Patrol Guard.—After the Cheyenne raid of 1878, the people in the western counties of Kansas, fearing another invasion, insisted that the state authorities should adopt some measures for their protection. As a result of the agitation the legislature of 1879 appropriated $20,000 as a military contingent fund, "to be placed at the disposal of the governor, and to be used at his discretion, for the purpose of protecting the settlers on the frontier against Indian depredations," and the governor was required to submit a full report to the next session of the legislature.

Soon after the passage of the act, Gov. St. John instructed Adjt.-Gen. P. S. Noble to organize a military company to patrol the frontier. A company was accordingly organized early in April, with the following officers: Captain, J. H. Hibbetts; first sergeant, John J. Webber; second sergeant, F. L. McIntyre; third sergeant, J. W. McWilliams; fourth sergeant, John McGrath; quartermaster sergeant, N. P. Dawson; saddle sergeant, E. M. Dixon; surgeon, Dr. C. T. Rigg; corporals, Albert Russell, F. D. Place, Lee Copes and D. B. Howland. A complete roster of the guard, as reported by the adjutant-general, shows the following privates: L. D. Collier, Charles Coffin, J. W. Chambers, E. H. Copes, Joseph Curry, W. O. Cochran, William Ditto, J. B. Elmore, J. F. Grismore, C. F. Gatliff, J. C. Gowdy, N. W. Hall, Frank Herbert, H. J. Hiatt, J. S. Lane, C. A. Martin, F. Meacham, Mike Meagher, C. J. Mullis, W. L. Parker, M. G. Potter, N. D. Settle, W. T. Slatten, Charles Smith, M. Thompson, Charles Warren, Walter Walker, W. P. White, G. R. Wheeler and C. A. Zapp.

On April 28, 1879, the entire company of 40 officers and men went into camp on the line between Kansas and the Indian Territory, about 35 miles southwest of Medicine Lodge, and from that time until November they were engaged in patrolling the border from Barber county west to the state line of Colorado. The men composing the guard were selected for their reliability and power of physical endurance. Most of them had seen service in the Union army during the Civil war. They were equipped with good horses and saddles and were armed with Peabody-Martini carbines and Colt's revolvers, both of 45 caliber. C. M. Scott, a man who knew the Indians well, was employed as an extra scout—a sort of secret agent—to stay in front and by keeping watch on the movements of the Indians be in a position to give warning to the patrol. By autumn the Indian scare was over and on Nov. 15, 1879, the guard was mustered out. In his message to the legislature of 1881 Gov. St. John reviewed the work of the company. (See St. John's Administration.)