Morton City - a dead exoduster colony in Hodgeman County

In the years following the Civil War, a couple dozen black colonies dotted Kansas.

That included a short-lived settlement in Hodgeman County.

After Pap Singleton established Nicodemas in northwest Kansas, exodusters arrived in Kinsley in March 1878. They headed into Hodgeman County and began to form Morton City, which they named after Oliver P. Morton, according to the book "Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction" written by Neil Irvin Painter.

Benton Butler, James Board, Carrell Lytle, George Perry, Frank Harris and William Maxwell were black Union soldiers who moved to Hodgeman County sometime in the 1870s, according to a February 2003 article in The News. They are buried in the Jetmore cemetery with other pioneers. The men and their families were part of an early surge of migration before the "Great Exodus" from the South in 1879.

Most who left during the exodus were responding to the South's reconstruction, which resulted in violence and economic dependency for black residents, said Rita Napier in the article, who was then an associate professor of history at the University of Kansas.

A dream of free land spurred them on. Under the 1862 Homestead Act, the federal government provided acre to any settler, regardless of race or sex, who improved the land for five years.

"This is to lay before your minds a few sketches of what great advantages there are for the great mass of people of small means that are emigrating West to come and settle in the county of Hodgeman," one poster advertised. "And more especially the colored people, for they are the ones that want to find the best place for climate and for soil for the smallest capital."

Migration was led by Thomas Moore, said Crystal Bradshaw, 21, who wrote a book about her family history - which traces her five-great grandmother Eliza from slavery to Kansas.

According to Painter's book, the homesteaders had a hard time building the settlement and taking care of their homesteads. Eventually, they focused on just their homesteads.

However, only one settler, equipped with a team of livestock, could grow crops. Others had to make due with gardens and hiring themselves out to the area's established farmers.

Most of the settlers moved away - scattering to nearby communities, said Mary Ford, with the Haun Museum in Jetmore.

Wilburn Bradshaw continues to farm in the area, Crystal Bradshaw said. 

Crystal Bradshaw will have a book signing for her new book, "Eliza: A Generational Journey," from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 22 at the Hodgeman County Museum. 

Refreshements will be provided. 

The books costs $14.95; the ebook is $9.95. To order the Kindle version, visit http://hutch.news/Bradshaw. Or visit Crystal's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CrystalBradshawWriting.

A little family history from Corwin, Kansas - a dead town in Harper County

Desiree (Kirby) Rahman

Ingram homestead in NW Oklahoma c. 1897 - 1900  

Often after my dead town stories are published, I get tidbits from people who had relatives in a particular town. 

That was the case with Corwin, my latest story. The Harper County town today is a shell of its former, vibrant, self.

Here's some info and photos sent by Desiree (Kirby) Rahman. Rahman grew up in Hutchinson and her mother still lives in town. Here grandfather was the well-digger's grandson mentioned in the story. 

Here's what Rahman sent:

Charles Ingram's family, c. 1910 

The family moved to Alfalfa County, OK in 1895, after the Land Run. Here's a little more about Charles Ingram. Everything I have always says the family lived in Anthony, but apparently they were in Corwin... My grandmother was born on the farm shown in the "homestead" picture. If you look at the woman in the picture (my great-grandmother) she may be pregnant - if so, I'm guessing that she is carrying my grandmother which would date the picture as 1900. I don't know this for a fact, but it makes a good story!

Text from newspaper clipping, name of paper & date not included, probably The Cherokee Messenger & Republican, Cherokee, OK, Fri Jan 18, 1935

Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Ingram Observe Golden Wedding Anniversary January 13th.

Sunday, January 13, the children and Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Ingram gathered at the farm house five miles west of Cherokee, in honor of the fiftieth wedding anniversary of their parents.

Mr. Ingram and his wife, who was Miss Cynthia Millay, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. D. W. Millay, were married January 15, 1885, at the home of the bride’s parents, near Coloma, MO. Dr. S. D. Millay, grandfather of the bride, performed the ceremony.

The newly married couple left soon for Anthony, Kansas, where they made their home for several years. In 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Ingram, with their four children Edwin, May, Ida, and Edith, moved to the farm which is now their home. Here, the two younger children, Pearl and Charles, were born.

Mr. and Mrs. Ingram were typical pioneers. Mr. Ingram is widely known in this section of the country, having drilled wells since locating here; also being in various business enterprises and politics...

To read more on Corwin, click here.

Frederick, population nine, lingers as Rice County ponders town's future

Frederick, Kansas, population nine or 10, on a good day. 

I got an email in early June from a resident in the small town I live in. She said her aunt, Wanda Plautz would be excellent to talk to about the history of Frederick, Kansas.

But my research lead me to a deeper story. The town has been incorporated since the late 1800s. Now the third-class city of just nine residents must decide if it will live or die.

No one ran for election in April. Moreover, no one voted or wrote in a name. There is no official mayor or council.

Here's an excerpt from my story:

Frederick is on life support. 

Melode Huggans knows this. She's seen the signs since she was a little girl, visiting her grandparents, who lived on the same parcel she does today.

The school at Frederick

The schoolhouse is empty − stripped of its desks. A jail cell sits in the middle of a field of wheat stubble, the metal bars and innards rusting. Old playground equipment and paint-worn cars are barely visible amid the trees after decades of neglect. 

Now loved ones like Huggans are faced with a difficult decision on whether it is time for this town to face a natural death.

Ten people call Frederick home − on a good day, that is. It once had as many as 150 people, along with grocery stores, a lumberyard, blacksmiths and restaurants. 

Yet, on this July morning, Huggans pointed up an empty street in front of the home she and husband, Steve, have lived in for 19 years. This was the main thoroughfare, she said. But every business has vanished. There isn't even a foundation left. 

Frederick, an official Kansas third-class city, is almost a ghost town. 

In the April election, no one ran for mayor or for any of the city council seats. Not one resident wrote in a name, either. In fact, it appears no one even voted.

The old jail still stands

For the first time since the town's inception in 1887, Frederick has no leaders. The town's budget is due Aug. 25.

At a recent Rice County Commission meeting, commissioners and the county clerk discussed if it is time the town calls it quits and unincorporates. 

Huggans doesn't know the answer. She serves as the Frederick city clerk, but isn't sure the next time the former council will meet. Her husband is on the city council. But their thoughts have been on other things. Melode has been battling breast cancer, diagnosed in April.

Frederick, however, is a part of her life. 

"My grandparents lived here," she said. "It was a town when they lived here. My mom was born here, went to school here."

To read the rest of the story and see more photos and a video, visit www.KansasAgland.com. 

Kiowa County dead towns: Reeder, Janesville, Brenham

Greensburg resident continues search and digging around several long-dead towns

GREENSBURG - Traveling down a dirt path sandwiched between a wheat field and pasture, Ed Schoenberger abruptly motions to stop the car.

"You're now in downtown Reeder," he says as he steps out of the vehicle - facing the cold wind that whips across the wide-open prairie on this early March day.

But all around him, there is nothing here but farmland and grass. Reeder, once a bustling community where residents dreamed of a railroad, has disappeared.

Underneath the ground, however, the memory of Reeder still exists. Reeder began in 1885 but only lasted a handful of years, with the post office closing in 1891. The railroad never came, and the community eventually died with its remains buried in shallow graves below the prairie grass.

Schoenberger pulls out his metal detector and begins finding century-old trash - largely sardine cans that settlers left behind.

Reeder's tale mirrors countless towns across Kansas, including several in Kiowa County. Schoenberger has been working to preserve those memories through his research and amature archeolgoy.

Meanwhile, Schoenberger is also researching the towns of Janesville, Brenham and others, finding artifacts along the way.

Greensburg resident and historian Ed Schoenberger uses a metal detector to find items at at the townsite of Reeder. 

Sardine cans and fruit cans were common in the 1880s and are often found when metal detecting around townsites.

Saunders, Kansas, a dead town in Stanton County

Looking into Kansas. Saunders is in the background

Saunders, notice the dust storm haze.

The little border stop greets you as you enter Kansas -- along with a windshield of dust.


And on this late summer day, it seems, the dust is especially bad at Saunders, which sits right next to the Colorado border along a stretch of Highway 160 that, for miles, is nearly empty of people.


But for Minnie Watson, the whirling earth she experienced here during the 1930s was much worse than today. She and her family moved to Saunders in 1937. She was in second grade.


Her family had left Plains, Kansas -- an area still plagued by dust storms, although it wasn't quite in the heart of it like Stanton County. In a time when jobs were hard to come by, her father had secured the position of elevator manager for the Collingwood Co.


They moved into Saunders' single residence, which also was the elevator scale house and office.


Here, their power was from the wind, she said. While they had enough for lights and radio, it wasn't enough, though, to power a refrigerator or washer, which they had left behind at Plains.


It took a little while for the family to adjust to the stark landscape. Upon seeing their new home, "my mother cried and cried."


"It wasn't quite as dusty at Plains," Watson, 86, of Manter, recalls. "But at Saunders, it was just dirt."

To read the full story on Saunders, click here.

Feterita, Kansas - a dead town in Stevens County

Stevens County Sheriff Ted Heaton and his family are the last residents of Feterita, a dead town in Stevens County. Here's a little history on the town that thrived for a while in the 1910s and 1920s.

Photo By Calvin Mathis

Meadows to Feterita

It was an era where towns were established about every 10 miles - the distance a farmer could typically travel by horse and wagon in a day to do business. In addition, one thing that helped secure the location of a town was whether it would get a train.

The train came through in 1913, according to an article written by longtime resident Susie Ausbun in the book "The History of Stevens County & Its People."

"All the farm people and our entire school drove up to see the first train go through. It was traveling so slowly with all the railroad VIPs on it. People were walking behind, some had trailed it from Hugoton."

With the train, a town was planned about seven miles west of Hugoton, Ausbun wrote. Organized around 1918, it was originally called Meadows and was platted under that name.

"We had a big celebration, people came from all over the country when we auctioned of lots to form the town," Ausbun wrote. "For every 25 lots sold, one was given away to names drawn from a large box. Anna Nichole, my sister, won one."

According to the June 21, 1918 edition of the Hugoton Hermes, "The opening of our new neighboring town, Meadows, was a success. Business lots sold for from one hundred to two hundred dollars. Residence lots sold for twenty-five to seventy-five dollars. There is a new Farmer's Equity Elevator and a switch almost completed. Stakes are on the town site at present, but construction will begin soon on several buildings, and Meadows will soon e a thriving village."

Photo by Amy Bickel

People began to build on their lots, Ausbun wrote, noting, "Many little shacks went up." A store opened on Main Street.

However, when the post office organizers wrote a letter to the government to get a permit to open, they heard back that there was another Meadows.

"After a lot of discussion, the name Feterita was passed by the post office department. Feterita was the name of a grain crop raised at that time in the area. A lot of people were disappointed in the name and the town was still called Meadows for a while then Feterita began to become familiar."

The post office opened in 1919 but closed in March 1920. It reopened in December 1922 but closed again by April 1937.

"I can remember a little grocery store over there and two elevators and a family or two lived over there," said Gladys Renfro, who helps run the Stevens County Oil and Gas Museum. "All the people who lived there are all gone."

Shirley Kramer, who farms with her husband, Jim, in the area, said her mother was Ausbun who wrote the history.

She said when she and her family would go by Feterita, "we used to laugh we were going to Feterita Junior College."

Except for a small elevator operated by Elkhart Equity Exchange, there hasn't been anything happening at Feterita in his lifetime, said Neal Gillespie, director of the Stevens County Economic Development.

"In my lifetime it has been a bump in the road," Gillespie said.

An old store photo from Carniero, Kansas.

I received this photo earlier this summer from Joy. It's of one of the old, Carniero, Kansas, stores. I love these old photos! here is a note from Joy.

I have roots in Carneiro and Kanopolis.  In fact my dad was born there to John and Ethel Ulrickson.  John, my grandfather was a blacksmith in the Salt Mine.  I want to share with you one of the pictures I have identifying a building that may still exist in Carneiro.  It was owned and run by O.B. Smith and Sons.  I believe he also became a judge in the county of Carneiro.  Time period - around the 1890-1900s.  

I don't think this is the same store that is still standing in Carniero - which is featured on the cover of our book - Dead Towns of Central and Western Kansas - but it could be. Thanks so much, Joy! And if anyone else has some great old photos, don't hesitate to share.

Here's an earlier post from Carniero.

A little history on Fort Zarah, Allison Ranche and the town of Zarah - Barton County, Kansas

Photographer Lindsey and I ventured here more than a month ago. We found little left of any of the sites, although we really didn't know where to look.

I want to thank Robert Yarmer for his help in sharing his wife's family history. Here's a little bit from my latest dead town story.

In the summer of 1855, when prairie pioneers Williams Allison and Francis Booth came to what would someday be Barton County, there was nothing here but windswept prairie, Indians and buffalo along with the occasional schooner heading toward Santa Fe on the Santa Fe Trail.
Fort Larned wouldn’t be established for another few years and there was little settlement west. Nevertheless, the two men decided to build a settlement along Walnut Creek on the trail – offering supplies and respite to those making the journey.
These days, there is little left of the settlements that sprang up along the trail just east of Great Bend – a few stones in a field, remnants of dugouts and a handful of civilian graves deep below a field of greening wheat.

The autumn 1966 cover of the Kansas Historical Quarterly features a water color of Fort Zarah on the Santa Fe Trail as illustrated by Henry Worrall.

Allison Ranche, along with a town of Zarah that would develop a short distance to the north about 15 years later, have both disappeared – meeting the fate of more than 6,000 other settlements that once populated the state in the latter half of the 1800s.

A trading post
William Allison, a man with just one arm, and Francis Booth had become familiar with the route as former conductors of the monthly mail, according the Kansas State Historical Society. They had encountered Indians along the trail and knew of the hazards of the prairie.
Therefore, 132 miles beyond Council Grove, they established a trading post on Walnut Creek, located in the domain of the nomadic Plains Indian tribes and of the buffalo range.
The July 1855 issues of the Independence, Mo.-based publication, the Occidental Messenger, gave this account of the pioneers.
‘Mr. Wm. Allison and Booth, known as famed prairie men, have determined to make a settlement at Walnut Creek on the Santa Fe road. A short time since . . . they started on an expedition to the gold region; their mules and provisions giving out, and not being able to purchase any on the road from any train, they abandoned the idea of going further toward the Wichita diggings, and returned here, determined to settle on Walnut Creek. Booth left a month or two since, and Allison this week, and from last reports of Booth’s progress, he was busily engaged in building houses and corrals.
This is the first attempt at building by citizens made West of Council Grove, and we hope it may grow up in a short time a flourishing settlement. The men at the head of this enterprise are well known here, and distinguished for their energy and determination, they have no fear about them. ... This settlement will be another stopping point on the route to New Mexico and will make, in a little while, the road less dangerous by lessening the distance between civilized points and affording those in danger or want an opportunity to obtain relief.”
On August 25, the Occidental Messenger also reported that Allison and Booth’s post was nearing completion, with the men hoping to open trade to Indians and any travelers who needed “provision and aid as they journey.”
In December 1856, a post office was established at the ranche, with Allison as postmaster, according to the historical society.
In February 1857, the Santa Fe Gazette published this notice that Allison and Booth had established a trading house and general depot at Walnut Creek on the trail, having on hand groceries, provisions, forage and corrals, according to the historical society article. However, by September, the partnership ended. An article in the Santa Fe Gazette a month later reported: The Mexican who brutally murdered Mr. Booth and Walnut Creek last month, by splitting his head open with an ax, was arrested in San Miguel County last week.”
Meanwhile, according to the historical society, Allison continued to prosper as train traffic boomed. Those venturing toward Pikes Peak in search of gold took the mountain branch of the road to head to Colorado.
Despite his success, Allison died in 1859 of heart failure.

Peacock and Rath
Following Allison’s death, George Peacock took over the ranche.
Peacock’s time at the post, however, was short. Kiowa war chief Satank was arrested after almost passing out from drinking too much at Peacock’s post. Satank escaped but asked Peacock to write a letter of introduction saying he was a good Indian. Not counting on Satank having the letter translated, Peacock instead headed warning to those who read it – saying the Indian was treacherous and dangerous.
According to the state historical society, in the fall of 1860, Satank led warriors to the ranch and killed Peacock and five other men and stole all of the livestock.
Trader and buffalo hunter named Charles Rath took over the trading post next, and he expanded the operation, even helping establish a toll bridge across Walnut Creek.
Meanwhile, as attacks subsided, the military abandoned Fort Zarah in 1869.

Unearthing remains of the ranch house at Walnut Creek Crossing of the Santa Fe Trail (near Great Bend) as supervised by State Historical Society archeologists May 31, 1969. The photograph was taken looking north along the west footings.

The town of Zarah
Not long after Fort Zarah’s abandonment, a town by the same name was formed on the edge of the fort’s property, just north of Allison’s Ranche, Yarmer said.
It was 1870, says Yarmer, adding his wife’s great great uncle, Titus Buckbee, a cattleman, was one of the founders.
Back then, Yarmer said, “everyone wants to start a town, sell lots and be a mayor. That was where the money was.”
Buckbee had been in the Civil War before venturing west. His prison stay at Andersonville during the war hindered his health, Yarmer said.
Zarah would have a blacksmith, a grocery and a livery, among a handful of other stores. In 1871, Buckbee became the town’s postmaster, becoming the first postmaster since Barton became a county.
It also had a murder. Buckbee’s brother-in-law Zach Light was minding the store for Buckbee when a man came in asking for crackers, according to the book “Deadly Dozen: Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West, Volume 2” by Robert K. DeArment. The man wanted cheese for his crackers. Light said he had none.
“This is a hell of a town,” the man said, adding Zarah was letting Great Bend “get away with things.”
Light said if he didn’t shut up, he would shoot, according to the book. And he did, hitting the man in the forehead. Light fled and, despite being arrested by authorities, never stood trial for the killing.
The town went on for a time, but Zarah’s existence wouldn’t last. Great Bend leaders were working to gain the county seat title. Formed in 1871, town leaders knew survival depended on whether they could secure the honor. An election in 1872 decided the towns’ fates. Ellinwood would receive 22 votes, Great Bend 144 and Zarah 33.
Also, Yarmer said, Santa Fe Railroad had reached Barton County that year and didn’t put a depot in Zarah.
“Politicians from Illinois – they knew how to grease the skid,” Yarmer said, adding the story is these Great Bend officials “bought cases of whiskey and dined the railroad. Zarah tried to do the same, but didn’t have the moxie to do it.”
Angry, Zarah folks moved most of the buildings to Ellinwood’s downtown. Fires destroyed the buildings, Yarmer said.

Little left
Today, there is little left of this area’s early settlement. A sign on the side of the road near Great Bend tells the history of Fort Zarah, although the park isn’t located on the actual fort site. A display at the Barton County Museum also shows artifacts found from digging exhibitions, Neuforth said.

Pictures of Belvidere, a Kiowa County town

Beautiful View

While much of Kiowa County is flat terrain of farmland, the region in the county's southeast corner is an expanse where the sky expands across rolling waves of grass. When the wives of wealthy ranchers Iowa Watson and C.P. Fullington first saw the area, they thought it couldn't be more stunning.

Thus, the two dubbed the town site Belvidere - or "beautiful view" in Italian.

The land had once been part of the Osage Indian Trust, which totaled 8 million acres in a strip extending more than 250 miles across the southern border of Kansas, according to a Jan. 9, 1955, story in The Hutchinson News.

In 1870, Congress assigned the Osage to a reservation in Oklahoma and opened the land to settlement, according to "History of Kiowa County, 1880-1980." A post office named Glick was first established in nearby Comanche County in 1883. It eventually moved near to future town site of Belvidere.

With the railroad coming through, Watson and Fullington, both highly involved in the Greensburg State Bank, along with other interests, began to promote the little town their wives had named.

"Caught in the Boom! Property of the new town Belvidere. $100,000 worth sold in ten days," stated an advertisement in the Greensburg Rustler on May 12, 1887. The ad also said the town was on the railroad and surrounded by fine "bottom farmland."

A year later, the newspaper reported 25 new homes were under construction in the town situated in a clump of elms and cottonwoods along the Medicine River, according to the history book.

Despite its beauty, there was little potable water, Robbins said.

"You could drill a hole in downtown Belvidere and you'll probably find fluid that even a rabbit couldn't drink," he said. "The good water came a little higher."

The railroad began shipping water in tank cars, transferring it to a cistern near the depot, according the Kiowa history book. Crews drilled a well two miles east and eventually water was piped into town.

Bull: City, a few memories along the way

These stories are thanks to Von Rothenberger. Thanks Von!

The Bull General Store. 

In the fall of 1870 of spring of 1871 General Hiram C. Bull built a rough log building about 12 feet by 24 feet with a shingled roof.  This was divided into two rooms. 

The back room was about 10 feet by 12 feet that had the bed, stove, oil and vinegar barrels and such things.  When they set the stove up the pipe was too short to reach the chimney so they put a box on the floor and set the stove on it, and Mrs. Bull would stand on another box to do her cooking, no place to go for pipe. 

The front room was used for the store; they had a stock of goods, not more than two or three loads that were hauled from Fossil Station (now Russell), at first Mrs. Bull would stay at the store while Mr. Bull went for goods.  When the mail came in every other day it was dumped on the bed and sorted, and put up.  Those days were looked forward to. 

They bought buffalo hides and took them to Russell and Hays and bought goods back.  The General hired George Nicholas to haul for him (he was in the fight with the Indians at Bullocks Ranch, near Osborne). 

The General continued to buy their goods at Russell until 1873.  After that they bought from Drummers, as they were called, from Leavenworth and St. Joseph, but still had to haul them from Russell until the railroad was built.  The first driver for the General was George Witeman.  This George was in the fight with the Indians at Bullock Ranch in east part of Osborne County in 1869, or 1870, and the Indian found down at the stone bluff was supposed to have been killed there.  Later Robert Bates also drove the General’s team for quite a good length of time – had quit to go to his claim just before the General and others were killed, but don’t believe Robert would have been caught in that scrap if he had have been there. 

Many are the stories that could be told of this store and Mr. and Mrs. Bull. 

One day a man came into the door way wrapped in a blanket and carrying a gun.  As he came in the door way the gun caught on the casing and exploded.  They grabbed the man and took the blanket off him and found Joe Hart.  Was hard to tell who was scared the worst.  He never tried that again. 

Cassius P. Austin

*  *  *  *  *

The First Wedding.

      The first wedding in Bull’s City was in the little log store.  The General was the first Probate Judge of Osborne County but there was so little business for Probate Judge at that time that the General did not have to spend much time at Osborne.  This was early in 1872. 

A young German couple over from near what is now Portis came to get a license to marry – but neither were of age so the Judge couldn’t give them a license to marry without their parent’s consent – so they got into the wagon and went home – but the next or second day after they came back, the boy’s father with them.  He told the General he was willing and the girl’s father was also, so they got their license and the General married them – and they climbed into their wagon and started home happy.  A good team and wagon was good enough in those days. 

Cassius P. Austin 

*  *  *  *  *

 A Circus, a Cannon, and General Bull.

In the summer of 1876 (June 3rd) a show came to town.  Two children living about three miles northwest of town were told by their parents that they could walk to town and see the parade and then walk home, three miles there and three miles back.  Who would do that now?  General Bull saw them standing as though they wanted to see the show.  He told them to come in and see the show.  They said they did not have the money.  He said he would pay for them, which he did, and they saw the show, and never forgot the show or General Bull (kids never forget things like that).  These children were Will and Amanda York.

The General saw another group of kids near, who would like to see the show.  He told the ticket men to count the kids as they went into the tent.  When they were all in, the General started away and the man said “Here, pay for these kids!”  The General said, “I did not say I would pay for them, I said ‘count them as they go in!’”  The kids were in and no man could get them out.  He and the showman argued the matter for some time when the General paid the bill – which he intended to do all the time.

The General was planning a Fourth of July celebration one year, and wanted a cannon.  A man living east of town said he had one he could use if he would send a team after it.  The General hired a man and team to go after it.  When he got there the man brought a little toy cannon about 6 or 8 inches high for him to take back.  The joke was on the General, and was he mad.

Cassius P. Austin 

*  *  *  *  *

Bull City: General Bull's Revenge

Gored to death

An avid promoter of western Kansas, H. Bull established a 10-acre elk sanctuary of sorts near his town, said local resident Homer Smuck, also one of Alton's ministers.

"He was a really community-minded man," Smuck said. "He was interested in growing his town and was doing anything he could to make it an attractive place for people to move."

The sanctuary, as Smuck put it, was sort of an early zoo where Bull kept tamed wild animals like elk, buffalo and antelope - all inside a tall, white picket fence.

Rothenberger said the male elk was a special pet that Bull had raised by hand. It was a favorite of the children who loved to hand-feed it.

But everything changed on Oct. 12, 1879.

On that day, hired man Robert Bricknell went to care for the animals when he noticed the male elk was hostile and seemed unusual in appearance. He informed Bull, who said he could subdue the animal.

The elk, which was in rut, charged at the men, striking Bull and knocking him down. He then drew back and made a second attack on Bull, with one of his antlers piercing Bull through the breast. The elk then tossed him into the air and threw him over his head before turning to attack Bricknell.

George Nicholas witnessed the attack and tried to fight the elk with a heavy club.

However, the elk caught the club in its antlers, making indentions in it and rolling it on the ground with great force, according to Rothenberger.

A third man, William Sherman, also tried to help but was tossed over the fence.

"Mrs. Bull was meanwhile a horrified spectator of the terrible tragedy and, wild with grief and terror, ran to the village crying for help," the Osborne County Farmer, reported Oct. 16, 1879.

Bull, Nicholas and Bricknell all died, Rothenberger said. The elk was caught and tied by a couple of ropes to a tree. Mrs. Bull at first didn't want it killed, noting it was an expensive animal worth at least $500.

However, Rothenberger said, once she had calmed down, several men later took the elk and killed him.

The news was reported across the nation. The Osborne County Farmer on Oct. 13, 1879, reported it as an "awful tragedy."

"Gen H.C. Bull, our Honored Representative, gored to death by his pet elk," the headline read.

Name change

In 1885, a Mrs. Clark from Alton, Ill., decided Bull City needed a name change, telling residents such a name was vulgar and no one would want to move to such a city. Residents, loyal to their former leader, weren't supportive.

Clark took matters into her own hands. The names were cut off a road petition and pasted to a change-of-name petition, which was sent to the U.S. Postal Service. Soon, the city was notified its post office was Alton.

It didn't go over well, according to a story by Kansas historian Leo Oliva. Some offered to move their businesses and residences to a new town in Rooks County if the town would be named Bull City.

It was instead named Woodston after a Stockton businessman who offered to donate $500 to a school if the town was named for him, Oliva wrote.

The Antlers that killed General Bull

Today Alton's population remains at 100 people and the little incorporated city is alive and well. It still has a hardware, along with the Bull City Gun Shop and a grain elevator. Only one building still stands from the Bull City days, the 1882 bank building, which housed the post office until last week. An official came and closed the building, saying it was due to deteriorating conditions.