Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1908-08-15
Township Historical Maps,


In the matter of prizes for
township historical maps offered
by me last fall, 1 requested Pres
ident W. S. Picken of the State
Normal School of Hays to appoint
com mlttee to examine the maps
submitted and make awards. He
appointed Professr j. S. Bird, G.
A. Shively, and J. T. Treadway
of the Normal. They reported
4 to me under date of June %,
showing that only two counties
entered into the contest. namely.
/ IreSo and Wallace. In Trego 10
1 different maps were submitted
by nine pupils of the public
schools, one pupil making maps
OF two different areas. In Wal
lace six different maps were sub
mitted by five pupils, one pupil
mapping two different townships
The map work shows a variety
of ideas and various lines of in
vestigatiOn. Most of the pupils
used the standard forms of sta
tionery on which the congress-
lonal township is printed in out
! 49, ~ AOCO do1 Will N1O1SU
section lines, red lines dividing
sections into quarters, and faint
blue lines dividing quarters into
forties, and having each section
| already numbered properly. I'm
fortunately, some of the contest
ants drew their own maps upon
an inferior grade of paper with
the result that they are already
fragments. thus destroying one
of the purposes of the contest,
which was to secure new and O.
riginal local data for permanent
preservation of the StateHistori-
cal Society.
Pupils competed from the fifth
sixth. seventh and eighth grades,
at least and in age from eleven
to fifteen years. There were
also maps which did not disclose
the age or grade of the artist.
But there had been no condition
imposed that either of these facts
should be stated.
In Trego county Eva M. Green
wood submitted map of Town
ship IL, r %, and also the city |
of Wakeeney. To every map was
attached schedule explaining
points marked on the map, but
which could not be explained on
the map conviently and clearly.
Several maps marked the Old
Denver Trail. Two maps were
of Township, 1924, and two of
1928. The others were different.
Coloring was happily resorted to
to make distinctions in both of
Miss Greenwood's maps, and the
schedule of particulars which she
attached as to flora, dwellings,,
quarries, roads, road
streams and water
courses, springs, school lands,
both original and indemnity, and
townships, as well as
particulars of the townsite and
the organization of the
city, the locations of the build
lngs, the dates of building the
and numerous other
buildings, the dates and locations
of six or more fires, and other
city data about elections, u. S.
land Office, hotels, storms etc.,
was not only extensive, but along
desired lines. Asa Smith locat-
ed Chalk's pond. Della Smith
located the residences on every
section. Raymond Preston loo
ated the first stone school house
in Trego County on Section 50,
and the last sod school house {
On Section 9, which was super
seded by frame building erect
I'd in 1906 on section IL. s
Florence Tilton and four others
show the Old Denver Trail.
camilla Theil and Merle Hit q
show old Fort Downer on that 1
Trail Fannie Polkovsky and 1
Maggie Hit show also Thresh-
Machine Canyon, which they say +
,ook it's name from an incident in r
,he pilgrimage of the Mormons t
20 Utah. They say that the I
MOrmonS had threShing |
machine with them and camped +
IN the bank of the canyon on the
Denver Trail, and during the 7
hight some Indians came and ran :
he threshing machine over the :
bluffs into the canyon, and !
the machine.
Merle Hit says that old Fort .
)owner was in section Is, built .
# sod by soldiers who were sent s