitors from the east that better fruits are not grown anywhere in the United States. Kansas is the only State from which we have any late statistics of acreage in fruit. She had, in 1875, 100,489.97 in all fruits except grapes, and 3,004.44 acres in vineyard.

Live Stock

A country possessing such favorable conditions of climate and producing so abundantly of all that feeds animal life could not be otherwise than favorable for stock growing. It has been the experience of farmers and freighters that cattle and mules live and thrive on the native grasses of the western plains and maintain fair conditions of flesh although continually under the yoke or in the harness. In many parts of the country cattle are subsisted exclusively on grass the year round and are never provided with shelter, yet they thrive and fatten and are converted into beef without further feed.

Stock of all kinds is becoming a great interest with the farmers of Kansas and Nebraska, as it has already with those of Missouri and Iowa. Cattle, hogs and sheep are, however, taking the lead, as they do everywhere.

As to the adaptabihty of the country for hogs, little need be said, besides what has been said already relative to the climate and abundance of the yield of corn, which make that one of the most profitable as v/ell as most easily handled kinds of stock. It has already become a prominent interest. However, there were in 1880 1,281,630 hogs in Kansas, and in Nebraska 767,702, and there are as many now.

Cattle

The production of cattle has become a very profitable branch of agriculture, and farmers prefer feeding their corn to shipping it. In 1880, there were in Kansas 748,672 head of cattle other than milch cows, and in Nebraska in 1880, 675,244. This does not include grass-fed cattle which are the chief stock resources of the country, but of these there are no statistics. They are mostly driven from Texas at the rate of from 175,000 to 400,000 head per annum, and fattened on the western plains, after which are. sold at the Kansas City market, western Kansas and Nebraska, and Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, are well stocked with them, and the supply is exhaustless and annually increasing. In fact, there is no country in the world so well adapted to them as the western plains. A few years ago Dr. Latham, of Omaha, collected much valuable information relative to the adaptability of the plains of western Nebraska and Colorado for stock growing. It is needless here to give any extended summary of the facts collected by him. He summarized them all in the following:

" In conclusion, to be brief, I think no one can deny nor doubt that the above testiraoijy proves conclusively that we have i,ooo,oco,ooo acres of pasturage, where wool can be produced as cheap as in Buenos Ayres, where 1,000,000,- 000 sheep can graze summer and winter, where beef and mutton can be raised at so low a price that the poorest paid labor can have an abundance, and that we should be exporters of all classes of animal productions, instead of dependent importers. It does not need prophetic vision to see, within the next quarter of a century, a time equaled by Mr. Ward's and Mr. Major's experience, 20,000,- 000 of people west of the Missouri River, with more live stock than is in the States east of it, and our country providing the wool to run the spindles of the world. There is much more to be said in connection with this subject, such as descriptions of particular locations for stock, but I have treated of this subject at such length that I forbear. My excuse for such great length is the magnitude of this national subject."

Sheep

The production of sheep and wool has also become a great interest in Kansas and Nebraska, and it is rapidly increasing. In 1880, Kansas had 416,492 sheep, and Nebraska in 1880 had 194,159, and in Colorado, 782,649 Of the number in New Mexico we have no statistics, but the number is very great and annually increasing. In regard to sheep raising on the western plains, we quote again from Dr. H. Latham :

' ' All the country lying west of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers is of that high, dry, rolling character which is so favorable for the growth of the healthiest sheep and most valuable fibers of wool.

"All of the trans-Missouri country, west of the ninety-eighth meridian, to the crest of the Snowy Range, has less than six weeks of rainy season, which is in the month of May, after the cold weather. Usually there is no rain fall from November till May. The snow is dry and round and does not adhere to the sheep. There is not an acre of all the billion acres of country that does not furnish summer and winter grazing for sheep. There is winter grazing enough in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, to graze all the sheep in the United States. Australia and the Argentine Republic, the aggregate of whose wool product is 300,000,000 pounds, worth $100,000,000.

" There is an entire absence of the marshy lands and wet soils so destructive to sheep in the form of " foot ail. " The sheep in New Mexico, Colorado and Utah have-not, after ten years in the two latter Territories and forty years experience in the former, developed any diseases. The universal testimony has been in all our Territories and States west of the Missouri River that there have been no diseases among the flocks, and that they have improved in the quality and quantity of the fleeces.

"The great fact of winter grazing will enable our flock-masters to make wool growing exceedingly remunerative. In many instances which came under my own observation here on the plains, flocks have yielded one hundred per cent annually upon the investment in them.

"In countries where either the natural resources or protection makes wool growing profitable, it makes most wonderful advancement. The industry of South America, South Africa and Australia does not date back more than ' a quarter of a century - and now they export 250,000,000 pounds.

there is nothing that shows how rapidly the product can be increased, and how wonderfully the demand increases, so much as the figures of England's importation thirty years ago - then seventy-four thousand bales were imported from Germany ; ten thousand bales from Spain and Portugal ; British colonies, eight thousand bales ; other places, five thousand; total, ninety-eight thousand bales. In 1864 there were imported from Austraha three hundred and two thousand bales ; Cape of Good Hope, sixty-eight thousand bales ; South America, ninetynine thousand bales; and two hundred and nineteen thousand, three hundred and thirty-six bales from other sources - in all, six hundred and eighty-eight thousand, three hundred and thirty-six bales. Australia now supplies more than three times the whole amount of foreign wool consumed in England thirty years ago, and the production of South America exceeds the whole consumption then."

A country possessing such a climate as the New West is here shown to possess and producing such an abundance of corn cannot fail to be exceedingly prolific in the production of hogs. In fact, this is one of the leading interests of the corn-growing part of this country, as shown in the following table of the number taxed in the States named m 1880. We add in this table also, the number of cattle, horses and sheep in these States for the year 1880 and for the three preceding years, thus showing the increase from year to year :

The timber resources of the New West are large notwithstanding it is a prairie country. The prairie part of the country is, of course, dependent upon other locahties for its supphes, but in Missouri, Arkansas, southeastern Kansas and Indian Territory, there are large forests of black walnut, oak, hickory, ash and other valuable hard woods for manufacturing purposes, while in parts of Arkansas and Texas there are heavy forests of hard pine. The extension of railroads vi'ill soon make available such of these woods as are not available now.

Mineral Resources

Of the mineral resources of the New West, probably less is known than of any of its other resources. The mines are yet in so undeveloped a state that no adequate idea of their extent can be attained. But enough is known to warrant

Salt

There is salt enough in Kansas and Nebraska to supply the continent, and it is of exceptional purity. At the great salt wells at Lincoln, Nebraska, and at numerous places along the lines of the Kansas Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads in Kansas, the salt water flows to the surface, and crystallizes by solar evaporation into huge cakes, of exceptional strength and purity. This great interest is as yet' wholly undeveloped, but at some future time salt from these localities will constitute a prominent feature of Kansas City's commerce.

Coal

The coal resources of the New West are also immense. All southwest Mis" souri and southeastern Kansas are underlaid with a superior article of bituminous coal. About fifteen thousand car loads are annually moved along the line of the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf road, most of which is sold in this city. The veins lie near the surface, which makes mining easy and cheap. The prevailing price in this city is not materially above that of other cities contiguous to coal mines, and the quality of our coal is very superior for fuel and steam purposes.

That obtained at Fort Scott will run a railway engine sixty-five miles to the ton, while forty-five is the highest of other soft coals obtained in the United States. All the western part of Missouri, south of the river, is underlaid with coal of the same veins, and hence of the same quality, and it extends westward in Kansas, to an ascertained distance of seventy-five miles, and may be found much farther west. In the mountain districts of the west it is abundant.

Lead

This mineral is found in great quantities in southwest and southern Missouri, and as far west and north as Pleasanton, Kansas. The principal mines at the present time are at Joplin, Missouri, and they have been developed within the past six years, though known for a much longer time. It is the best soft lead found on the American continent, and is, we believe, the only American lead of which the best quality of paints can be made, without an admixture of foreign lead. Of the extent of the product there are no statistics.

Zinc

Is also found at Joplin, Missouri, of exceptional purity and richness, and it is being successfully mined and smelted. The late Hon. Henry T. Blow, of St. Louis, affirms that it is from fifty-five to sixty-five per cent, oxide, or thirty-five to fifty per cent, pure metal.

Iron

Missouri is already famous for the extent and richness of her mines. This reputation has been made principally by the ores found in the southeastern part of the State, but the same deposit extends to the western. In fact, all southern Missouri is underlaid with it, as with coal and lead, though outside of the mines at Pilot Knob and Iron Mountain, it is but little developed. It is found also in inexhaustible quantities in the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico.

Gold And Silver

The gold and silver mines of Colorado and New Mexico have been famous for many years. Specie and bullion from New Mexico was a prominent article of traffic in the old days of the Santa Fe trade at Kansas City, though the mines were then but little developed and worked only by the indolent Mexicans. The extent and richness of these mines will not be ascertained for many years to come. The whole Rocky Mountain country is full of gold and silver, as well as coal, iron and lead. Of the annual yield of most of these minerals the statistics are not available, but we here quote from a report for 1880, carefully compiled by John J. Valentine, Superintendent of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express, St. Louis, the total product of the precious metals of the western mines for, indeed, it will be seen that that and other sections connected commercially with Kansas City show the largest increase :

States And Territories. Product 1880

$80,167,936 Commenting on the product of the mines Mr. Valentine says: "Colorado shows an increase of $6,871,474 over our report of last year - chiefly from Leadville district. California shows an increase in gold of $579,579, and a decrease in silver of $360,873. Nevada shows a total falling off of $6,966,093, the yield from the Comstock being only $5,312,592, as against $8,830,562 in 1879, a decrease of $3,517,970. The product of Eureka district is $4,639,025, as against $5,859,261 in 1879, ^ decrease of $1,220,236. Utah shows an increase of $982,- 074. Dakota shows an increase of $914,094. Arizona shows a notable increase."

Introductory - Names of Early Settlers Given Under Blue Township - County Seat Located in - Additions to the Town of Independence - Sale of Lots - First Instrument of Record - The First Court - Gold Excitement - The First Court House^Jails and Sheriffs - Business of the City - Banking, Etc. - Streets and Boulevards - Beautiful Scenery - Incorporation - Names of Mayors - Religious History - Joab Powell - Baptists - M. E. Church, South - Christian Church - Old School Presbyterians - M. E. Chutch - Cumberland Presbyterians - Old School Baptists - Latter Day Saints - Catholic Church - The Cemetary - Colleges and Schools - Secret Societies - Business Directory - Wayne City Bluff - The Finest Mansion in Jackson County.

In this sketch of the history of the city of Independence we shall endeavor to give a comprehensive, though not exhaustive review, of its establishment as the seat of justice of Jackson county, its growth and development and its present condition. Those who know the history of Independence so well that the most observant and inquisitive historical pen could not bring to the mind a single unheard-of incident or experience, nor present an old one in a new light, perhaps may not highly prize what is so familiar to them ; but posterity will cherish a deep interest in any facts with which their fathers were associated. Independence is one of the most beautiful little cities in the Union ; the large and elegant homes, the tall and branching shade trees, the smooth macadam streets, the large and beautiful court house, the commodious churches, the colleges and schools, the substantial business houses, the wealth and business enterprise and the moral and intellectual culture of the citizens, all conspire to make Independence the pride not only of those who reside within its immediate bounds, but of the State at large.

In speaking thus of this little city of Independence we are at the same time aware that our noble State, Missouri, contains many other good towns, and that the fertile soil, the sunny skies, the fruitful seasons, the advantages of culture and the smiles of Providence are blessings enjoyed in every clime, but to the same extent and degree as found here exceedingly few examples can be cited. Independence is most emphatically one of Missouri's representative towns, but that it is in every particular a model we shall not pretend to maintain. However, it is certMnly much easier with Independence in mind to frame an ideal model, than taking most other cities of the same size as the basis.

The early settlers for the most part came from Kentucky and Tennessee, though some were from Virginia and other States. Scholarly parents have removed to Independence in order to secure the best advantages for their children, and there is no place in the State better suited to their purpose.

Not many of the first settlers of Independence are now alive ; a very few who came soon after the first still live and relate the scenes in which they took such active interest. The laying out of the town, the establishment of the seat of justice for Jackson county, the building of the first Court House and Jail, the New Mexico Trade, the Gold Excitement, Doniphan's Expedition, and many more events of that nature are nearly forgotten by the few old settlers and scarcely heard of by the youths.

The settlement of Jackson county is inseparably connected with the settlement of Independence. In these pages devoted to this beautiful growing town we shall endeavor to present as many facts, as a short sketch will permit. Such men as Abraham McClellan, Richard Fristoe, Samuel C. Owens, Jacob Gregg, Henry Burris, Joel P. Walker, L. W. Boggs and others were among the first pioneers who directed the affairs of this county.

son in 1827. These gentlemen were appointed by the General Assembly of Missouri to pre-empt a tract of land upon which to locate a county seat for Jackson county; their final report bears the date of Mareh, 1827. The first court was held by David Todd, on the 21st of May, following. The original town plat contained 240 acres, upon which have been found sixteen springs of pure water.

The town site now contains 600 acres, with a population of 3,146, as given by the census of 1880. The first public land was sold in Jackson county on the nth day of November, 1828.

The first census of Jackson county was taken by Mr. Jacob Gregg, in 1826, and he received $10 for ten days services. It hardly looks as if it could have been thoroughly done in that time by one person, but such is the record.

Mr. Samuel Newton was the commissioner appointed to number the lots and his report gives much of local interest. Labor was cheap, one dollar a day being his own charge for services. He quotes whisky at 50 cents per gallon; and he charged the city 25 cents for the survey of each lot. Paper was high, he having paid $1.50 for four quires, which now can be bought for less than half that price. In the matter of labor and the products of the soil, prices were far below those of the present day ; but when it came to articles of manufacture, which was then in its infancy, the old settlers were compelled to pay pretty good prices. Thirtyseven and a half cents a quire for common writing paper and 25 cents for two paste boards would astonish those of the present day, if it was asked of them.

S. G. Owens, Garrett M. Hensley, Jno. R. Swearingen and Judge John Smith were appointed commissioners to sell lots. John Dunston was surveyor, and completed his work Jan. 9, 1827, afterward the town was platted off by Geo. W. Rhodes, which plat is on record in the office. Abner J. Adair purchased the first lots, Nos. 20 and 21, in old town; these lots are now occupied by Mrs. McClanahan and Theophilus Thompson. Three years after the first part of the town was laid off, the annexed part, the south half of northwest quarter of section No. 2, was added by special act of the Legislature, and Abram McClelland was appointed commissioner to convey the property to various individual purchasers. This act was passed in 1831.

" We, the undersigned Justices of the County Court of Jackson county do approve of the within plat of the Town of Independence, the seat of justice of this county, and direct the same to be deposited in the office of the Recorder of the county for safe keeping.

Sale Of Lots

The first sale of lots took place on the 9th, loth and nth days of July, 1827, and in the Recorder's office will be found the report of the commissioner of the sale to the court.

"Commissioner's accounts of lots sold in the town of Independence, at the first sale held, on the ninth, tenth and eleventh days of July, A. D., 1827."

Total amount of cash received for the sale of land was $374.57. The lots were sold partly on time, and about one-fourth of the amount of each lot was paid down. The following receipt was given for the cash paid at the sale :

"Received of Samuel Newton, commissioner of the seat of justice for Jackson county, three hundred and seventy-four dollars and fifty-seven cents, being the whole amount of moneys collected by him on account of sales of lots in the town of Independence, up to this date. L. W. BOGGS, Clerk,

" Received of Lewis Jones, commissioner of the seat of justice for Jackson county. Two Hundred and Sixty- Eight Dollars and eighteen cents in specie, and Fifty Dollars in United States paper; Fifteen Dollars in Auditor's warrants, taken of L. W. Boggs, by order of the court; Eighteen Dollars in county warrants, payable to L. W. Boggs; paid S. C. Owens, as County Treasurer, Eighteen Dollars and ninety-two cents ; also seven dollars and fifty cents, in two notes - one on Smith and the other on John Cornet, both to be charged to said John Smith, as the bidder of the public gaol; making in the whole, allowing the said Lewis Jones one-half per cent for collection, three hundred and sixty-six dollars and fifty-six cents. This 2d day of February, A. D. 1829.

First Instrument Of Record

The first instrument recorded in Jackson county is rather a remarkable one and deserving of special mention and remembrance. It was concerning a certain patent obtained by Anthony Bencine, of Greensboro, North Carolina, who for $500, sold the right for the counties of Lafayette, Ray, Clay and Jackson to R. and L. McCaskrie. It states that it is for the improvement of grist mills.

specifying that by certain arrangements of burrs, spindles, etc., perfect accuracy in grinding can be had in such a manner as has never before been attained or used in the United States. These letters patent were issued to A. Bencine by John Quincy Adams, President, Henry Clay, Secretary of State, and certified to by Wm. Wirt, Attorney-General of the United States. The witnesses of the signature of A. Bencine, were T. Early Strange and Peter Adams, of North Carolina.

These documents are so exceedingly interesting that a careful perusal of them will afford the reader much pleasure. A simple description of them is not sufficient, we therefore insert them :

Letters Patent The United States Of America

Whereas, Anthony Bencine, a citizen of the United States, hath alleged that he has invented a new and useful improvement in grist mills, which improvement, he states, has not been known or used before his application ; hath oath that he doth verily believe that he is the true inventor or discoverer of the said improvement; hath paid into the treasury of the United States the sum of thirty dollars, delivered a receipt for the same, and presented a petition to the Secretary of State, signifying a desire of obtaining an exclusive property in said improvement, and praying that a patent may be granted for that purpose. These are, therefore, to grant, according to law, to this said Anthony Bencine, his heirs, administrators or assigns, for the term of fourteen years from the sixteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, the full and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others to be used the said improvement, a description whereof is given in the words of the said Anthony Bencine himself, in the schedule thereunto annexed, and is made a part of these presents. In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand at the City of Washington this sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, and in the Independence of the United States of America the fifty-first. By the President,

I do hereby certify that the foregoing letters patent were delivered to me on the sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, to be examined ; that I have examined the same and find them conformable to law, and I do hereby return the same to the Secretary of State within fifteen days from the date aforesaid, to-wit, on this sixteenth day of January, in the year aforesaid.

First court in Jackson county was held by Judge David Todd at the house of John Young, March 29th, 1827, and the following is the official record, together with his commission :

" At a circuit court held for Jackson county, at the house of John Young, the place appointed by law, organizing said county, on Thursday the 29th day of March, 1827, being the first Thursday succeeding the fourth Monday in said month. Present the Hon. David Todd, judge, who produced his commission with his certificate of qualification thereon indorsed which is ordered to be recorded, and is in these words, viz : To all who shall see these presents greeting know ye, Alexander McNaer, ' Governor of the State of Missouri, that reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity learning and abilities of David Todd, Esq., I have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the senate do hereby appoint him judge of the first judicial circuit in the State of Missouri, and do authorize and empower him to discharge the duties of said office according to law. To have and to hold said office with all the powers, privileges and the emoluments to the same of right appertaining unto the said David Todd during good behaviour or until, or otherwise removed according to law."

" In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal of the State of Missouri to be affixed. Done at St. Charles the 13th day of December, A. D., 1822, and in the Independence of the United States the fortyseventh. A. McNAIR.

Below will be found the certificate of qualification of the Judge : "Be it remembered, that on the eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three, before me, Jonathan S. Findlay, Justice of the Peace, within and for the county of Howard, in the State of Missouri, personally came David Todd, Esq., in the within commissioned named, who took before me the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, also to support the Constitution of the State of Missouri, and moreover, the oath to demean himself faithfully, and to the best of his skill and abihties in the office of Judge of the first Judicial Circuit Court, in the State of Missouri, so long as he shall continue to exercise the duties of the same. " Sworn and subscribed before me, J. S. FINDLAY,

The first county court was held in May, 1827, near Mr. Ross's spring, southeast of town. The Judges were Abram McClelland, Henry Burris and Richard Fristoe. Joel Walker acted as sheriff and L. W. Boggs clerk of the court. Daniel Todd was Judge of the Circuit Court, and S. C. Owens clerk, and the first meeting of the court was held in a log house opposite the old foundry.

New Court House

The building of a court house now began to agitate the people. The rooms occupied were not suitable and the wants of the county and its accommodation of records demanded more commodious quarters. At the September term of the county court the matter was decided, and the following order was entered upon the records for building the first court house in Jackson county. It bears date September 3d, 1827.

" Ordered, That there be erected a temporary court house in the town of Independence. That the Superintendent of Public Buildings be directed to cause to be erected on the northwest corner of lot fifty-nine, in the town of Independence, a hewed log house thirty six feet in the clear in length, by eighteen in the clear in width, a partition of hewn logs so as to leave the large room twenty-two feet by eighteen and the small eighteen by fourteen. One good story high, say nine feet between joists and the floor, roof to be of rafters and three foot boards, with a brick chimney built so as to have a fire-place in each room, with a rock foundation, with good puncheon floors below and a loft covered with plank, and a sufficient number of hewn joists to each room. The foundation of the house to be laid on stone pillars with a sufficient number of doors and windows, say one door in the large room and one through the partition, cracks chinked with seasoned short chinking and points outside and inside with lime mortar, with two twelvelight windows in the la,rge room and one in the small room, the door shutters to be what is commonly called batton doors of walnut plank well seasoned, planed and neatly and strongly made. The door casing and window casing all to be of well seasoned walnut plank and window shutters to each window. And the Superintendent is authorized to supply any deficiency in the plan so as to make the building complete and fit for use, and make any alteration which may tend to lessen the expense of the county. This court also orders that the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars be appropriated to pay for the said building out of any money in the treasury from the sale of lots in the town of Independence." '

The following report bearing date of February 4, 1828 explains the advertising, proposals and letting of the contract for building the first court house. It is interesting.

The superintendent of public buildings for the County of Jackson reports that in pursuance of an order of said Court to him directed at a special term of said Court, on the 3d of September, 1827. Advertisements were published for receiving proposals for building a temporary court house in Independence, on the northeast corner of lot No 59. Proposals were received until the 15 th day of September last, on which day they were opened. The accompanying document will show what the proposals were, and whose proposal was accepted. The work has progressed with as much expedition as the season would admit, and the work, as far as has progressed, has been done in a workmanlike manner, and the balance of the work will be completed as'soon as the weather will permit. The sura of forty dollars has been drawn and paid to the undertaker. The bond and advertisement are herewith for the inspection of the Court. ^ Respectfully,

The present court house is located in the center of a square, occupying ooe and one-fourth acres, including the public grounds. It is a handsome brick, two stories in height, which was completed in 1872, at a cost of $48,000, and occupying the highest point in the town, from which the streets from either side have a gradual descent, and from the cupola of which a grand panorama of natural scenery greets the eye.

The first jail was built in the year 1827, and was constructed of hewn logs of ten to twelve inches in diameter. The building was something over sixteen feet square, and about fifteen feet high, with two rooms or apartments, one above, called the debtors' room, and the lower room, or dungeon, for criminals. The floor was of the same kind of hewn logs, and firmly fastened together. Very little light came through the small grated window to the criminals in the dungeon.

Staples with rings attached were driven into the logs for the purpose of fastening the shackles of desperate men. A stairway on the outside to the upper room was the only way of entering the jail. When within the debtors' apartment, the lower room or dungeon was reached by means of a trap door, through which all the prisoners must come to leave the dungeon. The history of this old jail is very interesting. The prisoners confined there, the escapes of noted desperadoes, the sheriffs and deputies who had them in charge, form an eventful period in the early history of Jackson county.

This old log jail was finally burned by accident. A family who lived near had been accustomed to deposit ashes and embers by the side of the building, and by this means the fire was started. The second jail was built in 1841, of brick, and now stands, used for the calaboose of the city of Independence. It is about 45 feet long and 18 feet wide, with a height of 30 feet. There are four rooms, two above and two below, with a hall and stairway between the north and south rooms. The two rooms on the north end of the building, both above and below, were lined with heavy square timbers, driven full of twenty-penny nails. Not a square inch of surface, either in the walls or floor of those rooms, is without one of these large nails, being driven firmly into the square-faced logs. The two rooms on the south of the hall-way were less firmly constructed, the upper rooms being for women. Connecting the upper and lower rooms on the north end is a heavy trap door, which would require considerable strength, even wheii unbolted, to Hft it.

At one time a prisoner cut through those heavy timbers filled with nails, and the brick on the outside in the east wall, and made his escape, and the place was afterward covered by a large plate of iron. Only a few years ago, a negro, who had been confined for some small offense, with his pocket knife, cut a large hole in the door, and removed the lock, making his escape in the day time.

In the upper south room are several relics of implements to confine prisoners: among them, five large six inch iron balls, with chain and shackle attached.

After the completion of the third jail, the second was sold to a negro trader, who carried on the slave trade there for a considerable time.

A runaway negro was placed in the old log jail for safe keeping one night, and his master, who resided in Lafayette county, came on to claim his property. The owner identified the fugitive, left him in the care of the jailor, and retired to the hotel for the night. On the morrow he ordered the stage driven around to the jail, to get the negro, but on entering, they were surprised to find him stone dead, and hanging by his neck so low that his knees touched the floor. He had managed to find a piece of rope, with which he committed the rash act.

The present jail was built in the year 1859. The residence for the jailor is a comfortable brick structure in front of the jail proper, and is two stories high, frith sufficient room for a family. This is immediately south of the calaboose, and the calaboose stands on the site of the old wooden jail. The present jail is a safe structure about 30 feet square and 25 feet high. The walls are of large stone blocks two feet in thickness, quarried from a piece of land near Rock Creek. It contains two apartments - one above and one below - with six cells in each apartment. One of these cells below is used as the "dungeon," to confine obdurate prisoners. There is a high board fence inclosing the jail yard and jail property. Under the care of Marshal H. Holland, the prisoners are well cared for, and the jail is well and comfortably kept. The jail is well lighted and warmed.

Since December 4. 1876, there have been confined 409 prisoners, eleven of whom have been confined since the present marshal came in charge. Mr. M. M. Langhorne took charge of the jail December 4, 1876, and continued till November 28, 1880, when Mr. H. Holland succeeded to the charge.

During the history of these jails, there have been several noted prisoners confined and several daring escapes, some of which we shall chronicle.

Two murderers escaped at the same time, digging through the floor, then tunneling for some distance in the ground. Their names were Henry Gaster and Alpha P. Buckley. Gaster had murdered Williamson Hawkins, who Hved about six miles southeast of Independence. Gaster was hired to commit the awful deed by the wife of Hawkins, for the sum of $150. Gaster and Hawkins' wife arranged the plot, and one evening, while sitting before the fire, Hawkins was shot through the heart from a crack in the wall, by the side of the chimney. The woman was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary, but was pardoned before she reached there.