The establishment of law and order on western plains . n whoappropriated it would himself abandon itas well as his own dwelling place before aweek elapsed. So it went on throughoutJuly, August and September—still not adrop of rain. During the fall months conditions didnot change, except that the cavalcade of re-turning settlers was greatly diminished,the number of actual bona fide residents bythe first of January having dwindled to ascant 100. In a few words the history ofMeade for 1879 can be written—not a dropof rain. Indeed from late in the fall of1878 to July 4th, 1880, there was no rainfa
The establishment of law and order on western plains . n whoappropriated it would himself abandon itas well as his own dwelling place before aweek elapsed. So it went on throughoutJuly, August and September—still not adrop of rain. During the fall months conditions didnot change, except that the cavalcade of re-turning settlers was greatly diminished,the number of actual bona fide residents bythe first of January having dwindled to ascant 100. In a few words the history ofMeade for 1879 can be written—not a dropof rain. Indeed from late in the fall of1878 to July 4th, 1880, there was no rainfallworthy the mention in that whole sectionbetv/een the Colorado line and the easternboundary of Ford County. In 1880 thebuffalo grass remained perfectly brownuntil this downpour in July came. I amstating these facts to show the reader justhow rapidly a section can fill up and howrapidly it can empty out. About thecraziest people I ever saw were landseekersin various parts of the West—but whenthey took a notion to quit they were just ascrazy. 47. When south-western Kansas was di-vided into counties after the formation ofthe state, the divisions were practically thesame as they are today. They remained soup until the famine years of after that the legislature cut the ter-ritory now comprising the nineteen coun-ties into three counties, calling them Ford,Finney and Hamilton, and of this territoryDodge was the capital city, all being at-tached to Ford for judicial purposes. In 1881 there were no incoming settlersworth mentioning, none in 1882, thougheverybody was sure there would be a rushthe latter year. On October first, 1882, theLamed land district was divided and thewestern office located at Garden City. Butat this office less than two dozen entrieswere made between October 1, 1882 andMarch 20, 1883. On the latter day, and itwas raining very hard, six claims were en-tered by three people, each taking a home-stead and timber claim. The following daythere wer
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectfrontie, bookyear1915
