Old Tescott - Mural wall painting located in Hal's hangout garden, downtown Tescott.
Ottawa County History
...a look back at our past.
...a look back at our past.
Alfalfa Mill in Minneapolis, KS
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We're located near the cross-roads of America!
Visit the Ottawa County Historical Museum
110 S Concord St Minneapolis, KS
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*Photos on this page are credited to kansasmemory.org, Kansas State Historical Society, Copy and Reuse Restrictions Apply.
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Ottawa County, Kansas was established in on February 27, 1860 but, was not organized until November 1866.
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The county was named for the Ottawa Indians, and was founded by William Stitt, George Darling and Seymour Ayers.
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Ottawa County, Kansas, History
For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. The earliest recorded exploration of the County was in 1724 by the Bourgmont Expedition passing through on a mission to open trade with the Apache in western Kansas and points beyond. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. U.S. Army Captain Zebulon Pike’s expedition of 1806 provides us with a much more detailed account of the lay of the land in Ottawa County, but it was not altogether favorable. |
Additional Historical Information Available at:
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What Pike recorded about Kansas, comparing it to a desert, affected U.S. policy for years to come. The area became a dumping ground for eastern Indian tribes, and Kansas did not become a territory open to settlement until 1854. Pike’s six days in Ottawa County began near what is now Culver and exited near Delphos. A limestone monument to Pike’s expedition was completed just west of Delphos in 1962 and offers a panoramic view of Pike’s “desert”.
In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized. Then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. Like other Kansas Counties named for Indian tribes that did not actually inhabit their namesake County, our County’s name, given to us by the State Legislature, comes from the Ottawa Indians who were actually relocated to what is now the area of Ottawa, Kansas in Franklin County. |
The Kanza, or Kaw Indians were the predominant tribe found in Ottawa County, which was also home to Shawnee, Pawnee, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapahoe and Sioux.
The right of the Kanza Indians to the lands now comprised in Ottawa County was recognized by treaties the first of which was made in 1815. By a second treaty in 1825, this tribe ceded that part of their lands that included approximately townships 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 south of what is present day Ottawa County. In 1846, the Kanza tribe ceded the remaining part of what was to become Ottawa County in exchange for a new twenty square mile reservation in the region of Council Grove.
In 1854 the Kansas Territory was organized. The first white men to inhabit the territory were trappers, gold seekers and hunters throughout the 1850’s. Buffalo sustained the County’s early residents through the early 70’s by which time their numbers were so depleted they were difficult and unprofitable to harvest. The first wheat was planted in the county in 1867.
In 1861 Kansas became the 34th state in a compromise that established Missouri as a “slave” state and Kansas as a “free” state.
Though Ottawa County was defined and described by the legislature of 1860, it was not formally organized until 1866. Ayersburg (near present day Lindsey) had been designated by the governor as the temporary county seat. At the first election in 1860 Minneapolis was chosen as the county seat. This was confirmed by additional votes in 1870 and 1872.
The Civil War, Indian raids and drought stalled full development of the County in the early 60’s but protective stockades in such locations as Lindsey (Fort Solomon) and Delphos afforded refuge for neighboring families from raiding Indians. It was not unusual for early settlers to abandon their homestead for months at a time or to “winter over” in more comfortable quarters in larger towns such as Junction City or Salina. Hostile Indians were a constant threat through 1870, but the last recorded fatality at the hands of an Indian was in June, 1869.
Settlers persevered, surviving tornados and grasshopper invasions and by 1875 the County’s population was 4,429, an increase of over 2,300 in just five years, due in large part to the arrival of Civil War veterans and postwar relocation. By 1875 the County had two newspapers, 36 school houses and held its first County Fair.
Prior to the days when incorporation became the designation of a place or settlement as a city, establishment of a post office often labeled locales as official towns or cities and gained them mention on maps or at least points of reference. Post offices were the key link between the frontier and the settled East and signaled civilization and safety to potential newcomers. The first post offices in Ottawa County were established in Bennington and Ayersberg on July 16, 1864. Many other post offices have come and gone from the County including Coal Creek, Culver, Lamar, Wells, Niles, Ada, Verdi, Sumnerville, Penquite, Bluffton, York, Windsor, Churchill (Tescott), Vine Creek and Lindsey.
The right of the Kanza Indians to the lands now comprised in Ottawa County was recognized by treaties the first of which was made in 1815. By a second treaty in 1825, this tribe ceded that part of their lands that included approximately townships 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 south of what is present day Ottawa County. In 1846, the Kanza tribe ceded the remaining part of what was to become Ottawa County in exchange for a new twenty square mile reservation in the region of Council Grove.
In 1854 the Kansas Territory was organized. The first white men to inhabit the territory were trappers, gold seekers and hunters throughout the 1850’s. Buffalo sustained the County’s early residents through the early 70’s by which time their numbers were so depleted they were difficult and unprofitable to harvest. The first wheat was planted in the county in 1867.
In 1861 Kansas became the 34th state in a compromise that established Missouri as a “slave” state and Kansas as a “free” state.
Though Ottawa County was defined and described by the legislature of 1860, it was not formally organized until 1866. Ayersburg (near present day Lindsey) had been designated by the governor as the temporary county seat. At the first election in 1860 Minneapolis was chosen as the county seat. This was confirmed by additional votes in 1870 and 1872.
The Civil War, Indian raids and drought stalled full development of the County in the early 60’s but protective stockades in such locations as Lindsey (Fort Solomon) and Delphos afforded refuge for neighboring families from raiding Indians. It was not unusual for early settlers to abandon their homestead for months at a time or to “winter over” in more comfortable quarters in larger towns such as Junction City or Salina. Hostile Indians were a constant threat through 1870, but the last recorded fatality at the hands of an Indian was in June, 1869.
Settlers persevered, surviving tornados and grasshopper invasions and by 1875 the County’s population was 4,429, an increase of over 2,300 in just five years, due in large part to the arrival of Civil War veterans and postwar relocation. By 1875 the County had two newspapers, 36 school houses and held its first County Fair.
Prior to the days when incorporation became the designation of a place or settlement as a city, establishment of a post office often labeled locales as official towns or cities and gained them mention on maps or at least points of reference. Post offices were the key link between the frontier and the settled East and signaled civilization and safety to potential newcomers. The first post offices in Ottawa County were established in Bennington and Ayersberg on July 16, 1864. Many other post offices have come and gone from the County including Coal Creek, Culver, Lamar, Wells, Niles, Ada, Verdi, Sumnerville, Penquite, Bluffton, York, Windsor, Churchill (Tescott), Vine Creek and Lindsey.
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Locations near water sources, forts or stockades usually dictated the location of early efforts to establish towns in the County, but it was the routing of the first of stage lines then railroads that was the deciding factor in the ultimate success of early settlements. Government land was given to the railroads on the theory that adjacent land would increase in value significantly, spurring investment and migration. The first train arrived in Ottawa County in 1876.
The earliest commercial developments were those that sprung up to meet the basic needs of the growing number of settlers and centered on the natural resources at hand. Timber stands along creeks and rivers led to the establishment of sawmills, salt was extracted from salt springs, red sandstone and limestone were quarried and even coal was mined briefly from small veins throughout the county. |
Notable Dates in Ottawa County, Kansas History
