Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas

The publication of this volume was made possible by the people of Barton county, who responded liberally when called upon for subscriptions to cover the cost of getting the data and printing the hook. We undertook this work as the result of many requests that we publish a book of this kind. We realized the enormous amount of work that would be necessary before the book could be completed, and we also knew that it would require the outlay of considerable money. However, we began the work in the summer of 1911 and maintained solicitors on the road until the weather became such that the work had to be abandoned in the field until the month of March of this year — 1912 — when the work was again taken up and in so far as possible every land owner and old timer of the county was seen personally and given an opportunity to subscribe for a copy of the book. This work was continued until the first of August at which time we had a sufficient number of orders for the book to insure its publication, and while it has not been a profitable venture for us as far as the financial part is concerned, we have profited by the knowledge we have gained about the county's history, and have found that the people of the county appreciate the efforts of anybody when they are applied to the interest of progress and enterprise. If the reading of this volume gives pleasure to the old timers who helped to make the history contained herein, and the younger generation can get some inspiration and guidance from the stories of their fathers our efforts have not been in vain and we are satisfied with the work we have done.

 

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The first Americans to visit this region was Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike's exploring party on their way west to the Rocky Mountains in 1806, the same year that Aaron Burr was making such grand attempts to "make a settlement on the Washita" in the territory of Louisiana. They followed the trail of Spanish soldiers from the Pawnee village till they lost it among the "numerous buffalo paths between the Smoky and the Arkansaw."