Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-02-20
KANSAS PIONEERS OF DIFFERENT
PERIODS.

The Washington correspondent of the
Gloi e-Democrat, whose business is to
shadow western people who visit the
capital and communicate through the
columns of that paper to the reading
world not only what such visitors say
but their movements in detail, and it is
of little use to try to evade him. Dur
ing the recent sojourn Of the EAGLES
chief and Hon. L. +. Ware, of Fort
Scott, il the capital city the aforesaid
genius made it his special business to
keep notes on them and the following is
the result of his efforts as transmitted
by wire to the Globe and appearing in
that paper of the 18th inst:
Hon. Marsh NJ. Murdoch. editor Of the
Wichita EAGLE, and Hon. Eugene Ware,
'the Paint Creek poet" of Fort Scott,
have gone home. Mr.. Ware came some
weeks ago in the interest of bill to
create a new judicial district in Kansas.
and Mr.. Murdoch was here to help boom
the Oklahoma bill. Mr.. Wares
measure has ''gotten lost in the
shuttle" and Mr.. Murdock's
case is at present despairing OF
triumph. Both of these literary gentle
men have accordingly departed for
sunny Kansas IN more or less disgust az
the national lawmakers. While here,
however, they were not idle. Together
they visited the congressional library
and pored over some OF its musty vol
umes. They were searching for some
thing definite concerning two early Kan
sans. They were Ferdinand De Soto
and Francisco Vasquez De Coronado.
They were in Kansas also in the year
1911. MesSrS. Murdoch and Ware eX-
press the opinion that the two explorers
met in Kansas, but they cannot agree as
to the exact point of meeting. De Soto
came over from the Mississippi, and De
Coronado marched across the PLAINS from
the Rio Grande. Mr.. Murdoch is of the
opinion that they met at the point where
the Little Arkansas plows into the Ar
kansas. That is where Wichita is now
located. Mr.. Ware maintains thet the
meeting occurred on the Marmaton at
the point where Fort Scott now flour
ishes.
1.-The fact is" said Mr.. Murdoch, ode
Soto and De Coronado were SO favorably
impressed with the site at the mouth Of
the Little Arkansas that they contem-
plated starting town. They missed it
by not carrying out their intentions. By
putting it off they allowed the Wichita
Town Company to pre-empt the site, and
the result was the wonder of the plains
De Soto and De Coronado neglected
great opportunity and lost chance to
make their fortunes in real estate"
Mr.. Ware says, however, that De Soto
knew q good thing when he saw it,
and he stopped on the site of Fort
Scott. He finally sent for De Coronado,
who was wasting good deal of valuable
time at the mouth of the Little
Arkansas, and conference was
held in De Soto;s camp. They organized
real estate syndicate, and were prepar-
ing to start live boom, when De Coro-
nado was suddenly called back to New
Mexico, and De Soto returned to the
Mississippi. He died shortly afterward,
and thus the building of Fort Scott
was postponed.
There's no doubt" says Mr.. Ware,
"that these two explorers had Fort Scott
in view, and saw its future glory and
splendor and wealth through the vista of
years that have since interviewed"
Mr.. Ware, upon his arrival home, Will
write a poem about De Soto and De Cor
onado, and Fort Scott and Marsh Muir
dock.