Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1901-06-15
NAN FAMOUS N FICTION.
William Ludlow, Who Served as . d0dd
for Mark Twain.

| On q roll Of old yellow parchment in
the office OF the circuit clerk or Marion
county, Missouri, Is the plan OF great
city says the ST Louis Republic. Along
dts western confines sweeps the Missis-
| sipDf river and here are located wharves
andware houses and ali the evidences
OF thriving river traffic. Yau may
travel however, the whole navigable
length of the river without finding any
where its counterpart.
It never existed, save in, the mind Of
one man. ana now, after the lapse OF
more than fifty years, this yellow parch-
1nent with its faded pen-and-ink city
J would have no more interest for US
than any other relic of that ephemeral
and picturesque period Of western de.
Telopment, but for the fact that the
! man who conceived it furnished Mark
Twain with his model for the immortal
Col. Sellers, and his field and methods
OF operation are portrayed by Charles
Dickens in tha experiences of Martin
Chuzzlewit : the Valley Of Eden.
The story Of the life and operations
OF Col. William Muldrow, the first great
promoter of the West, has in it enough
of the favor of romance and adventure
to appeal TO an imagination less fertile
than that of Mark Twain. At this re.
mote day it is impossible to form cor
rect estimate Of the character of the
man. Only the record of his unsuccess.
full schemes remains and from these one
may have his choice Of opinions.
William Muldrow was born in Marion
county, Kentucky, in 1897, and when
about twenty-four years old went to
live IN Missouri. Although uneducated
the young Easa was gifted with much
natural shrewdness and was appointed
special agent to visit the East to secure
patronage for college it was proposed
to establish in Marion county, Missouri.
He executed his commission in man.
ner which exceeded expectations OF
those who sent him, and in doing so
came to a realization of his own power
and the resources of the country to
Thich he belonged.
Then came his plan to found a city
that should be the metropolis of the
West.
The site selected was on the bank OF
tie Mississippi river, six miles east OF
the town of Palmyra, the county seal
OF Marion county, and the name given
It was Marion City. The place had been
originally known as Green's Landing,
and like other low lands along the
river, it was subject to annual overflow
man Of Col. Muldrow's resources, to be
met with the same equanimity that Col
Sellers met the slight difficulty OF
Stones Landing, being twenty miles OF
the straight line of the Salt Lick Paci:
fic extension.
The map now filed with the clerk OF
Marion county was prepared with great
care, copies Of it, with bills and circu.
lars, spread broadcast over the country
flaming advertisements appeared in the
newspapers; and the attention of the
entire country was drawn to Col. Null
drow and his magnificent schemes. In
toxicated by success, his ideas enlarged
With ease and facility which ELECTS ou1
wonder and admiration he staked out
the streets and lots of another. forty
miles west Of Marion City, and called
1t New York. Near the town of Phil
a1eIphia he saw a promising opening
for third, with still a fourth at al
place called Ely.
In the autumn of 1916 active opera
tions were begun at Marion City. Large
forces Of workmen were engaged, 1svees
and warehouses built, cabins erected, the
railroad surveyed and the work OF
grading begun. Sections of grass
grown embankment still mark The
course Of this, the first railroad west OF
the Mississippi river.
In the meantime Col. Muldrow had
gone East with his plans, and by his
indomiaab1e energy and that strange
almost hypnotic power which enabled
him to dominate the minds of wiser
men. he sold land in Marion county to
the amount of $4,000, $35, 200 worth
In Philadelphia and smaller sums In
other places. A part of this was the
investment of spectators, and part
was the small savings of people who in
tended to settle in the new country. AS
a sample of the confidence inspired by
this wonderful man, some capitalists
placed in his hands, without security,
100000 to be invested according to his
judgment, allowing him one-half Of
tba profits ACQUIRING from the same.
After Col. Muldrow's return emigrants
began to arrive. Every boat carried
cargo of freight for Marion City, cabins
were hurried to completion, and for
while at least it looked as if his
scheme might amount to something.
This condition, however, was short.
lived. All plans for draining the land
proved unsuccessful, and every sprinS
the heavy raEnfalls, coming with the
melting snow. transformed the river
into a yellow. sulging flood, which