Explored by Coronado in 1541.

Visited by M. DeBourgmont in l724.

Examined by Lewis and Clark in 1804.

Founding of the Iowa Mission, 1837.

Printing press setup at Iowa Mission, 1843.

Treaty with Iowas, Sacs, Foxes and Kickapoos, 1854.

Organization in 1855, with five municipal townships.

Pioneer newspaper, The Doniphan Constitutionalist, issued 1856.

Highland University chartered, 1858.

The Roseport & Palmetto railroad begun building 1800. First railroad in both territory and county.

Contains 379 square miles.

Has 92 miles of river boundry.

Length, 27 miles; width, 25 miles.

Named for General Alexander William Doniphan.

Has eight water courses: Wolf river, Independence creek, Brush creek, Peter's creek, Mosquito creek, Cedar creek, Walnut creek, and Rock creek.

The following interesting sketch of the great man for whom our County was named, is offered to our readers with confidence. The sketch is new and accurate, having been prepared in 1904, by a special correspondent of the St. Joseph News. A greater monument to his memory than Doniphan County, Kansas, the famous Missouri general can never hope to have, and while we are grateful for the name, he should be thankful for the perpetuation of his memory.

"Born in Kentucky in 1808, Doniphan became a Missourian in 1830.

"In the Mormon riots of Jackson, Lafayette, Clay and Ray counties, in the cause of law and order, and by his own bravery and clear judgment, prevented fighting and bloodshed that would have been a reproach to the state.

"After the capture of some of the Mormon leaders, it is said that at a council of the leading militia officers, it was voted by nearly three to one to put these leaders to death. Col. Lewis Wood says that their lives were only saved by the intervention of General Doniphan, who not only urged his authority as a brigadier, but declared he would defend the prisoners with his own life.

"The personality of Doniphan was most interesting. It is related that when Abraham Lincoln met the Missourian, he said: "Doniphan, you are the only man I have ever met whose appearance came up to my expectations.

"In his history of Doniphan's expedition, John T. Hughes has said: "While commanding the army, Colonel Doniphan rarely wore any military dress; so he could not be distinguished from one of the men whom he commanded. He fared as the soldiers, and often prepared his own meals. Any private man in his camp might approach him with the greatest freedom, and converse on whatever topic pleased him. Whoever had business might approach his tent and wake him, for he neither had a body guard nor persons to transact business br him."

"Doniphan won more than a local fame as a public speaker. He served in the legislature in 1836, 1840 and 1845 as a Whig. He had studied law in Kentucky and his career at the Missouri bar was indeed worthy. He refused to become a candidate for office many times, but in 1861 he served his cause in the convention that assumed control of the affairs of Missouri. This convention is usually called the "Gamble Convention," though Hamilton B. Gamble did not preside over it. As the chairman of the committee on federation relations, and later as the governor of the state, Gamble was indeed a leading figure. Doniphan, a strong Union man, was a member of this committee on federal relations, a committee that for a time controlled the convention, and through it the whole state, keeping Missouri in the Union.

"General Doniphan married a daughter of Col. John Thornton of Clay county. Their two sons died before reaching the age of manhood. The Doniphan and Thornton families were united by more than one marriage. Col. John Doniphan, a nephew of Gen. A. W. Doniphan, married a daughter of Col. John Thornton. Gen. A. W. Doniphan died in 1887, and was buried at Liberty, his old home.

"In 1846 General Doniphan, then colonel of the first regiment of Missouri cavalry, accompanied Gen. Kearney to Mexico, by way of the Santa Fe trail. Arduous marches were theirs. Battles were fought, and late in the year General Kearney left Doniphan in command, and undertook his journey to California.

"On Christmas Day 1846, occurred the battle of Brazito, between Doniphan and his men on one side and the Mexicans on the other. The Missourians were victorious, and two days later entered the city of El Paso without opposition. However, the Missourians were not far in the interior of a hostile country. Doniphan had orders to report to Gen. Wool, who was supposed to be at Chihuahua, and these orders were vague, for it was not known where Gen. Wool was then operating. Doniphan's orders were to report to Wool, not to invade the state of Chihuahua. In telling the story of the expedition, John T. Hughes says:

"Thus was Colonel Doniphan circumstanced: With an army less than 1,000 strong he was on his march, leading through inhospitable sandy wastes, against a powerful city, which had been deemed of so much importance by the government that Gen. Wool, with 3,500 men and a heavy park of artillery, had been directed hither to effect its subjugation. What then must have been the feelings of Col. Doniphan and his men, when they saw the states of Chihuahua and Durango in arms to receive them, not the remotest prospect of succor from Gen. Wool, and intervening and unpeopled deserts precluding the possibility of successful retreat? 'Victory or death' were the alternatives.'

"The Missourians began their extraordinary march across the deserts into the heart of the hostile country. The Mexicans came out to meet them it[sic] the river Sacramento, out of the city of Chihuahua. Then ensued a desperate battle, which was the crown of all the victories won by the Missourians.

"The strength of Doniphan was 924 men and six pieces of artillery. The Mexicans had 4,224 men and ten pieces of artillery. The Americans lost one killed and eleven wounded, while the Mexicans lost 320 killed, 560 wounded and 72 taken prisoners.

"Doniphan had brought Ortiz, the curate of El Paso, with his little army. In his account of the expedition, Hughes relates that Ortiz asked Doniphan to allow him to retire to a place of safety, saying: 'Your force is too weak to contend against such a force as the Mexican army, and in so strong a position; you will all be inevitably destroyed or captured and put in chains. The Mexicans will whip you beyond a doubt. I beg you will permit me to remain out of danger.'

"Col, Doniphan relied most goodhumoredly: 'If I should be victorious I will continue to treat you in a manlier every way worthy of your dignity. If your own people should be the conquerors and you should fall into their hands, they will certainly do you no hurt. So, being safe in either event, you must have little cause for apprehension.'

"When the battle was over, Col. Doniphan observed to the curate: "Well, Ortiz, what do you think now about the Mexicans whipping my boys?' The other replied: 'Ah, sir, they would have defeated you if you had fought like men, but you fought like devils.'

"Hughes says that so certain of victory were the Mexicans, that they had prepared strings and handcuffs with which they meant to drive us prisoners to the City of Mexico, as they did the Texans in 1841.

"The situation of Doniphan and his men is well described by the commander in a letter to Judge John F. Hyland of Lexington, Mo. Colonel Doniphan wrote after the battle of Sacramento, which had given Chihuahua to the Americans. He says: 'My orders are to report to General Wool; but I now learn that instead of taking the City of Chihuahua, he is shut up at Saltillo by Santa Anna. Our position will be ticklish, if Santa Anna should compel Taylor or Wool even to fall back. We are out of the reach of help, and it would be as unsafe to go backward as forward. High spirits and a bold front, is perhaps the best policy.

"'My men are rough, ragged and ready having one more of the R's than General Taylor himself. We have been in service nine months; any of my men, after marching 2,000 miles, over mountains and deserts, have not received one dollar of their pay, yet they stand it without murmuring. Half rations, hard marches and no clothes! But they are still game.'

"There was little more fighting for Doniphan's Missourians. Buena Vesta had been added to the names of brilliant victories in the Mexican war. The fatigues of a long and trying journey were to be endured, however. To Saltillo was a distance of 675 miles, through an arid and desolate country. Arriving there the Missourians made their way by various stages to New Orleans, and then home to Missouri.

"St. Louis gave to the returning volunteers a generous and joyful welcome. At Camp Lucas, Olive, Twelfth and Fourteenth streets, Thos. H. Benton addressed the Mexican veterans, in the presence of 7,000 people. All over the state celebrations were in progress. Missouri received her valiant sons with expressions of appreciation and affection.

"One of the choice treasures of the Missouri Historical Society is a flag of the St. Louis Light Artillery in the Mexican war. It bears a laurel wreath, and the names, "Canad, Pueblo de Taos, Brazito, Sacamento," embroidered upon it.

"Doniphan and his Missourians had made one of the most extraordinary expeditions of the time. Missouri has many reasons to revere the memory of Doniphan. He served his state through all the years of a long life. Citizenship of the order represented in the career of Alexander William Doniphan should be held in high esteem.

WHITE MAN.---M. DeBourgmont commanding the French expedition from Ft. Orleans at the mouth of the Osage to the Padouca country in the region of the Smoky Hill river was the first white man to set foot on what is now Doniphan county soil. Coronado saw the Missouri river somewhere in the vicinity of White Cloud; but there is no certain proof that he kicked up any dust in the territory now belonging to our nook of the river. DeBourgmont, with his command, crossed the Missouri river and landed "within gunshot" of the Canzas' village which was situated at the Independence creek near the present site of Doniphan. This was on the 3rd of May, 1724. The exact location of the ancient Canzas village was discovered in 1903 by George J. Remsbnrg,[sic] an officer of the Western Historical Society.

SCHOOL.---The first school for white children was in what now is District No. 56, near Highland. John F. Sparks taught the first term, in 1858. At a meeting held July 23rd of that year, school officers were elected: S. Pritchard, Director, M. M. Sharp, clerk, and C. L. Martin, treasurer. The school house was a log cabin erected on or near the present site of the school house in District No. 56.

DEATH. ---Mrs. Comstock, an emigrant's wife, died on the Oregon Trail near the Mission, in 1842. This is said to have been the first death of a white person within the limits of the county.

GRAVEYARD.---The Cumberland Presbyterian graveyard just west of Wolf river, near Bayne's bridge, is the oldest in the country. One of the first to be buried therein was the wife of a man named Comstock, who died near the Mission in 1842. The place contains many unmarked graves, while many others are marked only by rude stones. Some years ago the wagon read ran directly through the graveyard, the wheels of the wagons grinding against headstones and jolting over the sunken and forgotten graves.

GROVE.---The first grove set out on the high prairie was by Chas. H. Phillips. in 1856, on his land near the present site of Bendena, owned by J. W. Howard. The trees grew from year-old saplings brought from the Missouri river near Doniphan. For many years this grove was the pride of the prairies, and was known far and wide as Prairie Grove. In 1881 a heavy sleet and rain storm stripped the proud old trunks of their boughs, and they fell into decay. A straggling few of the old trees still remain as sad remnants of a once beautiful grove.

HlSTORY.---In 186S Smith & Vaughan published the first history of the county. It was called "A History and Directory" but was a directory rather than a history. It contained a list of the names of residents of the county and a catalogue of business and professional men with their advertisements; also the county's Soldiers' Register.

L0DGE.---Smithton Lodge No. 1, A. F. & A. M., was organized early in 1854 at the old town of Smithton in Burr Oak township. The lodge received its charter NovemJer 30, 1854. First officers of this first lodge were: J. W. Smith, W. M., E. H. Rhinehart, S. W., D. Vandersiice, Jr., W.

BAPTIST CHURCH.---The Baptists had their first organzation at Wathena, in June 1858, when eight members were present. Elder W. Price and Rev. E. Alward were organizers.

CATHOLIC CHURCH.---The first Catholic church was erected in Doniphan in 1857, under the pastoral charge of Father Augustine Wirth, O. S. B., but services were held in private houses as early as 1855.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. ---The Congregationalists had their first organization at Highland in October, 1865. Fifteen members were present. The pastor was Rev. H. P. Hobznson.

CHURCH OF GOD.---The first congregation of the Church of God, sometimes insinuatingly called "Soul Sleepers," assembled at the school house in District No. 7, known as Syracuse district, in 1865, under the direction of W. P. Shockey of Nebraska. Wm. J. Ore was chosen to act as local director, an he performed faithfully the duties of that office for nearly forty years, or until his death in 1904, The congregation began with about forty members.

M. E. CHURCH.---The first organization of which we have a record was at Smithton, in Burr Oak township, with Rev. Hiram Burcli pastor in charge. This was August 1, 1855.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.---The Presbyterians had their first organization at the Mission near the present site of Highland in 1842. Seven members were present.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH.---An Episcopal society was formed at Troy in 1857 by Rev. Ryan. Services were held in the court house.

COLORED BAPTIST CHURCH.---The Negro Baptist church at White Cloud organized in 1875, was the first in the county and was in charge of Rev. J. H. Strawther. Twenty-siv[sic] members were present at the organizing.

Revs. S. M. Irwin and Wm. Hamilton, acting under the auspices of the American Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian church made the first settlement near the present site of Highland on a small stream to which was given the name of Mission Creek. This was in 1837.

The first harvester and binder combined to do work in our county, and perhaps also the first in the state, was owned by A. Low, who used it to cut and bind his 1863 crop of wheat grown on his farm just northwest of Doniphan. Mr. Low, being in a hurry to have his wheat harvested, had a machine expressed to him from a factory in the East, the express charges amounting to $425.

The first steamboat to plow the turbid waters of the Missouri, washing the shores of Doniphan county belonged to Major Long who passed up the river in it in 1819.

In 1869 [possibly should have been 1859] the Roseport & Palmetto railroad, not only the first road in the county, but also the first in the state, was built from the Missouri river at Elwood to Wathena, a distance of about four miles. On account of war troubles the building of the road was abandoned until 1868, when it was extended, taking the name St. Joseph & Denver City railroad.

The first printing press was operated at the Mission by S. M. Irvin and Wm. Hamilton, missionaries to the Iowas and Sacs and Foxes. The first of a number of books and phamphlets relating to Indian education, text books in the Iowa language, was printed there in 1842-3.

The first emigrant train, made up of about 25 wagons and led by Peter Burnett, passed through the northern part of the county in 1842. This was the beginning of the north branch of the California and Oregon trail from the Bellemont bend of the Missouri.

On the 3rd of July 1845, Rev. Wm. Hamilton performed the first marriage ceremony when he united Silas Peirce and Mary Shook at the Mission.

Beyond a doubt the first Fourth of July celebration was at the mouth of Independence creek in 1804, by the explorers, Lewis and Clark and party.

The birth of the first white child occurred at the Mission. There, in 1837, Elliott, son of Missionary S. M. Irvin, was born. No doubt the little fellow was an object of much curiosity to the Indians, many of whom had never seen a "pale faced" baby.

Mill creek was the site of the first mill which was built to grind meal for the Indians, who, becoming suspicious of the improvements of the whites, proved their ingratitude by burning the mill. The date of the building of the mill is not certainly known, but it was destroyed about 1853.

The Doniphan Constitutionalist was the pioneer paper, started in 1856 by a pro-slavery Democrat, Thomas J. Key. It was published at Doniphan. It suspended publication in the summer of 1858.

Dr. F. C. Hoffmeir, of Troy, was the pioneer physician in 1871.

Adam Brenner built the, first elevator in Doniphan in 1867. This was also the first elavator[sic] in the state. Capacity, 40,000 bushels; cost, $16,000; destroyed by fire in 1872; insurance; $3,000.

J. P. Johnson opened the first bank at Highland in 1862. At that time then were only two other banks in the state, one at Lawrence and one at Atchison.

The first survey line was made by J. P. Johnson of Highland in 1854, by government appointment. It was the first line west of the Missouri river and was the base line for the surveys of 1855-6.

Wm. Flynn owned and operated the first distillery in the county, if not in the state, near Iowa Point in 1854.

The first company of the first regiment sent from Kansas into the army was organized at Elwood.

The first lodge of Good Templars both in the county and in the state was instituted at Iowa Point in 1856.

School District No. 1 was organized at Wathena in the spring of 1858.

The first County Fair was held at Troy in August, 1868.

The first telephone line ran into Troy about 1884.

The county is watered by a number of copious streams fed by ever flowing springs, generously scattered throughout the land. The main streams are here described:

Cedar Creek.---This stream takes its rise in the western part of the county, following in a northeasterly coarse to within about three and one half miles west of Iowa Point, and from thence, taking an easterly direction and empty into the Missouri at Iowa Point. This stream supplies the county with good stock water, and drains about fifty square miles of the north western part of the county.

Wolf River.---This fine stream rises beyond the western line of the county, a little south of the centre. With its tributaries it drains a large scope of the best farming land in the county. Rising near the county line, it takes an easterly direction for four or five miles, which brings it near the centre of Wolf River township. From thence it journeys in a northeasterly direction for nearly six miles, or until it reaches the Baynes's Bridge country, where it changes to a northerly course, which it continues in until it finds the Missouri, about three and a half miles north of Highland Station. There is a plentiful supply of timber on this stream.

Mosquito Creek.---This stream rises near the centre of the county, not far from Troy and flows almost directly north into the Missouri, near the old town of Mt. Vernon. This creek, also, well supplied with timber, and, if there is anything in a name, with mosquitoes also.

Peter's Creek.---Peter's Creek begins its course at Troy and wanders due east to Wathena, a distance of about eight miles where a change is made, the course leading south a mile before the Missouri is reached. For some time the waters of this stream propelled the wheels of the grist mill. There is a large tract of rich farm land in Peter's Creek valley.

Walnut Creek.---This stream rises on the line between Washington and Marion townships, and takes a southeasterly direction, emptying into the Missouri at Palermo. The stream is about five miles in length.

Brush Creek.---Brush Creek rises in Marion township about five miles due west of Palermo and flows in a southeasterly direction and empties into the Missouri at Geary City. Time stream is about five miles in length, and its waters have been used to propel the machinery of a mill. The valley is wide and fertile.

Rock Creek.---This creek rises a few miles southwest of Troy, and with its tributaries drains nearly the whole southeasterly portion of the county. It runs almost due south emptying into the Independence near Doniphan. The valley of this stream was full of settlers at an early day when wood and water were the chief requisites.

Independence River.---This stream is one of the largest in the county. The Independence rises in the south-western part of the county, near the western line, and flows in a southeasterly direction, emptying into the Missouri just below Doniphan. The length of the stream is about twelve miles, and its bottoms are extensive and exceedingly fertile.

Cold Springs Branch.--- This pretty little stream received its name from Cold Spings,[sic] an old station on the Pottawatomie Trail near the present site of Bendena. The spring from which it takes its rise was of an icy nature which suggested the name to some thirsty traveller. The stream is about six miles long. Flowing west and north, it empties into Wolf River below Ryan Station.

The sketch here presented of the once famous Pony Express was prepared by us from notes taken from the Daily News "History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph," from newspaper and magazine articles on the subject, and from the lips of pioneers by whose doors lay the route followed by the riders of the Express.

The Pony Express was established in 1860 by Wm. H. Russell, of the overland freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell. Omitting the particulars of the gigantic preparations made for the establishing of the Express, we set our self at once to a description of its beginning and actual working. All arrangements having been satisfactorily completed within a comparatively short period of sixty days, the day was set for the first start, and on that date, April 3, 1860, at 5:30 p.m., immediately after the arrival of the Hannibal and Joseph train, Johnny Fry, the first rider, started from the yard of the Pikes' Peak stables, south of Patee Park in St. Joseph, Missouri, Riding to the express office on North Second street, he received his dispatches there and at the firing of a cannon, dashed away to the ferry boat with the loud hurrahs of a vast croud ringing in his ears.

Landing on Kansas soil at Elwood, he set spurs to his horse and galloped away across the prairies of Doniphan, Brown and Nemeha counties to Senecca, passing the four stations and covering the intervening space of sixty miles in about eight hours. The general direction of his route through our County lay by the present sites of Wathena, Troy, Bendena, Denton and Purcell, almost along the course of the Rock Island road.

The distance between St. Joseph and San Francisco, 1950 miles, was covered in 232 hours. The start from San Francisco was made at the same hour of the same day, but a steamer was used from San Francisco to Sacramento, from which latter place the riding actually began, the rider being Harry Roff. The route lay through Forts Kearney, Laramie, Bridger, Salt Lake City, Camp Floyd, Carson City, Washoe Silver Mines, Placerville, and many other places to Sacramento.

Although called the Pony Express, as a matter of fact, no ponies were used. American horses from Iowa and Illinois were purchased for the occasion. The Express was operated for a period of about eighteen months, from April 1860 to November, 1861. It has been said that the operators lost about $100,000 by the undertaking.

Johnny Fry, John Burnett, Jack Keetley, Chas. Cliff and Gus Cliff were among the early riders out of St. Joseph. For their services they received about forty dollars a month and their maintainance. While in St. Joseph they were quartered at the Patee House. Kennekuk, in Brown County, once well known to prairie travellers, but now scarcely more than a memory, was a meal station for the riders, the first west of St. Joseph. The hotel there was kept by Mr. Baldwin, whose daughter, Mrs. John Dollinds, Still lives in that vicinity and delights in telling of the Express riders and other interesting people and scenes met and witnessed there in her girlhood days.

The following interesting description is from the Daily News History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, pp. 92-3:

All the riders were young men, selected for their nerve, light weight, and general fitness. No effort was made to uniform them, and they dressed as their individual fancy dictated, the usual costume being a buckskin hunting shirt, cloth troussers tucked into a pair of high boots, and a jockey cap or slouch hat. All rode armed. At first a Spencer rifle was carried strapped to the back, in addition to a part of army (Colt's) revolvers in their holsters. The rifle, however, was found useless, and was soon abandoned, The equipment of the horses was a light riding saddle and bridle, with the saddle bags, or "mochila," of heavy leather. These had holes cut in them so that they would fit over the horn and tree of the saddle. The mochilas had four pockets called "cantinas," one in each corner, so as to have one in front and one behind each leg of the rider; in these the mail was placed. Three of these pockets were locked and opened enroute at military posts and at Salt Lake City, and under no circumstances at any other place. The fourth was for way stations, for which each station keeper had a key, and also contained a way bill, or a time card, on which a record of arrival and departure was kept. The same mochila was transferred from pony to pony and from rider to rider, until it was carried from one terminus to the other. The letters, before being placed in the pockets, were wrapped in oiled silk to preserve them from the moisture. The maximum weight of any one mail was twenty pounds; but this was rarely reached. The charges were originally $5.00 for each letter of one half ounce or less; but afterward this was reduced to $2.50 for each letter not exceeding one ounce, this being in addition to the regular United States postage. Especially made light weight paper was generally used to reduce the expense. Special editions of the Eastern newspapers were printed on tissue paper to enable them to reach subscribers on the Pacific coast. This, however, was more of an advertisement, there being little or no demand for them at their necessarily large price.

At first, stations averaged twenty-five miles apart, and each rider covered seventy-five miles daily. Later, stations were established at intermediate points, reducing the distance between them, in some cases to ten miles, the distance between the stations being regulated by the character of the country. This change was made in the interest of quicker time, it having been demonstrated that horses could not be kept at the top of their speed for so great a distance as twenty-five miles. At the stations, relays of horses were kept, and the station keeper's duties included having a pony ready, bridled and saddled, half an hour before the express was due. Upon approaching a station, the rider would loosen the mochila from his saddle, so that he could leap from his pony as soon as he reached the station, throw the mochila over the saddle of the fresh horse, jump on, and ride off. Two minutes was the maximum time allowed, at stations, whether it was to change riders or horses. At relay stations where riders were changed, the incoming man would unbuckle his mochila before arriving, and hand to his successor, who would start off on a gallop as soon as his hand could grasp it. Time was seldom lost at stations. Stationkeepers and relay-riders were always on the lookout. In the day time the pony could be seen for a considerable distance, and at night a few well known yells would bring everything into readiness in a very short time. As a rule, the riders would do seventy-five miles over their route west bouud one day, returning over the same distance with the east bound express. The first great feat of the Pony Express was the trial trip when on a wager of $200,000 the express riders covered the distance between St. Joseph and San Francisco in ten days, winning with only five minutes to spare. For this performance were required 300 horses and 125 riders. The second was the delivery of the inaugural address of President Lincoln, in 1861, when only 7 days and 17 hours were required to make the trip. The average of travel was 10.7 miles an hour, but the 665 miles lying between St. Joseph and Denver were covered in two days and 21 hours, only 31 minutes being required for the last ten miles. This wonderful performance stands without parallel in history.

Three histories of Doniphan County have been written. The first was by Smith & Vaughn, in 1868. It was an historical directory containing the names and places of residence of all male adults and heads of families in the county. Also it contains the County soldiers' register, a business directory, short historical sketches, advertisements of business men and merchants, and information concerning the state and nation. It was considered a handy and useful work in its day, and even now is found curious and interesting to those who love to know what men were thinking of and doing in the pioneer days. Only a few copies are known to be in existence.

The second effort was the "Historical Plat Book of Doniphan County, Kansas," published in 1882 by J. S. Bird of Chicago. This is a more pretentious work than its predecessor, giving a fair collection of historical miscellany, together with short biographical notes of prominent citizens, and maps and pictures of residences and places of business. Unfortunately the book contains many errors, and the illustrations are not excellent; but the maps are as good as any that had been produced up to that time.

The third venture in the historical and biographical field was made by the founder of the Kansas Chief, a paper that gave blood and bone and sinew to the youth and manhood of Doniphan county from its earliest days. The historical edition of the Chief, issued in the fall of 1893 contained 20 pages of matter carefully prepared and well printed with an abundance of fine illustrations. This edition was the finest in workmanship and the most complete in detail of any similar work that we have seen. Its very worthy editor, whose name is well known to every Donipban county citizen, presented in the work the experience of his life. He was a recognized authority on matters political, historical and biographical, and while he never professed to be a preacher, he preached more and better sermons on good conduct and right living, than any preacher that ever occupied a pulpit in the West. The historical edition of his great paper is full of his old time fire and spirit. It is a real literary treasure, a mine of information, and those who have preserved it will be delighted to review it, and they will have something to be grateful for all their lives. May the sod ever grow green on the honored grave of this good and great man!