Beginning Boom Days

When Editor & Publisher Frank Israel hit the streets of Benkelman with the first edition of the Dundy County Pioneer on Thursday, April 30, 1885, there was no shortage of either news or advertising for the first newspaper in the county. The big news was that a stream of homesteaders was beginning to flow into Southwest Nebraska and plenty of advertising was available from the new places of business which had opened in past weeks. The great swarm of land seekers which would eventually overrun Dundy County had not yet arrived but the advance guard was stepping off Burlington trains daily.

During the first four years after rails were laid along the Republican, the Burlington passenger trains had stopped in Benkelman only when a passenger was to get off or on, an event which occurred on an irregular basis. If a passenger was to board at Benkelman, the station agent had to telegraph the information down the line to inform the train crew. Otherwise, the trains zipped through without slowing. By the spring of 1885, this had changed and all passenger trains, as well as most freights, were stopping. Business for the Burlington had suddenly picked up at the remote depot.

Almost overnight Benkelman had become a boom town, already billing itself as the Hub of Commerce for a vast area of open land. Early in '85, Max and Haigler had yet to develop past the point of being country stores. Both were poised on the edge of becoming full-fledged boom towns. It would be another year before either realized the fantastic growth which first struck Benkelman, however. Dundy County was suddenly growing and the schedule of the Burlington gave Benkelman a distant edge in 1885.

The railroad maintained a large coal yard and a 42,000-gallon water tank at Benkelman to supply the needs of the steam locomotives. Because of this, the town was listed in timetables as a major stop, which looked good to prospective homesteaders in the east who were planning a trip to a part of the country they had never seen. In addition, Benkelman was the county seat and the location of the government land office in which all homesteaders had to deal when claiming land. The land office, in the early days, served not only Dundy County, but also part of Chase County and Northwest Kansas.

Land locating was the biggest business in Benkelman in 1885. For a reasonable fee, land agents, who were required by law to be licensed and bonded, would take homesteaders around the country to inspect tracts of land which were open. When a choice had been made, the land agents helped with the paperwork and directed the immigrants through dealings with the government land office. Locators were also notary publics, who were important officials in those days.

Land locating was lucrative, although it was not always an easy job. Immigrants might often want to look at several widely scattered locations, and as choice ground close to town grew scarce, locators and clients alike had to camp out for several nights when out in the more unpopulated regions.

Frank Israel took advantage of a clause in the Homestead Act when he started the Pioneer. The law required a filing of legal notices in the paper when land was claimed, and the set fee was $7.50. As was the case in small towns all across the Great Plains, the newspaper man arrived with a second-hand press and the proverbial shirt tail full of type, guaranteed a steady source of income from land notices.

Three such claims appeared in the first issue of the Pioneer, one each from the neighborhoods of Benkelman, Haigler and Max. The Benkelman area claim was by Dundy County Sheriff A. Terwilliger. The law required witnesses to vouch for the claimant and the sheriff. Among witnesses included Moses Collins, the man who had given his name to Collinsville. Another witness was Elmer Miller, former foreman of the "25" Ranch and first postmaster.

William C. Grigsby claimed land near Haigler and included Dundy County's first permanent resident, James W. Gray, among his witnesses. The Max claim went to John W. King.

In late spring and early summer the homesteaders moved in on a regular basis. Three trains a day were arriving from the east and nearly all carried at least one or two land seekers. In the first issues of the Pioneer, the editor tried to keep track of the number arriving, and the general area in which they settled. Some were going north all the way into Chase County. Many were staying in Dundy County near the railroad and river, but the majority of early arrivals were heading south into Kansas. No matter which direction they went, the homesteaders depended on Benkelman for supplies.

The Pioneer made note of eight women, all former school teachers, who took adjoining claims to the south toward Bird City. The first week in June, Israel commented on having seen five families unloading their goods from freight cars the preceding Monday. On June 25, it was mentioned that Land Agent J. Y. Winnings had located nine new families in the past few days. Also on June 25, the Pioneer gave a report from Ed Taylor, who had been appointed to take a census. Taylor said that he had counted 433 farms in Dundy County, most of which had been established since April 1.

All the newcomers were not homesteaders, of course. Many were taking advantage of the sudden surge in population by establishing businesses in Benkelman. The advertising in the first few issues of the Pioneer gives a good idea of how the town had grown from a few shacks and a half dozen places of business in only a few weeks.

The importance of land locators already has been mentioned. One of the most prominent of these was the team of Maple and Ringler. The Maple half of the partnership was also a licensed physician, who--so far as is known--was the first medical doctor in Dundy County. Apparently land locating and tending the ill and injured were not enough business because in early May the Pioneer reported Maple and Ringler were building a drugstore.

Through May and June, advertising for new businesses, or expansion of older ones, was appearing weekly. Naturally, the older established firms did the bulk of business in the early weeks of the boom. The leading retailer in town was Peter Robidoux, whose general merchandise emporium was still located south of the railroad tracks where Collinsville had begun. Robidoux offered clothing, shoes, flour and bacon, canned goods, saddles, harness, dried fruit, Studebaker wagons, kitchenware and household goods. The store maintained the business lead in spite of the fact there was plenty of stiff competition north of the tracks by midsummer.

J. P. Rotruck carried a line similar to that of Robidoux, and advertised heavily about a good stock of shelf hardware and tinware. Both Rice & Co. and Frank Pay & Co. were in general merchandise business along newly-named Chief Street, which ran north from the railroad.

Farmers who had not brought sufficient equipment with them from the east could go to Lytle Bros. for mowers, rakes, iron, wagon timber, or a whole wagon if they wanted one. If they wanted to travel in style, they could get a buggy available in several models. Anyone who was thinking about building could find bricks and steel nails there, and the homestead wife who needed a cookstove could find those in stock at Lytle Bros., too.

If a person were short of home furnishings, the J. P. Mathes Company had a good selection of furniture for parlor, chamber and kitchen, as well as a stock of the latest model sewing machines. As an added service to their furniture sales, in case anyone didn't live through the homesteading experience, Mathes offered a full line of undertaking and burial services, advertising a line of coffins and burial cases always on display. Mathes guaranteed funeral services "with trimmings in all its branches."

When Maple and Ringler got their new drugstore opened and built, a man named George A. Davis rented a corner of it to set himself up in the business of selling and repairing watches, clocks and jewelry.

In early May, the Pioneer had commented on the lack of a meat market in Benkelman. Within a few weeks that deficiency in the local business scene was corrected by Louis Vollers who dealt in both fresh and salted meat. His butcher shop was located in the rear of the new Benkelman Post Office.

H. L. Ogden, plasterer and mason, was willing to give a free estimate for construction work, and apparently had more work than he could handle. People who wanted to do their own building could go to Hallack & Howard who sold lumber, laths, shingles, lime and cement. The firm was also a leading dealer in both soft and hard coal, an important commodity on the treeless plains.

John McEvoy was both a carpenter and a wagon maker. He would build a new house or a new wagon, or repair old ones. McEvoy had some competition in the wagon and buggy manufacture and repair business in the form of Sheriff Terwilliger, a professional wagon maker when the law business was slow.

If transportation were needed around the countryside, Reynolds Brothers Livery, Feed and Stable advertised good, reliable rigs for rent. Reynolds Brothers could provide good grooming if a personal horse were left with them, and they provided dray service in any direction if freight needed moving.

The Dundy County Bank opened with "A Complete Central Banking Business," promising financial assistance to all who were in good credit shape.

The hungry could visit the Farnsworth Restaurant where warm meals were served at all hours. A single meal was 25 cents, but those who planned to be in town a few days could save money by buying a book of meal tickets good for 21 meals, each book selling for $4. Other meals were available at the Commercial Hotel and The Benkelman House Hotel dining rooms

At the Benkelman House, the Pioneer reported in early June, up to 75 guests a night were registering with many more being turned away. The Hotel was adding 20 more rooms, which would still not be enough to handle the rush of patrons but would help accommodate some of them. Both hotels registered many more guests than they had rooms each night. Patrons, often total strangers, shared rooms and the overflow slept on the floors in rooms and in the lobby. Some visitors in town, those who were not too demanding, usually spent the night in the livery barn.

At the office of the Pioneer, located in a lean-to propped against a wall of the Commercial Hotel, Publisher Israel was supplementing his income by selling insurance for the Phenix Company of Brooklyn, New York. Coverage was available "against loss of all kinds of buildings, merchandise, lumber yards, household goods from fire, lightning, tornadoes, cyclones, hurricanes, gales and wind storms," according to the large ads Israel placed in his paper each week.

Throughout the summer, construction continued as new businesses, especially general merchandise stores, opened in Benkelman. Business was good for everyone, but there was naturally fierce competition among merchants. In an effort to stimulate traffic through the stores, almost all of them relied on various gimmicks. One of the most successful come-ons practiced by all but three stores in Benkelman according to the Pioneer was the "Cash Keg." A keg of whiskey was set up in the store with a dipper handy. All male customers who made a cash purchase were invited to take a sip from the keg. This service was limited to men, of course. It was unheard of for women to consume distilled spirits.

Benkelman’s self-proclaimed position as Hub of Commerce for the Tri-State area was justified in 1885. To the north, a few miles across the Frenchman River, a group of promoters had staked out a townsite in the middle of nowhere and given it the grand name of Imperial. South of Benkelman a new town called Bird City was building and to the Southwest, in Cheyenne County, Kansas, a place with the name of Wano went from a patch of buffalo grass to an all-out boom town in less than five weeks. Wano was far ahead of Imperial and Bird City in the early days, although all three were experiencing rapid growth. And all three depended on Benkelman for supplies and mail. Freight was unloaded at the Benkelman rail depot and hauled to the outpost towns in ever increasing amounts. On June 11 the Pioneer reported that 20 wagon loads of lumber had left Benkelman in one day, bound for Bird City and Imperial. By early May, Benkelman and Wano had been connected by a daily stagecoach run, and by mid-summer the line had expanded to include daily trips to Imperial.

There was more to life than business and finding land, even in the hectic boom days. Daily life in Benkelman and the surrounding countryside went on with day-to-day occurrences that were helping to shape the way of life Dundy Countians would enjoy in the future.

The Benkelman Sabbath School reorganized in May and announced that a prayer meeting would be held every Sunday at 11:30 a.m. with preaching whenever a pastor was available. Mrs. C. G. Snail started giving music lessons on the piano and organ to interested youngsters and six-year-old Victor Neighbor fell from a horse fracturing his leg, requiring the services of a new physician in town, Dr. McClane.

By June the people of Dundy County and Cheyenne County in Kansas were beginning to demand bridges across the north and south forks of the Republican. On that subject the Pioneer editorialized on June 11: "Bridges must be built across both forks of the Republican at this place, and the time has come when they are an absolute necessity. The road from here to Kansas is daily lined with wagons loaded with lumber, merchandise and travelers. $1,600 is more than enough money for the erection and completion of two bridges, and we understand a great portion of said amount is already in the county treasury. Dundy County and the town of Benkelman are now daily failing to get the trade and traffic which is, by the location of the settlements south of the river, rightfully her own. So poke your neighbor in the ribs until every voter in the county will so agitate the bridge question that our county commissioners will apply the remedy."

While the newcomers were thinking about music lessons for children and bridges across the river, an occasional news item indicates Dundy County was still on the frontier. For example, the Pioneer mentioned that a bunch of cowboys shot up the town one Wednesday evening in mid-summer. Their enthusiasm cooled quickly when Captain Beltzer, a deputy sheriff, approached them with a sawed-off shotgun across his arm. Cowboy visits were already growing rare in Benkelman by then. In July the Pioneer reported that George Benkelman had given up in the face of encroaching sodbusters and moved to Denver.

As summer drew to a close, Benkelman began to acquire the appearance of a settled town, with the residents looking forward to steady growth. In the first week in September, L. Atkinson proved up his land claim near the Burlington depot and immediately subdivided a large part of it into town lots, allowing for expansion of Benkelman's residential section. And on September 17, the paper made a considerable editorial fuss over a new business. Miss Ida Beltzer had opened a dress-making and millinery shop, sure proof that Dundy County was becoming civilized, according to Editor Israel.

In the autumn of '85, Israel took a few days off and visited around the county to get a first-hand look at what had happened during the summer months. The little settlement of Max, he said, was shaping up as a first-class town. In Max he found the Ames and Price store selling drugs, groceries, dry goods and lumber. N. C. Curlee was another lumber dealer, with several carloads expected to arrive to supply the spring trade. The Douglas and Bishop Livery Barn was doing a good trade, with horses for sale and rigs for rent. A new hotel owned and managed by L. U. Parsons was a three-story structure, one of the best on the plains, offering complete accommodations for the weary traveler including meals and baths. And in December, a certain sign of progress was reported when the first school in Max was started.

On a visit to the western part of the county, Israel found Haigler in a spurt of growth even greater than that of Max. James Porter, who still ran his general store, had sold some of his land as lots and successfully launched Haigler as a town. On some of those were the Hallack and Howard Lumber Yard, the Farrell Restaurant, D. P. Grady, blacksmith, and the Lee West Livery Barn. A new stage line was running daily trips from Haigler to Bird City, Wano, Imperial and Kingston, a town across the state line in Colorado. Except for Porter's Store, all those business had come into existence since the spring.

Enough newcomers were coming to Haigler to provide anywhere from 50 to 70 guests a night at the Station House, and, on occasion, an overflow had to sleep at the livery barn or on benches at the train depot. A man named Thomas Jennings had opened a combination meat market and saloon and was enjoying a rush of customers at both ends of his establishment. Another general store and an implement dealership were under construction in anticipation of a sodbuster rush in the spring.

After visits to Max and Haigler the Pioneer publisher returned to Benkelman with a report on changes in the county seat during the 29 weeks since the first issue of his paper had come out in April. On November 12, Israel published a Benkelman update which listed the business in town as five large dry goods and general merchandise houses, two hotels, three restaurants, two printing offices, two large lumber yards, a bank with two more in the process of erection, two furniture stores, one large hardware store, one saddle and harness shop, one shoemaker, two blacksmith shops, two wagon makers' shops, two saloons, three drug stores, two real estate offices, two large livery stables, one meat market, one barber shop, one millinery store, three law offices, one large roller skating rink, two flour and feed stores and a half dozen other buildings under construction. Back in April, the paper reminded readers, Benkelman had consisted of six houses and six places of business.

One of the new places on that list, the McClane Brothers Roller Rink, deserves special mention simply because it serves as an indication that there were both time and money available for recreation amid the hustle and bustle of building a town and settling the county. Roller skating was a popular pastime in the west during the 1880's and the Benkelman rink did a brisk business. They were open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with Friday afternoons set apart for ladies only. Daily admission was a dime per person.

One more note from the November 12 issue of the Pioneer is worth mention. That issue contained Dundy County election results which showed 235 voters had cast ballots, Remembering that voters had to be over 21 in those days, and women were not allowed to vote, this turnout indicates how quickly the county was filling with people.

Most of those people naturally lived outside the bustling towns along the railroad. They were farmers living out on the land, and they were finding out homesteading was not as easy in practice as it had sounded when they had left their eastern homes.

Continued in V. Out on the Lone Prarie