During the 1870's and 1890's, opportunities in the new Kansas frontier attracted many settlers seeking a better life. Among the settlers were large numbers of Mennonites from Prussia (now Poland) and Russia, and others from Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, & Germany.
John Wesley Tull was one of those settlers seeking land and a better life in Kansas. Wanderlust and the seeking of a better life would be a characteristic of his descendants. John I Wesley Tull moved family to Newton Kansas, 25 mi north of Wichita. It is believed that he followed his sister Rutha Jane & Her husband Henry Clay Hunt. Clay Hunt had a right to settle on a land grant in Kansas based on his Civil War service. The Hunts had moved to Newton in March 1885 to participate in the Kansas & Oklahoma Land Rushes.
Before the railroad arrived in Newton, the area was only sparsely populated by a few homesteaders. However, with the anticipation of the railroad’s arrival, a number of businesses were soon established.
Newton is located the end of the Chisolm Trail which was a destination for Cattle drives to the Railroad head there. When the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad arrived on July 17, 1871, Newton became the shipping point of the immense herds of Texas cattle which prior to this time had been driven to Abilene. It became a rowdy & violent town.
According to Legends of Kansas Cow Towns (https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-kansascowtowns/3/): “the arrival the large herds of cattle brought cowboys, gambers, “soiled doves,” and roughs of every variety to the town. To accommodate these rowdy men and women, a portion of the fledgling city known as “The Park” developed which held no less than fifteen buildings devoted to “social amusement,” with such flamboyant names as the Do Drop In, the Side Track, and the Gold Room. In total, the town boasted 27 saloons and eight gambling halls. During these days, Newton was filled with tales rivaled only by Dodge City and was called the “wickedest city in the west.” This reputation came primarily from the August, 1871 Gunfight at Hyde Park, which ultimately resulted in eight men being killed before, during and after the event”.
From 1867 to 1872 more than a million longhorn cattle were driven 900 miles north from Cuero, Texas to railheads of the Kansas Pacific Railway in Abilene, Kansas, where the cattle would be sold and shipped eastward. Later the railheads would be extended to Abilene, then Newton in 1871, and to Wichita by 1872. The Texas cattlemen followed a route laid out by Jesse Chisholm, an half-Cherokee Indian trader. The portion of the trail marked by Jesse Chisholm went from his southern trading post near the Red River to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas.
1873 Map of Chisholm Trail with Subsidiary Trails in Texas (from Kansas Historic Society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisholm_Trailal
By 1887, the railheads moved westward and Newton began to grow as a more civilized town. John Wesley Tull’s family lived there 3 years before moving back to IL. It is not known what his occupation there was. The Hunts moved on to OK territory in 1890 later to an area which later became Council Grove 1907 and they participated in OK Land Rush.
Queen of Central Kansas: Newton in 1887
Posted on December 11, 2015 by hchm-curator
Extracted from: http://hchm.org/queen-central-kansas-newton-1887/
In the December 31, 1887 edition of the Newton Evening Kansan, editor Charles Kurtz highlighted the progress and prosperity of Newton. He noted that the future for the “Queen of Central Kansas” is “a gloriously busy and a growing one.”
Drawings were included and they portray a town full of industry and growth from Main Street . . .
To the banks and businesses
and the private residences.
Source: Newton Evening Kansan, 31 December 1887. This entry was tagged Newton Main Street. Bookmark the permalink. Harvey County Historical Museum • 203 N Main, P.O. Box 4 • Newton, Kansas 67114 • (316) 283-2221 Website by Flint Hills Design | Log in