Ada and Burt McColl gathering buffalo chips
Creator: McColl, Ada
Date: 1893
Ada and her brother Burt McColl (in a dress) are gathering buffalo chips to use for heating and cooking fuel. An abridged version of this photograph without Burt is very common. For more information on this photograph, see the link to Reflections (Summer 2008) below. A family member confirmed that Burt (or Bert) was a boy.

Ada McColl gathering buffalo chips near Lakin, Kansas
Creator: McColl, Polly
Date: 1893
In this photograph, pioneer Ada McColl of Kearny County collects buffalo chips. In areas of western Kansas where trees were scarce, these chips were a convenient (and plentiful) source of fuel. This is an abridged version of an original photograph including Ada's brother Burt. The photograph was taken by Polly McColl, Ada's mother. For more information on this photograph, see the link to Reflections (Summer 2008) below.

Advocate newspaper office in Lakin, Kansas
Date: Between 1918 and 1920
This photograph is a halftone print showing Mr. Kimball in the Advocate offine in Lakin, Kansas with two women.

A field of wheat, Kearney [Kearny] County, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This photograph shows a field of wheat and a binder pulled by several horses in Kearny County, Kansas.

A map showing the location of the farming and grazing lands of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad company in the fertile valley of the Arkansas River in Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1892
This brochure advertises the advantages of settling in south central and western Kansas. Included are a photograph of the Beeson farm near Dodge City, Kansas, and a full width map of the Arkansas Valley in Kansas. Also included are testimonials by numerous settlers and descriptions of Rush, Finney, Ford, Pawnee, Gray and Kearney Counties.

American bison in Lakin, Kansas
Creator: Zercher, M.L. Book and Stationery Co., Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
This is a postcard showing an American bison in Lakin, Kansas.

Arrow Points from Kearny County
Date: 1-1800 CE
These eleven arrow points collected from Kearny County were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2016. They are made from assorted materials in different styles: triangular, side-notched, corner-notched, single corner-notched, and miniature. The dates for the different styles range from the Early Ceramic Period (corner notched points) to the Middle Ceramic Period (side notched points) to the Late Ceramic Period (triangular).

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad time table number 28
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: April 20, 1873
This timetable was for the exclusive use of the employees of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and included the eastern, Arkansas Valley and Wichita divisions.

Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Deerfield, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 08, 1931
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot at Deerfield, Kansas. The depot was built in 1908 and measured 16'x70'.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Hartland, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 08, 1931
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, built in 1887, at Hartland, Kansas.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Lakin, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: May 8, 1931
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot at Lakin, Kansas. A cart and several people are also visible. Built in 1882, the depot measured 24' x 38' and 24' x 60'.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Lakin, Kansas
Date: 1975
These photographs show the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Lakin, Kansas. The one-story wooden structure, built in 1882, still stands and operates as a museum in Lakin.

Black Friday meets its master
Creator: Garden City Daily Telegram
Date: April 10, 1935
Several articles about life in the Dust Bowl can be found on the front page of this newspaper from Garden City. Articles of particular interest include two articles on "raging dusters," one on the winter wheat crop, and a brief article discussing the postponement of community meetings to distribute aid under the soil erosion program. The newspaper also includes articles about other newsworthy events occurring in Garden City and around the state of Kansas.

Bork Cache from 14KY111
Date: Unknown
This cache of ten bifaces was collected from Kearny County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2003. A cache is a group of items stored hidden for future use, meant for trade, or had some other significance we today do not know. These small bifaces are made of chert, quartzite, basalt, and Smoky Hill silicified chalk, which outcrops in western Kansas and Nebraska.

Buildings of the Central Lumber Company, Deerfield, Kearny County, Kansas
Date: 1914
A postcard showing the buildings of the Central Lumber Company, Deerfield, Kearny County, Kansas.

By the President of the United States, a proclamation: whereas it appears that the public good will be promoted by eliminating certain lands within the State of Kansas from the Kansas National Forest
Creator: Taft, William Howard, 1857-1930
Date: February 24, 1913
This proclamation by President William H. Taft changes the boundaries of the Kansas National Forest. The original forest boundaries are illustrated on the diagram from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The forest was located west of Garden City and south of the Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fe Railroad in Finney, Haskell, Grant, Kearny, and Hamilton counties. The proclamation excludes land west of Syracuse, Kansas and east of the Colorado border.

Civil Conservation Corp camp at Kinney Dam
Date: 1934
This is a photo of the Civil Conservation Corp camp during the construction of Kinney Dam at McKinney Lake, Kearny County. Patron feedback suggests this dam is located on Finney County State Lake in Finney County, Kansas and not McKinney Lake in Kearny County, Kansas.

Cleaning melon and cucumber seed at Deerfield, Kearney [Kearny] County, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: November 18, 1895
This is a photograph showing farmers cleaning melon and cucumber seeds in the Arkansas River near Deerfield, Kearny County, Kansas.

Council of National Defense Woman's Committee correspondence
Date: 1918
This collection consists of correspondence between individuals and committee members to the state chair of the Woman's Committee of the Kansas Council of National Defense. The Council of National Defense was established at the federal level in 1916 as an emergency agency under the Army Appropriation Act and abolished in 1921. It was created in reaction to World War I to coordinate resources and industries for national defense and improve civilian morale. The Woman's Committee of the Kansas Council of National Defense performed the same functions at the state and local levels, coordinating women's activities for national defense. The materials are organized alphabetically by county. The digitization of this collection was paid for through the Margot R. Swovelan Endowment Fund.

County Affairs, Kearney County
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1885-1889 : Martin)
Date: 1885-1889
These letters, spanning 1886 to 1888, are from the residents and offices of Kearney County, Kansas regarding its organization to Kansas Governor John Martin. Some of the letters are signed petitions confirming the population requirements are met for the county's organization. A Governor's Proclamation appoints an official to verify that the county meets requirements. There are many letters from the Notary Public verifying the residents. Other letters request the appointment of the county seat and county officials like commissioners, clerk, and census taker. The county's name was corrected to Kearny. Kearny County was organized on March 27, 1888 and named for General Philip Kearny, it contains the cities of Deerfield and Lakin.

Dart Points from Kearny County
Date: 1500 BCE - 1000 CE
The three different styles of dart points shown here are part of the Hedge Collection, donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2016. They show an expanding stemmed/corner-notched dart point, a parallel stemmed dart point, and a contracting stemmed dart point. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dissatisfied Client in Court Case
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: February 1915
This file includes a letter from Kendall, Kansas about corrupt practices in district courts in Kearny County. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Arthur Capper correspondence.

Drills from Kearny County
Date: Unknown
These two drills, collected from Kearny County, were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2016. The lighter colored drill may be made from Alibates flint, a silicified or agatized dolomite from the Canadian River valley in the Texas panhandle. The darker drill is made of an unknown chert type. Drills were used to bore holes in softer material than the drill itself, such as hides, shell, wood, or soft stone.

East Kearny school in Kearny County, Kansas
Date: 1913
Postcard addressed to Miss Minnie Thurman in Lakin, Kansas. The writer identifies himself with an "X" on the photograph, on the reverse side, of a group of people in front of the East Kearny school in Kearny County, Kansas. The author's first name is Howard but the last name is not legible

Eighth biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1891-1892
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1893
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture contains two parts and the page numbering starts over at the beginning of Part II. The volume contains a section on each county, providing summary information about the history of the county, a description of the landscape, crops, livestock, schools, and churches. A large number of tables with statistics about Kansas residents and crop yields, broken down by county, are also included. Other chapters are devoted to interesting subjects such as apiculture, artificial forests, loco weeds, and chinch bugs.