The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-03-14
H.r,Rsr crcLoNEIxkANsAs.
Also the FIst MAJ aad woman Mentions,
~ Residents Of the suHaSWer
StRts

- heeNuGhNa OF Nhe NununNGF
state.
WASHINGTON CRY, Feb. "a, 1889.
To the Editor of the Eagle.
In the congressional library there
In an old account In French Of the
visit Of Coronado 10 Kansas in l54l,
being the relation given by
CastenadA, who WAS ON the eKpedi-
ton. All ] desire to give in this
letter II the description Of the first
Kansas cyclone known to history as
translated: After leaving the
Indian town OF Cicuye, situated q
little sOuth Of where Las Vegas now
is, Coronado marched tOwared
Quiyers, 40 the author says, north
northeast, and came on 60 Indians
who lived in tents made of tanned
buffalo skins. The SpaniaTds saw
such vast numbers of buffalo upon
the plains that "it seemed to lie q
thing incredible uf belief" These
Indians assured us anew that we
would find many villages, and We
directed our steps 20 the east
"ShOrtly afterwards f.. Garcia
broke his arm aud We lost q
Spaniard who disappeared In the
CHASE. The country was very fiat.
The party still marched toward the
east trying TO discover the village,
aud came upon an "inrTedihle herd
OF bison, If which they killed
many. We marched sixty miles
without seeing anything but buffalo
aud sky" Note: This l. the best
buffalo story every told.
After this painted Indian turned
mp in the command who was a
native of Quiyera, aud named
SOPrte. He H. the first kaIsan
whose name H. known iu history.
Aner considerable more. marching
they came Ia village name and
lnration not given where they saw
an Indian woman ~ white a. n
Spaniard aud painted.
while the army wa ramPt 81 heIe
ia u irvine there came up in the
evening n violent cyclone tour
billion of wind and hail, which
threw into camp quantity 81 hail.
stones n lsrI q a. pOrTings eruelles
aud even larger. They Tell n thick
~ rain aud la some places the
ground was covered To the depth 81
Iw0 or three palms. The horses all
broke their fa-tening- aud all
escaped with the exception of two OF
three who were. held onto 10y "les
negroes" please note the first np-
I+Aranrp of the culured brother la
Kansas histury-he T. holding onto
something who had taken helmets
aud buckleT- To- shelter themselves
with. Tue wind carried some of the
horses and glued them up against
the walls of the ravine, while Others
we're carried 10 places Whence IL wa
not worth the trouble of Tegaining
thPRI. n We had been assailed 10y
this tempest out Un the plain We
would have lost almost all of the
horses without its being possible Ga
have rebound them. The hHilstOnes
also broke many uf the tents,
damaged nIany helmets, wounded II
quantity Of the horses aud broke all
II the camp cooking vessels. Thi-
was not any small embarrassment
for there were not any more Of such
articles in the country. pnes could
not lind there even gourd
calabashrs aud neither rOru nor
bread was To be- -reu auyw here, for
the Inhabitants lived only On flesh
either raw or badly cooked, and
fruits. Here -nds the description
nf the cyclone.
Thence Coronado marched four
days journey and came to n
pOpulOus country and the town Of
Coma, which H. the first mentioned
Kansas town. lie afterwards
visited the present site of your city,
no doubt having been impressed
with the conviction that at the
confluence Of the -. Peters aud 81.
Paul's rivers the Crest aud Little
Arkansas he would find CibOla
where he might possibly meet De
Soto, who was then marching west
ward by way Of TT. Scott, also in
search Of the Mecca of QuivSra, bet
ter known 10 modern geOgraphers As
Wichita. Kansas.
Very respectfully,
r. r. WARE.