History of Grant County, Kansas facts for kids
Grant County is a county located in southwest Kansas, in the Central United States. Its county seat and only city is Ulysses.
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Exploring Grant County's Past
Grant County is in the High Plains region, in the southwestern part of Kansas. It's about 27 miles from the Colorado border and 26 miles from the Oklahoma border. The main city, Ulysses, is about 3,050 feet above sea level.
The county is 24 miles wide and 24 miles long. It's mostly flat, but there are some hills and valleys near the Cimarron River, which flows along the southern edge. Other streams like the North Fork of the Cimarron River and Bear Creek also have rolling land around them. These streams usually don't carry much water, but heavy rains to the west can cause floods. Long ago, the Cimarron River was likely a very powerful river, much bigger than it is today.
Two important places in Grant County's early history are the ancient spring called Wagonbed Springs and the old trading path that became known as the Santa Fe Trail.
Ancient Times in Grant County
Long, long ago, western Kansas was very different from how it is now. Scientists have found bones and tusks from huge animals called mastodons, which lived about five million years ago! They've also found petrified trees and ferns deep in riverbanks, and even imprints of water creatures in limestone. This tells us that this area was once a warm, wet place with lots of plants, and even an inland ocean before that.
Because there's a lot of natural gas deep underground, we know that millions of years ago, this region was like a semi-tropical jungle with tons of plants.
In 1922, railroad workers found the skeleton of a young woman while digging east of Ulysses. They thought she was a victim of an old Indian attack. They were puzzled because she seemed to have been buried standing up. They carefully reburied her in the Ulysses cemetery. Today, we think it might have been a special prehistoric burial, as similar ones have been found in the area.
Pottery found in the southeast part of the county has been dated by the Smithsonian Institution to be from 200 to 800 A.D. Some other pottery found nearby might be even older!
Native American Life
For thousands of years, this land was a giant pasture for animals. Millions of shaggy buffalo roamed the prairies. Native American tribes like the Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Pawnee followed these herds. The buffalo provided everything they needed: food, clothing, and tools. Even the smallest bone could become a needle, and thin animal tendons could be used as thread. These tribes left behind clues of their lives, such as flint arrowheads, burnt circles in the soil, grinding stones, and scraping knives.
Spanish Explorers Arrive
About 60 years before the English started settling on the east coast of North America, the history of what is now western Kansas was being written in Spanish.
When the first Europeans arrived, a group of Apache people lived in this area. The first European explorer to come here was Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541. He was returning to Mexico after searching for gold in a place called Quivira, which turned out to be just grass huts.
Coronado's travel notes say they returned to Mexico "along a shorter route known to the natives." It's likely they were led south from the Arkansas River, through the old Bear Creek pass, to what later became the Cimarron cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail. They probably got water at the Springs on the Cimarron.
This area shares history with New Mexico because the Spanish were the first Europeans to explore and interact with the native people of the plains. The first lasting Spanish settlement in New Mexico was started in 1598. Later, in 1610, the capital was set up in Santa Fe.
Between Coronado's visit and the Santa Fe Trail days (about 300 years), there were at least 10 recorded Spanish trips from New Mexico into this region. Many other unofficial trips also happened.
Some Spaniards, like Coronado, came looking for gold. Others were ordered to find French traders who were entering land Spain claimed. In 1706, Captain Juan Ulibarri led a trip to bring back Christianized Picuris Pueblo Indians who had run away from Spanish rule. They had gone to a place called El Cuartelejo in Scott County, Kansas. Ulibarri heard reports of French people living in walled houses, but he didn't go after them because it was getting late in the season.
The Spanish wanted the runaway Picuris people back because they worried that if one group escaped, all the native people in New Mexico might leave. Since the Spanish hadn't found gold, they wanted to keep what they had done "in the name of God." So, the rebels were taken back to New Mexico "for the good of their eternal souls." In his notes, Captain Ulibarri described this plains region as "the place where even the Apaches lose themselves."
Another reason for Spanish trips east from Pecos was to capture native people and take them back as slaves, also claiming it was to "save their souls." Even though the government didn't approve, this became a common practice.
Like people always do, these explorers left things behind. The Spanish exhibit at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas used to show three Spanish items, all from southwest Kansas:
- a sword from Finney County
- a horse bit found near Plains, Kansas
- and another sword made in Toledo, Spain, found in Grant County
The Toledo sword was found in 1938 by Ray Kepley in the southwest part of Grant County, on a hill above the North Fork of the Cimarron River. Two other similar swords were reportedly found along the North Fork, but they can't be found now.
A French religious medal from about 1750 was found near Wagonbed Springs long ago. The person who found it was convinced to put it in the state museum. However, when someone tried to find it later to photograph it, it was gone. This medal was the only local sign of the French presence, which the Spanish had tried so hard to keep out.
During this time, Native American tribes on the plains got horses. This completely changed their way of life. Tribes like the Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and the fierce Pawnee became very powerful. They pushed the less mobile Plains Apaches southward.
More than 20 years before cities like Atchison, Topeka, and Lawrence were founded, a busy trail ran through Grant County. This trail carried goods from the east to Santa Fe and brought back silver and gold.
The Many Flags of Grant County
Spain claimed a huge amount of land, more than it could really control. This, along with wars and problems back in Spain, led to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. This purchase included almost all of Kansas, except for the very southwest corner. The Arkansas River was the northern border of Spanish land, and the 100th meridian (where Dodge City, Kansas, is now) was the eastern border in this part of the plains. So, the area where Grant County is located remained a foreign country even after the rest of Kansas became part of the United States.
If this southwest corner of Kansas had been settled between 1541 and 1854, its people would have been very confused! During that time, five different nations claimed the area, and ownership changed at least nine times. Also, the region was under five different U.S. territorial governments before Kansas became a state in 1861.
The first flag to fly over Grant County (in a way) was Spain's, with Coronado's trip. The French explorer LaSalle claimed the area in 1684, adding a second flag. After the French and Indian War, Spain claimed the region again.
In 1821, Mexico became independent from Spain. All the land that was New Spain then became the Republic of Mexico, adding the third flag.
Many settlers from the east moved into Texas. In 1836, after battles like the Alamo and San Jacinto, Texas became an independent republic, flying its "Lone Star" flag. Its northern and eastern borders stayed the same.
After a long debate about slavery, and some political moves by Sam Houston with the British, this region became part of the United States as a somewhat unwanted part of the state of Texas in 1845.
The area became more valued when the U.S. government agreed in 1850 to pay Texas ten million dollars for its claims outside its current state borders.
The Kansas Territory was set up in 1854. This included the Grant County area, all of Colorado up to the Rocky Mountains, and land north along the Platte River in what is now Nebraska. The city of Denver, Colorado, was actually founded in what was then Arapahoe County, Kansas! It was named after the territorial governor.
It seems amazing now, but when Kansas became a state in 1861, a huge area of land (44,509 square miles), including the gold fields in the Rockies, was rejected as "unfit" to be part of Kansas. The western border was only placed as far west as it is because people thought the region might be useful for grazing animals for eastern Kansas farmers.
How Grant County Was Formed
In 1873, the part of Kansas west of Range 25 was divided into 25 new counties. One of these new counties was Grant.
Grant County, Kansas was named after Ulysses S. Grant, who was the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877). He was also a four-star general for the Union in the U.S. Civil War and fought in the Mexican–American War. The first survey to set up the county borders happened in the summer of 1874.
In 1883, some counties, including Grant, disappeared. Parts of Grant County became part of Hamilton County and the newly created Finney County.
But on June 9, 1888, Grant County was created again as a Kansas county, with its original borders. The first officials for the new Grant County were sworn in on June 18, 1888.
In October 1888, there was an election to decide which town would be the county seat of Grant County. Ulysses won! Here were the results:
- Ulysses = 578 votes
- Appomattox = 268 votes
- Shockeyville = 41 votes
- Golden = 31 votes
- Spurgeon = 2 votes
Early Towns in Grant County
Many of the early towns in Grant County are no longer there, except for "New" Ulysses (now just called Ulysses) and Hickok.
Old and New Ulysses
- "Old" Ulysses was started in 1885. It grew into a busy western town with about 1,500 people. It had hotels, restaurants, saloons, a bank, gambling houses, a large school, a church, a newspaper office, and even an opera house! In 1909, "Old" Ulysses moved to the site of "New" Ulysses.
- "New" Ulysses was officially started on June 30, 1909. Today, the city of Ulysses has grown much larger than its original boundaries.
Other Early Settlements
- Surprise-Tilden was founded as Surprise in 1885. Its post office name changed to Tilden in 1887.
- Cincinnati-Appomattox was founded as Cincinnati in 1887. It later changed its name to Appomattox and had about 1,000 people. It was the main town competing with Ulysses to be the county seat.
- Shockey (Shockeyville) was started in 1886 and grew to about 50 people.
- Golden was founded in 1886 with 50 people. There is still a cemetery near where the old village was.
- Zionville was started in 1885. It had a store that was the center of town, and Sunday School and church services were held in a settler's home. The Zionville cemetery is still there.
- Lawson was founded in 1886 and had 25 people.
- Waterford was started in 1886. It was an Irish settlement near the Cimarron River, close to the border of Grant and Stevens counties.
- Gognac (or Goguac) was founded in 1885 in Stanton County, but its post office later moved to Grant County. It was just one building that served as a store and post office.
- Spurgeon had 15 people and only lasted about four years.
- Rock Island was planned as a town, and many lots were sold, but no buildings were ever built, and it never had a post office.
- Hickock was planned in 1928, and a small community still exists there today.
