The Ranch at the Great Bend
by Louise Barry
Spring, 1973 (Vol.
XXXIX, No. 1), pages 96 to 100
Transcription & HTML composition by Larry E. & Carolyn L.
Mix;
digitized with permission of The Kansas State Historical Society.
NOTE: The numbers in brackets are links to footnotes for this
text.
TRAFFIC
westbound on the Santa Fe trail first struck the Arkansas
river at the Great Bend, five and a half miles east of
Walnut creek. Near the mouth of Walnut creek a trading post
had been established in 1855. Successively it was known as
Allison's, Peacock's, and after 1860, Rath's ranch.
[1]
In 1862 a trader set up shop at the Great Bend. He was
plainsman (and former mountain man) William Mathewson. The
1879 biographical sketch of his life says the year was 1862;
and his own statement, in 1864, confirms that he "built the
ranch and corral, dug and walled the well, and owned the
trading post himself before it was owned by Curtis &
Cole. . . ." [2] William
Mathewson had left the Rocky mountains in 1858 with some
eight years of experience as hunter, trapper, and trader. He
was then 28. Three of those years (1853-1856) had been spent
in the employ of Bent & St. Vrain, trading with the
Sioux, Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches.
From the latter part of 1858, till late in 1861, he had
worked for, or been associated with, the owners of Beach
Valley (Cow Creek) ranch, some 17 miles east of the Great
Bend, as hunter and trader. In the winter of 1860, during
the great drought in Kansas territory, he gained the
nickname "Buffalo Bill," for his prowess, and tireless
efforts, in killing buffalo to supply meat for settlers
facing starvation. [3] In
1863, after operating it only one year, Mathewson sold his
ranch at the Great Bend to Theodore R. (Dick) Curtis and
Frank Cole. These partners had obtained a license from
Indian agent Samuel G. Colley to trade with the Cheyennes,
Kiowas, Comanches, Arapahoes, and Plains Apaches. Curtis,
however, was employed as Indian interpreter at Fort Larned
(some 35 miles west) and it was Frank (H. F.) Cole who
stayed at the ranch. They had two hired hands -- Frederick
B. Jones and H. O. Corbin. [4] The
Plains tribes were restive in the early 1860's, but their
depredations were sporadic, and, east of Fort Larned, rarely
of a serious nature. This state of affairs changed on May
16, 1864, when Lt. George S. Eayre's Colorado troops killed
Cheyenne chief Lean Bear, without provocation; and then had
to battle a large force of Cheyennes in a
seven-and-a-half-hour running fight. The engagement began
near Big creek and the Smoky Hill (in present Ellis?
county), and Eayre's command, outnumbered, headed towards
Fort Larned. (Cheyenne losses were perhaps 17? warriors;
three of Eayre's men were killed, and four wounded -- one of
whom died.) The following day, small bands of Cheyennes made
stock raids at ranches and mail stations along the two stage
routes in central Kansas. [5]
On May 17, 1864, a few Cheyenne raiders arrived at the Great Bend ranch between 10 and 11 A. M. Frank Cole was there, and so was John Sechler (an employee of trader Orson G. Stanley). Surprised, and outnumbered, the two white men watched helplessly while the Indians took away four mules, nine horses, and one jackass. Before leaving, the Cheyennes made it known they intended to return in force, and kill all the ranchmen or white men they could find on the Santa Fe trail, as soon as the stolen animals had been taken to a place where the owners could not recover them. Unable to hire anyone to stay at the ranch with him, and afraid to remain alone, Frank Cole packed his small wagon with as much goods is it could carry, and headed for Cow Creek ranch (17 1/2, miles eastward). The Cheyennes came back later, plundered the vacated trading post, and caused damage to the house and corral. As listed by Curtis & Cole, in their claim against the Cheyennes, the goods taken or destroyed were these:
In mid-July, 1864, Kiowas, with Comanche and Arapahoe allies, made attacks on wagon trains and ranches along the Santa Fe trail. On the 21st (or 22d?) Kiowas set fire to and destroyed what was left of the Curtis & Cole ranch. The owners had not yet reoccupied it since the Cheyenne troubles in May. Their claim against the Kiowas for losses sustained at the ranch was $1,500. But this was not all. On July 21, in T. O. Corbin's charge, two wagon loads of merchandise for Curtis & Cole were en route to them from Leavenworth. Corbin stopped at Waterman's ranch, at Running Turkey creek, where the mules and horses were unhitched and turned out to graze. A short time later a band of Kiowas rode up and made off with the eight mules and two horses belonging to Curtis & Cole (which they valued at $650), plus 11 head of stock owned by the Kansas City and Santa Fe Mail Company, and by Waterman. [6]
The ranch at Great Bend of the Arkansas existed less than two and a half years. Dick Curtis and Frank Cole received payment of their claims against the Cheyennes, but information available does not make clear the outcome of their $2,150 claim against the Kiowas. |