The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1896-02-08
A HISTORIC EVENT.
THE SALE OF THE ATcHlsoN, TOPEKA
AND SANTA FE ROAD.

The sale Of the Atchison' railroad in
Topeka is the most notable incident Of
the kind in this or any other country.
The extent Of the system and the amount
Of money involved in the transaction
were never equaled in any like transac.
tion. public or private The immensely
Of the deal may be better comprehended
BY the fact that the system proper en-.
braces ASA miles Of roadbed. ON which
there are now being used S84 locom0-
tives, ~. o59 freight cars. 500 passengss
cars. besides Pullmans, express, man,
dining and other cars in great number.
The traffic frequently requires the oper-
ating department to handle for weeks
at time no less than 20 freight trains
over given division every "a hours.
There are more than 20, 900 pay checks
Issued by the Topeka Office every month.
The Atchison system has been built
practically during the last 90 years. and
originally it was intended to be a rail-
road paralleling the historic Santa Fe
trail, over which should be transported
with greater ease and speed and at re-
duced rates the commerce Of the
plains" which had in the early seven
ties assumed enormous proportions.
The famous Santa Fe trail was legal
" established by treaty which was
concluded Aug. 10, 1898, on the banks
Of the NeOsho river. in fine piece Of
timber. The incident caused Kit Carson
to mark on the head Of a cheese box
with piece Of charred wood Council
Grove" and nail it on a tree where that
historic town now stands. That treaty
was made with the Great and Little
Osases by government commission ap-
pointed by authority Of congress to me.
Rotiate treaties with the Indians for a
wagon road through the great American
desert, and ii was stipulated that the
Indians should hold sacred the rights Of
the whites to travel that read unmolest-
ed. This stipulation was so generally
observed by all the plains Indians that,
even during many Of the Indian raids.
the whites were generally safe from dep
relations as long al they remained on
the trail
Late in the eighteenth and early in
the present century the Spaniards, in
their greed and jealousy. sent forth the
edict that their territory in the south
west should be carefully guarded from
any intrusion from the Americans to
the north and east. Already the Ameri-
cans had come to regard the Spanish
Possessions in Mexico with an increased
longing and covetousness ON account of
the reported fabulous wealth Of gold
and silver. Up to 1891. when Mexico
gained her independence, it was at the
hazard Of life itself that any American
attempted to penetrate that sealed up
country. At that time the frontier Of
American civilization was on the Mis-
souri, river. and the western border Of
that state was occupied by bold and
adventurous people, and when this
treaty was made, guaranteeing protec-
tion alike to citizens Of this and the re-
public Of Mexico, this newly established
Santa Fe trail Immediately sprang into
great Importance. Ii started from Fort
Leavenworth and from Independence
Landing, formed junction at NO
no." just below Lawrence, struck the
Arkansas near where Great Bend is now
situated, followed the river 100 miles.
crossed and passed through the sandy
country for about so miles TO the Cimar-
ron. which stream it followed to near
the southwest corner Of Kansas, thence
in general southwesterly direction tc
Santa Fe. $50 miles from Independence
Landing.
For four years prior TO the treaty at
Council Grove many attempts had been
made, with indifferent success. to reach
the tabled rich country Of the Mexicans.
The Great American desert was infested
with bold bandits Of almost every race
and color. Caravans Of pack mules at
tempting to cross the plains were forced
to proceed very slowly, always ON the
alert, moving like an invading army,
ever ready to repel the sudden attacks
OF an unseen and almost unknown enc
my. In the spring Of 1924 the first wag.
On train reached Santa Fe with sup
plies. and before winter it returned to
the river laden with fine furs and sill
yer. That train contained over 200 wag.
ons, each drawn by six to ten yoke Of
oxen. Over 100 days were required to
reach Santa Fe, the distance now being
covered in 2S hours. This commerce Of
the plains grew to such proportions that
in 1853 there were on the trail no less
than 2,500 men in some way engaged
In this traffic In that year there were
registered at Council Grows ,S27 wag
ons, 429 horses, 5,3i6 mules, I5,7l4l
oxen and 81 carriages, or passenger We
hicles. During that rear there were
9,60S tons Of freight carried over the
route, equal to about 500 carloads.
There was over ~, 500, 900 directly in
vested in this business. with another
81 900, 900 as an incidental investment.
New York Times.