Remember the Smoky Hill Trail!

PATTY NICHOLAS

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIAN, FORSYTH LIBRARY

Smoky Hill River

http://geology.com/lakes-rivers-water/kansas.shtml

Explorers SPANISH –

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado - 1540 – is given credit for being the first white explorer to visit the Smoky Hill valley

Juan de Ulibarri - 1706 – looking for a band of Picuries at El Cuartelejo, he may have come as far north as the Smoky Hill River

FRENCH – Etienne Veniard – 1724 – probably the 1st white man to travel the

entire length of the Smoky Hill River

AMERICAN – Zebulon Pike – 1806 – explored the headwaters of the rivers to the

west and he, no doubt, was near the Smoky Hill River as he discovered the peak that bears his name

John C. Fremont – 1842 - with Kit Carson as his guide, John was the first explorer in the name of the United States to explore the entire length of the Smoky Hill River

Gold!! In 1858, gold was discovered in Cherry Creek next to

the Rocky Mountains which was in the Kansas Territory at the time

Gold seekers wanted to find the fastest way to the Rocky Mountains, and an old Indian trail to the north of the Smoky Hill River became the most direct route to the gold fields in 1859

There were cutoff routes to Denver from both the Oregon and the Santa Fe Trails, but they took longer

Named the Smoky Hill Trail, it became the most traveled route, despite the fact that it was also the most dangerous because of the possibility of Indian attacks and the scarcity of water

Kansas Territory - 1854-1861

Historical Atlas of Kansas, 2nd Edition by Homer E. Socolofsky and Huber Self

Smoky Hill Trail Routes

Began Leavenworth

Went through Abilene

Salina

Ellsworth

Hays

Wallace County

Old Cheyenne Wells (headwaters of the river begin there)

Three different trails from this point North Trail – route is pretty

close to present day Interstate 70/U.S. 40

South Trail – more of western route to present day Kiowa and then northwest to Denver

Middle Trail - went west from Lake, near present-day Limon, then turned northwest to Denver where it met the South Trail

Historical Atlas of Kansas, 2nd Edition by Homer E. Socolofsky and Huber Self

Map of the Smoky Hill Trail RouteRoute through our state

Trail in Colorado

“Starvation Trail”~

1859 The Middle Trail became known by this name because of the

gruesome story of the Blue Brothers and cannibalism Alexander, Daniel and Charles – Whiteside County, Illinois

Their party set out for the gold fields in February 1859 and eventually made it to the headwaters of the river near Cheyenne Wells around March 17

A blizzard caused them to become disoriented and they traveled in circles; after the blizzard, several members of the party were able to travel on to Denver

Weak and exhausted, the 4 members left behind (the 3 brothers and a man named Soley) made requests that if he died, the others could eat his body to strengthen themselves

Soley died first, then Alexander, then Charles; Daniel was near death when found by Arapahoe Indians who nursed him back to good health

Daniel arrived in Denver on May 11

Travel on the Smoky Hill trail practically stopped after people heard Daniel Blue’s story

Building a better route

The towns along the eastern part of the Smoky Hill Trail in Kansas came up with a plan to outfit an expedition to build a road up the Smoky Valley

Henry Green headed the road-building crew which left Leavenworth on June 18, 1860 and reached Denver after 54 days

Green sent back a positive report to Leavenworth saying the road was good for travelers

However, the anticipated stampede did not happen Kansas became a state in 1861

Rumblings of war began – Civil War

But….the greatest impact was yet to come

David A. Butterfield Born on January 17, 1834 in

Franklin County, Maine He was intrigued by the West,

so he moved his family to Kansas in 1856, and then to Denver in 1862 after the Civil War broke out

He dreamed of operating a stage and freight line from the Missouri River to Denver going across Kansas; moved his family to Atchison in 1864

Butterfield Overland DespatchThis route is not to be confused with the Butterfield Overland Mail Route which was established by John Butterfield (no relation) in 1858 and operated through 1861

Its route started in St. Louis, went down through western Arkansas and turned west across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and then turned north again in California towards San Francisco

Trail Survey Butterfield wanted to use much of the same route as

the earlier Smoky Hill Trail, but his road had to be shorter and safer; he commissioned a survey of the route

Lieutenant Julian Fitch was the surveyor who began the survey on June 13, 1865 in Atchison and arrived in Denver on August 7

Changes that were made did make the trip faster, but not necessarily safer

In Colorado Territory, the Middle Trail (Starvation Trail) was bypassed because of the lack of water; the original North and South Trails were used

Making of the trail for stagecoaches and freight

Stations were set up at various places along the trail 40 stations

16 were home stations where passengers could get meals

The state was settled between Atchison and Fort Riley, so there were not any stations listed for that part of the route

Butterfield Overland Despatch

First wagon train carrying 150,000 pounds of freight left Atchison on June 24, in the shadows of the survey team who left on June 13

The first passenger stagecoach left Atchison on September 11 and arrived in Denver September 23

Passenger fare was $175 without meals

Atchison to Soldier Creek & Leavenworth to north of Topeka

Two trails come together at Louisville and then on to Junction City

Junction City, Abilene, Salina and Bavaria

Old Highway 40 follows the trail here – Brookville, Fort Harker, Ellsworth & Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill, Fossil Creek Station (Russell), Fort Fletcher, Big Creek, Lookout & Stormy Hollow Stations

Stormy Hollow, Downer’s and Chalk Bluffs Stations; Fort Downer - temporary outpost

Chalk Bluffs and Monument Stations, Russell Springs and Fort Wallace

Fort Wallace into Colorado; trail splits at Cheyenne Wells into North Branch and South Branch

North Branch and South Branch meet at Willow Spring, then split apart west of Lake Station

The North and South Branches head into Denver

Indian Troubles

The B.O.D. freight and passengers had a great risk traveling along the Smoky Hill Trail in the latter part of 1865

Indians became desperate when their hunting grounds were invaded by the B.O.D. and they started hunting the white men

First attack on a stagecoach was near Monument Station (Gove County) on October 2, 1865 This and other attacks prompted the establishment of Fort

Fletcher on October 11

Forts already in existence/established along the trail in Western Kansas for protection from the hostile Indians

Fort Ellsworth (southwest of Kanopolis)

August 1864 and renamed Fort Harker in November 1866

Abandoned in 1867

Fort Harker (in Kanopolis)

A new site

Closed and abandoned in 1872

Fort Fletcher (south of Walker)

October 11, 1865

Abandoned May 5, 1866

Re-established October 17, 1866

Became Fort Hays on November 17, 1866

Flooded in June of 1867 and moved

Fort Hays

June 23, 1867

Closed and abandoned November 8, 1889

Fort Wallace (southeast of Wallace)

October 26, 1865

Abandoned May 31, 1882

Ben Holladay

Butterfield’s stage and freight lines were losing money on the Smoky Hill route because of the Indian attacks; people were using the longer route through Nebraska and Colorado

Ben Holladay had a mail contract from the Missouri River to Denver along the Platte River (Pony Express that ran in the northeast part of the state) and he had Army protection along the route

He offered to purchase the B.O.D. line to offset the route that Wells Fargo was starting from the Missouri River Purchase was complete in March 1866

Spread too thin, Ben began having his own financial difficulties and sold his company to Wells Fargo on November 1, 1866

More trouble with the Indians Spring of 1867 - the Indians began attacking various B.O.D. stations

Maj. General Philip Sheridan was post commander at Fort Hays until 1869 when Col. Nelson Miles took over in April

Bvt. Maj. General George Custer was moved to Fort Hays during the summer of 1867 from Fort Riley due to the hostilities of the Indians along the Smoky Hill

June was one of the bloodiest months in the fighting, most of which was west of Fort Hays

It was also the month that Fort Hays was flooded, and then moved to its present location

The Kansas Pacific Railroad, laying rails across the state, was also victim of the hostilities

Seven railroad workers were killed just east of Victoria on August 1

Spring 1868 and Spring 1869 – Indians started attacking again

1870 brought a more peaceful atmosphere

The Union Pacific Eastern Division Railroad

Began construction in Kansas City in 1863 It became the Kansas Pacific on May 31, 1868

Through the Indian attacks, the railroad still kept laying tracks in Western Kansas and by January 1870, the rails reached Eagle Tail Station in Colorado

As the railroad was built on west, the B.O.D. stations were either abandoned or taken over by settlers

The rails reached Denver and the stagecoaches stopped running on August 18, 1870

The Butterfield Overland Despatch became history

Cow towns / Cattle trails Kansas had passed a law in 1865 prohibiting Texas cattle from

coming through the Kansas farmlands Farmers did not like having cattle from the trails roaming over their

lands with their own cattle

The line was about sixty miles west of Topeka, so west of that line there were no restrictions

Joseph McCoy, of Springfield, Illinois, owned a livestock shipping business

McCoy came up with the idea in 1867 to ship cattle using the railroads and decided to locate a market that was near the Smoky Hill River Junction City, Solomon City, and Salina did not want the cattle

He couldn’t go further west because the rails were not built that far yet

Abilene, a little town on Mud Creek, wanted the cattle trade

Cow towns / Cattle trails Chisholm Trail – started in Texas and ended in Abilene

from 1867-1871 Chisholm Trail was so named because a portion of it followed a

wagon trail that had been in use by Jesse Chisholm, an Indian trader

Later ended in Newton, Wichita and Caldwell

Ellsworth - became a cattle town and shipping point for the Chisholm Trail as the railroad moved west (1871-1875)

Hays – it never became a shipping point because the farmers cut off the road to Ellsworth, but it was on the Western Trail which ran from Bandera, Texas to Dodge City to Ogallala, Nebraska The Great Western Cattle Trail was longer in length and carried

cattle for two years longer than the Chisholm Trail

The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail By Gary and Margaret Kraisinger

The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail By Gary and Margaret Kraisinger

Massacre in Western Kansas along the trail

September 1872

Dick Jordan and George Jordan Buffalo hunters from Ellis

Fred Nelson A young Swedish boy who

worked for the brothers

Mrs. Dick Jordan Had recently lost her baby

and did not want to stay home by herself

They planned to hunt along the Smoky Hill River and go south towards Fort Dodge; planned to be gone 6 or 7 weeks

About the time the party should have returned to Ellis, two wagons were found along Walnut Creek in Ness County

The bodies of Dick Jordan and Fred were found by the wagons; the body of George Jordan was found across the creek where he had tried to get away

Mrs. Dick Jordan’s apron and bonnet were nearby; she was never found and is believed to have been killed before the Indians went back to their reservation

The last trail tragedy – September 11, 1874

German Family John and Lydia Rebecca – 20 Stephen – 19 Catherine – 17 Joanna – 15 Sophia – 12 Juliana – 7 Addie - 5

Left Missouri on August 15, 1874 and by the night of September 10, they were within a day’s ride to Fort Wallace.

As they got ready to set out the next day, a band of warriors, including two squaws, attacked the family

John, Lydia, Rebecca, Stephen and Joanna were killed in the attack

Catherine, Sophia, Juliana and Addie were kidnapped

Remains of the German family are in the Fort Wallace post cemetery

Historical Atlas of Kansas, 2nd Edition by Homer E. Socolofsky and Huber Self

More hostilities “Remember the German girls” – In April 1875,

Lieutenant Henely led a group of soldiers to an Indian camp on Middle Sappa Creek (Rawlins County) where there was a battle that ended with 19 warriors and 8 squaws and children being killed, along with 2 soldiers

More than 3 years later in September 1878 Soldiers were ambushed about 30 miles southeast of Fort

Wallace, killing 1 soldier and injuring 2 others

As the Indians fled, they killed 20 men in Decatur County and 11 men in Rawlins County, and others in Nebraska before being captured near Fort Robinson

This was the last Indian raid on Kansas soil

Tragic ending of David Butterfield’s life

After he sold the Butterfield Overland Despatch to Ben Holladay in 1866, he and his family moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas where he started up a street car system

On March 27, 1875, he approached a couple of employees at his stable about their alleged abuses of the stock; one of them hit David on the head with a stick of wood, striking him unconscious

David passed away the following morning, leaving behind a wife, four daughters and one son

Howard Raynesford

Much of the information in this presentation came from a book written by Howard C. Raynesford and Wayne C. Lee titled “Trails of the Smoky Hill: From Coronado to the Cow Towns”

Raynesford was born and raised on a farm southwest of Ellis and raised his own family on a dairy farm outside of Ellis

A historian who became Director of the Kansas State Historical Society

Mapped the BOD trail from Atchison to Denver in his spare time and he was granted permission in 1963 from the State Legislature to place stone-post markers at the right of ways where the trail crossed major highways; he received no funds for doing this major project

Original papers and maps are in the Kansas Room at the Hays Public Library; copies are in the Smoky Hill Trail Association Archives located in Special Collections here at Forsyth

MarkersCement plaques for each marker base were cast by Raynesford

The plaques read as follows: Smoky Hill Trail Butterfield Overland Dispatch Atchison to Denver Traveled by Gen Fremont 1844 First Denver Stagecoach 1859 Most Dangerous Overland Route Retraced and Mapped By Howard C. Raynesford Ellis Kansas Marker Placed 1965

138 stone postsEach was etched with “BOD 1865”

Smoky Hill Trail Association

The Smoky Hill Trail Association is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and interpretation of the heritage of the Smoky Hill Trail. The Association was founded in 2007.

The Association is actively engaged in seeking National Historic Trail status for the Smoky Hill Trail, under the National Trails System Act. It also has an on-going project of mapping and marking of the historic Trail.

2013 Conference – ParkerA bus trip took us along the route from Seven-Mile Station near Parker to the end of the trail in downtown Denver

Cherry Creek

House at Four-Mile Station

End of the Trail as it looks today Downtown Denver -

Corner of Broadway and Colfax

Pioneer MonumentKit Carson and his horse; The Hunter (to the left)

End of the Smoky Hill Trail as it looks today

Broadway and Colfax Intersection with the State Capital Building in

the background

Denver Public Library – a couple of blocks away

2015 Conference Atchison, Kansas

October

Smoky Hill Trail Association

Membership Information Yearly fees range from $10 to

$100 Categories include:

Student

Individual

Family

Institution

Business

Patrons (supports, but not involved)

Lifetime ($500)

Website http://www.smokyhilltrail.com/

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Remember The Smoky Hill Trail!

Thank you for coming today.