Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-02-18

s'added to the stars" and became one of the
brightest in the constellation of the Union.
To me was allotted another task-that of
presenting, as briefly and as clearly as am
able, the material development of Kansas,
and her present condition and position. It
is at once delightful and a difficult task.
The growth of Kansas is q theme which has
pride. But cannot hope to present any adj
equate picture of the Kansas you know so
well-the Kansas of your love ard of your
faith; the imperial young state, at once the
enigma and the wonder of American COM
mOnweaiths.
THREE PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT.
The development of Kansas, it seems to
me, has had three periods, which may prop
erly be called the decades of war, of uncer-
tainty, and of triumph. From 1855 to 1865,
Kansas was an armed camp. The horde.
troubles, outbreaking late in 1854, continued
until the rebellion was inaugurated. Kansas
in fact, began the war six years before the
nation had fired shot, and the call to arms
in 1861 found here a singularly martial peo-
pie who responded with unparalleled enthusi-
asm to the presidents demands for men. In
less than a year ten full regiments were or
ganized, and before the close of the war
Kansas had sent over twenty thousand SOL
diers to the field, out of q population Of but
little more than hundred thousand. Fields,
workshops, offices and schools were deserted,
and the patient and heroic women who had
kept weary vigils during all the dark and
desolate days of the border troubles, now
waited in their lonely home for tidings from
the larger field of the civil war.
= r~-N L
either in population or wealth, from 1861 tc
1864. But the young state grew in public
interest and reputation, and when the heroic
men, whose valor and patriotism had saved
the republic, began to be mustered out, Kan
sas offered an inviting field for their energy.
and they came hither in great numbers. The
population of the state. which was l07 ,206 il
sessed value of its property increased from
81, SIS, 2S2 to $50, 10000 during the same
period, and the land in farms from ], 49,.
400 to 8, 500, 600 acres. It was not ''boom,'
nor was it stagnation and decay. Yet it i.
probable that nearly the whole of the growth
shown by these figures dates from the spring
of 1864.
1865, and it has known few interruptions
since. The census of 1870 showed popula-
ton of 364 399-an increase of 1A go in five
years, or nearly double the population OF
1865. Railroad building also began in 1865
and ], 203 miles were completed by 1870. The
home-returning soldiers and the railroad:
came together. Immigrants to other states
came in slow-moving canal boats or canvass
covered wagons, but they came to Kansas IL
the lightning express, and most of them
went to their claims in comfortable cars
drawn by that marvel of modern mechanism
the locomotive. Our state has never had {
'coon-skin cap" population. 1t is the chilc
of the prairies, not of the forest. 1t ha.
always attracted men of intelligence, who
brought with them the school, the church
and the printing press; they planted al
orchard and grove as soon as they hao
harvested their first crop; and if they were
compelled to live iii dug-out the first yeaI
or two they were reasonably certain to OWL
comfortable house the third.
THE PERIOD OF UNCERTAINTY.
The period from 1866 10 1875 was, however
q period of uncertainty. Kansas remained
an experiment. The drouth and grasshop
per invasion of 1860, "a menacing memory anC
for many years, had just begun to grow dim
when the drouth of 1873 and the still more
disastrous drouth locust invasion of 1877
-evived its recollection, and intensified the
uncertainty it had inspired. The interven,
ing years were not, it is true, without thei
exaltation and triumphs. Luxuriapt har-
vests followed the disaster of 1850. year after
year in unbroken succession, until 1873, anc
we INDUCED in much jubiiant boasting anC
self-gratutation overI our fruitful soil, "til
benign climate, and our gracious seaso,s
But over and through it all brOoded and ran
feeling of question or uncertainty, which
manifested itself in many ways. The news.
papers, while affecting to sheer at those
who did not believe Kansa.
always came just when they were wanted,
nevertheless recorded every rain with sus-
picioqs prominence; Even the ,corner-lot
Spectator watched the clouds while he was
denouncing the slanderers who asserted that
Kansas was "a dry country" 'Methinks
The lady doth protest too much" might have
been said of the kansans who, from 1865 to
NAL condition of Kansas was that of quag
mire.
And III the midst of it all came 1873 and
1874, with their twin devastations and ca
lamities. fierce sun rose and set fol
months in a cloudless sky; the parchec
earth shrank and cracked; and the crops
withered and shriveled in winds as hot a.
the breath of g furnace. But as if the de-
structiOn thus wrought was not enough, out
from the northwest came clouds of insects
darkening the sun in their baleful flight, and
leaving the very abomination of desolatior
wherever they alighted. 1t was then that the
bravest quailed, and our sturdiest farmer
abandoned all hope. Thousands of people, |
now among our most prosperous citizens |
would have sold everything they possessed
for one-sixth of its value, during the yeal
1874, and abandoned the state forever.
Somehow-and mention the fact to theiI
everlasting credit-many of the newspapers
of Kansas never lost heart or hope during
that distressful season. They lauded the
state more earnestly, if possible, than evei
before. They asserted, with vehement tier
alton, that the season was exceptional anc
phenom email. They e1horted the people t.
keep up courage, and confidently predict
ed abundant harvests next year. And tt
their influence more than any other, is due
the fact that Kansas survived the drouth and
grasshopper invasion Of 1874 with so little
loss of population.
THE PERIOD OF TRIUMPH.
The period of triumph began in 1878
While the world was still talking of our stats
as drouth- powdered and insect-eaten coun.
try, Kansas was preparing for the Centenni-
al, and getting ready for great future. And
in 1876 she sprang into the arena of nation,
with a display of her products and resources
which eclipsed them all, and excited the
wonder and admiration of the whole civi.