THE ERA OF PEACE.

THE ERA OF PEACE.

The sweet assuring smile of peace fell on Kansas for the first time in her existence when the war of the rebellion ended. Twelve years of turmoil and bloody strife - twelve years of constant effort where danger was ever rife, had trained the inhabitants to know now rest save in motion and no safety save in incessant vigilance. Under such discipline the character of the whole people had become as peculiar as the experiences through which they had passed. A restless energy was the controlling characteristic - to take one's ease had ceased to be a thing to be desired; obstacles to be overcome were the desire objects, and to overcome them the grand aim of a typical Kansan's life. Pluck, independent of hope and defiant of despair, was the ruling passion of the people. The war being ended, they turned to the most vigorous pursuit of the peaceful arts; they had conquered the right to the free soil they trod; henceforth their energies should be devoted to the development of its highest possibilities through every means which ingenuity could devise, patience endure, or energy execute.

What costs dearest lies closest to the heart; so the intensest love of the strange people who, impelled by diverse motives, from remote points had come to Kansas, and suffered and endured to hold possession, became centered in the commonwealth which had cost them so much, and forgetful of old divisions and feuds, the combined energies of the whole people, trained to an intensity of action which brooked no restraint, turned with irresistible force to the development of the resources of their beloved State.

Mines were opened and railroads built. Husbandry and manufactures brought wealth and plenty in abundant measure to the land, and with it came churches, schools, charitable institutions, happy homes and villages and cities and all else which marks the highest ethical development of a civilized, free and unconquerable people. The marvelous progress made by Kansas during the era of peace, is the natural result of her early training and is an anomalous in its magnificent results as was its early history.

The history of the development and growth of a commonwealth under the benign influences of peace, abounds in no startling or thrilling events from which to frame a narrative. The silent forces noiselessly perform their work - "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear" - there can be no further history written of it; only marks to show the various stages of development and growth. Hence it is deemed impracticable to follow in consecutive narrative or exact chronological sequence the development which has marked the peaceful era of Kansas history. The various agencies and department of labor and thought, which combined have made Kansas the pride not only of her citizens but of the whole Union, are treated under topical headings, as appears on the succeeding pages.

RAILROADS.

On the 20th of March, 1860, the first iron rail for a railroad on Kansas soil, was laid at Elwood, Doniphan County, opposite St. Joseph, Mo. This rail was laid on the Elwood & Marysville Railroad, now the St. Joseph & Western Division of the Union Pacific Railway. On the 28th of the following April, the track on this road had been completed to Elwood, five miles distant, and on that day the locomotive "Albany," an engine which had been used from Boston to the Missouri, as railroads had successively wended their way toward the occident, was brought over the river from St. Joseph on a ferry boat and placed on the new railroad track. This was the first iron horse that ever touched Kansas soil. The next day several cars were brought over, and a grand jubilation was held at Elwood over the completion of what was claimed to be the first section of the Great Pacific Railroad. Addresses were made by Col. M. Jeff Thompson, President of the Elwood & Marysville Railroad; Williard P. Hall, President of the St. Joseph & Topeka Railroad; Robert M. Stewart, Governor of Missouri, and others. April 29, 1882, twenty-two years after the date of the first railroad celebration in Kansas, there were 3,718 miles of railroad in this State.

The early pioneers of Kansas had a correct estimate of the value and importance of railroads, both as agents in the stimulation of industrial enterprises and the promotion of civilization. They also realized that the natural means of transportation in the great extent of country in the then Territory, stretching from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains, were in no wise adequate to the demands of the people that were soon inevitably to occupy this soil The only known navigable stream was the Missouri River, which touched only a portion of the border of the eastern portion of the Territory. The Kansas River, it was hoped, was navigable as far west as Fort Riley. The site for the town of Pawnee, the first territorial Capital, was located near Fort Riley, mainly from the belief that it was at the head of navigation on the Kansas River.

At that time the mineral wealth of the Rocky Mountains had not been discovered. None then ever dreamed that the day would come when the commercial relations between pastoral Kansas and dwellers in the mountains on its western border would be of such magnitude as to required the services of a railroad for their maintenance. The Kansas pioneers were firm in the faith that a railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast would soon traverse the entire length of the State, from east to west, and some indulged in the hope that a railroad might as some time in the dim future be constructed to the ancient city of Santa Fe, N. M. The great wagon trail through the heart of the Territory, commencing at Independence, Mo., and ending at Santa Fe., doubtless gave origin to the latter speculation. The great trunk line to the Pacific Ocean has been constructed through the Territory of Kansas, and within reasonable time, as was anticipated by the early pioneers, but not by the route they expected. The great trunk line has followed the old Santa Fe trail, and though a railroad has been constructed through Kansas to the Rocky Mountains, and thence northward to a point on another trunk line to the Pacific, this road, which was anticipated by the early pioneers, and which they believed would constitute a trunk line to the Pacific, is only a branch road. This branch was first constructed as a trunk line to the Rocky Mountains, a locality that the early Kansas pioneer never conceived would be suitable for a railway terminus.

The Atchison & Nebraska Railroad, now a branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, commences at Atchison and runs northward through the northeast corner of Atchison County, thence through the center of Doniphan County, entering the State of Nebraska at the northwest corner of the alter county. The number of miles in Kansas is 37.24, and the entire length of the road from Atchison to Lincoln, Neb., is 146.60.

The Central Branch, Union Pacific Railway, commences at Atchison, and runs westerly, through the counties of Atchison, Jackson, Nemaha, Marshall, Washington, Cloud, Mitchell, Smith and Phillip, to Lenora, Norton County, a distance of 293 miles. It has the following branches: From Greenleaf, Washington County, to Washington, the county seat of said county, distance 7 miles; Yuma, Cloud County, to Talmage, Republic County, distance 29.8 miles; Jamestown, Cloud County, to Burr Oak, Jewell County, distance 33.8 miles; Downs, Osborne County, to Bull's City, Osborne County, distance 24 miles. Total length of road and branches, 387.6 miles. Operated by the Missouri Pacific Railway Company.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad commences at Atchison, and runs southwesterly, through the counties of Atchison, Jefferson, Shawnee, Osage, Lyon, Chase, Marion, Harvey, Reno, Rice, Barton, Pawnee, Edwards, Ford, Gray, Sequoyah, Kearney, striking the Colorado State line at Sargent, Hamilton County. Distance from Atchison to Sargent, 470.58 miles. The road strikes the Arkansas River at Hutchinson, Reno County, 218 miles from Atchison, and follows that stream to the Colorado line. The Kansas branches of this road are as follows: Kansas City, Topeka & Western Railroad, Kansas City, Mo., to Topeka, Kan., 66.32 miles; Pleasant Hill & De Soto Railroad, State line to Cedar Junction, Johnson County, Kan., 28 miles; Kansas City, Emporia & Southern Railroad, Emporia, to the south line of Greenwood County, 64.21 miles; Elk & Chautauqua Railroad, south line of Greenwood County to Howard, Kan., 11.84 miles; Florence, El Dorado & Walnut Valley Railroad, Florence, Kan., to Douglas, Kan., 53.59 miles; Marion & McPherson Railroad, Florence, Kan., to Lyons, Kan., 78.77 miles; Marion & McPherson Extension Railroad, Lyons, Kan., to Ellinwood, Kan., 19.84 miles; Wichita & Southwestern Railroad, Newton, Kan., to Wichita, Kan., 27.28 miles; Cowley, Sumner & Fort Smith Railroad, Wichita, Kan., to Arkansas City, Kan., 52, miles; Mulvane, Kan., to Caldwell, Kan., 38 miles; Harvey County Railroad, Sedgwick Kan., to Halstead, Kan., 8.89 miles; Kansas City & Olathe Railroad, Olathe to Waseca Junction, 12 miles. Total number of miles on main line and branches, in Kansas, 904.17. In addition, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company owns and operates the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas Railroad and branches, consisting of 384.48 miles This company also owns and operates jointly with the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame Railroad (56.62 miles), and also the Leavenworth, Topeka & Southwestern Railroad, from Leavenworth to Meriden, Jefferson County (45 miles). The total number of miles of road owned and operated exclusively by this company in Kansas is 1,288.65, and the total number of miles of road in this State in which it is interested is 1,390.27.

The main line of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad commences at Kansas City, Mo., and runs south through the counties of Johnson, Miami, Linn, Bourbon, Crawford and Cherokee, in the State of Kansas, and terminates at Baxter Springs, Cherokee County.. Distance from Kansas City to Baxter Springs, 159.92 miles - in Kansas, 157.70. The branches are as follows: Rich Hill Railroad, Rich Hill Junction, Linn Co., Kan., to Carbon Center, Mo., 24 miles; distance in Kansas, 4.46 miles. Fort Scott, Southwestern & Memphis Railroad, Southeast Junction, Bourbon Co., Kan., to Ash Grove, Mo., 80.52 miles; distance in Kansas 16.51 miles. Short Creek & Joplin Railroad, Baxter Springs, Kan., to Joplin, Mo., 15.46 miles; distance in Kansas, 9.31 miles; branch from Arcadia, Crawford County, to Morerad, Barton Co., Mo., 8.29 miles. Memphis, Kansas & Colorado Railroad, Weir city, Kan., to Cherry Vale, Kan., 49.79 miles. Total number of miles operated in Kansas, 244.02. Total number of miles of road in operation, 365.45. The Memphis Branch is in operation to Springfield, Mo.

The main line of the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas Railroad commences at Lawrence and runs south through the counties of Douglas, Franklin, Anderson, Allen, Neosho to Coffeyville, Montgomery Co, distance, 143.33 miles. The extensions are as follows: Ottawa Junction to Olathe, 31.77 miles; Cherry Vale to Harper, westerly, through the counties of Montgomery, Elk, Cowley, Sumner and Harper, 148.82 miles; Wellington, Sumner Co., to Hunnewell, Sumner Co., 18.35. The Ottawa & Burlington Railroad, from Ottawa, Kan., to Burlington, Kan., 42.21 miles is a leased line. Total number of miles, 384.48. Operated by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company.

The main line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway enters Kansas about four miles east of Fort Scott and runs southwesterly through the counties of Bourbon, Neosho and Labette, entering the Indian Territory two miles south of Chetopa, distance from Missouri State line to Indian Territory, 78 miles. The Neosho section runs from Parsons northwesterly, to Junction City, distance 157 miles, through the counties of Labette, Neosho, Allen, Woodson, Coffey, Lyon, Morris and Davis. Total number of miles in Kansas, 235. The main line commences at Hannibal Mo., and terminates at Dennison, Texas, a distance of 576 miles. The road is operated by the Missouri Pacific Railway Company.

The main line of the Missouri Pacific Railway enters Kansas at Kansas City, Kan., and terminates at Atchison, a distance of 47 miles. The Nebraska extension commences at Atchison and terminates at Omaha, 50 miles of which are in Kansas. The branches in Kansas are as follows: From Holden, Mo., to Leroy Junction, Coffey Co., Kan., entering Kansas in Miami County and running southwesterly through the counties of Miami, Franklin, Anderson and Coffey. Total length of division (Kansas & Arizona), 115 miles. Distance in Kansas 78 miles; from Osawatomie to Ottawa, 21 miles; from Atchison, Kan., to St. Joseph, Mo., 21 miles. Total number of miles in Kansas, 217. The leased lines are the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway (235 miles in Kansas), and the Central Branch Union Pacific (388 miles in Kansas). Total number of miles of railroad in Kansas operated by the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, 840.

The Kansas Division of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway enters Kansas in Cherokee County and runs westerly through the counties of Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery, Wilson, Elk (northeast corner), Greenwood and Butler, to Wichita, Sedgwick County, distance 171 miles. The branches in Kansas are from Joplin, Mo., to Girard, Kan. (thirty-eight miles - twenty in Kansas); from Oronogo, Mo., to Galena, Kansas (twenty miles - two miles in Kansas); and from Litchfield Junction to Litchfield, Crawford County, 2.50 miles. Total number of miles in Kansas, 195.50.

The St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita Railroad commences at Fort Scott, Kansas, and runs westerly through the counties of Bourbon, Allen and Woodson to Eureka, Greenwood County, distance 100 miles. The track has been laid to El Dorado, Butler County (133 miles), and doubtless the road will be completed to Wichita early in 1883.

The Kansas Division of the Union Pacific Railway enters Kansas at Kansas City, Kan., and runs westerly through the counties of Wyandotte, Leavenworth, a small portion of the northern part of Douglas, Jefferson, Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Riley, Davis, Dickinson, Saline, Ellsworth, Russell, Ellis, Trego, Gove, St. John and enters Colorado on the western border of Wallace County. Distance from Missouri to Colorado, 446 miles. The branches in Kansas are as follows: Leavenworth, from Leavenworth to Lawrence, 34 miles; Carbondale, Lawrence to Carbondale, 32.1 miles; Junction City & Fort Kearney, from Junction City to Concordia, northwesterly through the counties of Davis, Clay, the southwest corner of Washington and Cloud, 70.5 miles; Solomon, from Solomon City, northwesterly, through the northeast corner of Saline County, through Ottawa County, the southwest corner of Cloud County, and to Beloit, Mitchell County, 56.9 miles; Salina & Southwestern, from Salina southward to McPherson, 35.4 miles. Total number of miles of road in Kansas operated by the Kansas Division of the Union Pacific Railway Company, 674.9.