Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-06
NEWTON AND WICHITA.
Two Now Thriving Kansas Cities as
They Appeared In Border Times.


In letter to the publisher of the
HERALD Grant Richards, formerly the
Platteville correspondent of the HER
AID, thus describes Newtop, Kansas:
1T is the county seat of Harvey
County. Its population is 5000. 1t
has two railroads, the Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe and the St. Louis, Ft. Scott
& Wichita. Three new railroads are
coming. On an average fifty trains a
| day pass over the two railroads. The
city has IA hotels, IA law firms, % real
estate dealers, three newspapers, five
| fine banks, Is drug stores, three eleva-
tors. S75, ZOO opera house. two parks,
water works, gas works, and will have
electric lights in less than ninety days.
Town lots are selling at from 800 to
$4,000 apiece. Elegant brick build
ings of the latest architectural design
are going up all the time. The resi-
dence portion is very fine and l see
more fine, tasteful houses than l would
in lifetime back in Wisconsin. l was
down to Wichita yesterday. 1t is a
wonderful town with a population of
% ,00O."
AS many readers of the HERALD
have seen these two thriving Kansas
cities, or have friends living in them or
in that vicinity, perhaps description
of the beginning of these cities, as l
saw it, will be of some interest.
In May, 1870, had an invitation TO
go down to Wichita, which was then
just starting into existence, and help
get out the Wichita Vidette, the first
paper published in all that region. l
had been sojourning few days at
Abilene, which was then in size mere
village of one story board houses, most
of them implanted, scattered around on
the flat, grassy bottom of the Smoky
Hill Fork. But probably more money
/
than in many cities of several thousand
population; for it was there that the
great Texan Trail struck the X. p Rail-
road, and 100000 cattle came up the
trail that summer, and were sold at
Abilene. Many of the cowboys were
paid nearly years wages there and
proceeded to fling it about in wild
saturnalia in which whisky and powder
were mixed in about equal quantities.
The famous ''Wild Bill'' was marshal
of The city" and any less redoubtable
champion would soon have been filled
with holes of No. As caliber by the
whooping cowboys.
left Abilene in company with three
homestead hunters with horse team.
About twenty miles from Abilene are
the Smoky Hills, which are for that re-
gion almost mountains. At the dis
lance of few miles the sight of an
enormous herd of cattle coming down
these hills, variegating the smoky-blue
hillsides with bright patches of color
red, white and black-was indeed a
fine sight. On the right and left on
the fiat prairie other vast herds were
watched by herdsmen galloping to and
fro on little mustangs waiting like an
encamped army for news from the
front. This news was the state of the
market at Abilene or Chicago.
South of the Smoky Hills we found
the country quite level until we came to
Sand Creek, whose valley is bounded
by gentle swells that cannot be called
hills. Here where the Texan Trail
crossed Sand Greek, is the site where
Newton now stands. We camped there
for dinner 1t was beautiful location.
The deep, clear creek danced merrily
along. its eddies swirling into messy,
willow-fringed pools, swarming with
fish. little thought three months
later to see the bed of this creek parch-
ed and dusty, but so it was. All around
was vast solitude, unbroken except
by the Texan Trail. broad black belt
across the green bosom of the plain.
| We all agreed that it was perfect
natural town site. We speculated upon
the probability of town being situated
there. 1t was about in the middle OF
the land grant of the Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe, the terminus of which was
then some sixty miles to the eastward
OF CottonxyOOd Falls If was natural