Kearny County, one of the newer counties of the state, is the second east from the Colorado line, and the third north from Oklahoma. It is bounded on the north by the county of Wichita; on the east by Finney; on the south by Grant, and on the west by Hamilton. It was named for Gen. Philip Kearny, an officer of note in the Civil and Indian wars. It was first created and the boundaries defined in 1879. These boundaries did not differ from those defined in 1887, which are the same as at present. The description was as follows: "Commencing at the intersection of the east line of range 35 west with the 4th standard parallel; thence south along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 27 south; thence west along township line to where it is intersected by the east line of range 39; thence north along range line to its intersection with the 4th standard parallel; thence east to the place of beginning."

In 1879 it was attached to Hamilton county for judicial purposes. In 1881 it was one of the unorganized counties to be attached to Ford for judicial purposes and was in the 16th district. In 1873 John O'Laughlin established a trading post on the Santa Fe trail at Lakin. This was the earliest settlement in the county. By 1883 Lakin had grown sufficient to have a newspaper (the Herald). Prior to 1885 there were few people in the county. At that time the Alameda Grape Growers association caused a boom by the purchase of 21,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Lakin, and in the spring of 1886 several thousand acres were planted to vines. The population of Lakin increased by about 400 people at the time this work was being done, and agitation for county organization was begun by the newspapers of the county, published at Lakin Hartland and Kearney, all three of these towns being candidates for the county seat.

In 1887, in response to a petition, Gov. Martin appointed S. S. Prouty census taker. The enumeration of the inhabitants was not an easy undertaking, owing to the fact that each legal voter was entitled to sign the petition of some one of the towns for county seat. The promoters representing each of the towns did everything they could to have as many as possible enumerated who would be on their side and leave those uncounted who were opposed. This led to several confusing situations. It was charged that Lakin shipped in from 200 to 300 transient voters from Colorado, who were distributed all over the county. These charges. came from Chantilly, which took the place of Kearney as the candidate in the northern part of the county, and was far ahead until the very last of the enumeration, which gave some color to the charges. Hartland openly offered town lots in exchange for signatures to their petition. Gov. Martin advised that no person be enumerated who had not been in the county at least 30 days before the beginning of the census. When the report of Mr. Prouty was submitted to the governor in July it showed a population of 2,891, of whom 812 were householders. The valuation of property, exclusive of railroads, was $1,079,091, of which $799,824 was real estate. Lakin appeared to have the largest

number of names on her petition, but the attorneys of Chantilly appeared before the governor with charges of fraud and several hearings were held over the matter that summer. It was later taken into the court of Shawnee county. The charges of Chantilly were not sustained by the courts and in March, 1888, Gov. Martin issued a proclamation organizing the county, with Lakin as the temporary county seat and naming the following officers: Commissioners, W. J. Price, H. A. W. Cornfield and Samuel R. Hibbard; county clerk, J. H. Waterman; sheriff, R. F. Thorne. Price and Cornfield were arrested in 1889 on charges of forgery, and the charges were sustained by Judge A. J. Abbott. In Feb., 1889, a county seat election was held. Hartland won over Lakin, but the county officers were Lakin men and they refused to move the offices. Again the matter was taken into the courts and after considerable fighting the supreme court in Jan., 1890, ordered the records moved to Hartland. This town continued to be the seat of justice until Sept., 1894, when the county seat was again moved to Lakin, where it has since remained.

While all this was going on, the county was building up and prospering. In 1887 an irrigation ditch was projected in the northern part by C. J. Jones. He succeeded in interesting the farmers of that section and 100 miles of ditch was constructed. This was much more important for the future than the county seat fight. A few years ago the government established an irrigation plant at Deerfield, which makes this one of the important irrigating sections of the country. A reservoir for the storage of the flood waters of the Arkansas has been built in the southeast. It is 5 miles long and has a storage capacity estimated at 2,352,000,000 cubic feet, providing irrigation for 100,000 acres of land. One of the most important crops is broom-corn, which in 1910 brought $225,048. Sugar beets are raised extensively and marketed in Garden City. This crop in 1910 was worth, $97.000; the hay crop in the same year was $108,094; wheat, $50,000; and the total value of farm products was $715.951.

The surface of the county is level or rolling, with an elevation of 3,000 feet. Water is easily accessible. The bottom lands in the valley of the Arkansas are from 4 to 6 miles in width. This river enters in the southwest and flows across southeast, east and northeast. Limestone and sandstone for building are plentiful. Blue limestone, from which lime. is made, and gypsum are common.

Kearny is 24 miles wide by 36 miles long, having an area of 24 Congressional townships. The civil townships are Hartland, Hibbard, Kendall, Lakin and Southside. The postoffices are Lakin, Conquest, Deer field, Hartland, Kearney, Oanica and Windsor. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. enters in the east and crosses southwest to Lakin, thence southwest and west, along the Arkansas river, into Hamilton county, a distance of about 27 miles. The assessed valuation of property in 1910 was $5,961,662. The population in the same year was 3,206, an increase of 2,099 or nearly 200 per cent. over that of 1900.

Keats, a village of Riley county, is located in Wild Cat township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 10 miles northwest of Manhattan, the county seat. It has a postoffice with one rural route and is supplied with telephone connections, and telegraph and express offices. The population in 1910 was 79.

Kechi, a village in Sedgwick county, is located in the township of the same name on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 8 miles northeast of Wichita, the county seat. It has several stores, a feed mill, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 100.

Keck, an inland hamlet in Woodson county, is located on Turkey creek, in the western part of the county, 10 miles northwest of Yates Center, the judicial seat, from which it receives mail. Yates Center is also the nearest railroad station and shipping point.

Keel Boats, a species of craft much used by the Indian traders, were usually from 40 to 75 feet long, with a 15 to 20 foot beam. They were "cigar-shaped," i. e. pointed at each end after the manner of the pirogue of the French or Canadian voyageur, and were propelled by a square sail and oars, and in cases of necessity, by setting poles and a tow line. Such boats had a carrying capacity of 10 to 20 tons, a draft of about 30 inches, and cost from $2,000 to $3,000 each. Frederick Chouteau, one of the early traders on the Kansas river, mentions one of these boats which was used on this stream, as follows: "The keel boat which my brothers had in 1828, I think, was the first which navigated the Kansas river. After I came the keel boat was used altogether on the Kaw river. We would take a load of goods up in August and keep it there until the following spring, when we would bring it down loaded with peltries. At the mouth of the Kaw we shipped on steamboat to St. Louis. The keel-boats were made in St. Louis. They were rib-made boats, shaped like the hull of a steamboat and decked over. They were about 8 or 10 feet across the deck and 5 or 6 feet below deck. They were rigged with one mast and had a rudder, though we generally took the rudder off and used a long oar for steering. There were four row locks on each side. Going up the Kaw river we pulled all the way; about 15 miles a day. Going down it sometimes took a good many days, as it did going up, on account of the low water. I have taken a month to go down from my trading house at American Chief (or Mission) creek, many times lightening the boat with skiffs; other times going down in a day. I never went with the boat above my trading house at the American Chief village. No other traders except myself and brothers ran keel boats on the Kaw. We pulled up sometimes by the willows which lined the banks of the river."

The crew of a keel boat engaged in the fur trade frequently consisted of as many as 100 men and was called a "brigade," this number including many hunters and trappers who were not regular boatmen. Every boat carried a swivel (small cannon) and the crew went armed. Among the appliances used for ascending rivers were the cordelle, pole, oar and

sail. The cordelle was a strong line, frequently 300 yards long, fastened to the mast by which the boat was pulled up stream by a force of 20 to 30 men. The poles were used where the water was shallow, and the oars where it became necessary to cross from one side of the river to the other. The sail was seldom used. A distance of about 15 miles a day was considered a good day's work, requiring the most arduous labor from all hands from daylight to dark to accomplish.

Keelville, a hamlet in Cherokee county, is located in the southwestern. corner of the county, 13 miles from Columbus, the county seat, and 6 miles from Faulkner, the nearest railroad station and the postoffice from which its mail is distributed. The population in 1910 was 45.

Keene, a small hamlet in Wabaunsee county, is located 16 miles east of Alma, the county seat, and 8 miles south of Maplehill, the postoffice from which its mail is distributed. It has one general store.

Keighley, a village in Butler county, is located on the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., 16 miles southeast of Eldorado, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice and some local trade. The population in 1910 was 75.

Kellerman, William Ashbrook, botanist, author and lecturer, was born at Ashville, Pickaway county, Ohio, May 1, 1850. He graduated at Cornell University with the class of 1874, and in 1881 received the degree of Ph. D. from the University of Zurich. Soon after graduating at Cornell he became an instructor in natural science in the Wisconsin State Normal School, where he continued for five years. From 1883 to 1891 he was professor of botany and zoölogy in the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan, and for four years was botanist at the state experiment station. He was also the state botanist of Kansas for some time. In 1891 he went to the Ohio State University, where he continued his labors until his death. He was the founder and editor of the Journal of Mycology and the Mycological Bulletin; was the author of Flora of Kansas, Elementary Botany, Phyto Theca, and Spring Flora of Ohio, and was frequently called on to lecture before scientific and literary societies. He died in the spring of 1908 in a Guatemala forest, whither he had been leading botanical expeditions for several years.

Kelley, Harrison, soldier and member of Congress, was a native of Ohio, born in Montgomery township, Wood county, May 12, 1836. He was reared on a farm and obtained his education in the common schools. When twenty-two years of age he moved to Kansas, where he arrived in March, 1858, and took up a claim. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Fifth Kansas cavalry; was repeatedly promoted through the grades to captain, and served in that capacity with Company B, Fifth cavalry, for two years. When mustered out of the service at the close of hostilities, he returned to his homestead. Mr. Kelley took an interest in all public questions and local politics and represented his district for one term in the state legislature. In 1865 he was appointed brigadier-general of the Kansas state militia and three years later the governor appointed him one of the board of directors for the state peni

tentiary, where he served five years. He was receiver of the United States land office in Topeka and subsequently became assessor of internal revenue. Owing to his experience and years of public service, he was appointed chairman of the live stock sanitary commission of Kansas, and treasurer of the state board of charities. In 1888 he was elected on the Republican ticket to fill the vacancy in the United States house of representatives, occasioned by the resignation of Thomas Ryan. Mr. Kelley died at Burlington, Kan., July 24, 1897.

Kellogg, a hamlet in Cowley county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Missouri Pacific railroads, and is located in Vernon township, 6 miles west of Winfield, the county seat. It has a grain elevator, a general store, a grocery store, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 52.

Kelly, a village of Nemaha county, is located in Harrison township, on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 9 miles southeast of Seneca, the county seat. It has banking facilities, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 250.

Kelso, a village in Morris county, is located in Neosho township on the river of the same name, and is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R., 6 miles northwest of Council Grove, the county seat. It has about a dozen business houses, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 76. Downing is the railroad name.

Kendall, a village in Hamilton county, is located in Kendall township, and is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 12 miles southeast of Syracuse, the county seat. It has several stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 75. Kendall was the first county seat. On Feb. 1, 1886, it had 10 houses, and on April 21 of the same year it had over 200. (See Hamilton County.)

Kennekuk, the prophet of the Kickapoo Indians about the time that tribe came to Kansas, has been described as "a tall, bony Indian, with a keen black eye, and a face beaming with intelligence." He was a hereditary chief, as well as a professed preacher or prophet of a sect he originated. He claimed to receive his knowledge, and the direction for his teachings, from the Great Spirit. The teaching of the white missionaries he regarded as an innovation upon the original belief of the Indians, and consequently he opposed their work. Among the precepts he set forth for his followers was total abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquors. He died about 1856 or 1857 from small-pox. After his death some 30 or 40 of his faithful followers remained with his body,' hoping to see the fulfillment of his prophecy that "in three days he would rise again," and all contracted the disease and died.

Kennekuk, a hamlet in the extreme northwestern part of Atchison county, is located about 2 miles southeast of Horton, the nearest railroad town. It is one of the first places in the county where whites located permanently, an early mission being established here among the Indians. The town was platted in 1858 by William Wheeler and for