March Madness, 1923-style

by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

"Harmony between Valley Falls and Ozawkie basketball fans" headlined the sports column of the Farmers' Vindicator (predecessor to the Valley Falls Vindicator) Friday, March 23, 1923, with the following story:

"After Ozawkie defeated Valley Falls basketball players with the aid of the referee in the Jefferson County Tournament played at Perry last week, the Ozawkie basketball fans sent a Valley Falls basketball fan a loving cup by special delivery made of Ozawkie's silver with about as many holes in it as there are in Ozawkie. The loving cup was wrapped in black crepe paper with the following note: 'You have a bunch of log rollers up there but you ain't got no basketball players.'

"The cup and the note are on display in the front window of Lou Hauck's big store.

"The Valley Falls fan is very proud of this cup because he has drunk out of it at the Ozawkie town well on many a hot summer day, also proud of the fact that Ozawkie admits that we can beat them at log rolling and many other things. After the display is removed from Hauck's store, the owner expects to donate it to the Valley Falls High School to be placed in the case among the many trophies won by the Valley Falls High School teams."

The museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 24.

March window displays at museum

by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

A frolicking lamb and ferocious lion, colorful murals created by artist Susan Phillips, to humor the mood of the "in and out" days of the unpredictable month of March set the scene for the window display of the Valley Falls Historical Society museum.

Calendar of events reminder signs include the first day of spring and St. Patrick's Day. Special emphasis on St. Patrick's Day is induced by the appearance of Irish piglet replica, Miss Brigit Molly O'Swine resplendent with shamrock tiara, green slipper shod feet, and an Irish blessing attached to her garment.

An enlarged eagle placard mounted on a patriotic blue background and surrounded by armed service and American flags dominates the veterans' window display honoring U.S. military men and women past and present and serves as a constant reminder to support our troops worldwide.

The museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 17. Admission is free.

1863-64: Grasshopper v. Sautrelle; new school; Piazzek mill

Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

Grasshopper Falls vs. Sautrelle, an apparent bone of contention for a majority of the citizens of the pioneer village, proved a popular subject for the Grasshopper Falls Jeffersonian edited by Rufus H. Crosby until late in the year when S.H. Dodge became editor and the publication was the Kansas Jeffersonian.

The publication was a source for opinions, observations and pertinent daily news. A writer to the editor noted, "You perceive I have called the place 'Grasshopper' rather than 'Sautrelle,' the French name imposed by the last legislature. The people prefer English as being the mother tongue."

The Jeffersonian declared, "The name of the post office (recently moved) remains 'Grasshopper' and that our town will be just as soon as action can be taken by the legislature."

The news headlines at the same time were—Hurrah for Poland . . . "Eighty years ago a Polander came to Grasshopper Falls and hired on at small pay in the saw mill that had just been erected. He knew nothing of English, and had but 20 cents in the world. Today, that poor Polander is sole owner of the saw mill, together with a grist mill and woolen factory all the result of a good head joined with willing hands."

September of 1863, headline: "Grasshopper Falls still lives . . . Our friends, in directing their letters to this place, should know the name of our post office has never been changed. Outside of two families, the detestable name of Sautrelle is utterly ignored by our people . . . In after years, the name Sautrelle will only be mentioned as an example of unmitigated folly on the part of the authors."

November 25, 1863, notice: remember the school meeting Monday evening. All who want a new school must be there, and all who don't want one, be on hand to give their objections.

December 7, 1863 — New school house at the school meeting on Monday evening, the board of directors were instructed to procure a site for new school house. It will be built next summer and from the general feeling of our community, will be a large and credible building.

December 1863, Warning — New hoop skirt dangerous. A woman came near losing her life lately in Leavenworth by severing an artery by a broken spring in her hoop skirt. The ladies will take warning.

April 17, 1864 — (Portion of a letter from Rufus H. Crosby) "I shall stop at Harford, Conn., and purchase and ship two looms for the woolen factory of Joseph Miller Piazzek at Grasshopper Falls. Mr. Piazzek deserves much credit in the enterprise manifest by him in improving the water power of the falls, and let me predict that ten or fifteen years will see Joseph Miller Piazzek the proprietor of the most extensive woolen factory in the far west."

The historial society's museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 10.

Grasshopper Falls in the 1860s

- by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

Nearly a decade after James Frazier, Robert Riddle, Andrew J. Whitney, and Hozea B. Jolley drove stakes for their claim, Grasshopper Falls continued to grow.

Sometimes evidence of growing pains prevailed while periods of lethargy at other times seemed painfully lengthy. A sundry of items from the Kansas Jeffersonian and the Grasshopper Falls Jefferson best describe daily life in the pioneer village.

A loyal local citizen once stated, "We are located about right to become somewhat a city being about the center of a circle of larger towns, Topeka 26 miles southwest, Atchison 26 miles northeast Holton 20 miles west, and Horton 25 miles northwest. Lawrence and Leavenworth 30 to 35 miles southeast."

A school meeting in July of 1863 resulted in the following report:
"The school meeting Monday evening was the best attended and manifested the most interest of any one kind we ever participated in.

"Wm. Crosby was chosen president and Jas. A. Mann, secretary. A new district board was elected who voted to raise a tax of one half percent toward a new school house; one half percent for teachers' wages and a quarter percent for a contingent fund.

"All agree that we must have a good school house commenced as soon as next spring — building to be of stone, two stories high and suitable for a graded school. There are about 50 scholars in the district now.

"Meeting adjourned to meet first Monday in September. The disposition to have more school houses and less whiskey shops is a commendable feature in our village."

The contrasting items appeared in the same publication July 8, 1863, "All the sober people of Grasshopper Falls have been greatly outraged by the course pursued by the fummies in obtaining a permit to disgrace our thriving village with a whiskey shop. The law requires that before a license can be granted, a petitioner for the same must represent the willingness of a majority of the householders of the township. But how was it here? A majority of our citizens, the most substantial householders in the township knew nothing about it, until the license was secured, so slyly was the thing smuggled through by the liquor parties!

"And now we have heard them definantly boasting that they will sell liquor to whom they please regardless of the wholesome sentiment of the community! Shall such unscrupulous proceedings
be longer tolerated?"

The Valley Falls Historical Society museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 3. Admission is free.

Society windows honor Rev. King; show Lincoln raising 34-star flag

by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

A mega portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr., famed civil rights leader, dominates a window of the Valley Falls Historical Society Museum. Small military service flags and miniature American flags honor the memory of the slain activist and author of the renowned "I Have A Dream" phrase.

The museum's companion window display celebrates the entry of Kansas Territory into statehood with a colorful mural of sunflowers with "Happy Birthday" greetings and a painting of the Kansas state seal. Also featured is a silhouette drawing of Abraham Lincoln coupled with a Kansas magazine cover featuring Mr. Lincoln at the nation's Constitution Hall Jan. 29, 1861. In it, the President is raising the United States flag with its new 34th star, which adds historical significance in honoring the State of Kansas.

The historical society museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.

Sign recognizes Pioneer Cemetery at Valley Falls

by Clarke Davis, The Valley Falls Vindicator

A community project came to fruition Saturday morning when a sign was erected to denote the location of the Pioneer Cemetery at Valley Falls.

Volunteers work to install a new sign at the entrance to the Pioneer Cemetery at Valley Falls. Leavenworth-Jefferson Electric Cooperative dug the post holes and erected the sign posts. Photos by Clarke Davis

Joe Heinen, assistant manager of the Leavenworth-Jefferson Electric Cooperative, credited Maxine Hefty for being the inspiration behind acquiring the sign.

"We need a sign for that cemetery," Hefty kept reminding people who had been busy in recent years clearing, cleaning, and mowing the cemetery, which had been abandoned.

The Knights of Columbus had adopted the project for a time and many individuals and groups joined them in the restoration.

The tombstones were broken and scattered and small trees and brush had taken over the hilltop. Workers gathered up the stones, leveled the area, and made it possible to be mowed again.

Some of the individuals cited who had gone to extra effort on the project in recent years included Ted Montgomery, Earl Stevens, Bill Klenklen, and the late Tom Abramovitz. Large number of high school students joined the Knights on occasion to provide extra manpower.

Former county commissioner Francis Grollmes located some county funds dedicated to cemeteries that is now helping with the upkeep.

Heinen explained that the Knights were being paid to keep it mowed, but told the Delaware Township board to use the money recently to purchase the sign.

The sign was made by Pat and Vicki Langton, Perry.

The graveyard was first called the "Cemetery of the Lone Tree" according to research done a couple of years ago by Joe Kearns.

Township treasurer Maxine Hefty

According to Kearns' research, on file with the Valley Falls Historical Society, the first death in the new settlement was a 16-year-old son of George S. Hillyer, one of the earliest settlers. This along with the death of a young man named Scanlan in the spring of 1855 caused this area to be used for the burials.

The cemetery was given formal status in 1867 when James Frazier deeded a seven-acre parcel to the township. It took its named from a lone tree that stood atop the hill.

The cemetery was abandoned within two decades of its founding when the community established Rose Hill Cemetery. Some of the earlier graves were relocated. The named changed to Pioneer Cemetery in 1875.

Workers from electric cooperative dug the holes and set the sign posts as part of a community service project. Several volunteers showed up Saturday to drill the holes and mount the sign.

In dedicating the project to Maxine Hefty, Heinen noted that it also marked her retirement from the township board after 15 years as its treasurer. She will be followed by Lee Welborn.

The cemetery is located on the west edge of Valley Falls just off K-16 highway.

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1855-56: mill construction, Free State victory, and a hard winter

Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

Soon after the town site for Grasshopper (Valley) Falls was laid out and plans for the saw and grist mill building were begun, the town was surveyed by Isaac Cody in the spring of 1855. The town was officially named Grasshopper Falls. Andrew J. Whitney, one of the founders, was named postmaster on Dec. 21, 1855.

The original cabins of the settlers were not built on the town site. The first building on the town site was built by Adam T. Pattie, a pro-slavery man from Leavenworth, who located here in August of 1855, and built a frame building on the corner of Sycamore and Sarah streets. The building was used for a store and saloon.

On January 29, 1856, Adam T. Pattie was appointed postmaster of Grasshopper Falls. Pattie talked pro-slavery sentiments from his saloon and acted the spy on Free State men, sold whiskey, and made money. The Free State men organized a company for offensive and defensive warfare and, under the leadership of one Clark from Iowa, one night made a raid on Pattie's establishment, confiscating everything. Pattie left without ceremony and never returned.

The winter of 1855-56 was one of the most severe winters ever remembered by early settlers. It was bitter and cheerless. Early in December, a deep snow fell, which lay all winter. For six long weeks the sun was powerless to melt ice and snow. In the words of Miss Ring, pioneer school teacher, "The hardships and privations endured by the energetic and unflinching pioneers can never be known or experienced by emigrants now coming to Kansas for homes."

The Valley Falls Historical Society Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7.