Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1910-01-06

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road, and tell you frankly and can.
dIdly that we regard II as the widest.
most chimerical, visionary and Inn
practical project we ever heard Of
and we will not put a dollar in It,
nor be responsible for . dollar that
anybody puts into Il.
"The idea Of getting cattle to come
from Texas and ship over our road,
lis TO US pteposterous and ridiculous,
and / repeat, we will not invest
dollar in It. nor be responsible for
any money lost in the project. Whilst
we cannot give any conclusive, tangi-
Bile reason why you may not succeed,
we tell you frankly we do not believe
you can.
1--WE want freight going east; we
do not have a carload month, and
anyone securing us east bound freight
we will do the grand handsome by
him. but we have mo- faith or conf
dence in your proposed enterprise. "
OF truth, the expressed opinion
of the railroad president was in sub
stance the same. as ninety-seVen out
of every hundred western men, freely
expressed, when speaking of the ILL
nolsan's enterprise.
The Illinoisan nothing daunted, al
firming the utmost confidence In his
plan, and its success, and proceeded
to boil down the company's grand
handsome into a contract to give
him one-eighth of the freight money
arising from livestock shipped from
his proposed shipping yards. Having
secured such a contract, the lllinoisan
proceeded to Abilene, bought the
townsite, 480 acres. it then being
a county seat. at five dollars per acre,
and at once began the building OF .
shipping yard Largo and strong
enough to hold three thousand head
of wild Texas cattle, providing chutes
sufficient to load four cars at Q time
putting in large scales, building o
three-story hotel costing $4,000
and barn that would hold over 9
hundred head of horses or ponies.
While the construction of these Ia
cilities we're going on, an ex-county
surveyor, with several men, camp
outfit, spades and shovels, and sub.
sistence were dispatched southwark
to locate and mark proposed tran
by throwing up small mounds OF
turf and dirt, varying the course TO
the right or left hand SO as to pass
water opportunities; and extending
to and crossing the Arkansas river
at or near the bridge now located in
Wichita, thence bearing touthwardi
crossing .sSeAgwick and Sumner
counties, in. neither of which was q
known settler, terminating at the IN
dian Territory line near the present
town. Of Caldwell, Kansas, which
prosperous burg was located to eaten
the first and last chance for trade
with north bound and down home
bound Texas drovers; and years later
became a prosperous shipping point
for livestock, when settlement ot|
kansas no longer allowed driving
farther north. Then a shrewd, re-
liable frontiersman was dispatched
southeastward, following in the main
the course of the Arkansas river, in
structed to hunt up every drover pos
sible and tell him Of Abilene and its
promise of aid to the drover. The
trail was in later years extended
south across the Indian Territory tol
Red River, thence in a southwesterly
direction to Corpus Christi, Texas.
For Notwithstanding the ruinousl
experience of '66, a few drovers came
north the next year. with small dreves
Of cattle ,.ggregating probably less
than fifty thousand head largely
mixed stock, Of all ages and both
sexes. But no two of these drovers
agreed as to Just where to land their
herds, and hence were, driving as
blind venture. To them Abilene was
an unbelievable promise of some
thing good.
The courier Of good news to the
wandering drover piloted large
herd up the proposed trail, the owner
Of which drove died of cholera Just
after crossing the Arkansas River,
but his herd passed on to Abilene.
The fret shipment Of cattle was made
from Abilene, September l. 1867,
and went to Chicago via Lcaven-
worth, st. Joe and Quincy, Illinois,
as did practically all Of the first
years shipment. The Missouri Pa
clfIc Railroads chief official In the
earlier days Of the business, grossly
in. ulted the Illinoisan when he
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