The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-24
MISSOURI RIVER Ears Up A CITY.
Remarkable lrishap 80 a Kansas set
Element.

Prom the St Louis Republic
In the story Of the rise and fail Of west
ern boom towns within the past genera
ton there IS one strange history that has
never been written-ths passing Of
Elwood. Kan.
The Missouri river. twenty feet deep.
rolls and gurgies AMI f1ams over the spot
that was once the main street. Where
husrling merchants once displayed their
wares IN commodious houses and the har-
/ dy piainsman bumped elbows with the
mOneyed tenderfOot fresh from the east,
the broad and erratic river flows to-day.
/ The corner lots that once fitted back and
forth in the real estate exchange have
gone g.immerins like the VIII o. the wisp Of
the gold seekers-gone TO make sands on
the seashore. Elwood has tumbled into the
muddy Missouri.
one Seth Allen, whose memory is stil
revered along with that Of his famed colo
NAL ancestors, Of whom he often Boosted
flung his lank frame from prairie schoOn
IT at the door Of the principal tavern on
the eastern shore one spring day in the
early sos, swearing be would go no fur
Their The emigrants Of whose party he
mad been one recuperat ted "a few days and
then started for the gold fields. Allen
stood on the river bank and watched the
wagons cross the stream; he stood on the
bank and watched them touch the farther
shore. Then, It is presumed. an idea &C.
CURED TO him that the western side OF the
Missouri river was the proper place for
! emigrants TO outfit and make their depar-
tuTe.
Al any rate. few days passed before a
wooden building with the sign, Last
Chance Tavern" swinging from the door.
stood on the pleasant prairie across from
I -nnna H1n VI
around Tavern Keeper Aliens, and Yam
kee industry, combined with foreign cap
ital, had a line of ferry steamers-sturdy
n-wheelers-actively churniuB the
muddy waters of the Missouri into foam
before the summer was dead. Elwood
grew-grew and prospered. Truly, it
filled a l0Hg-felt want.
The next year overland traffic increased.
| Long caravans came and went; settlers
| and pioneers came and remained. The
| busting real estate agent. the honest
| home-seeker, the rakish river gambler,
| the acknowledgement terror, the monde
| script hanger-on. all drifted into ElwoOd.
The Great Western hotel, the finest
structure Of its kind anywhere on the
| river. was built. and old-timers of this city
former residents of ElwOod. who came
/ and went with its powers and glory-to-
| day relate many wonderful tales of the
/ revels that went on beneath its prosper
/ Gus roof.
! Interesting relics OF the Elwood Town
/ Company come to the surface occasion
/ ally Purchasing Agent George Dixon
| Berry of the St. Joseuh and Grand Island
/ railroad in this city, has one of the origi-
! nal certificates of stock in the town site
/ scheme. 1t is remarkably well preserved.
/ 1t was issued to Richard $. Graves. and
/ bears the signature of Henry Douglas,
/ president and Edward Russell, secretary.
! Little by little the best part of Elwood
/ crumbled and was swept into the stream,
/ To-day there is but little of the once pros
/ porous town left standing. One of the
| most interesting of the cid landmarks yet
| remaining is the Elwood jail, built on land
/ high and dry, far removed from the river
| bank. Within its narrow confines many
a tough character has been thrust by the
town marshal
As the place looks to-day, 1t presents the
/ appearance of a deserted village The
! houses now standing were in the suburbs
before the course Of the river was chang
| ed. The greatest evidence of life that Is
| there now is the depot of the St. Joseph
! and Grand Island Railroad Company
| which is about a mile from the Original
town site. This road was built after Ell
wood was on the wane. The few remain
ing houses are occupied by fishermen and
the people who exc out precarious exist
ence by doing odd jobs in the city across
! the river