The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1878-06-13
THE "CHIEFn OF AGE!
Celebration Of tn Twenty First Anniversary
With History and "Reminiscences.
Sketches Of the History Of the Newspapers eI
Deniphan County, and Of the Persons
Connected with Them.

Connected with Them.
This is memorable anniversary in the his tc-
ry Of the Chief This issue completes the 9lst
year Of its publication, and the Ckief is now OF
age-the FIRST and only paper that has arrived
at that dignity in Kansas What changes has il
seen, and what history it has recorded. It has
seen Kansas emerge from Pro-Slayery and Bor-
der RuA3an rule, to beco me an overwhelmingly
Repablicsn State. It has seen her rise from q
Territory of few Thousand scattered population
to great State of almost million inhabitants
from few settlements along the eastern border
to thriving communities extending to the Rocky
mountains. II has seen the nation 60 through
bloody war, to establish the right of majorities
to rule. The first issue was printed with aid of
slave 5abor, for which we paid the owner of the
laborer; for our first roller boy was q colored
lad, who was held as q slave. Now there is not
. slave in the land, and the motive power that
runs the cylinder press of the Chief is a colored
man who was y slave in the South when this pa
per was 6rst started, but who now receives the
wages of bis own labor, which he expends of his
own free will, in raising vines and fg-trees OF
his own. to repose under aud enjoying the fresh
Territorial dependence is gone; Slavery is gone
but the Chief remains.
We landed in Kansas on the 2sth day Of March,
1857, and we brought here all we had in the
world. 1t was but little, to be sure, but it was
all we had, and we came to stay, to make Kan
sas our home, and to share good and bad with
the people Of Doniphsn County. When we land
ed ut White Cloud, there were but four or five
shanties in town. One was used as q hotel by
Enoch Spaulding, in the rear of the present City
Hotel; Judge Byrd's store-house stood whe re
the planing-mill building now stands; Scrafford
& Lappins saw-mll stood little below the
present site of Palmer & Orton's mill, and log
cabin just below that, which is still standing,
was occupied by the sawyer, James F. Clemen-
sen; the log cabin now occupied by Peter Burk-
halter as q butcher shop, was Isaac Doney's res
idence, and there was another shanty between
that and the place where Pugsley's drug store
stands. Judge Byrd's cabin was on top the hill,
sonth of town. These were the houses that
composed White Clond. Jennings and Briggs
were Just building their store-house-the build
ing known as Orton's saloon and the ferryman,
named Stonesifsr, was building the honse on the
point of the bluff, above Dorland's house, now
owned by John II. Utt. An empty log cabin
stood on the river bank, about where MOOre's
grain house now stands. Our printing material
and other goods did not arrive until several
weeks after we did, and when they came, they
were stored In this cabin, until an Office could
be built. Wash. Burkhart and Frank Patton,
then of Iowa Point, were on the boat, and urged
MS to change our mind, and stop off at the Point,
as that was going to be the town of Northern
Kansas. But we hadn't started for there, and
couldn't see it.
A part of the gang of numbering South Caro-
linisns who had been infesting Kansas, wintersd
at White Cloud, that season, waiting for a re-
newal of hostiiities in the Spring. As our ma
terisl was being landed from the old steamboat
HaRHibal, several of these fellows were standing
by, and one was heard to say: "There's another
of them d-d Abolition printing Offices! help
cd to pitch one of them into the river at Law
renee. Well watch this one, and rs soon as it
same way" But it happened that their day
was past, and few days afterwards they took
o hasty departure, to avoid arrest for murder
they had assisted in, somewhere about Leaven-
worth.
Let us here digress, to relate piece of bad
luck that happened us, or, rather, piece of good
luck that missed u.s. Our Office and other goods
were worth not over 500 or $500; but the for.
wardng merchant at st. Louis, in re. shipping
them on the Hannibal, took the responsibility of
insuring them, and placed his own estimate up
on their value, insuring them for $500. They
came through all right; but on her very next
Srsr L..
and sunk! Had she only done so the previous
trip, it would have been money in our pocket
John H. UT had undertaken to build house
for an Office, but the lumber was not yet on the
ground. However, in the course of six weeks,
the house was up and enclosed. The carpenter
work was done by Martin B. Bowers, and the
plastering by George C. Scrafford, father of
Charley Scrafford. The building is still stand.
ing, very much dilapidsted, opposite Shreve's
drug store. We opened up our Office before all
the siding was on, having no conception of the
power of Kansas zephyrs, which managed to
hoist several cases of type off the stands on to the
floor. On the 18th of June of that year, (the day
on which Delegates were elected to the Lecomp.
ton Constitutional Convention a fierce snow
storm prevailed, and We were forced to rig up
COokiuk etoso iu oiuce, " uAkc " pc setting
possible. 1.-THE building has just been torn
down.
The first issue of the Chief was got out in the
latter part of May, 1867, bat was dated June 4th
We printed bundle of paper, and circulated
copies among the crowd gathered at the sales of
the Iowa Trust Lands, which commenced at
Iowa Point, on the LIST of June. The people
whom We had to depend upon for support, were
all squatters. who were holding claims on the
Iowa Trust Lands, waiting to bid them in at the
sales These lands extended below Iowa Point
and Highland, and ten or fifteen miles west
The town Of White Cloud was in the same con-
dition. After the sales, many settled down per-
while many others floated away after
other speculations The Chief continued right
along, but frequently had a tough time of it
and, looking back, We still wonder how we kept
going, ut more than one crisis.
During these past twenty -one years, we have
missed but five regular issues of the Chief, and
they were during the first two years and q half
One miss was in May, 1858, when We were CON.
pelled to be absent from home for week; an
other was in July, 1858, when paper of too small
= size was sent us, and it took q week to make
the exchange; two were in October, 1859, ON &C.
count of rush of work and scarcity of help, but
We issued halfsheets for those weeks; and one