The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-27

New MEXICO ana all JldI country III
the Southwest which had to be reached
by OK teams. I've seen a thousand
Greasers in Westport at one time, each
yelling at q ten or twelve-yoke of oxen
and swearing all the time. They were
going to the landing for goods, or COM
ing back, and they always stopped IN
Westport to tar up and get drunk. I've
seen the streets Of that town crowded
for weeks with Indian tribes that came
across the country, hundreds of miles,
with their trinkets, which they traded
for anything red that the stores had.
can name you now dozen firms, the
biggest in ST. Louis, that got their
start by trading with Indians and Mex
leans
Then there was the Santa Fe stage
line. 1t ran a daily line between West
port and Santa Fe. The stages didn't
go to the river; no stree. They started
from Westport, and they stopped there.
The arrival and departure of a stage
in those days was something like the
arrival of a big steamship in this port,
and more so, for you folks don't care
If every ship on the ocean was to come
in. But the stage driver was hero.
why, when a teacher asked boy
what he was going to be when he grew
up he always said stage driver The
fare from Westport to Santa Fe, or
OlueIWlSS, w DIS SIio 1Ol OiC PebSSoo~'
That's right; and it had to be gold,
every cent of it. You could stuff twelve
people inside, and stick from two to
three on top. For years the stages
were crowded just that way, and you
can figure out what the company
made"
Must have retired wealthy" said
the clerk.
mo. not for a while They were
vxrIn ..
hotel. Instead of retiring, they started
another line between Westport and
Stockton, Cal. I think the fare on that
line was about $3.50 in gold, and the
company didn't have enough stages. L
hear people talk about gold mining
and about the good old days when d
man didn't care what he had! Why,
man, there never was time in this
country when your grandfather and
mine wasn't out for the almighty dol
lar Of course, there were more chances
then than now, but there were not SO
many people,
How long did it take to make the
trip between Kansas City and Santa
Fe?"
"Westport, you mean. There wasn't
any Kansas City then, tell you. Why,
about thirteen days"
"And between Westport and Stock
TONI"
Nobody ever knew. Depended on
the driver-and the Indians. If the
driver was in cahoots with the Indians
the stage never got in. But, say, in
those days when Westport was the
metropolis I've seen as many as a
dozen steamboats, tied up at the land
ing of what is now Kansas City I'M
loading for Westport and the Santa Fe
trade. And they had all arrived the
same day. Why, there were not
enough boats then to do the business.
Now there amt two arrivals in year.
why, I'll tell you what Westport
did. There was only one road from
the river to the metropolis, and Of
course the heavy teaming cut it up
nightly. Well, sir, to accommodate
that trade the Westport business men
had a turnpike built from the town
to the river. That was the first turn
pike west of the Mississippi river, I'M
less there is lie out, and it cost mon
ey OF course, there was a toll gate at
each end of the road, so as to catch
'em coming and going, but it was not
the paying business you may think.
Whenever the road would get in bad
condition a mounted man or two would
ride UP to the gatekeeper sWipe the
cash, and ride away. The company
would take the hint and repair the
pike, and all was well, But the pike
helped trade and Westport. 1t was
a great enterprise. But do you know,
that pike was loaded. 1t was the
frozen serpent on the Westport hearth.
For after while, when the old notion
about cholera coming up the river had
played out, and when old Tom Benton
made a speech on one of the hilltops
overlooking the Missouri, and pointed
this way and said: There is the East,
and then pointed the other way and
said, and there is India old Jim Nc
Gee, one Of the pioneer settlers, threw
up his hat and yelled: Then, by God,
this is the halfway place,-from that
day the doom of Westport was sealed.
Yes, sir.
MCGEE had bought all the hills and
valleys round about for a few barrels
of whisky, and he concluded to have an
auction sale of town lots. And it's
fact that he had to go to st. Louis
to advertise his sale. Why? Because
there wasn't a newspaper in the state
outside of st. Louis at that time.
Finally, people began building houses
in the landing, and then it took the
name of Kansas City Westport put
on airs for while, but later on when
the teams passed right through town
to Kansas City over the pike. Westport
men said, Damn the pike. If we
hadn't built it the teams would stop
here But 1 don't know. [ reckon
it would have been the same If the pike
never had been put down. Later on
some Of the old families moved into
Kansas City. The stages went there
and left from there. The war came.
And after the war the boom, and after
the boom the panic, and finally COM
mon sense and every day gait Kansas
City became a sure enough city. 1t built
a cable line to Westport. That set.
tied Westport-the name, mean. The
town had been settled. Why, three
months ago there wasn't enough life
in Westport to get up competition for
the postoffice. Then Westport heard
about Greater New York, and-well,