Kansas or Bust, part 2

— compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

Part II

Mr. Bliss and Mrs. Bliss decided it would be nice for Mrs. Bliss to visit relatives in Doniphan County and they would continue to drive to Atchison to see if some Poland China pigs had arrived that Mr. Bliss had ordered for his brother-in-law's ranch.

Mrs. Bliss recalled that "the next morning they procured a spring wagon with one seat, panelled sides, painted bright red, had on Kansas brakes and all the necessary equipment to make the a safe journey up the hills and down the ravines as the roads were at that time. There were only two conveyances to let at the livery stable then owned by Stephen Dunn—one, the old spring wagon or an open top buggy with one horse to pull the vehicle, so there was no use to look further since that was the only livery stable in town.

"On Friday morning we started in good season for our thirty-five mile ride to my aunt's house. We had not gone very far before I was holding on for dear life to Mr. Bliss and the side of the seat thinking every minute I would be tumbled out, also giving specific orders to the driver to 'Go slow!', 'Be careful' and so on until I was completely tired out. The driver had been here several months and, of course, understood the business of driving on Kansas roads better than I. I was a tenderfoot, and my feet are tender until this day, for I had never ridden over such roads or forded streams as we had occasion to do during our day's journey.

"We arrived at my aunt's with a whole skin about sundown and such a welcome as we received and such hospitality made it a joy to be there. It blotted from my memory, for the time being, the road I had travelled to get there. The next day Mr. Bliss and my brother left for Atchison. I did not see them anymore for three weeks nor did I hear from them as mail was hard to get. One day toward evening I looked across the prairie (one could see for miles at that time) and saw a speck in the distance and wondered if it could be Charlie coming after me.

"It should be remembered there were no fences or timber to obstruct the view and roads were running in every direction. Joy to the world that speck proved to be he and happy was I. He had come with one horse pulling a one-seated topless, backless buggy! Think, if you can, of riding thirty-five miles in such a vehicle!

After a good breakfast, Aunt put up a nice lunch, crated a hen and a large brood of little chickens, a half dozen brooms given to me by a cousin who had a broom factory in Troy, Kansas, and we started for our new home. We arrived without any mishap at our dwelling place which was a new house. The cook stove had been put up before our arrival, so Mr. Bliss unloaded our baggage, took the horse and buggy to the livery and went downtown for provisions.

"A few of the things we had for our first meal in the new home were a juicy steak, butter, bread, milk, eggs and coffee. I never sat down to a feast of good things that tasted better than that simple meal. We were very tired, so put up the bedstead, made the bed and were soon fast asleep, and that was the beginning of our lives in Kansas."

More reminiscences of early life in Grasshopper (Valley) Falls in Part III.

The Valley Falls Historical society's museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 29. Window displays include colorful birthday greetings to the state of Kansas for 150 years of statehood.

Kansas or bust: part 1

- compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

"One could see, in those early days, the prairie schooner or 'ships of the desert' as they were sometimes called, with long-horned Texas oxen hitched to them, wending their way further west, seeking a home.

"On the sides of the many of the wagons were signs reading like this, 'Kansas or bust.' Later on would come the return of same families, perhaps, with  the  sign  then  reading,  'Busted,' " recalled Mrs. Charles Bliss in a paper written and read to the club in response to a Rambler Club member's request for some reminiscences of her early life in Kansas. The article was printed in The Farmer's Vindicator Dec. 9, 1921.

"It may be of some interest to know," she wrote, "I was ushered into this mundane sphere March 23, 1849, in London, Madison County, Ohio, USA. I continued to grow in stature, beauty and age until I reached one score and six months when I married Charles F. Bliss of Whitesboro, New York, Sept. 2, 1869.

"We had been married less than a year when Mr. Bliss got a spell of wanderlust — Kansas had been in the Union but nine years at that time, so Grasshopper Falls, Kansas, was our destination.

"We arrived in Atchison Aug. 8, 1870. There being no railroad nearer than Effingham, and from there by stage to the Falls, we decided to drive from Atchison. Mr. Bliss succeeded in finding a spring wagon.

"We, with the driver, loaded our trunks into it, mine being a Saratoga which was considered indispensable to a bride in those days. By the way, this trunk was almost as large as some of the homesteader's shacks. We three piled into one seat.

"We made the trip without accident, even down Newman's hill, which was very steep at that time, fording the Grasshopper River near Piazzek's Dam, and arrived right side up to safety.

"As we turned a corner, we saw a small house with a large white sign on it  which bore in black letters the word 'Saloon' and from that was my introduction to the main street of the town. 

"From there we soon arrived at the magnificent Cataract Hotel which was the only public stopping place in town. We were shown a large front room on the first floor with a bed in it and told that it was the parlor of the place and also duly notified that this was the room we were to occupy.

"Weary with my long ride on the cars and spring wagon, it mattered little to me whether it was bridal chamber or the parlor, just so I could have a place to lie down and rest.

"I cannot say I had a very good night's rest, for there were too many creeping things hidden away in the bed to make a meal off me in the darkness of the night, but somehow or other I managed to pull through till morning."

Mr. Bliss located Mrs. Bliss's brother who had a large cattle ranch south of Valley Falls. the two men decided it would be nice for Mrs. B. to visit relatives in Doniphan County and they would drive to Atchison to wait for the Bliss household goods to arrive. The visit and return to Valley Falls continues in Part II.

The Valley Falls Historical Society's museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22.

Lodge member A.M. Russell; lodges in Valley Falls 1895

— Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, Valley Falls Historical Society President.

"A.M. Russell belongs to more lodges than any other man in the state of Kansas!" reported the Aug. 3, 1895, special edition of the Valley Falls New Era, (predecessor to the Vindicator) profiling business and lodge people of Valley Falls in that era. A leading jeweler at the time of the writing, Russell held membership, social and honorary, in 18 lodges. He came to Kansas in 1873 after having served as a volunteer soldier in the Union Army, attended Iowa State University and Agricultural College, married in 1870 and published The Times at West Branch, Iowa. 

"The Good Templars was the first lodge Russell joined in 1866. Since joining that lodge, he was initiated into 35 lodges, earning a total of 85 degrees. His ability was recognized in a number of ways and he served as deputy organizer of several lodges, as chairman of several state committees and was sent as a delegate to state and national encampments.

"Mr. Russell taught for 22 years in public schools of the country and this city." 

The special 1895 edition listed the following societies with the following introduction:

"Since the organization of the Masonic Lodge June 18, 1859, the mystic and secret rights and inner working of many other lodges have been taught in Valley Falls, and the following lodges are now prospering here: Royal Arch Masons, Valley Falls Chapter No. 8, R.A.M., organized March 27, 1867; Masonic Lodge No. 21, A.F.&A.M., is the oldest organized society in Valley Falls, organized June 18, 1859; Odd Fellows, Crescent Lodge No. 86, IOOF, was organized March 15, 1872; Modern Woodman, Delaware Camp, No. 1451, M.W.A. was worked up by A.W. Russell and organized July 25, 1890; United Workmen, organized May 15, 1880; Grand Army, Captain Louis Stafford Post No. 225, G.A.R., was organized Nov. 20, 1881; L. of G.A.R., Captain Louis Stafford Circle, No. 7, Ladies of the G.A.R., organized Sept. 1, 1887; K. & L. of S., Sunflower Council, No. 8, Knights and Ladies of Security, organized March 6, 1892, by A.M. Russell; F.A. Association, Valley Falls Council, No. 118, Fraternal Aid Association was organized Jan. 25, 1894. 

Several other lodges, among them the Knights of Pythias, Sons of Veterans, United Order of Templars, Sons of Temperance, Knights of Columbia, Independent Order of Good Templars and Juvenile Templars, were organized, but a lack of interest on the part of members brought about their suspensions."

The historical society museum will be open Saturday, Jan. 8, at 10 a.m. Closing time dependent on temperatures.