KANSAS. 



417 



tions, the Governor raised and equipped a 

 guard of forty men to patrol the southwestern 

 border from Barbour County west about a hun- 

 dred miles, and furnished independent compa- 

 nies of cavalry and infantry, which he caused 

 to be organized along the western frontier, and 

 provided them with arms, and also organized 

 two regiments of infantry in the interior of 

 the State, and kept scouts in the Indian terri- 

 tory to give warning of hostile movements. 

 During the two years no instance has occurred 

 of any of the exposed settlements being mo- 

 lested, but, on the contrary, the settlers have 

 reposed in perfect security and had no reason 

 to apprehend such danger. The Governor sug- 

 gests that the State should strengthen its mili- 

 tary organization in order to suppress internal 

 disorders, mobs, and uprisings, which may be 

 expected to result from the growth of large 

 manufacturing interests, the extension of rail- 

 ways, and the development of coal-fields and 

 mining interests. 



The exodus of colored people into Kansas 

 from Mississippi, Texas, and other parts of the 

 South continued unabated through the early 

 part of the year. After the national elections 

 there were some signs of a renewal of the mi- 

 gration ; but this was only a slight movement. 

 In March from 250 to 300 poured into Topeka 

 every week, and there had already immigrated 

 into the State, it was stated by the Freedmen's 

 Relief Association, between 20,000 and 25,000. 

 Toward the end of the year there were 40,000. 

 Many of these hung about Topeka and other 

 towns, and showed themselves incapable and 

 unwilling to try to provide for themselves. 

 Mrs. Elizabeth L. Comstock, Mrs. Laura S. Hav- 

 iland and other white people, and John M. 

 Brown and other intelligent colored persons, 

 labored energetically to obtain the means of 

 relieving their privations and to aid and stim- 

 ulate them to become eelf-supporting. The 

 Freedmen's Relief Association was founded 

 with the cooperation of the Governor soon af- 

 ter the landing of the first band of immigrants 

 at Wyandotte in the spring of 1879. About 

 $22,000 were distributed among them in cloth- 

 ing, provisions, medicine, freight, and trans- 

 portation, etc. During the following winter 

 and spring about $25,000 more were expended 

 by the association in relieving the colored peo- 

 ple and aiding them to find employment. Al- 

 together about $150,000 were contributed to 

 the support of the colored immigrants during 

 the first year of their residence in Kansas. 

 They were sent to different parts of the State, 

 and many were given employment. Still, there 

 was much suffering and want, and without be- 

 nevolent assistance a large proportion of those 

 who had come in 1879 were in 1880 not yet in 

 possession of the means of subsistence. Henry 

 King calculated that their total surplus earn- 

 ings at the end of the first year of the exodus 

 amounted to about $40,000, or $2.25 per capita. 

 They bought and entered about 20,000 acres. 

 Of the first 20,000, about 30 per cent, came 

 VOL. xx. 27 A 



from Mississippi, 20 per cent, from Texas, 15 

 per cent, from Tennessee, 10 per cent, from 

 Louisiana, and 5 per cent, each from Georgia 

 and Alabama. They were nearly all field- 

 hands, and exceedingly ignorant. The influx 

 during the winter and the early part of 1880 

 was mainly from Texas. About 4,000 had 

 been forwarded on request into Nebraska, Col- 

 orado, Illinois, and other States. The mo- 

 neys contributed for the benefit of the freed- 

 men came from all parts of the Union, and a 

 small sum from England. 



There were distress and destitution in west- 

 ern Kansas, owing to the drought. About 20,- 

 000 people were stated to be in a suffering con- 

 dition, and considerable amounts were contrib- 

 uted in the East for their relief. 



In February President Hayes issued a proc- 

 lamation warning intended raiders from enter- 

 ing the Indian Territory. (See ARMY OF THE 

 UNITED STATES.) A meeting in favor of open- 

 ing the Territory to colonization took place in 

 Kansas City, Missouri, on the 4th of May, on 

 which occasion the President's proclamation 

 was read by a United States Marshal. An or- 

 ganization was formed, and a memorial to Con- 

 gress drawn up, which advocated the allotment 

 of land to Indians in severalty, the bestowal 

 of citizenship upon them, the opening of the 

 Indian Territory to settlers, and protested 

 against moving any more wild, hunting Ind- 

 ians to the Territory. Bands of raiders moved 

 upon the Territory in the latter part of the 

 year. The principal body was called the Ok- 

 lahoma Colony, and had a military organiza- 

 tion. They encamped near Caldwell, on the 

 border of the Territory, when winter set in, 

 while a detachment of United States troops 

 watched them. Many crossed the frontier se- 

 cretly and entered claims. Numbers of these 

 were expelled by the Indian scouts and police. 

 The settlers came from different parts of the 

 Union. A large proportion of them were old 

 frontiersmen. The citizens along the border 

 became more and more friendly to the move- 

 ment, and aided the settlers with considera- 

 ble contributions of provisions. The colonists 

 claim that the territory to which they are mov- 

 ing is not legally a portion of the Indian re- 

 servation, and that they have the right to oc- 

 cupy it under the homestead laws. They ex- 

 pect that Congress will, in recognition of their 

 spirited action, be more prompt to amend the 

 laws relating to the Indians, and throw open 

 the whole of the reservations, except claims 

 which shall be allotted to Indians in severalty, 

 to free settlement. 



A contest between the American Union Tel- 

 egraph Company and the Western Union took 

 place in the beginning of the year, regarding 

 the right to the telegraph communications 

 along some of the principal Western railroads 

 controlled by Jay Gould, the principal pro- 

 moter of the American Union Company. Tele- 

 graphic connections were considerably dis- 

 turbed during the progress of the quarrel, es- 



