History of Montgomery County, Kansas
The history of Montgomery county reveals this locality as the spot where the Osage Indian made his last stand before the white man's advance in spreading civilization over the plains of Kansas. It was here that he was crowded off of the reserve traded him by the "Great Father" in 1825, but which he had really occupied from the first years of the nineteenth century. For at least fifty years he had been master of this domain and here much of the tangible history of the several bands of the tribe was made.
From the era of "squatter" settlement, the final treaty with the Red Man and the legitimate settlement by the white man. down through the organization and development of the county, the pages of this book are replete with events and incidents which mark the stages of advancement toward the splendid civilization of the present day.
The publisher of this volume and those who have rendered valuable assistance in the preparation of its descriptive part have realized the importance of the work and have, therefore, labored assiduously toward an accurate and reliable production, and one which shall not only be full and thorough as to substantial facts, but which shall serve as the basis of future publications touching the history of Montgomery county.
For the preparation of valuable articles for this volume we acknowledge our obligation to the following citizens of the county and commend their efforts to the confidence of the generations to come: Ex-Senator H.W. Young, Hon. William Dunkin and Hon. W.T. Yoe, of Independence; T.F. Andress. M.D., of Liberty; Dr. T.C. Frazier, of Coffeyville; Hon. J.R. Charlton, of Caney; and Miss Josie H. Carl, of Cherryvale. To the many citizens who have furnished information and extended other favors to the writers hereof we desire to express our appreciation and hereby extend to them the compliments of the literary board.
To John S. Gilmore, of Fredonia, are we indebted for an important article for this work, properly placed to his credit, and we wish, publicly, to make acknowledgement of the same.
In the biographical department of the work are represented worthy citizens from every honorable walk of life. It was our wish that every of the county participate in the space alloted to this department. and while hosts of them have done so, some of them have denied us not only their story, but their substantial co-operation; yet the merits of the book have not thus been impaired. Our accompanying illustrations represent pioneers, worthy people of a later day, and well known and historic objects of the county. These add interest and attractiveness to the book, on the whole, making the biographical and pictorial department by no means the least important features of the work.
If this volume shall meet the expectations of its patrons and shall, in some measure, render them an equivalent for the confidence bestowed upon the enterprise, then shall we feel that our efforts have not been in vain. The Publisher.
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Montgomery county now ranks as the seventh Kansas county in population and, as shown by the United States census of 1990, forms a part of the largest contiguous area west of the Mississippi river, having a population in excess of forty-five to the square mile. It is between twenty four and twenty-five miles in width east and west, and between twenty-seven and twenty-eight miles in length north and south. It is the third county west from the Missouri line, on the southern tier, and adjoins the Indian Territory on the south. Labette county forms its entire eastern boundary and Wilson its northern, while on The west it adjoins Chautauqua and a portion of Elk. Neosho county corners with it on the northeast. /div>
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