Damaging flood and ice, 1881

- by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

"We don't refer to Noah's Flood, but we mean the recent 'Old High' the Delaware has been on," reported G.D. Ingersoll, editor of the Feb. 12, 1881, Valley Falls New Era.

He continued, "The usually quiet and unostentatious stream has been on a regular 'old bender' and has attracted considerable attention. She began to raise last Friday evening and kept swelling her dimensions till Tuesday when she was at her highest. Water was two feet deep on Piazzek's mill floor and within three feet of the highest raise the oldest settler can remember.

"All Sunday night men were busily engaged carrying flour and grain out of the mill and luckily enough, the miller lost no grain. The ice had now broken up and great blocks as large as a house were rushing down the mighty current towards the Kansas River.

"Much anxiety was now manifested concerning the safety of the bridges and mills on account of the floating ice. Monday morning a large cake struck the northwest corner of the Piazzek Mill and broke one of the large corner posts. A large gorge had formed below the mill, and the way to clear it was a conundrum.

"Mr. Hayward, the miller, solved it by putting eight charges of powder into half gallon jugs with well varnished fuses attached to them. The 'little brown jugs' were then sunk under ice, the fuse lighted, and the work was accomplished.

"Tuesday evening a mass of ice struck the trestle under the east end of the Kansas Central (RR) bridge and tore it away. The water is now falling and the mill men are repairing the mill."

The February weather scenario was not ended. in the Feb. 19, 1881, issue of the New Era, the editor reported, "The storm has been immense. A whole week we've been cut off from the rest of the world. Snow blockades all around. A whole week without mail. No wonder everyone has the blues. The biggest snow storm the oldest inhabitant remembers. Drifts as large as a house in front of every man's door. Terrible in the extreme, but the Rubicon is crossed."

The museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19.

School children explore the past at the museum

- by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

The Valley Falls Historical Society played host to local students from grades two through six celebrating Kansas Day, Friday, Jan. 28.

The students and teachers assembled at the museum at 30 minute intervals from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The teachers presented their students with a list of historical items to locate throughout the museum. Following the search, the visitors were invited to tour the museum and to see the collections, artifacts and antiques on display throughout the two-story building. Museum hosts were on hand to guide and answer questions.

The special interests of the groups were as varied as the ages and genders of the visitors. The sheepskin throw rug drew the attention of a few who chose to stretch out prone on the throw to experience the soft spun hair.

The baby stroller of recent vintage was recognized by more advanced groups while glittery party shoes, jewelry and a graduation dress were declared awesome. Some more conservative young women shunned the extravagance of the graduation attire.

Top honors for adult and youth admirers was won by the ever popular stereoscope. Lines formed by those waiting for a look-see of the hand-held "scope" to view the 3-D image of the post card type pictures displayed.

Close rivals in popularity were the country school desks and bench-like seats of graduated sizes for use by the student's physical size requirements. Ink wells, stick pens, slates, and first-year readers shared the rivalry.

Another crowd pleaser was the collection of Valley Falls high school senior graduation class composites. Young descendents surrounded the photo displays seeking school day pictures of parents, relatives or friends.

A miniature, partially functional typewriter from the bank, numerous cameras, toys, wagons and a scooter commanded viewing time from those whose interest focused on that historical era.

An antique album with thick pages of unidentified ancestral photos whetted the curiosity of a couple of youngsters. They were so intrigued they devoted their visiting time to carefully turning pages, commenting and frequently giggling about the wearing apparel and hair styles.

A small lad startled his peers by exclaiming "Isn't it fantastic?" when observing the huge display of intricate sailor's knots. His companion examined the larger knots of tightly bound cords with tiny exploring fingers.

Finale: A youthful departing guest announced "Wish I owned this place!"

The Valley Falls Historical Society's museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 12.

Kansas or Bust, part 3

— compiled by Betty Jane Wilson

Part III of III

Mrs. Bliss recalls early days living in Grasshopper (Valley) Falls. "Who would have dreamed that in fifty years from the time that I landed in Grasshopper Falls, I would be comfortably located in a house of our own, not more than a block from where I first started housekeeping."

She described their first home. "The house had four rooms below and an attic we used for a store room. We reached it by a step ladder as far as it would go, then we climbed the best we could until we landed safely above. 

"We had only been keeping house about two months when I was taken very ill. We called a doctor by the name of Coyle. This was Saturday night, Oct. 30, and rain coming down in torrents. Before morning we had an addition to the family, a dear little baby boy. 

"In December, Mr. Bliss and Strickland bought the Curtis Hicks Hardware Store. In March of the following year, we thought our young hopeful, then five months, needed a new perambulator, so we proceeded to hire Mr. Dunn's 'one horse shay' with the horse hitched in front and drove to Atchison. We purchased the finest baby buggy they had in the city. It was the only one. I was happy to have something to take the baby out in and believe me, I was 'some beans'. As to my knowledge, it was the only buggy in town at that time. Five and a half years later, I had it remodelled for the second heir to the Bliss fortune. By taking the tongue off the front (for then we had pulled the buggy) and having handles something like those that are now used on the back and we pushed the vehicle in the front of us.

"My first meeting with Mr. Kendall was as a young man in Mr. Rufus Crosby's store." (Later A. D. Kendall of Kendall State Bank) "And Mr. John Dornblasser, also clerking in Mr. Crosby's store. I remember buying a toothbrush holder from Mr. Dornblasser. It was of white iron stone china and had little holes in the bottom and a saucer to catch the dripping water. He sold it to me for a bouquet holder saying that the holes were there to let the water run out. I was too timid to tell him what it really was. 

"My first callers were Mrs. Mark Hillyer, an aunt of Mrs. Kendall, and a Mrs. Jones, the Congregational minister's wife. Mr. G. W. McCammon was one of our early acquaintances. Mr. McCammon was teaching at what I believe is now called Pleasant Ridge School House." (G. W. McCammon, later, was builder of the building that now houses the Valley Falls Historical Society Museum.)

"He came often to spend the evening or Sunday afternoon or evening with us. He was lonely and so were we. Later on, Miss LeLe Goodrich came to visit her aunt, Mrs. Hillyer, and when Mr. McCammon became aquainted with her, his visits to our home were not so frequent. They were finally married.

"On May 18, 1872, we drove to Leavenworth to attend the celebration of the new bridge over the Missouri River. While we were there, we learned the first passenger train was to leave Atchison for Grasshopper Falls, so we sent the team home, and went to Atchison, thereby coming home on the first passenger train that ran over that track.

"Many things flit through my mind as I think of the pioneer days such as shoutings of desperadoes (I being an eye witness to one shooting affair), of the grasshoppers, the drought, the building of churches and many more incidents that I haven't time to touch upon, but I will close my paper with these few lines— 'Proud of Kansas? Yes, I am. In the onward march Kansas sets the pace and was never known to lag in the race. If the nation should lack presidential timber, Kansas can furnish it. Please take our number.'"

The Valley Falls Historical Society's museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5.

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.

Window display honors Valley Falls' Christmas birthday

— by Betty Jane Wilson, Valley Falls Historical Society President

The Valley Falls Historical Society's seasonal window scene depicting a Grasshopper Falls birthday greeting, deer and buffalo, reminiscent of the town's discovery combined with traditional holiday good wishes will remain on display until late January 2011, when a new theme will be displayed.

The veteran's window, honoring military service men and women, past and present, will usher in the New Year in mid-January 2011.

The society's museum will be closed Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. Winter operating hours will be announced at a later date.