Wichita eagle., 1888-05-11
TOWN PLANTING IN THE WEST.
A Story Of EARLY Days in Kansas.


iniscence of Wichita in a copy Of Lip
pincott's magazine, under date of March,
1874. 1t becomes doubly interesting
when the fact is considered that Wich1ta
is the great metropolis of Kansas.
One evening, before Wichita. Kansas,
had realized its hopes of securing per-
manent place ON theAmap-so long ago.
in fact. as the spring OF 1611-a gentle
hian from New York registered his
name at the Harris house, and an
nounced his intention OF stopping few
DAYS in order to see the country, and
perhaps to buy some land in the neigh
borhoood. After dinner he sought out
tie landlord, and made special request
that, as he was an eastern man IN search
of experience, he might have buffalo
steak served for his breakfast next morn
ing.
buffalo steak?'
s'Yes. tt is obrainable, isn't it: You
can get it here? Id be willing to pay
for any extra trouble; you know.
''Oh, no trouble. Fact is. Eve not oeen
| able to get anything else for week or
two past. was just going to apologize
for giving it to you at dinner"
| The eastern man looked as if he
thought himself sold, but still stuck to
his request, because he wanted to know
how buffalo meat tasted when hs was
not wrestling with it under the false I'M
preston that it was Texas COW. And
then finding the landlord sociable dor
10 mot;fG ge-isl host than Rouse ever
made his house pleasant for his guests
+, at his own loss). he asked if the to@t was
quiet and orderly.
"Oh yes, perfectly so. You eastern
| men fancy that we are overrun with
despeisdtes, rut here, but you'll find
Wichita just as peaceful e g man could
wish"
At this point the conversation was
brought to a close by the interruption OF
! a party Of noisy men, or whom the land
/ lord explained to his guest as he went to
attend IS tIsnt; that they were ''some OF
| Curley Marshalls boys
land who is Curley MarshallT' asked
the eastern man Of bystander as he sat
down in vacant chair.
''Curley is one of our celebrities, was
the rep15: ''He ,s to Wichita very much
what Buffalo Bill is to Abilene. Fine
fellow he is, too. ;"
But '.the boys" approached, and the
bystander incidentally moved away
without finishing his eulogy, while the
| newcomers surrounded the sitter before
he was fully aware IF his situation; and
then he thought he would not be IN q
hurry to get away. When, however,
two of the party began to practice broad
sword parties over his head with loaded
reviewers of the navy" pattern, he
| = tt. t,I3,a1 tl,n <,.,lar of his
going, and slipped out from 6etSe"n
| them Just as Long Dan" growing tired
of the fun, cooked his revolver and lev,
cling it at his friends head, said briefly.
"Get cut Of this. Thars the door"
the 6thet wsskened. % mement and
looked at Dan doubtjngiy. -,
Il mean it, by G--i You cir, or III
plug you"
He did git = 7
There was laughed eboys as
Dan looked grimly Triumphant and in.
Tited them into the barroom on his
.sshout." "Come OIL, stranger" said he
to the eastern man, seeing that the lattei
did not start forward. But the eastern
man asked to be excused, pleading that
he didn't drink.
"pon't drink? You won't drink with
me? Do YOU mean to insult me?
M sir. up-surely not But ] never
drink. -,
+; Look here, stranger! | dent like to
| have a man say that he's too good &c
drink with me: I'm Long Dan Cowee,
and the speaker looked dangerous.
The eastern man thought he had bet
| let dfihk:
He Jagged last in the crowd, however
and, satisfied that his absence would not
be noted, stole out of the back door an6
hung round behind the kitchen unit
1.-The boys" should have gone. Presently
he heard them in the street, and looked
around the corner of the house to see
There esme ~ bright flash; right
in his eyes, a report and band
| full of shot ratified against the fence
near him, while with yell ''the boys
went on down the street, discharging
their pistols into the air. They had not
seen him; the shotgun was fired on gen
| eral principles, nobody supposing there
was man SHILLING Behind tbs hg.pse
who might get hit. Satisfied by this
| token that the hotel was clear. the east
ern man went inside again, and the
| landlord presently heard him booking
his name with the stage-agent to return
eastward the following morning. lie
said he thought that when he had zeal
! lied i'll consciousness the taste of buffalo
meat. as he hoped to do at breakfast, he
should have all the experience that be
cared for at present. The landlord eX-
postulated and assured him that the un-
fortunate occurrence of the evening was
very EXCEPTIONAL; some of Curley
friends had taken possession of the
town that day, but it would be quiet to-
morrow, and probable the like would
never happen again. Nothing of the
sort had happened before since Ledford
was killed, about two months pre-
viously.
And who was Ledford?'
Ledford had been the former proprie-
| tor of the Harris house. At one time a
( Unted States scout, he left the service
in order to trade horses across the line
of the Nation {the public remembers
/, that some such traders were hung by
shorse owners IN Douglas county, and
having made enough at that business to
enable him to retire from it, he did SO.
married a lovely young wife, and con-
tinued TO be one of the most prominent
and respected citizens of Wichita until a
squad Of United States cavalry was one
day sent after him, when he showed fight
|. and was killed.
/ 1t was true that such disturbances
were rare in Wichita. At the outset
they were frequent, but when Curley
. Marshall was persuaded to accept the
office of constable, and he kept the VII
| lage quiet enough until he got tired OF
the novelty and resigned-an event
| which had then recently happened
| Whenever any of the boys took posses
-;,, = q "a Iln, (,,rior- ,,ssrd IL, enter viii