Indian Raids in Lincoln County Kansas, 1864 and 1869; Story of Those Killed, With a History of the Monument Erected to Their Memory in Lincoln Court House Square, May 30, 1909; by C. Bernhardt

Published: Lincoln, Kansas, The Lincoln Sentinel Print, 1910

CONTENTS:

PREFACE

CHAPTER I. -- INDIAN MASSACRES OF 1864
Massacre of the First Settlers, 1864 ... 6
Extract from Letter of John L. Moffit ... 6
Letter from Thomas Moffitt ... 6
Troops on Kansas Frontier in 1864 ... 8
Report of Moffitt Massacre by Capt. Henry Booth ... 9
Defence of Moffitt House ... 11
Houston and Tyler Identified ... 12
Burial of the Murdered Men ... 12
Number of Indians in the Battle ... 13
Skulls in Bullfoot Cave ... 14
Removal of the Bodies of the Moffitt Brothers ... 15
Letter of Robert N. Moffitt to His Mother ... 16
Administration of the Moffitt Estate ... 17
Early Probate Records of Saline County ... 22
Character of the Moffitts ... 23
Preservation of the Battlefield of 1864 ... 24

CHAPTER II. -- INDIAN MASSACRES OF 1869
The Coming of Settlers to Denmark ... 25
The First Accident ... 26
Additions to the Settlement ... 27
Raid of May 30, 1869 ... 28
Clubbing of John H. Strange and Shooting of Arthur Schmutz ... 32
Burial of the Dead ... 33
Return of the Settlers ... 34
Eli Ziegler's Account of the Spillman Creek Raid ... 34
The Schermerhorn Ranch ... 41
Railroad Construction Gang Attacked, May 28, 1869 ... 41
Indian Outrages of 1868 ... 42
Lack of Military Protection ... 43
Character of Those Killed ... 45
Water Mellons in Cold Storage ... 47
Hardships of Pioneering ... 47
Making a Home of a Homestead ... 48
Note ... 49

CHAPTER III. -- THE PIONEER MONUMENT
The Pioneer Monument ... 51
Monument Selected ... 52
Site Chosen ... 53
Inscription ... 53
Subscriptions to Monument Fund ... 54
Laying the Corner Stone ... 55
Unveiling of the Monument ... 56
Search for Biographical Data for Monument ... 57
Remarks ... 60
Financial Statement ... 61
Death of James R. Mead ... 61
Erratum ... 62

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In preparing this little book, I have had in view one purpose: the correction of former errors in the names of victims, and in the location of the events for which the Pioneer Monument stands. The public records have been my main guide, supplemented by such information as can now be had from the pioneers and scouts. It has necessarily required a good deal of work and research to find out what happened here forty-six years ago, but I have good proof that my version is in every respect correct. I am under obligations to Hon. Thomas Anderson of Salina, for most of the information of 1864, and to Probate Judge Supple, also of Salina, for courtesies extended in giving me an opportunity to copy the Moffitt brothers administration records; to the Clerk of the court of Junction City for aiding me in getting facts from records there; also to J.J. Peate and Waldo Hancock of Beverly; to Ferdinand Erhardt, Martin Hendrickson and A. Roenigk of Lincoln Center, and to Christian Christiansen of Denmark, and to a few others. To all of you I extend my thanks.

Very respectfully,
C. Bernhardt

Pages 4-5 [Contente - moved to front of the book]

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The first settlers in Lincoln County, John L. Moffitt, Thomas Moffitt, John W. Houston and James Tyler, were murdered by the Indians, August 6, 1864. The only reliable information we have regarding the settlement here of any of these young men is derived from letters written to members of their family by the Moffitt brothers. Through the courtesy of George W. Moffitt of Lawrence, Kansas, I give the following extract from a letter received by Robert Nichol Moffitt, and written from Kansas by his brother John, dated May 13, 1864. The letter says:

"We came here March 16, 1864. We are twenty-five or thirty miles from Salina, up the Saline river. We are now thirteen miles from the nearest house. We put up a stable thirty-five feet in length, a house twenty-two feet, of logs." - Lincoln County Sentinel, Feb 11, 1909; also published in the Lincoln Republican and Sylvan News.

These were the first substantial buildings in Lincoln county so far as I have knowledge, and were located on the southwest quarter of section 10, in what is now in Elkhorn township, Lincoln county, in the bend of the Saline river, just below the present site of the Rocky Hill bridge. The letter which follows was written by the younger brother Thomas, to his sister in Philadelphia. The mother was then living in Henry county, Illinois, from whence the brothers had emigrated to Kansas.

Letter from Thomas Moffitt

"Salina, (Kansas), July 30, 1864.

"McCanless and Nancy:

"I suppose it is my time to

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write now, as I have left home. I have no chance to hear from you through any letters that you may send others. I have not had a letter from home since I came away, and I have not heard from Philadelphia for a long time; you must try and write as soon as it will be convenient, for I am dreadful anxious to hear from you.

"I left home the middle of April and came to Kansas to Jack. Although I don't like Kansas, I think I will stay for awhile. Jack and I have brought about fifty head of cows and heifers. We are going to raising stock. I think we can make a living easier raising cattle than working so hard as we used to.

"This is an excellent grazing country and is very poor farming country - the fact is, it is too subject to drouth for farming.

"We were doing very well and would do as well now if it were not for the Indians. We would make five or six dollars a day hunting buffalo, but we have been obligated to give it up for the present. The Indians are so hostile to the hunters and settlers that we dare not go from the house.

"When we have to go we go armed. Even when we go to the stable to take care of the horses we carry our revolvers along; rather hard lines these from what we have been used to. The government has sent out several companies of soldiers, but they can't fight the Indians as well as settlers themselves. Some of the folks that have families are leaving Salina for a more safe place. Some expect there will be a regular Indian war, but I don't think there will be any trouble in the settlement from the Indians.

"Jack just got back the other day in company with two other fellows, and fetched a load of hides.

"As I have nothing that is interesting to you I will fetch my letter to a close.

"Thomas Moffitt"

"Direct to Salina, Saline Co., Kansas

"Give my love to Uncle and Aunt and all my friends."

This letter from Thomas Moffitt dated July 30, 1864, was written just six days before his death. The two hunters spoken of in the letter are probably the two men killed in the battle on August 6th, 1864, with the writer, namely, John W. Houston and one Tylor, although one might have been Charles Case, as he was known to have been with the Moffitts at various times and became administrator of the estate after they were killed by the Indians. But it is likely it was Houston and Tylor who were

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there on this 30th day of July, spoken of in the above letter.

This letter also refers to the country as an agricultural possibility, and it seems to indicate that the Moffitts' estimate and opinion of the country was not much different from that of other early pioneers, that this part of Kansas was not fit for anything but buffaloes and cattle. To the everlasting honor of the pioneer, this very neighborhood has been changed from a barren wilderness to the garden spot of the state. This letter further seems to convey the idea that there were several companies of soldiers sent out by the government for the purpose of protecting the settlers from the Indians, but from the sentiment of the letter it seems as though the settlers had but poor faith in that kind of protection.

The troops on our frontier during the Civil War, were very poorly armed, as is shown in a report made by Capt. O.F. Dunlap of the 15th Kansas Cavalry, commanding Fort Riley, May, 1864, in which he says that he had "furnished such arms as were at hand to Captain Booth stationed at this post. Those arms are of various kinds, cavalry and infantry, and are unfit to issue to either except in case of emergency. - "Officials Records of the Rebellion, Series 1, vol. 34, pt 3, page 425. Henry Booth was captain of Company L. Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, which was raised in the neighborhood of Fort Riley. In the summer of 1864 he was in command of a battalion on duty in the neighborhood of Saline and Lincoln counties. His battalion was composed of a detachment of cavalry from co. H, Seventh Iowa, Second Lieutenant Ellsworth in command, a detachment from Company L, Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Second Lieutenant William Booth in command, and detachments from the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Kansas State Militia, numbering in all about 92 men. In a report of a scouting trip along the Smoky Hill and Arkansas in the first days of August, 1864, and dated the 5th, at Salina, Captain Booth mentions finding a recent camp site of from four to five hundred Indians having a lot of stock, on Big creek, probably in what is now the southeast corner of Ellis County. He

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concludes: "I think from present indications the Indians are upon the Saline, Solomon and Republican rivers, as the buffaloes are plenty upon these streams, and they depend entirely upon them for a living. Undoubtedly they are encamped upon one of these streams." From this it would seem that the country was overrun by Indians, and that the tragedy reported in his next communication might have been expected.

"HEADQUARTERS,
Salina, August 11, 1864

"Major-General Blunt:

"Sir: I have the honor to report the following facts in regard to the killing of four men by Indians near Beaver Creek, about forty miles from this place, on the north bank of the Saline River. Saturday evening, August 6, 1864, four men, viz: two men (brothers) named Moffitt, one Tyler and one Hueston, started from their ranch to kill a buffalo for meat, taking a two-horse team with them. Upon reaching a top of a hill about three-quarters of a mile from the house the Indians were discovered rushing down upon them. The horses were turned and run down toward a ledge of rock where the men took position. They appear to have fought desperately and must have killed several Indians. Three of the men killed were scalped, but one of the scalps was left upon a rock close by. The horses were both shot through the head. This probably was done by the ranchmen to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Indians. The wagon was burned. The Indians made a descent upon the house, in which were an old man and a woman. The old man shot one of the Indians through a hole in the wall, whereupon they all fled. They judged the number of Indians to be about 100. When the messenger arrived at this place a party of twelve citizens, with Sergeant Reynolds, of H Company, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, proceeded to the spot. They learned about the facts. The Sergeant says the Indians retreated up the Salina River (west). As all the ranchmen have left the country west of this point, the Indians will be obliged to fall upon the settlements next for plunder. It seems as if they were determined to pick up all the stock possible and kill all they can overpower. The people of Saline County met in mass-meeting this afternoon "to devise ways and means to protect themselves

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and property from the ravages of the red skins." I would state here, General, my urgent need of more cavalry horses to mount my company. I have as yet only eight Government horses, the balance (thirty) being private.

"Henry Booth,
Capt., Co. L., Eleventh Kansas Vol. Cavalry, Commanding Post."
- Furnished through the courtesy of Geo. West Moffitt of Lawrence.

"The scene of the awful tragedy where two of our clan were filled with arrows, scalped and left naked and dead upon the prairies, was in what is now Lincoln county, Kansas, the rocky ledge upon the Northeast quarter of section nine, township twelve, range seven in Elkhorn township.

"The brothers belonged to a Country Antrim, Ireland - Philadelphia line, being John Leach Moffitt, born January 29, 1837, at Gracehill, County Antrim, Ireland, and Thomas Moffitt, born 1841, at the same place. Both were killed as above mentioned, August 6, 1864. Robert Nicol Moffitt, an elder brother, came from Illinois to Kansas to recover the bodies. On September 20, with an escort of soldiers with headquarters at Salina, he went up the river to his brothers' graves, disinterred the remains and removed them to Westfield, Ill., where they rest in the family lot in the cemetery. The parents of the brothers who thus lost their lives almost without warning, were David Moffitt of County Antrim, Ireland, and Elizabeth Nicol of the Island of Guernsey; both parents died in Illinois."

"We are told from Illinois that a woman in the log house was the daughter of the old man, the wife of one of the men killed, and the sister of the other, who, with two children, had come on a day's visit to John and Thomas Moffitt; the buffalo hunt was organized partly for sport and partly for meat for the visitors."
- Published in the Lincoln Sentinel, Republican and Sylvan Grove News of Lincoln county, Feb. 11, 1909.

The Indians did not burn the Moffitt house, nor did they steal any of the live stock which the Moffits had in their possession. The Moffitts killed their team and burned their wagon so the Indians could not get possession of them. There are many old settlers who can remember the location of the house and stable. There are yet a few remnants left of both. The stable stood there for some time after the Moffitts were killed. The buildings were rather pretentious structures for that period, and they were beyond

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a doubt the first permanent buildings erected by white men in Lincoln county.

The spot where the battle took place is on an adjoining section, so the distance from their dwelling to the battle ground is not much more than one-half mile in a direct line. But Beaver Creek is between the battle field and the house, and the banks are very steep in most places. They were evidently cut off by the Indians and unable to get home or into the creek, and this probably accounts for the stand which they took at the rock ledge spoken of. If they had secured this protection they would have been saved, as I have failed to find a single instance where any whites were killed in their homes or in a well protected river or creek. The Indians always tried to secure their victims in as easy a manner as possible, and the rock ledge where the Moffitts took their last stand gave the Indians an excellent opportunity to carry out their method of warfare.

The old gentleman and the woman mentioned by Captain Booth were the father- in-law and wife respectively of Houston. Tyler was a brother of Mrs. Houston. The old man was from forty to forty-five years old, and the woman about twenty-five. The child spoken of by my Illinois informant was only a few years old. These people told the following story as to how they escaped: The Indians came to the cabin the same evening after they had killed the Moffitts, Houston and Tyler, and the woman wanted her father to shoot at them, as there was only three or four of them; but the old man declined, as he was afraid to provoke them. They rode up to the house and told the occupants to come out as they were good Indians, and that they had nothing to be afraid of; but they kept themselves in the house. The next morning the Indians came again, and the woman induced her father to pull out a chunk in the wall between the logs, and he shot one of the Indians. Whereupon they turned and went back to camp. The old man and the woman and the child kept to themselves barricaded in the house for about two days, and then made their escape to the Tripp

Pg. 12

homestead, just east of what is now Tescott. From there they went to Salina, leaving the town shortly afterward, and were not heard from again.

Since the above was written I have found another version of the man and the woman in the Moffitt house at the time of the battle. This has been furnished me by Mrs. Emma Wensink, of Tescott, Kansas, who is a daughter of William Tripp and a sister of Woodfield Tripp who was one of the party that helped to bury the Moffitts. Mrs. Wensick's story is as follows: The man and woman came to her father's house near Tescott, Ottawa county and staid there for a while, and the girl (Houston's daughter) always addressed the man as "Uncle." The woman gave her name as Mrs. Houston and said that the man named Tyler who was killed was her brother; and this will fairly correspond with what has been written before, with the exception that the man in the house was not the father of the woman and Tyler, but he was their brother. The brother, who was left in the house was not very bright, therefore he was left at home for company for his sister. The Tyler who was killed was referred to as James Tyler, so I am reasonably satisfied that I have his given name correct, and also the correct relationship existing between all of them.

The place where the four men were killed has been badly marred, next thing to destroyed since the battle took place. The victims were all buried a few yards east of where they fell. Houston and Tyler still rest there in unmarked graves, and the exact spot is not known. Why would it not be fitting for the citizens of Lincoln county to have a search for the bodies of those two pioneers and place them in the cemetery? The Moffits were removed to Illinois shortly after the massacre.

The names of the parties who came up from Salina to bury the dead as furnished me by Hon. Tom Anderson of Salina, is as follows: Tom Anderson, now living in Salina; Ervin Harris, dead; O.P. Hamilton, dead; Albert

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Brown, dead; Peter Geirsch, Jr. now living near Shady Bend, Lincoln county; Hiram Mosier, dead; Thomas Boyle, dead; Charley Robinson, dead; Woodfield Tripp, dead; John Cline, now living in New Cambria; and Adam Caldwell. The last named claimed that he was there, but it is doubted by some of the parties. Those men came from Salina to Beaver Creek, a distance of about thirty-five miles, to perform the sad funeral rites, and not a soldier was with them; yet the commanding officer had the honor to have reported the killing, yet had not followed up the Indians or offered any assistance.

The funeral party found the bodies in a very decomposed condition, as they had been exposed to the hot August sun for several days. They were all wrapped in blankets and buried in one grave side by side, near the spot where they were killed, and a headboard placed at each one.

After burying the Moffits and their companions, the funeral party started on their return to Salina and got as far as the Tripp homestead east of Tescott. There they got a little to eat and were going to stay all night, but Tom Anderson had left his young wife in Salina, so he went and saddled his horse to go to Salina during the night. A Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, who were under suspicion of being cattle and horse rustlers, were staying at the Tripp homestead over night. When Mrs. Harrington heard that Mr. Anderson wanted to leave, she seized a butcher knife and told Mr. Anderson that she would cut the heart out of any s---- of a b---- that would attempt to leave before morning. She was possibly afraid that he would go and report to an officer in Salina. This little incident shows the state of mind that prevailed at that time. The whites were afraid of the whites as well as of the Indians. Mr. Anderson left for Salina just the same, and he took his heart with him.

After the funeral the party made a little tour of inspection around the battle field. Mr. Anderson reports that there were by actual count, on the top of the hill west of the battle field, not far from where the new Rocky Hill school house is now located, the fire places of fifteen Indian

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tepees that had been pitched a few days before the funeral took place, so that there must have been fifty or more Indians in the bunch. It has been generally supposed that the Indians camped on Bullfoot creek the night after killing the Moffitts, but the camping place on the top of that hill would indicate that they camped right there on the same quarter section where the battle took place. This would make it one mile or more between the Indian camp and the Moffitt house, so it had been hard for the man, woman and child in the house to escape. The funeral party found any number of marks on the sides of the rock ledges, made by bullets fired by the Indians. Two of the party picked up an armful of arrows, showing that the Indians were well armed with both firearms and bows and arrows. Mr. Anderson is of the opinion that this was the hardest fought battle between whites and Indians in this part of Kansas, and a good many of the Indians were certainly killed in that battle. About two miles north from the stone ledge, up the creek, a buffalo robe was found by the funeral party. This robe was to all appearances fixed up for carrying things from place to place, and was blood stained all over, showing that it certainly had been used for carrying the dead and wounded from the battle field on Beaver creek. That would make the location of the place where it is thought the Indians buried their dead not far from where our present County Farm is located.

Some years ago, Mr. Ferdinand Erhardt found some skulls in a cave on Bullfoot creek, and it was generally supposed to be the skulls of the Indians killed in the battle with the Moffitts, but that has been found to be incorrect, as a company of Pottawatomie Indians camped or visited the cave some years later and told Mr. Erhardt that the bones in the cave were of the victims in a battle in 1863 between Pawnees and Pottawatomies. In this battle the Pawnees became hard pressed and took refuge in the cave and were all killed there by the Pottawatomies, so the bones were not brought there from the Moffitt battle.

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The buffalo robe found in the described condition and in an opposite direction from the Bullfoot creek cave, seems to prove that the dead Indians, if any were killed in the Moffitt battle, were carried north. Mr. J.J. Peate of Beverly claims to have seen the place where the Indians buried their comrade who fell in that battle, and says it was about three- fourths of a mile north of the battle field, and he is sure fifteen Indians were killed in that battle. The Indians, after they broke camp, went west up the Saline river, according to all the accounts of their movements at that time.

The cave on Bullfoot referred to is located on the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section thirteen, in what is now Indiana township, Lincoln county, Kansas, and is now owned and occupied by Fred Opplinger. There had been some inscriptions made on the rocks by some fairly educated Indians. The inscriptions told of the battle and that it took place in 1863, and that nine Pawnees and two Pottawatomies were killed, eleven in all. the inscription on the rocks is said to have been very plain some years ago, but there is no trace now.

The following "Petition to remove the bodies of John and Thomas Moffitt" to the home cemetery in Illinois, is found among the probate records of Saline county, and is addressed to Robt. N. Moffitt, a brother of the deceased:

"Kewanee, [Ill.], September 12, 1864.

"Rob: - We received your letter on last Thursday. We were glad to hear that you had arrived safe to Salina. You must do your best to get the boys' bodies, if you can get enough people to go with you to get them. I have been talking to several persons here, they say there will be no difficulty in taking them up if you can get enough to go with you to protect you from the Indians. Charles Miner took up his son, Bill, he had been dead four months, and was buried only six inches under ground, without any coffin. If you can get enough to go to protect you from danger, hire men to take them up and put them in coffins, if it should cost one hundred dollars apiece. If you don't get them now and they will have to be got in cold weather, and that would only be double expense to do that. Mother says they will have to be

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brought home if it takes all they had themselves, and half of all she has got to do it.

(Signed) "ELIZABETH M. LYLE
for her Mother, E. Moffitt"

"Salina, Saline Co., Kansas, September 23d, 1864.

"I certify that the within is a true copy of a letter received by me from Mrs. E.M. Lyle, (my sister), dated September 12, 1864.

(Signed) "ROBT. N. MOFFITT"

"Recorded on page 41, on the 26th of September, A.D. 1864.

(Signed) "A.A. MORRISON, P.J."

In compliance with the above request, Robert secured the bodies of his brothers, and made the following report of his progress to his mother:

Salina, (Kansas), September 30, 1864.
Dear Mother:

I went last Tuesday and got Jack and Tommy's bodies. They were very much decayed - more than I expected, but I got them without much trouble. I had twenty soldiers and four citizens with me. We were gone three days. The Indians were back and had burned the house.

I got back yesterday. I have made a box then will hold both coffins and packed them in sawdust. I will take them to Leavenworth that way and get the cases there. I will start from here next Monday. It will take seven days to go to Leavenworth, so it will be Sunday night before I get there. If I get the cases, which I have no doubt of, I will leave either Monday or Tuesday, the 10th or 11th of October, and will be home the 11th or 12th of October. I will send a dispatch from St. Joseph or Quincy.

I have got some of Tom's hair, but there was no hair left on Jack's head. I was very sick with diarrhoea while I was after the boys, but I am getting well again. We had to drink salt water, I think was the cause of it.

I remain your affectionate son,
Robert

From this letter we learn that twenty soldiers were placed at Mr. Moffit's service to go the Beaver Creek to get the bodies They were accompanied by four civilians, as follows: Thos. Boyle, Fred Rhoads, Adam Caldwell and Woodfield Tripp. Three of those four helped bury the Moffitts.

It seems that Mr. Moffitt got somewhat sick on the way

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from drinking salt water. I do not like the idea prevail that the water in the Saline valley is salty. it is only the water in the river that is salty, and at that time there was not more than one well between Salina and Beaver Creek, and that accounts for the salt water spoken of in the letter. The same letter speaks of finding some hair on Tom's head, but none on Jack's so it might have been that the scalp of Jack Moffitt was the one found on the rocks after the massacre.

I now return to the Moffitt brothers. The following papers comprise all of the records regarding the property left by them, and were procured at the Saline county court house through the courtesy of Judge Supple, now Probate Judge of Saline county. I am under obligations to Miss Grace Dawson and to Miss Lillian Lowell, both of Salina, for their kindness in copying the documents. They are all official, and the information is therefore reliable.

"12th of August, 1864, Salina, Saline Co., Kansas

"Application in regard to letters of administration of the estate of Thomas L. Moffitt and John Moffitt, his brother, and John W. Houston, partners who were hunting and were killed by the Indians. Case of John W. Moffitt & Co. To all whom it may concern:

"State of Kansas

"Saline County

"Know ye, that whereas John Moffitt & Co, are now dead, having been killed by the Indians and having left property which may be lost or destroyed if speedy care be not taken of the same; to the end that said property may be collected and taken care of according to law, we do hereby appoint Chas. Case administrator of all and singular, the goods of the foregoing firm or deceased partners, to settle and dispose of their effects according to law; and to collect and dispose of all things in reference to the firm, and to perform all other things which are or hereafter may be required of him by law. In testimony whereof, I, A.A. Morrison, clerk of the Probate Court, in and for the county and state aforesaid, have hereunto signed my name and affixed my private seal, no public seal having been provided as yet.

[Seal]

"A.A. MORRISON,
Clerk and Judge of Probate Court"

"Salina, Saline Co., Kansas, 17th August, 1864

"Application for letters in regard to the estate of John

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Moffitt and Thomas Moffitt, his brother, who were lately killed by the Indians up the Saline, on the Beaver creek, has been made, and Mr. Charles Case has agreed to attend to the business."

"ADMINISTRATOR'S OATH, 17th AUGUST, 1864

"You, Charles Case, do solemnly swear that you will make a true and perfect inventory of an appraisement of the estate of John and Thomas Moffitt, deceased, and pay all the debts as far as the assets will extend, and account for and pay over all assets which shall come to your knowledge or possession according to law.

"CHAS. CASE"

"The within is recorded on page 63, and a partial settlement on page 60.

"Recorded this 31st December, A.D. 1864:

"A list of the goods of John and Thomas Moffitt, brothers, who were killed by the Indians out on Beaver creek, up the Saline stream. Charles Case, administrator, as charged with having received the effects of the Moffitts, deceased, which is reported as follows:

Cash $1,004.00
Other goods according to the appraisement list:
1 Dragoon bridle bit, appraised at .50
1 three gallon keg .50
1 grindstone 1.25
1 shawl 10.00
3 coats, one vest and other clothing 15.00
1 hammer .50
1 box and a lot traps 1.00
11 bottles strychnine 3.30
6 boxes of G.D. caps .50
2 saddle trees and one pair stirrups 5.00
1 plane and bit 1.00
1 harness leather 3.00
1 brace and bitts 2.00
1 hand saw 1.50
1 brush .25
1 map of western states .25
9 books appraised at 5.00
4 boxes of capps 1.00
1 trunk and a variety of clothing 27.00
1 pair of pants 7.00
1 grass mower 150.00
3 buffalo robes 1.00

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2 pitch forks 2.50
4 two year old heifers, each $14 56.00
5 cows and three calves 100.00
20 yearlings, $10 per head 200.00
1 cow and calf 25.00

"The whole amount of goods as made known to me,

"A. A. MORRISON,, Probate Judge

"P.M. Brown, on his note on page 37, was allowed $10 for crying the public sale of property of the Moffitts on 15th September, A.D. 1864

"A.A. Morrison, Probate Judge

"October 4th, 1864, in open court, settlement of Moffitt's estate ... $1, 082.55
"Bills allowed to the amount of ................................................................. 125.51
Total ... ..................................................................................................... $ 957.04

"Salina, September 26th, 1864.

"Received of A.A. Morrison, Probate Judge of Saline county, Kansas, the sum of twenty-five dollars out of the estate of John and Thomas Moffitt.

"ROBT. N. MOFFITT

"Estate of John and Thomas Moffitt to Charles Case, Dr.: For appraisement of property and inspection of papers of the said estate, by Erwin Farris and Robert Parker, one day each, at $3) three dollar per day, $6.00.

"CHAS. CASE,

"by J.B."

The State of Illinois
Henry County

"I, Robert Moffitt, of said county and state, do hereby make out and state the above and foregoing list is a true copy of the appraisement list of the goods, moneys and effects of Thomas and John Moffitt, deceased. Received by Charles Case as administrator, and for which he is chargeable as furnished to me by A.A. Morrison, Probate Judge, Saline County, Kansas.

"ROBERT N. MOFFITT"

"Sworn to and subscribed before me this 19th day of December, A.D. 1865"

"J.H. HOWE, Notary Public"

"Charles Case, Esquire, Administrator of the Estate of John L. Moffitt and Thomas Moffitt, deceased, Salina, Saline County, Kansas:

"Pay to Hon. Hugh Osborn the sum of nine hundred dollars ($900) assets in your hands realized by you on

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the settlement of the estate of John L. Moffitt and Thomas Moffitt, and this shall be your receipt for same.

"ROBT. N. MOFFITT,

"for himself, and as attorney in fact for the other heirs.

"Kewanee, Henry Co., Ill., Nov. 9, 1866

Kewanee, Illinois, November 10, 1866.

"Hon. Hugh Osborn,

"Dear Sir: Your favor received informing me of the settlement of the estate of my brothers.

"Herewith find order on Case for the money. I wish you to get the money and send it to me by express or draft as you think best, deducting for your trouble. I think there ought to have been at least $1,100, but send it along. Hoping to hear from you soon, I am

"Truly yours,

"ROBERT MOFFITT."

Kewanee, Henry Co., Ills., November, 12th, 1866

"Hon. Hugh Osborn,

"Dear Sir: Yours without date was received on the 9th, requesting an order on Case for the balance in his hands, or rather in Mr. Jones'. On last Saturday I attended to the matter. Gen. J.M. Howe, a lawyer of Kewanee drew the order and also wrote a letter in my name instructing you to forward the money in any way in which you could, and is practicable, which I suppose is all that is necessary. But as you may perhaps expect me out there, I deem it just to write this and let you know why I do not come at present. I am just beginning to husk my corn crop, and have no one to help me as yet. I cannot make arrangements to go at present. If you receive the money please forward it if you can, if you can't, lose no time in writing to me, and I will come out myself, but if I can avoid it, it will save me both trouble and expense. It would cost me about one hundred dollars to go there, and at present the loss of time would be no small matter. I intend to go there this winter anyhow, and have the matter settled, or put in the hands of someone that would. If you will do the business, paying yourself for all necessary trouble, and forward the balance to me, I will be much obliged to you, but do not fail to let me know if anything turns up to prevent a settlement at this time. I think I will wait at present until I hear from you, which I hope to do in a few weeks. Please write immediately and if necessary I will come out there.

"Yours truly,
(Signed) R.N. MOFFITT"

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State of Kansas
Saline County
To D.R. Wagstaff, Sheriff of Saline County, Greeting:

You are hereby commanded to notify Charles H. Case, administrator of the estate of Thomas and John Moffitt, deceased, to appear before me, Charles S. Hussey, Probate Judge in and for Saline County, at my office in said County, during the April term of the Probate Court, of Saline County, Kansas, commencing on the first Monday in April, 1869, which term will continue during the said week to exhibit statement in regard to the said estate above referred to.

You will make due return of this writ as the law directs. Given under my hand and seal this 8th day of March A.D. 1869.

(Signed) CHARLES S. HUSSEY, Probate Judge.

Received March 8th, A.D. 1869, at 4 o'clock P.M. and after diligent search have been unable to find the within named Charles H. Case in my county.
March 18th, 1869
Fees 50c.
(Signed) D.R. WAGSTAFF, Sheriff.

It appears from these records that John W. Houston was a partner of the Moffitt brothers, yet that is the only mention of Houston. There appears to be nothing in the records to show that he had either heirs or a share in the estate. There is an account given of thirty-four head of cattle, which fairly well tally with the number of cattle given in the letter that opens this book. This would seem to indicate that the Indians did not drive any cattle away and the inventory shows that nothing was taken from the house. Furthermore, the parties who did the work of burying the dead found the team killed and the wagon burned where the dead bodies were. The records also show that Robert Moffitt got only twenty-five dollars when he came after the bodies of his brothers. This is all that the relatives ever got out of all that the boys left. The inventory of the estate is rather interesting at this time, for we read that "three buffalo hides were listed at one dollar." If we had three buffalo hides now we might buy a farm with them. Right below we read, "two hay forks two dollars and one half." The difference then and now in that buffalo hides grew here, while hay forks had to be hauled from Leavenworth.

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The shawl spoken of in the inventory was not necessarily a woman's shawl as men in the frontier camps used them very often for convenience sake, as they were nice to roll up in and go to sleep on the prairie when they were out on their hunting trips.

It further appears that Charles Case was appointed administrator of the estate, and from what the records show, and from information that I have from the Moffitt relatives, it would appear that said Mr. Case administered the whole business into his own pocket. Anyway the relatives did not get anything. The records also show that the sheriff of Saline county was sent out on the 18th day of March, 1869, to bring the said Charles Case for a settlement, but the papers were returned, as Case could not be found. He was said to be in Kentucky then, money and all. And it is reported that he afterwards appeared in Illinois and told the relatives of the Moffitt boys a very hard luck story, and no prosecution followed.

The entire settlement of the Moffitts' estate seems to have been handled in a very careless manner, not only by the clerk who acted as probate judge, but also by the regular Judge after Saline county became organized. The administrator was permitted to get away with the entire proceeds of the estate, and the records show that more than five years had elapsed after the administrator was appointed before an effort was made to get him to settle according to law. It will be noticed that there was no bond given for faithful performance of duty. This copy of administration is a very good criterion to go on in regard to the early days. It is worth of a very close study, and even then we may have some difficulty in understanding what is meant by some of the documents on file in the Salina records. But there is nothing omitted here that is recorded, as I have had every item copied in full. I have done this as a matter of history, as a curiosity to the present and future generations.

It is something very interesting to search the old records, as it throws light on how public business was done in those early days. In the first place I had trouble to

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find what I wanted in the Saline county court house, owing to the fact that book "A" could not be found in the office of the Probate Judge. This book was what was wanted in order to get the necessary information. The clerk could not find it. He then 'phoned back that the book was there, in the court house, and that he would be over in a few minutes to find it. The judge then started for another hunt and found a very small book that did not look like a book of record. This book was marked "A," and everything in it is written with pen and ink, and it was neither ruled nor lettered.

The copy of the administration herein submitted shows that there was no Probate Judge in Saline county at that time. The county was organized but not fully officered. What is now Lincoln and Saline counties was at that time attached to Ottawa county for judicial purposes, and a clerk from Ottawa county was stationed at Salina and had charge of the probate work. The office at Salina had no seal, and the clerk had to use his own private seal. All of this goes to show that Salina in the year 1864 was a very small frontier town. But there were men in it to push it ahead to a very high state of civilization.

The book "A" referred to is about twelve by fifteen inches and about an inch thick. The record of the Moffitt administration is recorded on page 60 and when the Judge discovered the records in the book, he took from the vault all of the papers pertaining to the Moffitt estate.

Before I leave the subject of the Moffitts, I desire to call attention to a few facts. The foregoing letters and documents seem to indicate that the Moffitt brothers were well fixed in life and came here with the bona fide intention of working up the wilderness so that it would resemble a garden spot, and not a wild state. Second, the letter seemed to indicate that they were quite tender hearted, and not like the hard hearted and in some cases fugitives from justice who went to the front or a little beyond the line of civilization. The third thing that I would call attention

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to is the battlefield. On the northeast quarter of section nine, township twelve, range seven, in Elkhorn township, Lincoln county, Kansas, is the only known battlefield in Lincoln county, where whites and Indians fought a real hard battle. The place is about three miles from Lincoln Center, and for this reason it ought to be purchased: Say five or ten acres, fenced in and made into a public park, and the rock ledge preserved as much as possible. It must be remembered that Houston and Tyler are still buried there. This would be a fitting finish to our pioneer monument and a great help to preserve our history for future generations. And further, Tom Anderson, of Salina, one of the men who helped to bury the Moffitts, informs me that there were so many arrows left at the rock ledge that they could be gathered up by the armful, which seems to indicate that this was a very hard fought battle and therefore the spot ought to be taken care of for the future. There are a number of other historic spots in Lincoln county from that early period that ought not to be forgotten, notably the cave on the Opplinger farm on Bullfoot creek, that is large enough to accommodate about twenty persons.

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In the month of February, 1869, the following settlers came to what is now called Denmark, Lincoln county, Kansas, on Spillman creek: Lorentz Christiansen and wife, Peter Christiansen and wife and their three children, Helena, Christian and Hans. The Christiansens were brothers. Eskild Lauritzen and wife and one boy, Otto Petersen a single man, were the first settlers around the Denmark neighborhood. Fred Meigerhoff and George Weichell and his wife came two months later. Lorentz Christiansen filed on the southeast quarter of section twenty-three, now owned and occupied by Martin Rasmussen, his brother Peter Christiansen filed on the southwest quarter of section twenty-four, now owned and occupied by H.P. Jensen. Eskild Lauritzen filed on the northeast quarter of section twenty- five now owned and occupied by Peter Larsen. Otto Petersen filed on the east-half of the southeast quarter of section twenty-five, (All of this land is in what is now Grant township), and the west half of the southwest quarter of section thirty, now owned and occupied by Mrs. C. Andersen. George Weichell and Fred Meigerhoff filed on the north half of section thirty-one in Marion township. I am unable to find out which quarter was filed on by Weichell and which by Meigerhoff but they filed on those two quarters just before they were killed.

As stated before, these settlers came here in February 1869, and started to build log houses, or partly "dugouts". The Christiansen brothers had their log house dug in a

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bank in a bend of Spillman creek. Their house was on the south side of the creek. A bend in the creek runs so much to the north there that the house was very near the center of the quarter section. This house was on Peter Christiansen's land and it is certainly the first dwelling erected in that neighborhood. Lorentz and his wife lived with them. Eskild Lauritzen had a log house on his land in the bend on the south side of Spillman, not far from where the present dwelling of Peter Larsen in now located. Otto Petersen lived with the Lauritzens. Weichell and wife and Meigerhoff, when they arrived, also lived with Lauritzen. This made a crowd of six adults in the one house. We might presume that this was a very small log house, and this was one of the hardships the pioneer had to contend with, - no place to seek shelter until some rude and cramped affair could be erected. When new arrivals came to the settlement the latch string was always found hanging out and they were given as good as the settlers had for themselves.

The first accident that might have ended fatally, happened when they were cutting logs for the log house of Peter Christiansen. Lorentz had the misfortune to miss the log with this ax and cut a terrible gash in his foot. It bled profusely and there was danger of his bleeding to death and no doctor within thirty or more miles, and no house to place him in. it looked bad for the small band surrounding him. What to do was a puzzle, as none of them could speak fair English. Lorentz himself was the best in that respect, and he was out of commission, they therefore decided to send out Christian Christiansen the oldest son of Peter Christiansen. he could speak good English, so he was dispatched down the Saline river where a few Irish had settled. Arriving there he failed to get the desired help so he returned that evening. the next day he was dispatched down the river again for help, and kept going until he reached the house of John S. Strange not far from the present site of Lincoln Center. When Mr. Strange heard what had happened to one of his fellowmen he yoke up his ox team and drove up to Denmark and

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loading Mr. Christiansen in the wagon, proceeded to take him home, and nursed him for six weeks or until he was well again. This incident may perhaps in a measure account for the lack of a house on the Lorentz Christiansen land. When spring opened each one got busy to get a little breaking done so as to grow as least a little to help out.

The above has been written to introduce each of the characters in this drama, in order to better understand what did follow.

Along in March or the first part of April, Mr. and Mrs. George Weichell and Fred Meigerhoff, a single man, come to Spillman creek. They had staid some two or three weeks on Bullfoot creek, making their home, with Ferdinand Erhardt. These people have been very hard for me to trace. But enough is known about them to convey the idea that they were highly educated, and well fixed in a financial way. It is said that they had an instrument something like a butter or cheese tester. They would run this instrument from three to five feet in the ground, and cut and pull out a plug of the subsoil for examination. They did not buy the cat in the sack, for they picked out two as good pieces of land as you will find anywhere.

At the beginning of my work the names of Meigerhoff and Weichell were not complete. No one seemed to know their initials, and I desired to have their names correct on the pioneer monument, so I set about to find their full names, and reasoned that if they had taken land they would have been obliged to have had citizen's papers, and to file on the land they would have had to go to Junction City. I made a trip to this place and examined the records from January 1st to June 1st, 1869 and I found there that on May 10th, 1869, George Weichell and Fred Meigerhoff took out their first citizen papers and they also show that the two men were from Switzerland and not from Hanover, as some have it. The names are now correct on the monument. it will be noticed that they were in Junction City on May 10th, and it is certain that they took land while there. When we consider the crowds that

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applied for land during those days, and the slow mode of traveling, it is safe to say that the two men barely had time to return from Junction City to be at home on the 30th day of May.

On the 30th, day of May, 1869, about two o'clock p.m., a party of Indians consisting of about sixty, came down Spillman Creek committing all kinds of depredations and killed Esklid Lauritzen and his wife, and Stein and Otto Petersen. The Lauritzen boy was saved. he was over at the Christiansen home, playing with Hans Christiansen. The place where the killing occurred was on the north side of the creek, and west of "Little Timber," on the southwest quarter of section twenty-four, on the north line of the Peter Christiansen farm, near to the south line of the present Morgenson farm. Otto Petersen was killed some distance from where the Lauritzens were killed, on the same side of the creeks, but was not found till some days after the massacre. it might be well to state here, that Little Timber and Trail creek empty into Spillman creek on this quarter section. Some of the writers, including Eli Ziegler, who makes the statement very positive, say that Otto Petersen was killed and buried on the south side of the creek. Reverend Thomas Strange was one of the parties that went up on the Spillman and found and buried the dead body of Petersen. he was rolled in a blanket and buried where he was found; and Rev. Strange is positive that it was on the north side of the creek, and from other sources I have the same statement. So I accept that as being the true fact.

This thirtieth day of May, 1869, is said to have been one of those lovely days that only Kansas can produce at that time of year; and being on Sunday the Lauritzens and Petersen turned out to enjoy the Sabbath day; and at the same time investigate their own, and the Christiansen prospects for a crop. They had a little breaking done and a little sod corn put in. The Christiansen breaking was north of the creek, and about directly north of his house, and the Lauritzen boy was at the Christiansen house; so it is easy to understand that his parents were on the way

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to visit the Christiansens; but went across the creek to see the Christiansen crop first, and that was what cost them their lives. The Indians tried very hard to burn the Christiansen house after they had finished their fiendish act on the north side of the creek; but the brothers escaped injury, and kept the Indians far enough away to prevent firing the house. If Lauritzen, his wife and Otto Petersen had gained the house, they would have been saved. During the night the Christiansen brothers with their families escaped down the river to the Schermerhorn ranch on Elkhorn creek. They took with them the Loritzen boy. He was afterwards sent to some relative in Chicago. If rumors are right, he is now farming in Iowa.

This will prove that they knew at the Schermerhorn ranch, early the next morning, from two different sources, that the Indians had done some mischief, and at least three settlers had been killed. There was a detachment of soldiers there, but they did not stir to protect the settlers, nor to punish the Indians. But I will come to that later on.

Mr. and Mrs. Weichell and Meigerhoff at their home evidently saw the Indians coming, heard the shooting and their war whoops and ran down the creek to the Saline river. They were certainly trying to get down to the Schermerhorn ranch. But the Indians discovered them in their flight and started in pursuit of them, and they had a running fight all the way. Weichell and Meigerhoff had as good fire arms as money could but at that time. But the ammunition gave out, so they were as easy prey for the Indians, and they were overtaken on the north line of the southeast quarter, of the northwest quarter of section two, Indiana township. That makes it about one mile and one-half west of Lincoln Center, Here Meigerhoff and Weichell were killed and Mrs. Weichell taken prisoner. It was also near here that Mrs. Alderdice was taken prisoner and her two children killed and one wounded. The latter's name is Willis Daily. He was picked up and carried to Mr. Mart Hendrickson's house, the next day after the battle, where the arrow that had wounded him was extracted by Mr. Washington Smith assisted by Phil. Lantz. One of Mrs. Anderdice's boys that was killed, was

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a full brother to the wounded Willis Daily, they being sons of Mrs. Alderdice by a former husband. This killing took place some time about six o'clock, on Sunday evening, May 30th, 1869.

Mrs. Alderdice was taken prisoner and her children killed about a quarter of a mile southeast of where Weichell and Meigerhoff were killed, on the Nick Whalen farm. The southwest quarter of section one.

The Indians then crossed the Saline river and went about due south to Bullfoot creek, where they camped on the Opplinger farm at a stone cave before described. Here the Indians took Mrs. Alderdice's three months old baby, choked it to death and then hung it in a tree. At one of Mrs. Weichell's visits here, she gave another version of the killing of Mrs. Alderdice's baby. She was allowed to have her baby for three days, but it was crying a good deal, which annoyed the savages so much that they then wrung its head off and threw the several parts of the body into the stream. Either version is hard for us to read about now. What heart rendering agonies for the poor mother, that was so utterly unable to prevent the cruel act. That made three of Mrs. Alderdice's children killed, and one wounded. The wounded boy is still living in Blue Rapids, Kansas. The Indians left the next day May 31st without hindrance from the soldiers.

I have tried to make it clear as I can what happened to each one of the victims so as to be understood. We know how Mrs. Weichell got down to the Saline valley, but how and why Mrs. Alderdice was there is something of a mystery. Her husband, Thomas Alderdice, together with a few other citizens was at Junction City at the U.S. land office, which was located there at that time, for the purpose of contesting a piece of land in the Saline valley that had been filed on by a minor, hence there were not many men in the neighborhood, and in all probability the Indians knew that and for that reason they raided through the valley. The letter here submitted from Eli Ziegler, of Salem, Oregon, a brother of Mrs. Alderdice, seems to state for a fact that he got his dinner that day with her, but he is not able to state whether it was at his own house or at

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some other house; but it is supposed that she went with her children to visit Mrs. Timothy Kine and they went together to Nicholas Whalens house. Mrs. Kine was alone also with a small baby and the Indians failed to find her. She was saved but she got so scared at the time that she has been a mental wreck ever since and is now in an asylum. She managed, however to cross the river and make her way to the farm of Ferdinand Erhardt, on Bullfoot during the night or early in the next morning. The child in her arms at that time is now Mrs. John Linker and resides in Lincoln Center.

It has been told quite often but has never yet been put on paper that the settlers when they got home and heard what had happened to Mrs. Alderdice and Mrs. Kine and the children, they held a council of war and decided to inflict capital punishment on Nicholas Whalen and Tom Noon for deserting the women and children in that way. Mrs. Kine, however, interfered promptly and said that there had already been too much trouble and said that Mr. Whalen and Tom Noon had done the right thing under the circumstances as they could not have protected them against so many Indians. It seems that when the men left the settlement for Junction City, they had requested Mr. Whalen to take care of the women and children, and he had promised to do so. The two women and all of the children were evidently on their way tot he Whalen house as it was getting close to evening when they were overtaken and the Alderdice children were killed on the Whalen farm. Naturally Mr. Whalen could not be held responsible for what happened out on the prairie. This is the only theory that can be advanced why the two women and the five children were there at that time. They simply failed to reach the Whalen house before they were overtaken by the Indians. Mrs. Kine escaped and concealed herself and the baby in the brush in the river bed.

After the copy for this book was ready for the press I visited Mrs. Kine at Leavenworth, and was able to obtain from her a very clear statement corroborating the above, except as modified by her story. She says "Mrs. Alderdice"

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and I, and Tom Noon and his wife were visiting at Nick Whalen's house on the day the Indians came into the valley. When we heard the shooting and shouting, at the time Weichell and Meigerhoff were killed, about five p.m., Whalen left the house and went off to corral his horses and take them to a place of safety; while Noon and wife mounted their horses and fled, leaving Mrs. Alderdice and myself and our five little children alone in the house. We women took our children and ran to hide ourselves. I reached the brush, but Mrs. Alderdice and her four children were overtaken."

Mrs. Alderdice and Mrs. Weichell were carried to the south fork of the Platte river in Colorado, between Julesburg and Sterling. Here they were kept captives by Tall Bull, the Souix chief, until the eleventh day of July 1869, when during the battle Captain Cushing under General Carr, found the two white women in Tall Bull's tent. Mrs. Alderdice was mortally wounded and breathed her last, as the soldiers entered the tepee. Mrs. Weichell was also badly wounded, but was able to sit up. The Indians evidently meant to have killed both of the women, but were taken by such sudden surprise that they did not have time to complete the dastardly deed. Mrs. Alderdice was buried there, and Mrs. Whistle taken care of and lived to tell the tale of their hardships during that one month and twelve days of their captivity. The story can perhaps be better imagined than described, so I shall not attempt to describe it. This rescue is known as the battle of Summit Springs.

The same day, May 30, 1869, two or three stray Indians came as far east as the north half of the northeast quarter of section eighteen, Elkhorn township, near the home of John S. Strange, and found two boys about fourteen years old. One was John Harrison Strange, a son of Reverend John S. Strange, and the other Arthur Schmutz. The Indians professed friendship, but the boys evidently did not take it that way, as one Indian rode up and raising to his full height dealt young Strange a terrible blow with a club. He died without a struggle. The Schmutz

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boy started to run when he saw what had happened to his playmate, whereupon he was shot with an arrow. The arrow shaft was extracted all except part of the arrow head, and the boy was taken to Fort Harker and placed in the government hospital where he died, and he was buried at Fort Harker. he lived and suffered for ten weeks before death relieved him.

The Alderdice children were buried on their grandfather's farm, (M. Ziegler), on the northwest quarter of section 22, Colorado township, near where the Monroe school house now stands. The Strange boy was buried on the Schermerhorn ranch, and afterward removed to the Lincoln cemetery.

When the funeral of the Strange boy took place everybody was armed as that was customary in those days. A buffalo came from the south and as the settlers were in need of a little meat they gave chase as soon as they had the body lowered in the grave. the buffalo was overtaken at the Saline river and it was killed and divided. This will show that the settlers were always ready for an emergency. If it had been a party of Indians they would more than likely have given battle to them as well as to a buffalo.

Weichell and Meigerhoff were buried about a mile and one half west of Lincoln Center just where they fell. the bodies still rest there, and the exact spot is now uncertain.

From there the funeral party went up to Denmark and found Mr. and Mrs. Lauritzen and buried them. They were also buried where they were found, and they still rest there as they were never moved. The civilians that buried the dead (there were no soldiers), were J.J. Peate, A. Campbell, of Salina; Lon Schermerhorn, Volney Ball, Ed. Johnson, Isaac DeGraff, D.C. Skinner, R.B. Clark, William E. Thompson, George Green, Z. Ivy of Tescott and a few others. Those men came up the valley to perform the last sad rites. Otto Petersen was not found until some days later when Rev. T.M. Strange, and others came up the valley and found his body, and he was buried where he was found. The three are certainly buried on or close

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to the southwest quarter of section 24, one half mile south of the Lutheran church at Denmark.

Peter and Lorentz Christiansen and their wives were saved. Helena, the daughter, was working at Wilson, Ellsworth county, and Christian, the oldest son, was working at the Schermerhorn ranch at that time, so there were only the two brothers and their wives and Hans, the youngest son of Peter Christiansen and the Lauritzen boy to move down to the Schermerhorn ranch. They arrived there early in he morning of May 31st and told what had happened on Spillman creek the day before. A government wagon hauled the two families to Fort Harker from the ranch, but not being able to find any work there the two families went to Junction City, where the men secured work at their trade as blacksmiths. There they remained until December, 1870, when they again moved back to Spillman, arriving there on the first day of January 1871. There were quite a number to come on that day, and two or three families had come a short time before so there was more security felt among them, but it took them a long time to get over the Indian scare. When the Christiansen brothers again returned to their land they found the graves of Lauritzen and his wife. Her hoop skirt was sticking out of the ground, which was all that the Indians had left on her body except her stockings; otherwise she was nude. I often wondered why she was killed, as the Indians were known to kill women, and I sometimes think that she killed herself, or that her husband killed her, rather than have her go into the hands of the Indians. They evidently knew what her fate would be if that had happened.

Eli Ziegler, the brother of Mrs. Susanna Alderdice, has written the following account of the Spillman creek raid, and here it is copied from the Lincoln papers of November, 18, 1909.

"Salem, Oregon, February 24, 1909

"J.J. Peate, Beverly, Kansas:
Dear Friend and Comrade

"At your present request I

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will tell you about the Indian raid on Spillman creek as I saw it May 30, 1869.

"It has been a long time and I have seen no one to talk with about it for years. I have seen John Alverson a few times but do not remember that we talked about those days, but will try to tell the tale without exaggeration. There were but few settlers on Bacon creek, and hearing of an abonded claim near Bacons, and that there were eight or ten acres broken on it, I concluded to take it. I understood that the man who did this breaking, fearing an Indian raid, had left the country.

"John Alverson, my brother-in-law, took his team, which we loaded with corn and oats to plant, also provisions for two weeks for ourselves and horses, expecting to be away that length of time. We started from father's place (near where Beverly now is) Sunday, May 30, 1869, and got up to Thomas Alderdice's, I think was in Salina. I do not remember of talking with any man in that settlement. Report said that the Indians had been on the Solomon river a few days before, but they had been driven off by a company of soldiers. my sister, Mrs. Alderdice, mentioned that and told me to keep a sharp lookout. After eating dinner with my sister, I bade her good by - little thinking that she would be in the hands of the Indians before sundown, her children killed or wounded, and that I would never see her again. After going a short distance I saw a man on horse-back up toward the head of Lost creek, riding fast toward the west. John thought he looked like an Indian spy, but I thought it was some one looking for cattle. We kept close watch on him to see where he was going, but he gained so rapidly on us that we could soon see him only on the highest hills. He was still riding at full speed the last we saw of him on the hill east of Trail creek, and the course he was taking he would cross Trail creek about where the wagon road crossed, or a little above. We kept on going on across Trail creek when John made the remark that he did not like the appearance of things. After we left this creek going towards Spillman creek, as we approached the highest ground we could look up the bottom on the south of Spillman and there we saw a party of horseman quite a way up the creek, and coming down the bottom quite rapidly. We stopped a moment to look at them, and John thought they were Indians, and that was their spy who went ahead of us, but I thought that they were soldiers, returning from the Solomon river. They deceived me the way they rode, riding like a company of soldiers in uniform line, and coming at a fast

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gallop. The sun glistened on their guns so plain that I still thought they were soldiers, but John would not have it that way, but said they were Indians, and I had about made up my mind that they were. They were getting by this time about opposite us and we had tried to count them several times. As near as we could make out there were between 45 and 60 of them. At this time they were still south of Spillman creek and a little above the Dane settlement.

"We had made up our minds that there was no way of avoiding an attack. Just then we stopped, and we stopped a moment; the distance between us being about one-half mile. Then they all started for us on the run, except ten or fifteen who went down the creek toward the Dane settlement. There was a knoll just north of us, and I thought best to get on that and fight them, thinking that we would have time to unhitch the horses and tie them to the wagon before they got to us. So we drove to the knoll. I jumped out to unhook the horses, but John thought it would not do to stop there, there being so many Indians he thought best for us to get to the creek. I jumped back into the wagon and we started toward Trail creek, going in a northeasterly direction to the nearest point. We came to the creek about half a mile above the crossing. As we were not very well armed we talked the matter over while going to the creek. I having a needle gun and about forty rounds of cartridges and John an old muzzle loader, we concluded that I would do the shooting and John would hold the load in his gun as a reserve shot.

"When we got to the creek the Indians were close behind us. I looked across the creek and thought there was a little bank on the other side that would protect us some. So I drove across, but John misunderstood me and jumped out into the creek and I drove up the bank. John ran along under the bank on the side I was on; the Indians were coming across the creek within a few yards of us, shooting and yelling. John was calling for me to get out of the wagon, when I got to that little bank, I stopped the horses, seeing nothing more could be done to save the team and that we must defend ourselves. I dropped the lines, grabbed my gun and jumped out on the off side of the wagon. Reaching in the box for my cartridges, I could get only the box, about 20 rounds. While I was getting the cartridges the Indians were close all around. One of them rode up and picked up the lines just as I had laid them down and he held the horses. I thought sure I'll out a hole through you, but before I could get my gun around he jumped off his pony down beside the wagon,

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and still held the horses. The Indians were shooting all this time. John was calling for me to get under the bank. Just then another Indian darted up right close to the wagon and I thought I would get him, but before I could cover him with my gun he jumped his pony on the opposite side of the wagon, so I could not get him.

"John was still beggin me to jump over the bank and I had about made up my mind to. As I stepped out from the wagon I looked toward the rear and behind the wagon and saw three Indians standing about four rods away, having me covered with their guns. I had no time for a shot, so made a spring for the creek bank; my foot slipped and I fell just as they fired. I think they over shot me. I also think that the slip is what saved me. I kept going on my hands and feet over the bank. As they were pouring the shots right at us at short range we saw a log lying up the bank a little below us. We expected a good, long, hard fight, but as we ran to the log and jumped over, getting ourselves into position, the Indians I guess saw that we were going to try to protect ourselves. They kept back on the bank out of our sight, and drove the team away just after we got behind the log, and the Indians quit shooting at us. Then we could hear shooting down the creek near the Dane settlement, when John said, "My God! They are fighting down at the Dane settlement." This firing did not last long, and we thought it was the small band that went down that way, and that there would be enough of the whites there to stand them off and get in position by the time the band that had attacked us concluded to withdraw and go down and re-enforce their comrades.

"We kept fighting behind the log for some time, expecting the Indians were going to slip upon us in some way around the creek banks, and we were prepared for them. If John had had a good repeating gun when we were under the creek bank, he had plenty of opportunity to make a few Good Indians, but did not dare to shoot that one load out while by himself. We lay there by the log quite a little time in readiness. We did not hear any more of the Indians, and did not see anything of them. I then crawled up the creek bank to take a look. Away down on the east side of Spillman creek I saw two or three horseman, which I thought were Indians. Concluding that the Indians had left us, we decided to try and go down to the Dane settlement.

"We expected the Indians to lie in the ambush for us along the creek, therefore we worked our way slowly and

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carefully, every little ways going up the bank to see if we could see anything of the Indians.

"Seeing no signs of foes, we could keep on going, and we passed the Dane settlement before sundown. We could go up the bank watching closely and listen, expecting to hear somebody or see where the Indians had been. We knew there were settlers near there, but did not know where their house was located. Not seeing their house, we passed on. Continuing our journey along the creek slowly and cautiously, we thought that the Indians had not gone farther than the Dane settlement, and that they had probably gone back, as we could not see or hear anything of them. It was now growing dark, and we thought best to keep on the safe side and keep close to the creek, so in case they had gone farther down, and were on their way back, we would meet them in a place where we could have the advantage.

"We followed Spillman creek down to its mouth, then down the Saline. I do not know what time of the night it was, but it was several hours after dark. We had not seen or heard anything since leaving our log on Trail creek, and concluded that the Indians had not passed down Spillman creek farther than the Dane settlement, that they had not been in the settlement on the Saline river. We were about a mile west of where the depot now stands at Lincoln, when the stillness of the night was broken by a loud war song northeast of us and down the valley. John said, "My God, Eli, they have been down to the settlement." We heard more singing farther down and nearer the river. "Yes John, I fear it is a big party, and think it is a different party from the one we ran into."

"I thought this was a larger party that had come down the Saline, probably dividing on Wolf creek. We could tell they were moving up the Saline bottom by the noise they made, sounding like a large party or else they were scattered out. They did not seem to be coming vary fast, some were singing and others talking loudly.

"We got to the bank of the river, one of the bends which points to the north. When they got opposite and close enough we were going to fire towards them, we were going to fire together and I was to keep firing while John loaded again. If the Indians came towards us, we would cross the river but we did not think they would attack us in the dark. By this time they were pretty well north of us, but quite aways out of the bottom. All at once they commenced hallooing and fired several shots. As the last shots were fired, we heard a woman scream one loud piercing scream more of horror that of agony, then all was still.

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"We could not imagine who it was that had fallen into the hands of the Indians, there being no one living in the direction from which the scream came. We almost held our breath while we listened, wondering what the Indians were doing, and which way they were moving, waiting and listening, and waiting for the sound of their ponies, walking though the grass, a voice, a sigh, or a moan, but not a sound reached us. In a few moments which seemed hours to us, we heard them east of us down the river. John thought it best to get down the river ahead of them, but I could not see how we could head them off if we were to follow them directly down the river. Being sure that they were now down in the settlement, we crossed the river in the direction of Bullfoot creek, by so doing we could travel faster and get ahead of the Indians.

"Starting a little east of south, when we got on high ground between the Saline and Bullfoot we saw several fire signal arrows shooting up into the sky, from up Bullfoot west and south of us. Thinking then that there must be three bands of Indians, one coming down the Spillman, one down the Saline, and the other down the Bullfoot, we feared then when daylight came, all we could see would be Indians, Indians everywhere.

"Wishing to get ahead of them we turned a little east, getting to the creek as soon as possible; when, thinking we were below them we hurried down the creek as fast as we could under the circumstances, keeping our guns ready to fire at the first sight of a moving Indian.

"We had made up our minds that if we ran into them again we were going to do shooting at the first one we saw, without waiting for good one or fat one. Traveling on down the creek, dawn was fast approaching, we were still hugging the creek for protection in case of need. We had not heard a sound or seen a signal since those mentioned.

"About sun up or a little after, we were near Fred Erhardt's place, where we found a company of United States cavalry in camp. We reported to the captain what we had seen - told him what we had heard in the night, out on the Saline river bottom, and of the fire arrows we had seen just a little above on Bullfoot. I begged him to saddle up at once - to furnish me a horse and I would lead them right to the Indians' camp, where I thought we could catch them if we moved at once and moved quickly. He replied, "I cannot move any farther until I get orders to do so. The Indians were in the settlement over the river yesterday afternoon, but I do not know how much

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damage they have done." He had sent a dispatch to Fort Harker for orders and would wait there until he received an answer. We were disgusted with this reply, drank a cup of coffee, ate a hard tack and started on home, keeping on the south side of the river, and just before noon got home. "I got up my pony, intending to go back up the river, but as we had told the folks the story, they would not let me go until the next day, when I went up. But the dead, except one, had been found, and all the wounded. My sister, Mrs. Alderdice, had been captured.

"The next day, A.M. Campbell and some others came up from Salina, with whom I went up on Spillman creek to look the ground over, and to see if we could find Petersen, the missing Dane. Finding his body, we dug his grave where he fell, on the south side of the Spillman. We also saw the graves of the others that the Indians had killed. They were buried by the party that were there May 31, 1869. We also saw where the Indians had been at the dug-out, where the Danes lived. I knew now that we were wrong in thinking there were three parties or bands of Indians. There was but one band; we were following this party around, that made up think we were seeing different bands.

"The shooting on the Saline river was where the two men, T. Meigerhoff and C. Weichell were killed, and Mrs. Weichell was captured. They must have crossed the river after killing these two men near us, and went over to Bullfoot, and not down the river as we thought at that time, but we following them over caused up to think them another party.
Yours very truly,
Eli Ziegler"

The place where Eli Ziegler and Alverson were when the Indians overtook them, according to this letter, must be just where the Denmark school house now stands. This corresponds better to his description than any other place on Trail creek. The horses and harness were all that the Indians took, and it seems that they spoiled the harness badly by cutting the tugs, which was done very neatly. This is the place where Waldo Hancock, of Beverly, says they found the wagon. the Indians, after cutting the tugs, left the ends hanging on the singletree hooks, and in this shape they were found a few days later when they went up to look for the wagon. This wagon did good service for the settlers during that

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fall. They came up to the abandoned farms to gather what had been planted by those who had been killed by the Indians. Mr. Hancock informed me that they got some extra fine potatoes off of the Lauritzen farm. the potatoes grew down near the water edge of Spillman creek. They were obliged to go up there several times to clear the patch.

The Schermerhorn ranch had been often mentioned, in connection with the old history of this section of Lincoln county, but I never saw a description given of its location; nor what it was composed of or was represented to be. It was located on the northeast quarter of section 28, range 7, in what is now Elkhorn township. Mr. Schermerhorn kept a general store there where the settlers could get a few of the most needed things necessary to sustain life. It was about two miles due south of the present Rocky Hill bridge, where the Moffitts had their dwelling in 1864, and about three miles east of where Ferdinand Erhardt had his home. Gen. Alfred Sully had headquarters at this place in 1868 and investigated the conditions in this part of the country.

Here is a story not exactly part of this book, yet it has some bearing on the tragedy, enacted here on the 30th day May. On the 28th day of May the same party of Indians tore up the track and ditched the train on the railroad and had a battle with the railroad gang that built the road. Two white men were killed and four were wounded in that battle. That was the time and place where our townsman, A. Roenigk, received a very serious wound from an Indian's rifle. he was shot through the lungs and for several days it looked very serious for Mr. Roenigk. it seems very much like he was on the road to New Jerusalem, but he rallied, got well and is still hale and hardy, and has just completed a trip around the world, which included the Old Jerusalem. He, together with the others that were wounded, was taken to the government

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hospital at Ft. Harker. Here he saw the Schmutz boy after he was brought there for treatment.

In the early summer of 1868 three women by the names of Bacon, Foster and Shaw were taken prisoners on Bacon creek about seven or eight miles northwest of Denmark. They were sadly mistreated by the Indians. Some authorities have it that they were kept prisoners for a week and then released; others say that they were let go the next day, anyway none of them were killed. When found they were more dead than alive but for the reason they were not killed, their names do not appear on the Pioneer monument. Mrs. Alderdice was both captured and killed and Mrs. Weichell was captured and very badly wounded, therefore they are represented on the monument.

About the same time of that year 1868 the Indians did some killing around Beloit in Mitchell county, and took two little girls prisoners and carried them over here on the Saline river. They were about five and seven years old, and were worn out from hanging on the bare backs of the Indian ponies. For that reason, or perhaps for other reasons, they were dropped on the edge of the bluffs northwest of Lincoln Center. The little girls evidently thought that the Saline river was the Solomon, and that they were not far from home. They went down to the river and found an abandoned log house; here they were for two days without food. Ferdinand Erhardt and Martin Hendrickson were out on a scouting tour and happened to see one on the little girls with a red shawl on her head. They first thought that it was an Indian, so they drew their revolvers and advanced, but they soon found that instead of Indians they were two little white girls. The first thing they asked for was bread as they had not had anything to eat for two days. The girls were picked up and carried to the home of Mr. Hendrickson, and there they were cared for until their parents in Beloit could be notified of their whereabouts. the father, Mr. Bell came over from Beloit to Mr. Hendrickson's and took his daughters home. The soldiers did not rescue those girls; in fact the soldiers

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did not see them, yet the good people over in Mitchell county have it that the soldiers did the rescuing. I simply desire to correct the statement as it is seemingly incorrect.

General Sully by his presence did some good work here that summer, in preventing Indian depredations, but that is about all that the United States soldiers did here.

There are said to have been four stockades or camps in what is now Lincoln county, built by the federal or state governments for the protection of soldiers and settlers. One was at or near the Schermerhorn ranch; one near what is now Lincoln Center; one on Spillman creek, located about where Fred Sheldon's house now stands. But the most prominent of these camps was the one located at the junction of Spillman and bacon creeks, on the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 8, township 11, range 9, in what is now Grant township and is owned at the present time by Lars P. Larson. This was built more like a fort than any of the others and consisted of a two story log house, as near as I can find 24x24 feet, a large stockade for the horses, and a mess built of rock for cooking purposes. The remains of the mess building are still visible and can easily be traced but the stockade and the log house were burned by a prairie fire a few years after their erection. It is at this place that J.J. Peate, of Beverly, began his service as a government scout. it has been suggested that the place be suitably marked with a substantial stone, and the author of this book is willing to donate the stone for this purpose, the only cost will be for the lettering. It is asserted that soldiers were stationed at these points at that time for the protection of the few settlers who were then here. It is further stated in Miss Barr's History of Lincoln County that there were no soldiers here on May 30, 1869. This seems to be a serious mistake, as Ferdinand Erhardt is positive that soldiers camped on his place between May 30th and 31st, 1869, and Eli Ziegler is equally positive that he requested the captain to give him a horse, and he would lead them to where the Indians were, but the office declined to move, stating that he had sent a courier to Fort Harker to get

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permission from headquarters to give battle to the Indians. Furthermore that officer had information on the morning of the 31st, or the next morning after the massacre, from three different parties of what had happened the day before. The three parties who brought information were Mrs. Kline, the Christiansen brothers, and Eli Ziegler. By consulting the map it will reveal the fact that the Indians and the soldiers camped within less than a mile apart. It looks like the case of the lion and the lamb sleeping together that night, and neither of them getting hurt. In all the documents and records that I have presented in this book, I fail to find where the soldiers did any protective work. General Custer and General Forsythe are the only ones who made the Indians come to time in this part of Kansas. The scouts in the Saline valley and the settlers were the ones who were always ready to turn out and give battle.

Ferdinand Erhardt and Martin Hendrickson were neither scouts nor soldiers, yet they were always there if anything was doing. The regular scouts from the Saline valley were: J.J. Peate, Chalmers Smith and E.E. Johnson. These three may be put down as commanders of the volunteers. D.C. Skinner, Fletcher, Vilott, Lewis, Farley and his son Hutchinson, Thomas Alderdice, Thomas Boyle, Eli Ziegler, George Green, John Lyden, and John Haley. These men were all in what is now Lincoln county. George W. Culver, Frank Herrington, Howard Morton, H.H. Tucker, G.B. Clark, A.J. Eutsler, E.G. Tozier, William Stubbs, and J.E. Green, were mostly from Ottawa county. These men and a score of others less conspicuous were the heroes of the Saline valley at that time. They did not do their fighting for money or glory; they fought for Betsy and the baby, and I am willing to predict that a monument will be erected here some day in memory of their bravery.

The letter that opened this book, written by Robert Moffitt, to his sister in 1864, and the letter written by Eli Ziegler, show positive proof that the pioneers were thrown on their own resources. If they got through with their lives they were lucky; if they were killed, they had to

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bury themselves; if they were taken prisoners or crippled for life, they had to get along as best they could. There was no government aid extended. If they lost all they had, they would sometimes get a little money out of it after they had gone through a lot of red tape and long delay. Therefore the pioneer monument on the Lincoln county court house square is a fitting recognition from the present generation to future generations, of the hardships the pioneers had to endure in order that we of the present time may live here in safety. What happened in Lincoln county in pioneer days has happened all over the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Our country has been one great battle field between white and Indians and whites against whites.

The settlers who were killed here in 1864 and 1869, were fifteen in number, and mostly foreigners, hence innocent parties as far as doing harm or provoking the Indians was concerned. There were among them five children ranging in age from a few months to fourteen years. There were five foreigners who had not been here in the state more that from three months to two years. Lauritzen and wife, and Otto Petersen, those three came from northern Germany, from that strip of land ceded from Denmark to Germany in 1865. They were born Danes and emigrated to escape being German soldiers. Their birth place was in the neighborhood of Haderslev. Meigerhoff and Weichell came from Switzerland. The Moffitt brothers were born in Ireland, but came to the United States as young children, so they may be classed as Americans. So we find that there were five Americans, five foreigners, and five children killed by the Indians.

As near as I can ascertain, Lauritzen and his wife were farmers from the old country; Otto Petersen was a jeweler, and is said to have had a good deal of small jewelry with him; the Christiansen brothers had been blacksmiths all of their lives, so it is readily understood that they were not so very well fitted to fight all of the battle incident to subduing the wilderness. Weichell and his wife were evidently of a class of people higher up in the social world of

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Europe. They had not only plenty of money and the finest of garments, but they had a lot of costly pictures, the like of which the common people in Europe have not. Mr. Weichell was evidently trained for agriculture or he would not have examined the subsoil so particularly as stated before. Meigerhoff as near as I can find it was here with Weichell in the capacity of a scientific farmer and servant; or perhaps in the capacity of a good friend from the old country, but he is supposed to have been rather poor financially. The old settlers never could understand why a man of wealth and refinement should go so far west. The chances are that Mr. Weichell meant to have become a second Lord Scully if he had been spared. it is however a question why Mrs. Weichell after she was cured did not return to her native land, as she had plenty to take her there. There are very many questions from that time that neither records nor traditions can clearly solve.

The Weichells were reported to have had $1,500 in gold which was supposed to have been stolen by the Indians. The soldiers found a little over half this amount among the Indians and turned it over to Mrs., Weichell. She was also said to be the proud possessor of twenty-four silk dresses. Mrs. Weichell has visited some of the old settlers here a few times since this trouble occurred. She again married, and is supposed to live on a farm in eastern Kansas. She is at the present time negotiating with the old settlers around Salina for evidence through which to secure damages from the government for losses sustained at that time.

The letters and other reports in regard to the character of the Moffitt brothers wills how that they were her to make a home, and that they were industrious, and of a good, gentle disposition. They have one sister now living in Philadelphia, and in her letter in my possession she says that the boys were agreeable and tender hearted; more like girls in their choice of play, no rough and tumble play for them. The letter which opened this book seems to indicate that such was their character until they met their death. Of Houston and Tyler nothing good nor anything bad is known; as they were only visitors here at the

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time of their death. So my judgement would be that they were good citizens.

There were a good many funny things that happened during those days to mix up with the more serious things. While it is not the purpose of this little book to have much of anything in it except what concerns the pioneer monument or the victims that it represents, yet there are a good many things which the survivors did do at that time that will throw a little light on the way of living, in this, at that time barren country. here is one as told by Waldo Hancock of Beverly. He was a member of the state militia and was stationed at a camp a little southwest of Lincoln, on the southeast quarter of section one, near the present mill site. Some one had planted a good size water melon patch and had dug a lot of post holes. They were no doubt planning to build a fence. The militia boys went after the water melons before they were ripe, and got nothing out of them. Mr. Hancock saw what was going on and determined to save some of them if possible so he slipped off to the patch and gathered as many mellons as were full grown; but not ripe, (there were none ripe) and put as many as he could get into each post hole and covered them with fine earth sealing them up for good; sometime after this some of the boys expressed the desire for a good water mellon and Mr. Hancock told them that he could get for them what they wanted and he took them down to the patch. Of course there were no mellons on the vines but Hancock was equal to the occasion; he dug down into one of his "cold storage" plants and produced as fine a water mellon as they had ever eaten. This was evidently the first cold storage plant in Lincoln county and Waldo Hancock of Beverly was the originator of it.

I have all names and dates accurate, and I am sure that I have the character of each individual correct, and every place where everything happened is truly laid out on the map, so there is only one more thing to point out that

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made pioneer life hard for an average of twenty-five years if they were fortunate enough to escape being killed. They had to contend with floods and droughts, hot winds and blizzards, cyclones and windstorms, grasshoppers and chinchbugs; two or three well developed panics also occurred during that time; when a man had money in the bank he could not get it; all of these things helped to make pioneer life the next thing to a burden and also to retard a more rapid development of the country. When a crop was good it generally brought nothing. Eggs were from three to six cents per dozen; butter five or six cents a pound; corn from eight to eleven cents per bushel; wheat not worth more than the hauling; fat hogs two and one half per pound; and cattle and horses in proportion. But this is not the worst of it all. As late as 1876 sugar sold in Lincoln Center at eighteen cents per pound; coffee from forty to fifty; tobacco eighty cents; boots, shoes and clothing were entirely in proportion to these prices, so it is the next thing to a miracle that the pioneers lived through it. A good many left as it was to much hardship for them.

In 1874 when the grasshoppers cleaned out the country and the panic cleaned out the banks, the government and the eastern people tried to aid and give some sort of relief in our distress; the eastern people sent mostly food stuff; the government mostly clothing, which was all discarded soldiers uniforms. In 1875 when a stranger came here he would easily have considered everybody a soldier as all were dressed in uniform. When the Indians did the killing that was the period when we were bleeding; when the grasshoppers cleaned us out, that was the time when we were needing; when we erected by free gifts a monument in memory of all these hard trials, that was the time when we were leading. Hence the monument stands for bleeding, needing and leading.

I have been asked the question how long it would take a man to build up a fairly good comfortable home from a homestead. My answer is every time from twenty five to thirty years; and it had to be accomplished by hard

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steady work and rigid economy. A very few arrived with a good deal of money, but they were not so well fixed in the long run as the fellow who was obliged to borrow a part of the money required to file on his homestead, as it required a sum of fourteen dollars to homestead, and I know of a few who did not have that much money. The rich man's trouble was that he had the cash and tried to push ahead. he would hire to get crops in, that in most instances were utter failures; so he constantly spent; while the poor man hired out to him, and thus earned his living, making his own little improvements and planting his own patches with his own hands, and if he lost his crops, he was out nothing but his labor.

None of the surrounding counties have lost so many from Indian depredations as has Lincoln county, and that is what induced me to begin agitating the erection of the pioneer monument and place it on the court house square. it stands there today to remind the younger and coming generations that there was not always the same security and comfort in Lincoln that we of the present day enjoy. When we consider all of the improvements and luxuries which we have created in forty-one years, with nothing but the naked hands to work with, the question naturally arises what will the result be in forty-one years hence. Will the coming generations produce as big a change as the pioneers have produced? They have the advantage of a true knowledge of the country gained from the pioneers and have vast wealth to work with.

(Note: Since chapter two was written I have found another version of what happened on Spillman on May 30th 1869. This is told by Mrs. Helena Errebo. She is the daughter of Peter Christiansen and she states that she was not working in Wilson at the time of the massacre on her father's land but that she was at home on that day. She further states that her father had no dwelling at that time but that they lived at the Lauritzen place. This does not correspond with what her father told me on several occasions while he was living, and it would seem impossible for all to live at the Lauritzen home as there were

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fifteen altogether. I give this second version for the purpose of showing how difficult it has been for me to accertain the true facts as, in many cases, no two have told the same story alike. It is possibly owing to a faulty memory.

The name "Meigherhoff" has been run through this book as "Meigerhoff" as this comes nearer the proper pronunciation.

On page 28, the ninth line should read as follows: "killed, Esklid Lauritzen and wife, Stein; and Otto Petersen.")

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Some twelve years ago I began to talk "pioneer monument," especially in the Denmark settlement. My idea was to build a monument for the five who were killed in and from that settlement, and to have it erected in the Lutheran church year there; but the settlers did not approve of the idea, so I brought the matter up before the Old Settlers' Reunion of Lincoln county, and met with about the same reception there. I could not make any headway, and came nearly giving up in despair. The question however was revived nearly every year until 1907 when Hon. Geo. W. Martin, the Secretary of the State Historical Society at Topeka, came to Lincoln Center to deliver and address at the Old Settlers' Reunion of that year. It so happened that Mr. Martin and I were old acquaintances at Junction City, Kansas. We lived there together from 1869 to 1873, when he moved to Kansas City. I told him of my desire to have a monument here and requested him to help me out. He promised that he would, and he did to some extent. After he was through with his address, I made a few remarks touching on the subject of a pioneer monument as a fitting recognition of the martyred pioneers. When I concluded, Rev. H.C. Bradbury made a few remarks, and made a motion to appoint a committee of five to ascertain the number killed by Indians in what is now Lincoln county, and the names of each victim. That committee consisted of Rev. H.C. Bradbury, Rev. John S. Strange, Arthur J. Stanley, A. Roenigk, and myself. The committee was instructed to report at the next annual meeting of the Old Settlers. At the meeting in October, 1908 the committee reported fifteen killed by Indians in what is now Lincoln county. Where

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upon it was decided to appoint a committee to solicit funds and erect a monument. This committee consisted of C. Bernhardt, chairman, Rev. H.C. Bradbury and Rev. John S. Strange. Later several others were appointed, but none of them served on the committee.

I secured $13.00 the first day that I solicited, (if I had been superstitious I would have quit then, but I am not.) Reverends Bradbury and Strange did not take any part in soliciting funds, so it was all left for me to do, as was also the tracing of all kinds of clues to get the correct names of the victims, and the time and place of the occurrences.

I plodded along daily, and had gathered about $85, and had about $40 more on my list by the 21st day of December, 1908. On that date the monument was selected and ordered from Henry Sahlmann, the Lincoln marble dealer. Mr. Sahlmann had told me several times that if it was decided to unveil the monument on May 30th, 1909, we would have to order it in December, or we could not get it in time for the anniversary. I notified the committee, and invited the following gentlemen to meet on the said 21st; of December: J.J. Peate as president of the Old Settlers' Reunion, J.W. Meek, vice- president of the Union, and Hon. Wm. Baker, ex-congressman for the district.

We six met and selected the monument, which is somewhat the same shape as the monument erected on Beecher's Island, in Colorado. It was to be of dark Quincy Granite, to stand on a concrete foundation to be sunk six feet in the ground, this to be six feet square at the bottom, and five feet square at the top of the ground. The first base of granite was to be four feet square , and the complete monument to stand fourteen feet in height from the concrete foundation to the top of the spire. About five hundred letters were to be engraved on the monument, and an air-tight copper box, 5x5x7 inches, was to be provided by Mr. Sahlmann; all of which he agreed to furnish for $470. We agreed to pay him this amount, and a contract was drawn in duplicate specifying the arrangement in detail. I, as chairman, signed the same, and was now sure of the monument, but not so sure

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of getting the needed cash. After the order was placed and the concrete foundation put in it was easier to get people to contribute, and the result was gratifying to me.

At the regular January meeting, 1909, of the county commissioners of Lincoln county, Arthur J. Stanley, J.W. Meek and myself appeared before the board and requested permission to place said pioneer monument on the southwest quarter of the Lincoln county court house square. The request was granted, and it was left to the committee to select the spot where the monument was to stand.

The map has been complied as nearly correct as possible at so late a date. This is the first time in Kansas that an attempt has been made to locate the exact sites where battles between Indians and whites took place. It will be noticed that in our county Lincoln Center is almost in the middle of the troubled zone, therefore we thought that the court house square in Lincoln was the most logical location for the erection of the pioneer monument.

The parties to be given credit for the inscription, and who did the dictating, were J.J. Peate, of Beverly; John S. Strange, and myself. Rev. H.C. Bradbury was not present, but he liked to have the word "subscription" changed to "free gifts." The change was ordered to be made. He also suggested that the following words be added to the inscription; "Remember the days of old," which was done, and I am inclined to think that it was a very appropriate line.

The inscription on the monument is as follows: On the south side, "Erected by free gifts in memory of those massacred or captured by Indians in what is now Lincoln county. Dedicated May 20th, A.D. 1909. Remember the days of old."

West side, "Massacred, May 30th, A./D. 1869, between Trail and Beaver creeks, E. Lauritzen, Mrs. Stein Lauritzen, O. Petersen, F. Meigheroff, G. Weichell, F. Alderdice, 2 years; A. Alderdice, 3 months; J. Daily, 7 years; J.H. Strange, 14 years; A. Schmutz, 14 years."

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North side, "Captured, May 30th A.D. 1869, Mrs. Alderdice and Mrs. Weichell. Mrs. Alderdice killed by a Sioux chief during battle with U.S. Cavalry, July 11th, 1869, on south fork of Platte river, in Colorado, Territory; Mrs. Weichell wounded and rescued."

East side, "Massacred, August 6th, A.D. 1864 on Beaver creek, J.L. Moffitt, T. Moffitt, J.W. Houston, J. Tyler."

Masonic stone, northeast corner, "Laid by order of the M.W. Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Kansas, May 6th, A.D. 1909, A.L. 5909," and Masonic emblem, square and compass.

I have explained before how I obtained the names of some of the victims. Those names have been incorrectly spelled heretofore, not when we were ready to have them inscribed on the monument, I set out to find the correct initials and spelling. I have succeeded in all; the last secured being the given name of Mr. James Tyler. I am in hopes that this little book will find its way into the hands of the little girl who was in the Moffitt house at the time that Tyler was killed, and if this should happen, that her memory will prove conclusively that my information was correct in this particular.

On the fifteenth of April 1909, I closed the subscription list, and I had on that day about twenty-five dollars more than the contract price of the monument. I caused to be printed 2000 copies of the subscription list at my own expense, in order to have a copy ready to place in the monument foundation. A copy of the list will be found in this book, showing exactly what I have received and what I have spent it for.

A word about soliciting for a thing of this kind. I will say that it was my first experience in that line, so I may have made some mistakes, but I can think of but one. If I was to do it over again I would have one list for 25 cent subscribers, one for fifty cent subscribers, and one for $1.00 or above. I would always show the dollar list first. the monument was truly erected by free gifts, and if a party refused to contribute I did not go to him the second

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time; neither would I accept any more than five dollars from anyone contributor, although several would have given ten dollars; and one expressed his surprise that I did not ask twenty-five of him. I wanted to make it as near popular as possible, and my aim was to have about five hundred subscribers, and I came near getting them. We could easily have gotten $1,000 for that purpose if we had started for it, but I am more than satisfied with the result.

I invited the Masonic lodge of Lincoln Center to lay the foundation stone with Masonic honors, and the invitation was accepted. The Barnard and the Sylvan Masonic Lodges were invited to visit us and to participate in the ceremony, and the date selected was the sixth day of May, 1909. The Barnard and Sylvan Lodges sent good sized delegations, so we had on that day a greater number of representative men and Masons in Lincoln Center, than on any previous occasion of a like nature. There were about one hundred and fifty Masons present and about two thousand spectators. This was one of the greatest historic happenings in Lincoln Center, as it showed the interest in the monument by the great majority of the public as manifested by the crowd that gathered on that day.

Arthur J. Stanley was deputized as Grand Master for that occasion, and performed the ceremony of depositing the historical box in a manner that was a credit to him and the Lincoln Lodge, and a pleasure to the visiting lodges. Gatherings of this kind will tend to make life more pleasant and mankind better. It will also have the tendency to uplift by example the coming generation, and it has since been proven that this gathering produced more good brotherly feeling among all classes of people in Lincoln county than any other gathering that we have had here in the past. The mere fact that the Masonic emblem is on the monument is in itself a lasting historical fact that can be appreciated more as time rolls on, that we at this time took advantage of every opportunity to show the world that we were not only pleased but highly gratified with the success achieved. The copper box deposited in the foundation of the pioneer monument contained a copy of

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the annual report of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Kansas, for the year 1909; Roll of officers and standing and special committees of the Lincoln Lodge, No. 154, A.F. & A.M.; a copy of the history of Memorial Monuments and Tablets in Kansas, including the pioneer monument of Lincoln county; a book containing the names of the contributors to the monument; copies of the Lincoln Sentinel, Lincoln Republican and Sylvan Grove News, all published on May 6, 1909; United States coins of all denominations from one cent to one dollar.

May 30th, 1909 was the fortieth anniversary of the last Indian massacre in Lincoln county, so that date was decided upon as an appropriate occasion for the unveiling of the monument. This date falling on Sunday, this year, the actual unveiling was held on Monday, May 31, 1909. This being our National Memorial Day, it was arranged with the local G.A.R. Post to divide the time with them in the afternoon of that day, but after three different agreements with the Post, the Old Settlers' committee was finally allowed thirty minutes for the unveiling ceremonies.

The program for the unveiling ceremonies on May 31, 1909, was published in the Lincoln Republican on May 27th, as a part of the proceedings for Memorial day as arranged by the Grand Army; and is given below;

"At 1:30 o'clock p.m., the Post and Corps will re-assemble at Post Hall and march to the Court House square where the ceremonies connected with the unveiling of the monument erected to the memories of those who were murdered by the Indians, in the pioneer days of this county will be held, which ceremonies will be under the direction and management of the Pioneer Monument Committee with Chris Bernhardt presiding.

"Music by Lincoln Military Band.

"Prayer by Rev. H.C. Bradbury.

"Song by the Chorus Society.

"Address by Rev. John S. Strange during the delivery

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of which the monument will be unveiled by Mrs. Mary Edwards."

The following extracts are made from the local newspapers regarding the unveiling ceremonies:

"The new monument erected on the court house square in memory of those killed by the Indians, was unveiled with simple and appropriate ceremonies at 1:30 p.m. last Monday afternoon. Mrs. Mary Edwards, of Sylvan Grove, Cedron township, Lincoln county, and a niece of Mrs. Alderdice, one of the captives and killed, unveiled it. Rev. John S. Strange, who had a son killed, delivered the address. The monument is of dark Quincy granite, 14 feet high, four feet square at the base. it was built by popular subscription, and cost $470. Henry Sahlmann proprietor of the Lincoln marble works had the contract. Much credit is due to C. Bernhardt for his untiring energy in soliciting, and it was he who started the movement." - (Lincoln Sentinel, June 3, 1909.

Rev. T.M. Strange offered the opening prayer, at the unveiling, as Rev. H.C. Bradbury was unable to reach Lincoln because of a railroad accident. Rev. Sarah Strange closed the services with prayer.

The Salina Journal of June 1, remarks that "there were perhaps more people in Lincoln yesterday in attendance at the memorial exercises that there has ever been in the history of Lincoln. they came from every direction for miles around, and there were probably 5,000 people in town the greater part of the day." The Lincoln Republican of June 3 states that Rev. J.S. Strange was the principle speaker at the unveiling ceremonies. His speech dwelt on the early history of Lincoln county, and was filled with reminiscences rich in the rehearsal of event of pioneer days. the address at the Methodist church by Judge T.F. Garver, of Topeka, will long be remembered by those who were fortunate enough to be able to get within hearing distance.

I have in my possession all the printed programs, and the local and foreign newspaper notices in regard to our transactions and progress during the monument period,

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and shall insert two here just for samples of the work required in securing the data for the inscription.

Extract from the Salina Journal of March 18, 1909:

"Christian Bernhardt, of Lincoln, a brother of H.P. Bernhardt and an uncle of Prof. Bernhardt of this city, is in Salina today hunting for information about two men, supposed to be early residents of Salina.

"One of the men's name is Tyler. the others name is either Hughes or Hueston. What Mr. Bernhardt wants is to get the first names or initials of those two men, that they may be inscribed on the monument which is being erected at Lincoln to the fifteen settlers in Lincoln county who were killed by the Indians in the early days.

"Tyler and Hughes, or Hueston were killed, but thus far it has been impossible to ascertain the first names of the two men.

"Mr. Bernhardt is hunting up all the old settlers of Salina today in an effort to trace the identity of the men. Anyone who can give any information on the subject should communicate with the Journal or with Mr. Bernhardt.

"Tyler and Hughes are supposed to have come up from Salina to visit with the Moffitt brothers near Lincoln. The two Moffitts, Tyler and Hughes all went out together on a buffalo hunt. While they were out they were surrounded by Indians and killed. The Indians then attacked the Moffitt cabin, but it was so strongly defended by the father of the Moffitt boys that the Indians gave it up.

"The monument which will be erected in the court house square in Lincoln will be ready for unveiling May 30, the anniversary of the murders. The corner stone of the monument will be laid May 6th by the Lincoln lodge, 154 A.F. and A.M. The Sylvan and Barnard lodges will be there. The monument will cost $800 and the money has been raised mostly by Mr. Bernhardt.:

Extract from Lincoln Republican:

"C. Bernhardt who has done most of the rustling of funds and data for the Old Settlers Monument at Lincoln has been in Salina looking for the full names of some of

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the early settlers killed. the following from the Salina Semi-Weekly Union shows what he accomplished.

"C. Bernhardt is a happy man.

:As mentioned in the Union Thursday he had the names all complete for the Lincoln monument but those of Hueston and Tyler. it certainly looked blue for getting any of those.

"Late Thursday afternoon he succeeded in getting the full name of Hueston. His name was John W. Houston.

"A thought struck me that the records ought to be right here in Salina, right in your own court house." said Mr. Bernhardt to a reported. "I went down there, and I must say you have gentlemanly people at the court house here. They are accommodating."

"I was shown records of the early days and allowed to go through them. I was given a mighty pleasant surprise when I found the record of John W. Houston, killed by the Indians August 6, 1864.

"I have the history and records of all now but Tyler. It looks impossible to get anything of him for no trace at all can be found and there is no clue. But I still have hopes."

The Salina Journal of April 29, 1909, has the following:

"C. Bernhardt of Lincoln, Kansas, is in Salina today on his way home from Junction City, where he succeeded in securing the correct names of two more of the settlers killed by the Indians in 1869 to whom the people of Lincoln are going to erect a monument.

"The two men whose names Mr. Bernhardt finally secured are F. Meigherhoff and George Weichell.

"There are still two names of which the initials cannot be located. They are Hughes and Tyler.

"I have made every effort to locate Hughes and Tyler; said Mr. Bernhardt today. I can't get track of them. The men were killed but they left wives and children. Some of those children must be alive, but it is impossible to find out where they are."

"Mr. Bernhardt exercised much ingenuity to locate the names of Meigherhoff and Weichell.

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"I learned," he says, "that these two men had just come over to this country from Switzerland. They had come direct to Kansas without stopping enroute, and so I figured that either at Junction or Salina I would find the first naturalization papers of these men. By going through the clerk of court's records at Junction, I located the two men. They were entered on the book right together, and there is no doubt that they were the men who came to Salina together and went to Lincoln county. They were entered on the book on May 10, 1869, and were killed on May 30, 1869.

"On May 6, we are planning to have a celebration there in Lincoln in honor of the laying of the corner stone of the monument. The stones for the monument are nearly all cut and we will have the monument ready to unveil on May 30, Memorial Day, and the 40th anniversary of the killing of the settlers. On May 6, the Barnard and Sylvan Grove Masonic lodges will come to Lincoln and assist in the laying of the corner stone. There will not be an elaborate program on that day, but at the time the monument is unveiled on May 31, we expect to have some fine speeches. T.F. Graver will be one of the speakers."

"Mr. Bernhardt is the man who first conceived the idea of building the monument, and further than that, he went ahead and by his personal efforts raised the money to pay for it."

"It will be a whole lot of monument for the amount of money which we have had to spend," he said today. The monument will cost about $500.

The monument is not so large as to look boastful, nor too small to show off well, and is composed of the best granite that money can buy. It will always be our pride. Strangers will look at our inhabitants with a great deal more respect, and the purpose for which it stands will live when we are all gone.

To the good people who so willingly and generously contributed to the monument and made it a success, I extend my sincere thanks. To those who did not contribute,

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I extend my thanks, as this class made me work so much harder to accomplish results.

To Henry Sahlmann, now deceased, belongs the greatest honor, as builder of the monument. This was next to his last piece of work on earth. he erected that monument for practically pure love, as he did not make anything on the job, and seemingly was greatly disturbed at times when the work was criticized. he came to me once and suggested that he would like to throw up the job on that account but I persuaded him to stay with it. Mr. Sahlmann would have had me for a friend forever as I never did business with any man who was so kind, gentle and obliging. he did more than he had contracted for, and charged nothing extra. men of this class will live forever in the memories of those who knew them.

As stated before the cost of the monument was $470; of the stone walk around the monument, $32.00, of the three settees, $25.00. Other small expenses connected with the unveiling, for lumber, nails, hauling and hired labor, for monument pictures for the newspapers and the State Historical Society, were $14.50; making the total cost of the monument and all pertaining to its erection $541.50. the total collections to date are $531.55; leaving a balance due me of $9.95. Every item was paid for promptly when delivered, so there is nothing against the monument. it is now ready to turn over to the people as a permanent property of the county.

Since the foregoing was written I have learned of the death of James R. Mead, of Wichita, at the age of seventy five years. He made a speech here on October 1st, 1908, at the Old Settlers Reunion. to him belongs the honor of placing the first five dollar note in my hand for the pioneer monument fund. He gave me that money a few hours before the monument committee was appointed, showing his good faith that the citizens of Lincoln county would furnish the remainder to complete the work. Mr. Mead was an active life member of the Kansas State Historical Society and has been instrumental in preserving a

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great deal of the early history of this and surrounding counties.

The following is to be corrected in the inclosed list:

A. Zeigler should read $1.00 instead of 50 cents

Wm. Mueller should read Wilbur Miller

H.A.C. Anderson should read $1.00 in place of $10.00

In addition to the inclosed subscription list add the following amounts which have been contributed since the list was printed:

C.H. Berry 1.00
Daniel Vonada 1.00
John Ryan 1.00
H.E. Edwards .50
Ed M. Harris .50
Elkvale Sc. Dist. 1.00
Charles Kilmer 1.00
Sc. Dist. No.14 1.00
W.R.C. Beverly 5.00
W.M. Davis 1.00
W.W. McCanles 1.00
H. Morton 2.00