Salina High School - Trail Yearbook (Salina, KS)

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ment in those days, there were dangerous situations which developed quite frequently. For instance, when Campbell and Muir were digging a well beside the house they had constructed, they were startled by a roar and a cloud of dust which appeared to be coming toward them. Fearing a tornado the two men took shelter in the house. They were even more amazed to find they were in the path of tremendous buffalo stampede. Fortunately for the two men, the herd parted as they came by the house and split into two groups, to leave the cabin with its two scared and shaking occupants unscathed. The settlement prospered as lndians, soldiers and hunters came to trade for necessities. Following the establishment of a trading post, it was quite natural that a hotel would be built to provide a place for the hunters and trappers to stay for a day or so between iaunts. So in the year of i359 the first hotel was built. ln this same year Saline County was officially organized by the Territorial Legis- lature. About this time Salina's first in- dustrial development began with the found- ing of a sawmill and a grist mill by Colonel Phillips. A little later postal service was established to the new settlement. During the civil war Salina was invaded by Confederate raiders. The town's only hardware was looted of arms, supplies and a number of horses were taken from settlers. The citizens formed a posse and attempted to capture the trouble makers but were un- able to overtake them. Phillips, Muir and Campbell all ioined in the hostilities. With lndians still a menace to be reckoned with, the citizens were considerably dis- turbed when a stage driver reported a band of lndians was approaching. The lndians proved to be a band of buffalo on the prowl. The nature of the early settlers was demonstrated when a school was demanded by the few parents who had brought children to the new settlement. The first school was established in one of the rooms of the old City Hotel by Ella Thacker in the fall of 'l86l. The first attempt to have a school found few students, but the idea grew ul- though the first school was of the subscrip- tion variety. The town continued to grow slowly until the spring of 1867 when the Kansas Pacific Railroad came this far. A gala celebration provided excitement for the time being and one of the famous characters of early days in Kansas, to become na- 7

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Sczlirm eaclaes enturjf Mark Wagons to Wings' was an accurate selection for the' slogan for the Centennial in Salina. Certainly the first settlers found the going easier by the use of wagons for their transportation. ln these days Salina, in particular, finds its guests and future home makers arriving almost daily through the use of wings. ln place of the characteristic buffalo wallows scattered about the countryside, now there are runways for the modern plane. Salina, with its natural location for the air- borne craft, is no exception for the landing strips for modern aircraft. Salina first came into notice as a part of the territory, which later became the great state of Kansas, when the area was visited by the Spaniard, Coronado, in the search for the seven cities of gold. Zebulon Pike was the first American to be sent to Kansas officially early in the 19th century and was also the first person to fly the United States flag over the territory now known as Kansas. Pike was officially sent to the Kansas territory in 1806. During the years from 1806 to 1856 Kansas was a territory in- habited mostly by lndians and buffalo and other wild game. ln l856 Preston B. Plumb decided the confluence of the Salina and Smoky Hill rivers was the ideal spot to found a settle- ment. With this idea in mind, a company was organized in Xenia, Ohio, but the idea didn't come to pass because some of the instigators of the settlement felt that the proposed Salina site was too far removed from other centers of population. ln the spring of 1857 publisher Horace Greeley sent Colonel William Phillips to Kansas on a special assignment for the New York Tribune. Phillips was impressed with the location as a potential townsite. But because of the warlike attitude of the ln- dians, a settlement was not attempted that year. The name Salina is an lndian name for the place where two rivers meet. At first the name was referred to as Saleena. ln the spring of 'l858 Phillips returned with three other men, James Muir, A. M. Campbell and L. O. Jaderborg, to the site at the iunction of the two rivers where they found an abandoned cabin. Here they began to establish the location of the present city of Salina. As in the founding of any new settle-

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tionally known, was among the group, James Butler Hickok, who became known as 'Wild Bill . He spent some time in Salina but be- came famous as the marshal of Abilene. As in most of the frontier settlements, fire was a constant threat and the growing metropolis was no exception. Both in 1871 and 1875 great devastating fires nearly wiped out the community. But some effects were realized from the sad experiences. Stone and brick structures began to be built by those who were determined to stay. As the city grew, citizens didn't lose sight of the need for education. A grade school was soon built and classes began to thrive. At this time there was little need for a high school. It wasn't until 1878 that education pro- gressed to the point that a graduation exer- cise was necessary for the first high school class which consisted of one boy and one girl, Maggie Rash and Arthur Day. With the graduation of the first class, the town began to dictate a need for a se- parate high school. The high school soon outgrew the third floor of 'Old Central' and was moved to the third floor of the Red Men's building at the corner of Santa Fe and Walnut. The school remained in these cramped quarters for a period of three years. ln 1900 the school acquired its own building, a new two story brick structure on the site of the present Roosevelt Junior High. This building seemed spacious to the admiring students. The second floor con- sisted of an assembly room, a recitation room, a cloak room and a hall. The shop and manual training rooms were relegated to the basement. Disadvantages soon developed however, in the new building. Faults in the plan and size for the school became apparent all too soon. People who visited the school com- plained of the size and construction. The plaster over the assembly room threatened all who entered. lt was a frequent happening to have a slab of plaster interrupt the quiet of the room. A new steel ceiling cured the situation. The obvious inadequacies of this building soon resulted in plans for a new school to be called Washington High. ln 1908 work was begun on this fine structure, it was completed by 1909 and on May 20, 1910, the first graduating class, numbering 36, was graduated from the building that was destined to be the high school in Salina for the next 42 years. B