The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-08-21
BY HARRY ROOT.
Fort Rile

1
One of the pioneer buildings in At
wood remains standing. 1t is nearly
old enough to be retired and put on
the pension list. 1t is still occupied.
1t has seen SO many years of active
service of sunshine and worry, it looks
as if the structure is mbling~down.
The building was new the first visit
! your correspondent made to Atwood.
\ 1t was occupied with a stock of drugs,
and a man named Wilson operated
the store. Later. the Citizen news
paper was printed under its roof by
James Greason. He is now dead.
There are people living in Atwood who
claim he published the newsiest jour
nal the town ever had. 1t is now &C.
cupied by the Square Deal printing
plant, whose editor is Frank D. Grea-
son, son of the old Citizen editor. 1t
| is one of the buildings that didn't get
on wheels and move to Brakeman in
| the county seat turmoil. Many a po-
litical job has been put up under its
roof and hundreds of gallons of oil
consumed in meetings when talking
politics or talking for the towns good
No one will blame the Greasons for
occupying the old pioneer building.
| The Square Deal editor has prom
ised your itemizer that when he could
see his way clear. he would rebuild.
At one time he had. the lumber on the
ground, but the pioneer building was
the main thought, mixed up with crop
shortage, drouth and grasshopper in
vasions, he would wait while longer
Your correspondent made his first
visit to Osborne by stage, in the late
Seventies, some years ahead of a rail-
read A visit to the town in August,
1879, the following men were doing
business in the first court house:
Sheriff, ]. M. Morgan; treasurer Mar
| tin Mohler; clerk, c. G. Paris; the pro-
bate Judge was Abner Smith. and he
was also filling the office of register
| of deeds; clerk of court, L. A. weeks;
superintendent of schools. J. l.
Rarnes: coroner. DR.. D. E. Tilden.
vanians in business than from the 9TH
er states combined, and many of them
had settled there in time to see the
| buffaloes by the thousands. A family
had homesteaded their claim adjoin-
| ing the town on the west, and built a
| small log house where they could eat
and sleep. The lady of the house said
to your correspondent that she had
stood in the door and watched the buff
faloes passing the house by the hun
| dreds, coming from the divide on
the way to the Solomon river for wa
| ter. ''They came SO near the house I
could throw the broom and hit them"
! she said. There wasn't any SIAM
pede, only walking along, 1eisurely, and
| the calves appeared to be protected by
| the old ones walking along on either
! side of them. It is good to visit the
| town and hear the pioneers swap
stories of the first days in Osborne
The writer has seen the most of it
grow up. The original court house
! has been replaced by two others, the
present one being brick and modern,
| and the frame business houses at the
| start disappeared long ago to make
room for brick and stone. The Farm
| er office forged ahead so rapidly that
! it now does business in its own mod
ern home. Her schools are equal to
| any in north central Kansas and her
| churches are models of neatness. For
several years Osborne was the home
/ of Congressman Lewis Hanback,. now
dead. 1t was also the home of Martin
! Mohler, who was many years at the
head of the state board of agriculture,
which position his son, J. c. Mohler
now fills with credit. It is the home
| of r. r. Hays, who formerly repre-
scented Osborne county in the state
senate. It was the former home Of
z. T. Walrond and A. Saxey, noted
lawyers the former drifting to the In
dian Territory and the latter to Utah,
now both dead. 1t was the former
| home Of Chas. w. Lands, who made
the Farmer, having learned the print
| ing trade in that office. He is now in
| the banking business in. San Diego,
| Calf. Osborne was also the home of
Col. W. 8. Triton. newspaper man. now
living in Oklahoma, and is departmen emit
commander of the old soldier organi-
cation in that state. Other towns have
tried to draw trade from Osborne, and
/ one went SO far as to lay claims for
| removal of county seat. bl. the good
old town keeps on pushing forwa i.
Southwest Kansas has had several