Newton High School - Railroader Yearbook (Newton, KS)

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oEEEEEEEEEEE E EEEE EEE E EEEEEEEEEEEEEE Early days ol Newton In early summer of 1871 prospects in Kansas were good for a good record-setting Texas cattle trade. That summer, more Ionghorns than ever were headed northward. Texas cattlemen prepared to trail an estimated 700,000 head to Kansas. Newton appeared in 1871 as a rival cattle town to Abilene, with the rail line extended to Newton the long drive was short- ened by 65 miles. The town was staked out in 1870 by four men on August 28: Judge R. W. P. lVluse, D. L. Lankin, Samuel J. Crawford and an unknown merchant from Emporia. The men cut a one- half section town site that straddled the proposed Santa Fe railroad. Newton remained mounds of dirt and stakes until in Feb- ruary 1871 when three families located in Newton Township. Until April and the spring thaw, Newton existed in name only and in the fertile imagination of its projectors. With the warm weather wild blue grass grew up around the stakes marking the town's streets and lots. As it became known that Newton was to be the major shipping point for Texas cattle, the town grew, as many shrewd businessness moved in. lVluse returned to the town site to build the railroad land office. A few days later S. J. Bently unloaded lumber for his hotel, the Newton House. The National Hotel, owned by Henry Bulmer, also rose from the prairie. From this time on persons arrived daily, until by July 1, there were nearly 100 people living on the town site, wrote llfluse. A Texas cattle herder was astonished by the mushrooming town. We passed Newton in late lVlay. There was a blacksmith shop, a store, and a dozen or so dwellings, when we cameback 30 days later, it had grown to be quite a large town due to the railroad. It didn't seem possible but Newton sprang up almost over night. The Santa Fe intended to tap the cattle trade at Newton. In the spring of 1871 railroad officials made arrangements to operate a stockyard at Newton. Joseph lVlcCoy agreed to supervise A its building and induce Texas drovers to stop their herds at the newton cattle town, for a percentage of railroad receipts. Newton's yards were located about a mile and a half southwest of thetownsite with a capacity of 4000 head. A large cottage near the stockyard housed lVlc Coy and passing cattlemen. The stockyards and cottage cost the railroad nearly S10,000 and were reputed to be the most complete and convenient of any in Kansas. continued on page 4 fr- 7 1 RM L EH 3 Y AA 333333333 3 333333333333333 3 333333333 INTRODUCTION 3

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f ,,f. -7 ,vf,W'.7-f55:g,g',' wc: -I . ,Y , M4 ,, ' . .,. f,f , Y , ,.. ,M fs. '-fm-,. 1 ff 2 , f J 1 ff p.,' if X, 1 I1 I A I y -A ,Aa , xr l .i x Y It ,, f-1 P1 'Q ,r I' wud' 1. PLAYING IN their bun- ny suits are Myles New- berry and Rob McFarlane. 2. STUDENTS FROM Mrs. Jan Reber's Life Coping class tour KSIR. 3. HAVING A good time with athletes is Ross Heatwall, known to sportsmen as Meatball. Brett Barnhart is with him. 4. BALANCING THEIR trombones for a joke in first hour Wind Ensemble are Ken Janzen and Pete Kemme. 5. GOING UP for a shot against Campus defenders is Doug Reber. 6. AN IRON stirrup and leather of a harness symbolize the differences between a tiller of the soil andacowboy. 2 INTRODUCTION Ily Mathews Ke smaqzew Alley' L ! vt, f . , ,,.,. .. ,J I I I . W F , , .ri ,, . 2 , J X., ., Q . ..4, s . , 'lv' 35 Kelly Mathews Kelly Mathews 4, 8, , 'tr .f f..,,.. .,,.. , X WN , Q o - Q, I s HJ N U ,fm I c up I ,. . 2 I -...t ,Q fe- Ii ,, ,L : M: . Qg I ,-.. Ti U W5 .1 57 5 f I L' --I 4 ff--ff ,, I I I5 S 1 I g , If 1 gli Q 9 4

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EEEEE E EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E EEEEEEEEEEEE ln early lVlay over 8000 head of cattle bypassed Newton on their way to Abilene. In order to capture a large portion of the cattle trade the Santa Fe raced construction to Newton and on July 17, 1871, the first passenger train steamed into town. Daily runs of a mail and passenger train were made along with a special stock train that left early each morning. Going to Newton became a fad. IVlost of the town was squeezed into the three blocks north of the tracks. This section was mainly businesses. The heaviest residential housing focused three and one-half blocks northeast of the tracks. This was populated by families with children who tried to escape locomotive whistles, smoke and the moral elasticity of Newton's night life. Little construction occured south of the tracks, only a few lumber yards, dance houses, and brothels rose up. Newton glared with freshness, but exuberance and activity were just as strongly sensed by vistors as by residents. What had been survey stakes and imagination in April became by mid-August a bustling market community, an attractive lo- cation in which to spend and make money. Along with exuberance, an undercurrent of potential violence was felt. Nlain street often became a racing lane for yelling cowboys and drunken fools during the peak of New- ton's cattle trade. Townsmen saw transients as the chief cause of violence.ln Newton most transients carried weapons and gunshot accidents were frequent. ln July a man on horseback fired his pistol by accident, the ball passed almost entirely through a bystander. Bill Dow, a gambler and saloon keeper,stopped for a water- melon ,snack and a chat with Lottie Foster, an unfortunate girl. When Dow's friend Little lVlike began throwing water- melon rinds at Lottie, she seized a stick and chased him. Unable to catch him, Lottie turned on Dow, striking 'him with a heavy key. Dow swore and threw her on the ground, where- upon Lottie ran into the brothel, returning with a pistol, with which she promptly shot Dow three times, injuring him. Boisterous transients and an abundance of weapons were not the only reasons for violence in Newton. Cattle town business- men feared rampant violence, but being faced with unruly cattle traders, they were unable to establish an effective police force. To safeguard their investments from riot and arson they sought restrictions on violence. As the cowboy was a substantial part of the town s economic interchange the restrictions were such that a cowboy s spending would not be hampered in any way. The early city council meetings of cattle towns resulted in ordinances which curbed violence and provided for hiring a police force. ln Newton such legal safeguards were impossible, as. the town did not meet the lVlarch 1 deadline for incorpor- ation. With neither a mayor or council to draft ordinances Eor policemen to enforce regulations, Newton was governed Tmetweoktciligvnship constables and two Justices of the Peace. the sitxatimrugt upon these. four mennwas overwhelming. Qf teen hundred inroggespondent wrotei Here is a town of fif- ants, among which are some of the most uncouth and reckless. men in the world, who need the restraints of the law, if any people ever need them, that have 0 V9 Y UPON township organization for its government. continued on page 7 EDITOR'S NOTE: The information to 't ' ' thesis of John o. w I ' -- wr' e ms sfcfry was taken from the doctofa' 3 fnef. titled The Process of Civnlz t . Newton Kansas, 1871-1a73, written in 1968. a lon on the Kansas Fmmm' 33333333333 3 33333333 3 33333333333333 4 INTRODUCTION Q 3