F 687 — ,S5 P2 SS CoPV 1 RMERS' HAND BOOK, AND Immigrants' Guide TO Northern Shawnee SOUTH-WESTERN JEFFERSON AND SOUTHERN JACKSON COUNTIES. With Complete Information Regarding Soil, Climate, Society, Educational Advantages, Rates of Tax- ation, Stock Ranges, Fruit Growing, Prices of Land, Etc., Etc NORTH TOPEKA, KANSAS: ROOT & IRWIN, TIMES PRINTING HOUSE AND BINDERY. 1879. KANSAS STATE ISTOBlCAl SOCIETY. FARMERS' HAND BOOK, AND Immigrants 5 Guide TO Northern Shawnee SOUTH-WESTERN JEFFERSON AND SOUTHERN JACKSON COUNTIES. With Complete Information Regarding Soil, Climate, Society, Educational Advantages, Rates of Tax- ation, Stock Ranges, Fiuit Growing, Prices of Land, Etc., Etc. ILLUSTRATED. NORTH TOPEKA, KANSAS : ROOT & IRWIN, TIMES PRINTING HOUSE AND BINDERY. 1879. S Pi NORTH TOPEKA, KANSAS: ROOT & IRWIN, TIMES PRINTING HOUSE AND BINDERY. 1879. In IWviA. ^Tau, Jtun r5o fi IMMIGBANT& GUIDE. Immigrants 5 Guide, INTRODUCTION. As the title of this book indicates, it is devoted to such in- formation as a person contemplating removing to Kansas would naturally desire to obtain. When one becomes imbued with the idea of changing location, the questions first occurring to one's mind is "where can I go to better myself?" and at once begins the task of reading up authorities. Guide books are seized with eager hands, and their contents perused in search of the coveted information ; and the chances are that the books obtained are those issued from the various railroad land offices, and the reader is astonished to find in all a startling similarity of description, although the sections of country spoken of may be hundreds of miles apart. This is easily accounted for, — the Railroads all want to sell their lands. But the publication of this book is prompted by no such mo- tives. It is issued in the interest of no Railroad Company, Real Estate Agency, or Land Oflice, but for the benefit of those of our 4 IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. people who desire a reliable guide to this section of our state for the instruction of such of their Eastern friends as may contem- plate coming to Kansas. We have spent much time and labor to get the most reliable information possible regarding the stctions of the three counties we will endeavor to describe. As most every foot of the ground has been visited by us individually, during a residence in the state of 22 years, we therefore speak from personal observa- tion in nearly all we shall have to say. IMMIGBANT& GUIDE NORTHERN SHAWNEE. LOCATION AND SOIL. The section of the country comprising "Northern Shawnee" is that part of Shawnee county lying north of the Kansas (or Kaw) river in what is known as the great Kansas valley. Seven- ty-five per cent, of this land is first and second bottom, and the remainiDg part gently sloping upland. The soil is the most pro- ductive in the State, and is simply inexhaustible. The depth of the soil will average twenty feet, with no hard-pan or rock bot- tom that holds water. Therefore any amount of water up to sixty or eighty inches can be readily absorbed, and that in a short time, as the soil contains such matter as greatly facilitate absorb- tion. Hence we see farmers at work in their fields but a few hours after a severe rain. Another thing we see which is truly remarkable and that is, that no water runs off a tille 1 field, no matter how fast or how much. The result is we have beneath our crops this enormous depth of moist soil ; and capillary at- traction is continually'bringing the moisture to the surface from the bottom, whatever depth it may be to a "bottom" through which the water may not pass, either upward or downwards. For this reason, a "dry spell" that would be death to crops in other locations, has here no visible effect upon vegetation. WATER AND TIMBER. Northern Shawnee is bounded on the South by the Kansas River, a large body of water, the moisture from which penetrates the soil for a great distance from its banks. It flows south-east- 6 IMM1GBANTS' GUIDE. erly, and its tributaries from the north are Beaubien, Cross, Sol- dier and Iudian Creeks. The tributaries of Soldier are Little Soldier, Moccasin and Half- Day Creeks, with their numerous lit- tle branches which have their origin in the plentiful supply of living springs with which the country abounds. Good well water can anywhere be obtained at a depth of from 10 to 25 feet. All of the water is of the purest and most healthful quality, with oc- casional springs containing a small per cent, of iron and sulphur. Along all of these streams is an abundance of timber for fenc- ing purposes and fuel. The varieties ot timber are elm, colton- wood, black walnut, linn, oak, hickory, sycamore, maple, box elder, hackberry, with a small per cent, of cedar and poplar. Since the fires have been kept out, the native timber has greatlv increased in quantity, and all the streams are studded with a liberal growth of young trees. Many of the people are cultivating forests, for which a liberal bounty is paid by the State authorities. The principal part of the cultivated timber consists of black-walnut, cottonwood and box-eider, as these varieties seem more adapted to the climate and soil. With proper care of our native forests, and a reasonable effort in cultivating, this portion of the State will always have a quantity of timber sufficient for home consumption. Immigrants from the east who desire to engage in the stock business in Kansas would do well to remember that they need not go two or three hundred miles away on the frontier to get a stock ranche, but that they can purchase one in Northern Shawnee or Southern Jackson county, where they can have good range, and be within a few hours ride of the capital, surrounded by a splendid market, railroads, good schools, colleges, and churches. No section of Kansas can furnish a better quality of building stone than Northern Shawnee. There are a large number of fine IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. A.. IMI. FULLER, DEALER IN None COR but first-class goods kept. Come and , EIGHTH AND KANSAS AVE see me before buying. ,, TOPEKA, KAN, 8 IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. quarries, those most extensively worked being on the farms of A. J. Davis, P. W. Hamilton, andJeff. Davis, while there is an ex- tensive, and very valuable one on Half Day. The quarries are of blue and yellow limestone, and for building purposes can hardly be excelled, being quite uniform in thickness, and very easily worked. The stone is furnished in the quarries at a mere nominal cost, but delivered in the city, at prices ranging from $2.75 to $3.50 per cord. PRODUCTIONS OF THE SOIL. The productions of the soil are varied, but nearly everything that grows in the north, west and south, grows here in abundance. Our climate is between the extreme cold of the north, and heat of the south, and while the thermometer sometimes reaches 105 in the shade, the cooling, gentle breeze from the south makes the atmosphere refreshing and the heat is not oppressive. Our prin- ciple staple is corn, the soil of the Kansas valley infertility, being unsurpassed in the State, or even in the whole west in its produc- tion, while wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, flax, hemp, tobac- co, sorghum, Irish and sweet potatoes, and every kind of vegetable grows here in profusion. Cotton has been experimented with, and grown over four feet high in some of the gardens in North Topeka, but we do not think it a safe crop to engage in on account of the uncertainty of the seasons. All kinds of grasses grow here as well as in any part of the country, and a good article of wild prairie hay can be put up and sold at a profit, delivered, at from $3.00 to $4.50 per ton. Corn, during the present summer, has grown fifteen feet high in the Kaw bottom, and from ten to twelve feet on the upland, having three to four large, well developed ears in a stalk, producing from fifty to seventy-five bushels per acre. FRUIT. Our section of the State is unsurpassed as a fruit growing re- IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. W. C. N ORRIS, DEALER IN DRY GOODS, CLOTHING, BOOTS & SHOES, Groceries and Queensware. HIGHEST MARKET PRICE PAID FOB COUNTRY PRODUCE. 2 Doors South of A. J. Arnold's Drug Store, North Topeka, - - Kansas. Cash Grocery Store. HEREAFTER WILL BE SOLD AT THE OLD STAND, On the Corner of Norris and R. R. Street, / Exclusively for Cash. Parties will find it to their interest to go there and buy for (ASH. WILL PAY CASH FOR CHOICE BUTTER AND EGGS. W. O NORRIS. 10 IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. gion, and nearly all kinds of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, etc., grow here as well as in any other portion of the West, and a ready market at the doors is al- ways found for everything produced. Among the largest fruit growers in Northern Shawnee, are Geo. W. Kistler, F. M., Mari- on, and Geo. Yanorsdol, F, W. Fleischer, Geo. P. Feiderhng, John Bell, Dr. G. M. Morrow, Ezekiel Marple, and others. IN GENERAL. Ten years ago a large portion of Northern Shawnee and Jack- son counties were in the Pottawatomie reserve, but being opened for settlement soon presented a more civilized appearance. School houses went up with the dwellings of the first settlers. School districts were so formed that very few of the earliest settlers were too remote for school privilegs. The people now have from seven to nine months school every year; a well sustained Sabbath school every summer ; preaching regularly ; lyceums and singing schools each winter ; district and Sunday school libraries, each containing the best class of books, which, with frequent picnics and social gatherings of old and young, gives mental, moral, and social advantages, seldom equalled anywhere by the same number of people. Orchards are in bearing condition. Nothing looks more like a man intends to make a permanent home thanfo see him planting- fruit trees, and taking an interest in his orchard. We have in this section of country, some fine orchards, planted by men who know how to manage them. The varieties of fruit planted are numerous and of the best. No one complains of Kansas. Some of the most unfortunate who seem pursued with ill luck, declare that in spite of misfor- tunes they like Kansas because their health is improved and the IMMIGBANTS' GUIDE. 11 J. GRADEN, & SON, DEALERS IN LUMBER, LATH and SHINGLES, LIME, PLASTERING HAIR BRICK, ETC., ETC. MERIDEN, - - - KANSAS. DEALER IN Dry Goods and Groceries, Boots and Shoes, Hats and Caps, Tobacco and Cigars. All kinds of Country Produce taken in exchange for goods. Highest market price given. Give us a call when in MERIDEN, KANSAS. L. H. TRIPP! DEALER IN Dry Goods, Groceries, HARDWARE, BOOTS and SHOES, HAT!! aiifl CAPS and NOTIONS. EVERYTHING USUALLY KEPT IN A FIRST-CLASS STORE. All are cordially invited to call at our establishment and ex- amine goods and prices. Yours truly, L. H. TRIPP, Meriden, Kansas. CAPT. A.C. WALLACE, PRACTICAL HOUSE MOVER, NORTH TOPEKA, KANSAS. Orders left at the North Topeka P. O. Terms reasonable. Satisfaction guaranteed. 12 IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. outlook is good — there is a chance to "grow up with the country." To us it seems a wonder why a youug man in the east should remain there and not come west where the price of land is low and he has some chance of growing; into wealth if he has no other way of getting it. Everyone knows of numerous instances of industrious farmer boys, by investing their spare dollars in calves from time to time, soon had enough to make a payment on a small piece of land, which would soon be hedged and yielding its owner enough of its products to get rid of remaining payments. True, there are plenty of improved iarms for sale cheap, but this is nothing against the country, as many of those who want to sell can o-ive no other reason than a mere desire to rove about. Better crops, better health, fiuer lookiDg fruit, better land and climate, with society as good as can be found in the east, all conspire to make this one of the most desirable localities for im- migrants to stop at. No State in the Union can compare with Kansas in point of soil, climate, and in the rapid growth of all kinds of products. Northern Shawnee is the richest and most desirable part of the State. TABLE, Showing the population of Northern Shawnee, by Townships, March 1, 1879 : Township or Ward. Rossville Township ." Silver Lake Township Soldier " North Topeka, (ist ward city ofTopeka). Total , 4° 1,167 1.787 2. Oil L773 6,738 IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. 13 HEADQUARTERS FOR Jtoictiittirai Implements ! ! w P3 H W *-j 2 u ti o m fc Every style of open and top Buggies, Platform SPring Wagons and a full assortment of Standard Farming Machinery. Call and examine my goods and get my prices. J. E- O'BRIEN, SIXTH STREET, TOPEKA. NORTH R. R. f NORTH TOPEKA. 14 IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. NORTH TOPEKA. For a desirable place in which to locate, no town in this vi- cinity, or in the State for that matter, offers such favorable op- portunities for the capitalist, merchant or business man, as North Topeka. Situated as it is, on the north bank of the Kansas riv- er, one mile from the State House, on the lines of the Kansas Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads, two great trunk lines reaching to Colorado and New Mexico, and affording a market for much of our products, makes North Topeka a prom- inent place among the important shipping points throughout the State. Our population has doubled during the past four years, it being carefully estimated at this time at 2,000. It is now grow- ing as rapidly and substantially as any other town in the State of the same size, and bids fair to be the great manufacturing and shipping point in Kansas on the lines of these two important roads. Fully one hundrel and fifty buildiugs have been erected during the past twelve months, the more important and substan- tial ones being the Distillery, Inter-Ocean Mills and elevator; seven substantial stone and brick business houses, two new churches, five dwellings and other buildings, too numerous to mention. A large number of additional buildings of various kinds are already contracted for and will be built this fall. The substantial improvements that are being talked of for the near future are a new, fine brick school house, a new M. E. church to cost from $3,500 to 85,000 ; an edge tool manufactory, etc. The Kansas Barb Wire Works, with their headquarters at North To- peka, are erecting a manufactory for their large and rapidly in- creasing trade, and the Enterprise Iron Works, a new institution, IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. 15 is putting up a new building to carry on their rapidly growing business. Our religious and educational advantages are equal to any section of the west, being only a mile or two distant from Lincoln High School, Sisters' of Bethany College, Washburn College, etc., while there are four churches in North Topeka and upwards of a dozen on the south side, or in Topeka. Our educational ad- vantages alone are believed to be superior to any other town in the State. Prices now rule lower than at anytime since the war. Prairie hay sells for $3.25 to $4.00 per ton; wood $3.50 to $5.00 per cord ; best winter wheat flour $2.25 per hundred ; corn meal 75 cts.; choice apples $1.00 to $1.25 per bushel ; butter 15 to 20 cts. per pound; fresh meat 6^ to 12J cts., and nearly everything else in proportion. Comparing the prices ot living here, with those of the East, we believe the difference will be largely in favor of ours. MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS. Of these Northern Shawnee is well supplied. In North To- peka, we have the Rolling Mills — now occupied by S. H. Hamil- ton & Co., for the manufacture of straw lumber; the Inter-Ocean Flouring Mills and elevator, controlled by Page, Norton & Co.; the Farmers' Mills and elevator, operated by J. G. Johns ; the Topeka Distilling Co., now engaged in making the Kansas Valley Whisky — which furnishes a cash market for grain and hogs ; Bowen & Irwin's Steam Cracker Bakery ; Enterprise Iron Works, by Crandall & Paine : Harness and Saddle Manufactory, Bischoff & Krauss, proprietors ; Kansas Barb Works, A. U. Hulbert, man- ager ; Western Iron Fence Co., Geo. A. Gould < p : Co. ; Topeka - Cooper Shop, J. Rothenberger & Co. The following is a list of the different kinds of business rep- 16 IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. WHAT MAT BE ACCOMPLISHED 1JN SIX YJSaKS. IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. 17 ft? o 33 resented in North Topeka, and the number of each, comprising some of the largest firms and dealers of the kind in the State : 3 Agricultu'l implement dealers, 4 Grain dealers, 2 Architects, 4 Attorneys. 1 Banking house, 4 Billiard halls, 1 Bakery, 3 Boot and shoe stores, 5 Boarding houses, 2 Broom makers, 1 Brick yard, 2 Barber shops, 1 Barb Wire Works, 4 Blacksmith shops, 1 Book store, 10 Carpenters and builders, 4 Coal dealers, 4 Confectionery dealers, 1 Cooper shop, 4 Contractors, 3 Delivery wagons, 1 Distillery, 3 Dress makers, 5 Dry goods stores, 2 Drug stores. 1 Enterprise Iron Works, 1 Gunsmith, 9 Grocery houses, 4 Hardware dealers, 1 House mover, 2 Harness shops, 1 Hide and leather store, 3 Hotels, 2 Jewelers, 2 Lightning rod dealers, 2 Liquor dealers, 2 Lumber yards, 2 Livery stables, 10 Masons, 2 Meat markets, 2 Milk dealers, 1 Milliner, 2 Notion stores, 5 Painters, 4 Physicians, 1 Plow manufactory, 3 Restaurants, 2 Keal estate agencies, 6 Saloons, 10 Shoe makers, 1 Tobacco and cigar dealer, 5 Express wagons, 2 Flouring mills and elevators, 2 Tailors, 5 Fruit stands, 2 Wagon shops. N - ARNOLD, a COTTILTE'-IEZjOZR/ JtJT ZjA.W E3 AND CONFIDENTIAL ADVISER. ^j Collections a Specialty. Office in Gregg's Block, over Postoffice, North Topeka, v^j Kansas. 18 IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. SILVER LAKE TOWMSHIP. The following history of Silver Lake Township appears in the first Biennial* Report of Hon. Alfred Griay, Sec'y State Board of Agriculture : First settled by the whites in 1847, although white men have been earlier employed to cultivate farms for the Indians. A considerable number of settlements were made during the three or four subsequent years, but we have not space to enumerate them. The first rope ferry ever established across the river above Wyan- dotte, was in 1852, by Sidney W. Smith. Hiram Wells and John Ogee established the first and only dock ferry boat ever on the Kaw river ; they commenced running it in 1853. Joseph and Louis Ogee also established a ferry the same year, which was con- tinued until 1869. These three ferries were maintained within a quarter of a mile of each other. The first store was kept by Sioan & Beaubien, in 1854, the first hotel by C. Palmer, in 1869. J. B. Oliver was the first postmaster at the town of Silver Lake, ap- pointed in 1868. The original proprietors of the town were M. B. Beaubien and A. S. Thomas. Silver Lake City is now one of the most flourishing little towns in the country. It has a complete city government, a moral, up- right class of citizens, a good. school, two fine church buildings, two hotels, two drug stores, two grocery stores, one general store, one hardware store, meat market, three blacksmith shops, a livery stable, lumber yard and three physicians, a justice of the peace, and attorney at law. A bend in the Kansas river forms the ''• Lake," which is ihe favorite boating and fishing resort in this portion of the country. The country roundabout is thickly settled, except on the north. The Swiuburu lauds, now in market, a few miles north, furnish an excellent opportunity for immigrants desiring to locate here. Silver Lake Township has recently been divided, the north- eastern portion being now called IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. 19 MENOKEN TOWNSHIP, with Menoken Station as the principal trading- point. It corres- ^ ponds in point of productiveness and good society with the rest ^ of Northern Shawnee. 3q ^ r KINGSVILLE £J is a station on the K. P. R. R., three miles west of Silver Lake, ^ and is principally noted as the home of Andrew Wilson, a farmer £* and great stock man of the State. ^ SOLDIER TOWNSHIP. ^J The first white settlement was made in 1840 by three brothers, \ "g Frenchmen, named Joseph, Ahcan and Louis Papan ; though ^ French, they were natives of St. Louis. Theirs was the first white I r^ settlement made in the county. The Papan Brothers started the ^ first ferry across the Kansas river in 1842, but the great flood of ^ 1844 washed away all their houses and boats, and they went back . to Kansas City, soon returning, however, and in 1846 were again *^> at their settlement. During the flood of 1844, the water was ^ twenty feet deep where North Topeka now stands. A number § of white settlers moved into what is now Soldier township, in 1848, j? and in 1854 there was considerable immigration. A part of the territory of the present township was first in Calhoun county, ^ afterwards in Jackson, and finally in Shawnee. Calhoun was ^ the county seat of the first named county ; it was situated in the •2 extreme southeast part of the township ; the town site was located ,2 in 1854, and the first court was held by Chief Justice Lecompte, § Sept. 24, 1854. The town site of Indianola was selected and laid .§ out by EL D. McMeekin, in Nov. 1854. The town site of Roch- ^ ester was selected by J. Butler Chapman, author ofa " History of Kansas," published in 1854. The town company was formed in August of that same year. The town was successively named Delaware City, Whitfield City, Kansopolis, and finally Rochester. 20 IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. The years 1855 aud 1&56 witnessed large additions to the popula- tion of the township. In the spring of 1859. W. T. Sherman, now General of 'he Army, settled on the S. W. \ of Sec. 4, Town 11, Range 1(3. He returned to Leavenworth in the fall of the same year. Soldier : - the most densely populated of any township in the county, as it is also the richest in improved farms. The society is excellent, and every quarter section, almost, has a school house. ROSSVILLE. Near the western boundary of Northern Shawnee is located the thriving little village of Rossville, in Rossville Township. It is located on the east side of the Cross Creek, and contains about 25(1 inhabitants. There are located there one harness aud boot and shoe shop ; one grain dealer ; one flouring mill ; two black- smith shops; one wagon and cabinet shop ; one wagon shop ; one butcher shop ; one hotel ; a Justice of the Peace and attorney at law ; a merchant tailor ; a stone mason and shoe shop ; three gen- eral stores ; two drug stores'; a restaurant ; a land office ; a news- paper — the Kansas Valfoy Times; a lumber yavd ; several stock dealers, etc. The village boasts a good school house, in which school is held nine months in the year. The school building is also used for church services — there being several prosperous de- nominations in the vicinity. There is also a lodge of Free Ma- sons ; a Debating Society ; the Rossville Blue Ribbon Societv, and a Cornet Band. The first white settlement in w T hat is now Rossville township, was made in 18-47. The first stores were kept by Wm. Dyer, in 1853, and by Col. Boone, a grandson of Daniel Boone, two years later. The original proprietors of the town site of Rossville, were Col. G. W. Veale, A. C. Sherman. H. Wilson and F. Johnson. A great portion of what is known as the Pottawatomie Re- serve lands, lie in Rossville township. It is rich, fertile land, IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. 21 and is unexcelled for farming and stock purposes. Good range, plenty of living water, a fair supply of timber, and good society make this a very desirable location for immigrants. J* ' j§ GRANTVILLE. ^ Grantville is a beautiful little town on the Kansas Pacific ^ Railway, in Kaw township, Jefferson county. It is about six *g miles east of Topeka, situated in the heart of a fertile agricultural ^ region. There is good dry goods and grocery stores, etc., a post .§ office, a $5,000 school building, Sabbath schools and churches. ^ Society is excellent, and parties desiring to locate near a thriving- ly •5 countrv town, would find in Kaw township, and near Grantville, described in this Guide, we refer all readers, whether they con- g. template coming to Kansas or not, to the North Topeka Times, ^j* This valuable journal is published weekly at the extremely low § price of $1.50 per annum ; 50 cents for four months. It contains (/^ 8 pages, filled with full information regarding the local events and happenings of this section of country. As an advertising medi- © um it has no superior. Sent to any address, post paid, on receipt ^ of price. Address, Times, North Topeka, Kansas. <£ CO* b O >J Stock Raising. In no other State in the Union is Stock Ra isingso remuner- ative as in Kansas, and this industry is being developed more every year. Even in the most thickly settled portions of the State there are thousands of acres upon which sheep, cattle, hogs and horses can be pastured on the luxurient native grasses. And in Northern Shawnee, Western Jefferson, and Southern Jackson counties, there is an abundance of stock range. The Pottawatomie reserve lands, now in market, afford an ex- cellent opportunity for capitalists — great or small — to secure val- uable stock farms at very low prices. Many Eastern men have already embraced the opportunity thus offered; among them may be mentioned "Sawyer's Ranche," in Southern Jackson ; Small's Ranche, Shorey Bros.' Ranche, W. T. Pence's Ranohe, and many others. While farming solely for what the grain will bring in the markets has been found to be generally remunerative, the feeding of that same grain to a herd of cattle, or drove of hogs will, as has been demonstrated, prove doubly so. Convenient to railways and steady markets, the stack raiser finds no trouble in disposing of all the stock he can raise at good prices. By some of our farmers, fine blooded stock is being introduced, and in every case, where given a fair trial, has proven very re- munerative. Further efforts in this direction, it is evident, would lead to satisfactory results. Especially can this be said of horses and cows. A blooded colt is often known to sell for from fifty to sixty dollars cash, at weaning time, whereas a "scrub" colt would bring but half as much. The same may be said of blooded calves ; and the better the grade of hogs, the readier the sale, with prices correspondingly higher. (27) 28 IMM1GBANTS' GUIDE. STREAMS OF NORTHERN SHAWNEE. Northern Shawnee is better watered than any other portion hw of the county. From east to west the Kaw, or Kansas, river ^ runs the entire length of the county, the distance on an air line ^ being 24 miles, but its various windings make it about 30 miles. © Five miles on the east it is the county line between Jefferson and ^ Shawnee, and five miles on the west it is the line between Shaw- v^ nee and Wabaunsee counties. ^ Cross Creek, on the west, enters the county about four miles <> from north-west corner of the county, in a southerly direction and empties in the Kaw, near Rossville. ^ Soldier Creek enters the county near the north-west corner of §^ Silver Lake township, runs in a south-easterly direction for over ^ 20 miles and empties into the river about one-half a mile below ^ North Topeka Sj Walnut Creek enters the county about four miles east of the . v - west line of Silver Lake township, runs south about five miles and l^. empties into Soldier creek about four miles north of the town of ^ Silver Lake. ^ Ifo^ Little Soldier Jreek vises in Jackson county, enters Shawnee Cq about two miles west of the north-east corner of Silver Lake ^ township, runs in a south-west direction eight or nine miles and ^ empties into Big Soldier about nine miles from North Topeka. ^ Mashas rises near the north line of countv, runs south about ^ five or six miles and empties into Soldier. ^ Moccasin runs about four miles in a southerly direction, and ^ empties into Soldier. "^ Half Day creek rises near the north line of Shawnee county, j^ 4 runs south about nice miles and empties into Soldier near the old * town of Iudianola. V IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. 29 Wolf creek is about two miles in length, and runs south east, emptying into Half Day. Shanty creek runs in a south-westerly direction about four miles and empties into Soldier east of Indianola. ^ Indian creek rises near the north line of county, runs in a pw southerly direction for 12 miles and empties into the Kaw river ^ about two miles below North Topeka. ^ Tick creek runs in a southerly direction and empties into In- Q dian creek near White's lime kiln. ^ Little Muddy cr^ek rises near the old military road, runs •^I south east and empties into the Kaw near Calhouu's Bluffs. ^ Elm creek rises about one and one-half miles south of north ^s line of county, and runs south east aud empties into Big Muddy **^ just below the military road. -^ Big Muddy creek euters near north-east corner of the county, •si runs south about five miles and passes out into Jefferson county. <^> On all the foregoing streams, with exception of Shanty and -^ Moccasin, there is a goodly supply of timber consisting of hicko- •S r Y> walnut, both red and white elm ; black, red and bur oak ; ^ ash, cottonwood, locust, hackberry, aud wild cherry. ^ There is coal under a yjreat portion of Northern Shawnee but ^fl or l>? as yet has been worked only on the farms of Messrs. Forbes aud ^ Laton, on Soldier; Bickell's, Burton's, Harper's and host's, on <$> Half Day; and E. Marple, on Indian creek. But coal has been *§ found in digging wells on Nat Stanley's and Joshua Browning's ^ farms, from five to seven miles north of the city. 30 IMMIGB ANTS' GUIDE. The following is the legal weight per bushel, for the State of Kansas, and may be found useful for reference : Wheat, 60 pounds, Flax seed, 56 pounds, Rye, 56 pounds, Irish potatoes, 60 pounds, Indian eorn (shelled), 56 pounds, Sweet potatoes, 60 pounds, Indian corn, (in ear), 70 pounds, Turnips, 55 pounds, Buckwheat, 50 pounds, Unslacked lime, 80 pounds, Barley, 48 pounds, Onions, 57 pounds, Malt, 32 pounds, Salt, 50 pounds, Oats, 32 pounds, Castor beans, 46 pounds, Bran, 20 pounds, Hemp seed, 44 pounds, Corn meal, 50 pounds, Dried peaches, 33 pounds, Beans, 60 pounds, Dried apples, 24 pounds, Clover seed, 60 pounds, Stone coal, 80 pounds, Hungarian and millet seed, 50 lbs. Plastering hair, 40 pounds. DRY MEASURE. Thirty-six bushels make one chaldron. The standard bushel is the Winchester, containing 2150.42 cubic inches, or 77.627 pounds avoirdupois, of distilled water at its maximum density. Its diameter inside is eighteen and one-half inches; its depth is eight inches. Vegetables, fruit, meal, bran, and corn on the tar are usually sold by the heaping bushel measure; thirty-two British or Impe- rial bushels are equal to thirty eight of our bushels. TO LAY OUT AN ACRE IN RECTANGULAR FORM. An acre of land contains 160 square rods or 43,560 square feet. Hence to lay out an acre at right angles (square corners) when one side is known, divide the units in the square contents by the units of the same kiud in the length of the known side. Thus : if the known be 4 rods, divide 160 by 4, and the quotient 40 will be the depth of the acre-plot. If the length of the known side IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. 31 be 90 feet, divide 43,560 by 90, and the quotient 48 will be the j^ depth of an acre plot. 3§ TO MEASURE LAND. ^1 If the field be a square or parallelogram multiply the length in S* rods by the width in rods, aud divide by 160, the number of / square rods in an acre. If the field is triangular, multiply the ^ length of the longest side in rods by the greatest width in rods, Q> and divide half the product by 160. If the field be of irregular k. shape divide it into triangles and find the acreage of each trian- ^ He as above. ^ All straight-sided fields can be thus measured. Where the r-sT sides are crooked and irregular, take the length in rods in a num- ^ ber of places at equal distances apart, add them, and divide by the number of measurements, which will give the mean length ; O proceed similarly with the width ; multiply the mean length by ^ the mean width and divide by 160. Where the field is in a cir- O cle, find the diameter in rods, multiply the sq uire of the cliame- ^ ter by 7.584, and divide by 160. *§ TO COMPUTE THE WEIGHT OF CATTLE. S Multiply the girth in inches, immediately back of the shoul- ^ ders, by the length in inches from the square of the buttock to S the point of the shoulder blade, and divide the product by 144, oT which will give the number of superficial feet, If the animal has ^ a girth of from three to five feet, multiplv the number of superfi- j£ cial feet by sixteen, which will give the weight of the animal. If C) the girth is from five to seven feet, multiply by twenty-three, and rv- if from seven to nine feet, multiply by thirty-one. If less than S three feet girth, as in the case of small calves, hogs, sheep, etc., (^ multiply by eleven. Of course many circumstances such as the build of the animal, mode of fattening, condition, breed, etc., will influence the weight, but the above will be found approximately correct. 32 IMMIGRANTS' GUIDE. Distances from North Topeka, Kansas. Atchison, Topf.ka To Miles Tecumseh 4 Spencer >••• 8 Chandler's Mills « Glendale i 2 Lecompton 16 Lake View 20 Lawrence 26 Lawrence Junction 27 Eudora 34 DeSoto 42 DeSoto junction 43 Wilder .'. 49 Turner 59 Kansas City Junction 65 Kansas City.". 66 Valley Falls 24 Norton ville 4° Atchison 5 1 Carbondale 17 Burlingame 26 Osage City 34 Reading 4 b Emporia 61 Cottonwood 81 & Santa Ft R. R. To Miles Elmdfle 88 Cedar Grove ico Florence 105 Peabody 117 Newton 135 Sedgwick City 145 vVichita f 162 Halstead 143 Burrton 152 Hutchinson 168 Peace 186 Ellinwood 209 Great Bend 219 Larned 241 Garfield 251 Kinsley 265 Dodge City 302 Cimmeron 328 Lakin 373 Granada 431 Caddoa 464 Las Animas 481 West Las Animas 485 Pueblo..., 567 Grantville 6 Lawrence 28 Kansas City 68 Wamego 37 Kansas Pacific Railroad. Brookville 133 Manhattan Have* 221 Wallace 353 Kit Carson 420 51 Denver. Junction City 7 533 Population, and Distance from North Topeka, of all cities in the U. S. of over 100,000 inhabitants. Miles. Place. Pop . x,285|San Francisco, 200,000 1.344 Brooklyn 550 oco 1,046 Chicago 450,000 690 C 140,000 Place. Pop. Baltimore 267,354 Boston 341,919 Buffalo 160,000 Cincinnati 216,230 Detroit 100,000 872 Louisville 140,000 691 Newark 125,000 1,397 New York 1,064272 1,407 Pittsburgh 138,485 962 Washington 109,200 1,303 )ity 116,000 110,000 :ans 191,418 St. Louis 375, coo THE Miles. 2,078 1 408 588 863 1,403 678 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ■if % 016 089 002 2