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Situated on the High Plains in the far southwestern part of Kansas,
Grant County was created in 1887 out of Hamilton County territory, by an act of
the Kansas Legislature and named in honor of
General Ulysses S. Grant.
Long
before the county was formed; however, numerous travelers made their way through
the area along the
Cimarron Branch of the old
Santa Fe Trail. Mostly prairie, these hardy pioneers traveled along the
Cimarron River
that, unfortunately, was dry most of the time, even back then.
The
Santa Fe Trail entered what was later to become Grant County midway of its
eastern boundary and continued its southwesterly course, crossing the North Fork
of the
Cimarron River, before making its way to the well-known "Lower Springs,"
later known as the "Wagon Bed Spring" on the
Cimarron River. The Jornada stretch was a perilous route for both men and
animals in the dry season as the wagon trains often ran out of water and their
arrival at the oasis of Wagon Bed Spring was a
welcome relief.
Grant County is the second county north of the
Oklahoma
line and the second east from
Colorado,
the census at the time it was created in 1887 was 2,716 people, 653 of whom were
householders.
When
Grant County was first established there were two candidates for the county seat
--
Ulysses and and
Tilden (later called
Appomattox.) The
governor's proclamation was not made until June, 1888, which named
Ulysses as the temporary county seat
and appointed County Officers. The county is divided into three townships --
Lincoln, Sullivan and Sherman. Some of the first post offices were established
in the now extinct towns of
Shockey,
Gognac,
Lawson,
Waterford, as well as in
the county seat of
Ulysses.
A few months later, an election was held to
determine the permanent location of the county seat on October 16, 1888. The voters had to decide between
Ulysses and
Tilden (later called
Appomattox) and the
county seat fight was fierce. At that time,
George Washington Earp, cousin to the more famous Earp brothers,
was the mayor and constable of
Ulysses. According to legend,
George Earp was just as
"free with his gun” as
Wyatt and
his bunch.
George Earp
would later say that the
Ulysses Town
Company imported several noted gun men "to protect the security of the ballot"
at the elections. Among them were
Bat Masterson,
Luke Short,
Ed Dlathe, Jim Drury, Bill Wells,
Ed Short and
others. The men built a lumber barricade across the street from the polling
place, stationing themselves behind it with their Winchesters and six-shooters,
in case of trouble or attempts to steal the ballot box. But, no trouble erupted
and in the end, the election resulted in a win for
Ulysses.
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But, like many other Kansas
Counties, the fight wouldn’t end there. With charges of corruption, the fight
went all the way to the Kansas
Supreme Court, where evidence was submitted by a
Tilden partisan named
Alvin Campbell. He introduced facts to show that the city council of
Ulysses had bonded the people to the extent of $36,000 to
buy votes, claiming that the total votes paid for was 388.
It was an “open secret” that votes were bought and “professional voters” had
been brought in and boarded for the requisite 30 days before the election, and
given $10 each when they had voted. But, it was not known at the time that this
had been done at public expense. It was also alleged that “professional toughs”
were also hired to intimidate the
Tilden voters.
The exposure of the fact that public funds had been used
created excitement among the citizens of the county, who found themselves
subject to the payment of bonds, and those to blame for the outrage
retaliated upon Alvin Campbell by tarring him in August, 1889.
It was also shown in court that
Tilden had bought
votes and engaged in irregular practices, and
Ulysses finally won, though it was a
dearly bought victory. Added to the $36,000 spent in the county seat fight
was $13,000 in bonds, which had been voted for a school house and $8,000
for a courthouse.
Continued Next Page
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Today, the site of
Old
Ulysses , is marked by this beautiful iron sign, Kathy Weiser, May, 2010.
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Old
Ulysses in 1906, courtesy Wichita State University.
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LEGENDS
OF KANSAS
