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A geographically correct map of the Kansas Pacific Railway showing the only direct route to Denver and all the popular Rocky Mountain resorts . . .
Creator: Kansas Pacific Railway Company
Date: May 1877
This large brochure contains a full map on one side of Kansas, Colorado, and portions of surrounding states including the Black Hills of South Dakota. The reverse side has a myriad of information encouraging immigration to Kansas with the purchase of Kansas Pacific Railway lands; freighting between the Missouri River and Denver; $45.00 round trip tickets for tourists between Kansas City and Denver; enjoying the Switzerland of America and its many resorts; the railway line with Pullman sleepers, steel tracks and Westinghouse brakes; gold and silver mining in the San Juan and Black Hill regions; health resorts with pure air for weak lungs, sulfur springs, iron springs and hot springs; and a time table for the Kansas Pacific Railway. All of this was meant to promote travel on the Kansas Pacific Railway. NOTE: Because of the design of the brochure, pages 2 and 3 are duplicates but the right side up of the text is in the lower half of each image.
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Albert C. Morton to Hiram Hill
Creator: Guthrie, Abelard
Date: January 8, 1859
Albert Morton wrote from Leavenworth City, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts. Morton reported that there was "a good deal of excitement out for Pikes Peak" and many Leavenworth citizens spoke of traveling there to dig for gold the following spring. His investments were not earning him much money, and he expressed his desire to sell land in order to pay what he owed to Hill and Abelard Guthrie.
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C. E. Blood to Hiram Hill
Creator: Blood, C.E.
Date: February 9, 1859
C.E. Blood wrote from Manhattan, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts. Blood told Hill that, by mistake, a house had been built on one of Hill's town lots. He offered to trade lots with Hill, maintaining that both were of equal quality and value, and told him that the house would serve as the printing office of a new newspaper, the Manhattan Statesman.
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Charles Chadwick to Hiram Hill
Creator: Chadwick, Charles
Date: November 17 and 24, 1858
Charles Chadwick wrote from Quindaro, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts, defending Quindaro from rumors that deemed the town defunct. Chadwick blamed the bad management of the Town Company for the current troubles, and described various opportunities Quindaro still had for further development. Though property was not selling at all, according to Chadwick, prospects for future railroad and ferry traffic still were positive. He expressed his disappointment at Robert Lawrence, and accused him of giving Chadwick a false impression of the likelihood of Hill winning the land claim dispute with Robert Robetaille. A businessman had landed with a great deal of machinery looking to build a "manufactory", and Quindaro's investors were doing all they could to woo him.
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Cripple Creek Mining District, Colorado, the Gold Fields of Colorado
Date: 1894
This lithograph shows a bird's eye view of Cripple Creek, Colorado at the time gold mining was happening. It was a supplement to the Colorado Springs Gazette. It shows buildings on various named streets in Cripple Creek. Street names are given and Cripple Creek flows through the town. It gives the names of various mountains and hills surrounding the town. Pike's Peak is in the center back. The left inset shows two burros and the right inset shows several miners. In the distance is Cripple City and Midland. The Midland Terminal Railroad is running through the whole area. The item was produced by the Denver Litho Co., Denver, Colorado.
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Denver City, Kansas Territory
This is an illustration captioned "The Kansas Gold Region-View of Auraria and Denver City, Cherry Creek, near Long's Peak." The illustration was made by Col. D. H. Huyett, and was published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on December 15, 1860.
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E. S. Whitney to Hiram Hill
Creator: Whitney, E.S.
Date: November 24, 1859
E. S. Whitney, niece of Hiram Hill, wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, to her uncle in Massachusetts. Whitney reported that money was scarce; the family was living in a hotel in town and they had begun renting their house. Her husband, Thaddeus Whitney, was unable to collect debts owed to him in order to travel to Pikes Peak. They all had recently suffered from an illness, but Thaddeus had begun building a new home on New Hampshire street.
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Ford to Oscar E. Learnard
Creator: Ford,
Date: November 14, 1860
This piece of correspondence was written by a man named Ford, from Missouri City, Arapaho Co., (later part of Colorado Territory). Ford had apparently left Burlington, Kansas Territory for "gold country" the previous year. He related some of his experiences in the gold fields and his desire to return to Kansas. Ford intended to stay "until I make enough to pay me for coming here and some more if I can," and he mentioned additional discoveries in the San Juan Mountains in Mexico, which caused "a great rush for those diggins."
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From the river to the mountains via the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe R. R.
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 7, 1876
This table concerns the new direct route from Kansas City and Atchison to various destinations in Colorado. The route was known as the "Great Southern Route through Kansas." This early time table demonstrates the Santa Fe Railroad's promotion of Colorado as a tourist destination and recreation area for outdoor enthusiasts. The table specifically promotes the Arkansas [River] Canyon.
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George S. Park to Isaac Tichenor Goodnow
Creator: Park, George S.
Date: June 7, 1859
George Park wrote from Parkville, Missouri, to Isaac Goodnow in New York City. Park confessed to Goodnow that he would not be able to pay into their investments this season, on account of hard economic times. However, he was willing to sell his property in Manhattan, which had been a "continual drain" on him from the beginning. Park criticized Goodnow's efforts: "I think you are too fast That country hardly wants a college yet. We perhaps had better have waited until times are better."
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Gunn & Mitchell's New Map of Kansas and the Gold Mines
Creator: Schuchman, William, 1823 or 1824-
Date: 1862
This map illustrates northeast Kansas and the routes from the Missouri River to the Kansas goldmines. Some of the routes include the Missouri River via the Santa Fe Road and Ft. Leavenworth, and the Santa Fe Road via Ft. Riley.
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Gunn's New Map of Kansas to the Gold Mines
Creator: Gunn, Otis B.
Date: 1859
Map of Kansas showing routes from the Missouri River to gold mines in Kansas. An illustration of Pottawatomie Indians marks the location of the reservation. This map is provided through a co-operative project between the Lecompton Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. Partial funding was provided by the Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle Charitable Trust and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area. Copies of this map are available for viewing at both the Kansas Historical Society and Lecompton Historical Society.
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H. C. Childs' mining claim certificate
Creator: Stansell, J. B.
Date: September 19, 1860
J. B. Stansell, recorder for Buckskin Joe's District, signed this certificate identifying H. C. Childs as owner of mining claim No. 28 SW on the Bates Lode. The certificate was printed by the Rocky Mountain News Printing Company, and it is possible that this mining district was located in Arapahoe County, which later became part of the state of Colorado.
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Henry F. Parker to Hiram Hill
Creator: Parker, Henry F.
Date: November 15, 1858
Henry Parker wrote from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts. Parker reported that currently he was only able to collect $33.33 in rent from Hill's tenants, a small fraction of what was owed. He added that many settlers were leaving for California and hopes for gold mining in the West; many homes and businesses were vacated. Parker closed by stating "I am sick of Kansas if Business is to go as it has the Last year".
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Henry L. Denison to Joseph Denison
Creator: Denison, Henry
Date: May 11, 1859
Henry Denison wrote from Manhattan, Kansas Territory, to his uncle, Joseph Denison, who was traveling away from home. Henry reported that the cornerstone of Bluemont College had been laid the day before, and described the festivities, including speeches and the planting of a kind of time capsule behind the cornerstone. He added that crops had sprouted and were growing beautifully; emigrants continued to pass through on their way to Pikes Peak.
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Horace D. Hickok to Lorenzo Butler Hickok
Creator: Hickok, Horace D
Date: August 21, 1859
A letter from Horace D. Hickok, Olathe, Kansas Territory, to his brother Lorenzo Butler Hickok. Horace talks about the political activity in the territory and Missouri delegates coming to the Democratic Convention. He writes that people are returning from the Peak and the mines are paying from ten to twenty dollars per day. Horace is thinking about going to either Santa Fe or the Peak in the spring. He closes the letter and begins another one talking about making overalls and the Sunday sermon at church. Horace comments on Olathe's growth "like a pumpkin vine".
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Isaac Tichenor Goodnow to Edward Everett Hale
Creator: Goodnow, Isaac T. (Isaac Tichenor), 1814-1894
Date: February 10, 1859
Isaac T. Goodnow wrote from Manhattan, Kansas Territory to Edward Everett Hale, member of the New England Emigrant Aid Company's Executive Committee. Goodnow informed Hale about plans to establish Bluemont Central College (predecessor to Kansas State University) just west of Manhattan, Kansas Territory. He asserted that the college would only add to Manhattan's other advantages -- being on the "natural route of the Pacific" railroad and on the shortest route to the Pike's Peak gold mines. Goodnow asked Hale for a contribution to the building fund for the college.
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James Griffing to William Smyth
Creator: Griffing, James S. (James Sayre), 1822-1882
Date: July 27, 1859
James Sayre Griffing wrote from Topeka, Kansas Territory, to William Smyth, editor of the Owego (New York) Times. Griffing described in some detail his family's overland journey to Kansas Territory in a "double waggon." He commented upon the quantity and nature of provisions to take on an overland journey, methods for crossing streams and rivers, and the advantages of a good "fowling piece" for hunting wild game. Griffing also observed that the amount of travel in and through Kansas Territory had increased during 1859, due in part to the Pike's Peak gold rush. Griffing also mentions interactions with Native Americans in the area.
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Jason Brown to John Brown, Jr.
Creator: Brown, Jason, 1823-1912
Date: January 3 and 4, 1859
A letter from Jason Brown to his brother asking to lend him some money. He offers a share of some land until he can pay it back with interest. He had borrowed from John, Jr. previously. He wants to use it to go to the Rocky Mountains to "scratch a small pile of minerals" which may mean he wants to hunt for gold. He makes references to having to leave Kansas but that it is where he would like to be. He would leave his wife and son in Ohio on their small farm there. On the last page of the letter, Jason indicates that Melchia Sherbondy has offered him some money for a share of what he might make in the mountains. His son Charley wants to go with him and Jason also wants John, Jr. to go with him to the mountains.
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J. H. Kagi to his sister
Creator: Kagi, John Henry, 1835-1859
Date: June 8, 1859
From Cleveland, Ohio, Kagi jokingly writes his sister that, in the absence of any letters from the family, he fears they had set off for "Pikes Peak, and had died of suffering on the route, as others have." Kagi expects to leave in order to take up his "business in earnest" shortly--that is, to implement John Brown's plan and move on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
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John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Creator: Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
Date: March 15, 1859
Although Ingalls began this relatively brief letter from Sumner with comments on the local election (he won the race for city attorney), he devoted most of it to the Pike's Peak Gold Rush--"the amount and character of the emigration to Pike's Peak is truly astonishing. . . . [T] military roads are already thronged with anxious hundreds, on foot, dragging hand carts, on mules, and with ox teams."
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John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Creator: Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
Date: November 21, 1858
Much of this interesting letter, dated November 21, 1858, from Sumner, Kansas Territory, describes the Ingalls law practice and the nature of a "frontier" court proceedings that often attracted "nearly all the population." According to Ingalls, "the chief difficulty arising [in the courts came] from the conflict of the two Codes, adopted by two hostile legislatures, each of which had adherents who call the other 'bogus.'" Ingalls also discussed the business of land sales, as something many others successfully combined with the practice of law.
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John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Creator: Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
Date: January 2, 1859
From Lawrence, K.T., where he went to lobby the territorial legislature on behalf of Sumner's city charter and a "Pikes Peak Express Company," John J. Ingalls wrote to tell his father about the journey that took him through Leavenworth. He made some interesting observations about the condition of the roads and the general discomfort involved in overland travel ("The coaches are constructed with special reference to safety in passing over corduroy roads, through sloughs and ravines, having no regard whatever to the comfort of the passengers."), as well as nice descriptions of both cities, Leavenworth and Lawrence.
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John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Creator: Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
Date: October 5, 1858
On his first full day in Sumner, Kansas Territory, Ingalls penned a second letter to his father to convey his first impressions of "that Promised Land." The reality Ingalls found and described was quite different than what was depicted in "the lithographic fiction" he had been shown back East. Other than the hotel, the "city" was composed of a "few log huts and miserable cabins . . . None of the premises are fenced," wrote Ingalls, "the whole place being open to the incursions of dogs and pigs which exist in large numbers and seem in fact to constitute the greater amount of the population." Virtually everything about the place distressed Ingalls, who was "quite unable to convey to you any definite idea of the disappointment, not unmingled with anger and mortification, with which I contemplate the State of affairs here."
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