Early Days of Abilene, Kansas, by Zina Abbott

 

         For those who read historical Westerns, Abilene is often thought of as a cow town—the end of the Chisholm Trail where long horn cattle was brought up from Texas, loaded onto rail cars, and shipped to the East. However, that is not how the town started.

 Timothy Hersey and Elizabeth Johnson Hersey

         The first white family to take up residence in the immediate vicinity of Abilene was that of Timothy F. Hersey in 1856. He staked out a claim on the west bank of Mud creek about two miles north of where it empties into the Smoky Hill river. 

 

Hersey Cabin ctsy oldabilenetown.org

         When the Butterfield Overland Despatch stage line was being formed at the end of the Civil War, he was given a contract to provide a home station. He provided two log houses and a log stable and corral for horses. He agreed to feed the passengers and employees who came over the trail in the six-horse Concord coaches. Part of his advertisement to west-bound travelers was they would find at his station the "last square meal east of Denver." Food at some of these stations consisted of bacon and eggs, hot biscuits, green tea, coffee, dried peaches and apples, and pies. Beef was served occasionally, as were canned fruits and vegetables.

         The next building in the area was a dwelling known as "the Hotel," owned by C. H. Thompson. It was located opposite Hersey’s station on the east bank of Mud Creek. Thompson also used his business as a way station for the Short Line Stage Company.

         In 1864, a city block east from the creek, W. S. Moon built the Frontier Store. In it, he offered for sale a small stock of widely assorted general merchandise. Mr. Moon also served as the postmaster and register of deeds. His store later served as a meeting place for the sessions of district court. 

 Prairie Dog Town near Abilene, Kansas - 1867

 Away from the trail and in the midst of a prairie dog town was "Old Man Jones' " saloon . Over the years, as emigrants followed the Smoky Hill Trail west, some were attracted by the rich growth of prairie grass on the Smoky Hill river bottom land. They decided to go no farther. From these settlers, about a dozen scattered log houses sprang up on the east side of the creek.

(On this 1859 Kansas map, Dickinson County is outlined in blue)

         In 1860, the counties of Kansas foresaw coming statehood for the territory, and the momentum to organize grew. The community along Mud Creek was part of Dickinson County. The residents recognized the value of living in the county seat. However, to have a chance against the other communities in the county, they knew they had work to do. C. H. Thompson laid out a townsite on his land east of Mud creek. He quickly constructed several makeshift log houses to give it some semblance of a town.

         The community needed a name. Mr. Thompson went to the first inhabitant, Tim Hersey, and asked him to give the new town a name. Mr. Hersey turned the issue over to his wife. Mrs. Hersey found a reference in the first verse of the third chapter of Luke in the Holy Bible which spoke of the "tetrarch of Abilene." She "Abilene," which meant "city of the plains," would be appropriate name, and the decision was made.

A county-seat election was held in the spring of 1861. Union City, Smoky Hill (now Detroit), Newport, and Abilene were all contenders. Abilene, by securing the support of the Chapman creek settlers, won the election.

         There is very little recorded of the events in Abilene from 1861 to the coming of the railroad in 1867. No doubt its development during this period was much the same as other Western frontier towns during the Civil War period. The town was rustic—still comprised mainly of log buildings. There were no streets. Spaces between the houses were overgrown with prairie grass. The frontier stores were cluttered and dirty, which created a problem in sanitation.  

         The arrival of a stage or the passing of an emigrant party down the trail brought out the whole populace to find out who was aboard, whence they came, and whither bound, eager for any bit of rehashed or revised news from some other point. Eastbound travelers brought news of some late Indian depredation, and those who were westbound brought word of some more or less recent happening of the war which was then in progress. The summers brought out the loiterers. The winters were largely open and agreeable, but there were frequent bleak winds and occasional blizzards. The hunting expeditions after buffalo, antelope, wild turkey, and prairie chicken served the double purpose of providing a diversion and a source of meat. 

 Loading cattle on the Kansas Pacific in Abilene - 1867

This was the Abilene that Joseph G. McCoy found when he came west on the Kansas Pacific railway in 1867 in search of a spot on that line which could be used as a shipping point for the herds of Texas cattle being driven north. He wrote:

“Abilene in 1867 was a very small, dead place, consisting of about one dozen log huts, low, small, rude affairs, four-fifths of which were covered with dirt for roofing; indeed, but one shingle roof could be seen in the whole city. The business of the burg was conducted in two small rooms, mere log huts, and of course the inevitable saloon, also in a log hut, was to be found.”

 Drovers Hotel - 1867

 That same year, Joseph G. McCoy bought 250 acres of land north and east of the town. On his land, he built a hotel, the Drovers Cottage (also known as Drover’s Cottage, although the name painted on the side of the building did not include an apostrophe). 

 

 Mr. McCoy also built stockyards large enough to hold 2,000 heads of cattle and a stable for the drover’s horses. The Kansas Pacific put in a switch at Abilene that enabled the cattle cars to be loaded and sent on to their destinations. He encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds to his stockyards.

         The first twenty carloads left September 5, 1867, en route to Chicago, Illinois. McCoy being familiar with the meat market. The stockyards shipped 35,000 head that first year.

         From there, the town grew quickly and became the first cow town of the West. It became the largest stockyards west of Kansas City, Kansas. 

 1873 Chisholm Trail

         The herds of cattle were driven from Texas north on the Chisholm Trail. From 1867 to 1871, the north end of the trail ended in Abilene. Abilene became the largest stockyard and cattle shipping point west of Kansas City, Kansas. The Chisholm Trail also brought other travelers, which made Abilene one of the wildest towns in the West. 

(This 1887 Map of Abilene shows a more-developed town that what existed in 1867-71. The black wavy line on the left is Mud Creek. The vertical red line shows Cedar Street, the section north of the tracks not being very developed and the saloon district being south of the tracks . Texas Street ran parallel to the railroad tracks. The circle shows the general area of the Drovers Cottage on the south of the tracks and the stockyard on the north of the tracks.)

         At first, the section of Abilene along Cedar and Texas Streets that catered to the Texas cowboys had no law enforcement, to speak of. The more stable residents of the original town of Abilene did not consider it their problem. However, by 1869, it became apparent to the law-abiding citizens that municipal organization was necessary to bring order to the unruly blocks east of their city in order for the violence not to spill over and disrupt their lives. On September 3, I869, a group of citizens bearing a petition signed by forty-three citizens appeared before the court of Cyrus Kilgore, probate judge of Dickinson County, Kansas, "praying for incorporation." The petition was granted, and the citizens chose a group of trustees to manage the city until elections could be held.

         This took place toward the end of the 1869 cattle season. Other than pass a few basic ordinance, the town did little as far as enforcing law and order.

         In the spring of 1870, the board of trustees met again. Thirty-two saloons were licensed, closing hours were established, houses of ill-fame in the city limits were outlawed, and an attempt was made to recognize and enforce laws against the more serious crimes. City offices, including the city marshal position, were created. Ordinances were published. 

         Next month, my post will be about law enforcement in Abilene during the days of the cattle drives.

         On April 3, I871, the first charter election was held to elect a mayor and council. J. G. McCoy, the cattle magnate in Abilene, was elected mayor. The main issue in the election revolved around the degree of control that should be attempted over the vice and immorality brought into Abilene by the Texas cattle trade.

                                                               Joseph McCoy

         On May 1, 1871, a comprehensive plan of licensing all business houses in Abilene was included in an ordinance by the city council. This was an attempt to force the transient businesses that catered to and thrived from the Texas cattle trade to help defray the high cost of law enforcement. The city council became deadlocked over the amount of the fee they should charge, which led to several disputes among them.

         In 1871, more than 5,000 cowboys herded between 600,000 and 700,000 cows through town. However, other forces in the town and county would soon spell the end for this as a cattle shipping point.

          Farmers, who had homesteaded the land around Abilene and who were a more stable, year-round population, opposed the Texas Longhorns from entering Dickenson County. The Longhorns brought with them a tick that was deadly to their domestic cattle. Increasingly, they began to dominate the politics. In February 1872, a petition was circulated and signed by about 80% of the population who wanted an end, not only to the dangers of the tick infestation, but to the evils brought by the Texas cowboys and the saloons, gamblers, and prostitutes who catered to them. They were requested to take their cattle elsewhere.

         McCoy could see the writing on the wall. Although in 1872, it was the town of Ellsworth who enjoyed being the biggest Texas cattle drive destination, Mr. McCoy dismantled his Drovers Cottage and rebuilt it in the town of Newton, which became the preferred destination after Ellsworth.

         Abilene did not die with the loss of the cattle trade. The agriculture trade grew and stabilized the town. However, its days as a rowdy and lawless cow town were at an end.

I included Abilene, Kansas, in several of my books.

 

In Mail Order Lorena, the time period is 1865-66 and the setting is primarily the Butterfield Overland Despatch stage station in Ellsworth, Kansas. However, my hero often rides the stagecoach east to stay at the station in Abilene and spend time in a fictional town saloon, where he meets Lorena. You may find the book description and link by CLICKING HERE.

 

 

In Otto’s Offer, in 1868, Otto Atwell was among those farmers who homesteaded land just outside of Abilene. Although not part of this book’s plot, he would have been among those who opposed the Texas cowboys bringing up the long horn cattle that were host to the ticks that brought deadly disease to domestic cattle. You may find the book description and link by CLICKING HERE.

  

My most recent book, Abilene Gamble, is set in the summer of 1871 Abilene, after the town has experienced a great deal of growth and settlement. As a lawyer and investigator/bounty hunter who carries the scars from his time fighting in the Civil War, my hero, Harry Bradford, found his niche in this rough-and-tumble town. You may find the book description and link by CLICKING HERE. (Much of this blog post was taken from the Author Notes at the back of this book.)

Sources:

https://abilenekansas.org/abilenes-history

https://oldabilenetown.org/tim-hersey

https://www.kshs.org/p/abilene-first-of-the-kansas-cow-towns/12833

https://abilenekansas.org/blog/2019/12/18/area-history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilene,_Kansas

Early Kansas Treaties and Purchases

The eastern Great Plains area which became the state of Kansas was originally the home of nomadic Native American tribes who hunted the vast herds of bison. The region first appears in western history in the 16th century at the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Spanish conquistadors explored what is now known as Kansas. It was later explored by French fur trappers who traded with the Native Americans. Most of Kansas became permanently part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

At that time, the northeastern corner of what is now Kansas was inhabited by the Kansa tribe, also known as the Kaw. They were closely related to other tribes that settled in the region—the Osage, Ponca, Iowa and Omaha.

As for the Americans, after a brief period as part of Missouri Territory, Kansas returned to unorganized status in 1821. Also in 1821, the Santa Fe Trail was opened across Kansas as country's transportation route to the Southwest, connecting Missouri with well-established Santa Fe, New Mexico. Because of the growing trade, the United States Army set up posts throughout the area. On May 8, 1827, Cantonment Leavenworth, or Fort Leavenworth, was built to protect travelers.

Fort Leavenworth - 1825

In 1825, The Kansa entered into a treaty whereby they gave up their lands in the Kansas Territory. In 1825, the tribe ceded land in Missouri to the United States and move to a reservation in Kansas. As part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, their territory was reduced to make room for other tribes from the east being forced to relocate to Kansas. In 1836, they joined with other tribes in more treaties with the U.S. Government. 

Poverty-stricken by the failure of the 1825 treaty and weakened by continuous government pressure and pressure from railroad, town and land speculators, the Kaw leadership went to the treaty table again in 1846. Arrogantly, and tragically indicative of racial attitudes of that time, Indian Superintendent Thomas Harvey in St. Louis boasted to his superiors in Washington that he could work out a new deal with “the degenerate and docile” Kaws in a matter of five days. This he did in 1846 with the help of Indian Agent Richard W. Cummins.

Old Kaw Mission Home - Ctsy Jerry & Roy Klotz, MD

The 1846 treaty required the sale of the 2 million-acre reservation to the government for just over 10 cents an acre. The Kaws agreed to a reduction of their 20 million-acre domain, comprising roughly the northern half of future Kansas, to a 2 million-acre reservation known as Council Grove on the Neosho River which was 30 miles wide beginning just west of future Topeka and extending west to a line to be marked by government surveyors. For this huge cession the Kaws were awarded a $3,500 annuity for 20 years, a quantity of cattle, hogs and domestic fowl, a government blacksmith and agricultural instructor, and schools to be funded from earlier Kaw land sales in the Kansas City area.

Kansa People (note their hair styles and headwear - helpful when reading my next book)

The reservation at Council Grove, it was plagued by squatters who relied on the Preemption Act of 1841 and shady promises of the local Indian agent that claimed the boundaries were incorrect. They moved in on farmland intended for the Kansa to grow their crops (The Kansa women had been growing corn and other crops since before the coming of the white man.) to eventually claim the right to purchase Kansa reservation land once it was opened to white settlement. The exception was the land granted to 23 half-white, half-Kaw members of the tribe, a topic for a future blog post.

1836 Map of Indian Territory

Congress began the process of creating Kansas Territory in 1852. By the summer of 1853, it was clear that eastern Kansas would soon be opened to American settlers. The Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiated new treaties that would assign new reservations with annual federal subsidies for the Indians. Nearly all the tribes in the eastern part of the Territory ceded the greater part of their lands prior to the passage of the Kansas territorial act in 1854, and were eventually moved south to the future state of Oklahoma.

The Kansa on their reservation in Council Grove were not included. However, it was only a matter of time. The U.S. government pushed for the Kaw treaty of 1859 (ratified in 1860) which allowed the tribe to keep only 80,000 acres of the poorest land, to be subdivided into 40-acre plots for each family head. The remaining 176,000 acres were held in trust by the government for sale to the highest bidder. 

Forty acres of marginal Kansas land was wholly insufficient to support one Kaw family, and by the late 1860s the government was obliged to authorize emergency funds to prevent outright starvation of the Kaw people. Finally, on May 27, 1872, in a measure strongly opposed by Chief Allegawaho and most of his people, a federal act was passed providing for the removal of the Kaw to a 100,137-acre site in present-day northern Kay County, Oklahoma, which was carved out of former Osage land.

It was while writing for Kizzie’s Kisses, Book 2 in both the Grandma Wedding Quilts series and the Atwell Kin series, I learned about the Kansa/Kaw tribe since I wished to know what tribe had inhabited the land where my 1860's American farmers settled. Much of this blog post was taken from my January, 2017 Cowboy Kisses post. You may read that entire post by CLICKING HERE.

After writing two books about the same family, I decided to make them part of my own series, Atwell Kin. Books 2 and 3 have been published. Book 1, Virginia's Vocation, is scheduled for publication in April, 2019. Right now, Charlie's Choice, Book 0, the prequel, is on preorder. It is offered at a preorder sales price of $.99 through the release date of January 5, 2019. 

If you have already read Kizzie's Kisses or Otto's Offer, you know who Charlie is. This is his story and his romance which takes place 1856-57. He is the link to remind us that before the white Americans came to Kansas, a tribe of people already lived there.

To read the book description and find the purchase link for Charlie's Choice, please CLICK HERE.