1867 flood, Fort Hays, Kansas
Date: June 08, 1867
This photograph represents buildings that survived the flooding on June 8, 1867 in Fort Hays, Kansas. At the time of the flood, the buildings standing in the photograph had been built approximately five months prior. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

1876 Penny from the Kaw Mission, 14MO368
Date: 1876
The 1876 penny was recovered during excavations at the 2018 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Kaw Mission. The penny, sometimes called an Indian Head cent or Indian Head penny shows Liberty with a head dress on the obverse side. The reverse side shows an oak wreath and shield surrounding the words "ONE CENT." The Mission was built over the winter of 1850 - 1851 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South as a school for boys in the Kaw (or Kansa) tribe. The site was acquired by the state of Kansas in 1951 and it was listed in 1971 to the National Register of Historic Places.

1878 Penny from the Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield, 14LN337
Date: 1878
This penny dates to 14 years later than the Battle of Mine Creek, but still can help archeologists understand activity or disturbance at the site. The site was the location where on October 25, 1864 Union and Confederate forces fought one of the largest cavalry battles in the Civil War. The penny, sometimes called an Indian Head cent or Indian Head penny shows Liberty with a head dress on the obverse side. The reverse side shows an oak wreath and shield surrounding the words "ONE CENT."

1880 census of Farmer Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 1, 1880 through June 2, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Farmer Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1880 census of Nicodemus Township, Graham County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 8, 1880 through June 23, 1880
This census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of both white and black settlers in Nicodemus Township in Graham County, Kansas. This township had been settled by Exodusters in 1877 along the south fork of the Solomon River. Today, the town of Nicodemus is the only surviving Exoduster settlement west of the Mississippi River.

1880 census of Rock Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 11, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Rock Creek Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1895 fire, Hays, Kansas
Date: March 30, 1895
This photograph represents the aftermath that burned fifty-five buildings in Hays, Kansas on March 30, 1895.

7th Cavalry Camp, Fort Hays, Kansas
Date: 1867
These two photographs represent different views of the 7th Cavalry Camp near Fort Hays, Kansas. In one photograph, men can be sitting in a field outside tents. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

7th Cavalry parade, Fort Hays, Kansas
Date: 1867
This photograph represents an evening parade by the 7th Cavalry near Fort Hays, Kansas. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

A. Curtis to William Hutchinson
Creator: Curtis, A.
Date: December 21, 1856
Curtis reports on the conflict between the Kansas Central Committee and W. F. M. Arny, general agent for the National Kansas Committee, over the distribution of supplies. Curtis claims that Arny issued supplies to individuals who were engaged in speculative ventures and who were not in need of relief. Curtis attaches an itemized list of the supplies that he believes were inappropriately issued by Arny.

A. E. Touzolin portriat
Date: Between 1883 and 1885
This is a portrait of A. E. Touzolin an official of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.

A. Finch to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Finch, H.
Date: December 22, 1856
This letter, written from Osawatomie by A. Finch to Thaddeus Hyatt, chairman of the National Kansas Committee, provided general information about the inhabitants of Osawatomie and neighboring areas. It included a list of about half of the settlers residing in Osawatomie at this time, including the four pro-slavery voters. Mr. Finch went into detail about the most fertile areas that would be excellent sites for free state settlements, and about the economic conditions and financial needs of the settlers.

A. H. Reeder to Franklin Crane
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: November 28, 1859
Andrew Reeder, former governor of Kansas Territory, wrote from Easton, Pennsylvania to Dr. Franklin Crane of Topeka. The letter discussed business interests in Kansas Territory and prospects for its admission to the union. Reeder also suggested it might be beneficial to replace place names, which had been established by the bogus legislature, that had pro-slavery connections.

A. J. Beach to Samuel N. Wood
Creator: Beach, A. J.
Date: April 22, 1860
Writing from Beach Valley (Rice County) in Kansas Territory, A. J. Beach requests Samuel Wood's legal advice with regard to Beach's options in a bridge dispute. It seemed that Beach had received a charter to build a toll bridge [over Cow Creek], and another party (William Edwards, et al) put up a "temporary" one before his was finished. They were now diverting traffic away from Beach's completed bridge. "I wish to know if anything can be done with them at law . . ."

A. J. Beach to Samuel N. Wood
Creator: Beach, A. J.
Date: May 6, 1860
As in his earlier letter to Samuel Wood of April 22, A. J. Beach, of Beach Valley, Kansas Territory, describes his Cow Creek bridge dispute with William Edwards and O. G. Stanley. In this letter, Beach officially retains the services of Wood & Perkins to sue Edwards and Stanley for damages. "I can prove," wrote Beach, "that they have asked trains to cross their bridge, taken toll on it, and repaired it with the avowed intention of making it a free bridge and taking the travel away from mine." Beach claims to be losing $20 a day in tolls.

A. Oestreicher to Eli Thayer
Creator: Oestreicher, A.
Date: September 23, 1854
Oestreicher, writing from Cincinnati, Ohio, informed Thayer of the establishment of a Kansas Actual Settler's Association in that city. He indicated that the association, which was comprised primarily of German-Americans, planned to create a settlement in Kansas in the spring of 1855.

A. Pierse to Eli Thayer
Creator: Pierse, A.
Date: March 31, 1857
A. Pierse wrote from Washington, D.C. to Eli Thayer in Worcester, Massachusetts. Pierse was born in North Carolina and lived most of his life in the South but had been living in Minnesota Territory for the past seven years. He told Thayer that he planned to move to Kansas in the spring of 1857. Pierse offered Thayer his opinion on what free state supporters should do in Kansas Territory. He informed Thayer that, although he had "Southern opinions on the subject of slavery" and believed the federal government had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories, he was "without prejudice for or against either side" in the debate over slavery in Kansas Territory. Pierse suggested that the best course for free staters to take would be to accept the Dred Scott decision, actively participate in the political process in Kansas Territory, and work for the admission of Kansas as a state with or without slavery. Once Kansas was admitted, he contended, free state supporters would be on firmer legal ground to advocate for the prohibition of slavery, since it was generally accepted that "the people have the power to prohibit slavery in their state." He concluded by stating that once Kansas was a state, free staters could make the case that property would be worth 3 or 4 times more if slavery was prohibited in the state.

A. Roemigk to George W. Martin
Creator: Roenigk, Adolph, 1847-1938
Date: July 18, 1904
A letter from Adolph Roenigk of Lincoln, Kansas, to George W. Martin, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Roenigk recounts hearing from a Mr. Ferdinand Erhardt, of an Indian battle site in Lincoln County.

A. Roenigk to George W. Martin
Creator: Roenigk, Adolph, 1847-1938
Date: April 08, 1907
A letter from Adolph Roenigk of Lincoln, Kansas, to George W. Martin, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Reonigk tells of his friend, Ferdinand Erhardt, and of Erhardt's service and friendship to the late Senator Plumb.

A. Roenigk to George W. Martin
Creator: Roenigk, Adolph, 1847-1938
Date: January 14, 1908
This is a letter from Adolph Roenigk, Lincoln, Kansas, to George W. Martin, Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Roenigk inquires about a pipe that was once owned by Chief Tall Bull. Roenigk cites books and page numbers for this and other matters he's interested in researching.

A. Roenigk to George W. Martin
Creator: Roenigk, Adolph, 1847-1938
Date: April 06, 1907
A letter from Adolph Roenigk of Lincoln County, Kansas, to George W. Martin, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Roenigk writes that a paper he submitted to the Historical Society, a reminiscence of Ferdinand Eberhardt, had a mistake in the years Mr. Eberhardt remained a widower before his second marriage.

A. Roenigk to George W. Martin
Creator: Roenigk, Adolph, 1847-1938
Date: August 30, 1910
A letter from Adolph Roenigk of Lincoln County, Kansas, to George W. Martin, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Roenigk writes of the Pawnee Indians that were killed at Mulberry Creek by settlers and soldiers. He also recounts his correspondence with Hercules Price, who was a participant in the Summit Springs Battle, and how Price had a map of the battlefield and accompanying notes.

A.S. Harris to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Harris, A S.
Date: September 22, 1856
A.S. Harris wrote from New York to Thaddeus Hyatt regarding an article in the Journal of Commerce that dealt with the upcoming Presidential election and the strife in Kansas. The clipping was attached to the letter, and it included a rather lengthy attack on emigrant aid societies.

A. T. Hall, Jr. and E. P. McCabe to Governor John P. St. John
Creator: Hall, A. T.
Date: April 11, 1879
A.T. Hall, Jr., Deputy District Clerk of Nicodemus, Kansas, and E.P. McCabe the Notary Public of Nicodemus in Graham County are requesting that Governor St. John honor a promise he made earlier in January of 1879 to recognize Nicodemus as the temporary county seat of Graham County.

A. Tuttle to Abelard Guthrie
Date: July 1, 1857
This letter related to an earlier one Tuttle wrote to Alfred Gray. He had made arrangements to purchase land from Guthrie and suggested he get the money from Gray or write to Tuttle directly. Mr. Tuttle expressed his hopes for the development of Quindaro but also his fears if the land falls into the hands of non-resident speculators. He also stated that any association of Mr. S. N. Simpson with the town would injure its prospects.