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<br />~::,"i':: .;-., '..}~;::::':',~,:~:'/\.~\r> <br /> <br />hoin's3 <br /> <br />.~ "'::-}~~- -~. '::"." ..::.:: <br /> <br />'.,.:-0;:_. . <br />....:.;.. ;.-: <br /> <br />".... ...... <br /> <br />'- .... <br /> <br />THE NEOSHO RIVER BASIN <br /> <br />'r ".:. .'," <br />'.' ','.0: ..1... '.: <br />..' '-" '.' . ..'.... <br /> <br /> <br />~1~i')~.[.t.I~.~ <br /> <br />....-.. <br />. ..'. . <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />',"~. .: ~. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />~ :::-:<:;:~" ",'::'." >'. ..,. . <br />~~':'.~ <'. ~':~"": \::':.;2,r:~~. <br />;. .:':.-., .;...~~.".t:~::.:-<. ,'\~ .... ,._.-.... <br /> <br />HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BASIN <br /> <br />The area comprising the Neosho basin was probably first visited <br />by white man when Father Padilla came as a missionary to the <br />Quivirano about 1542. There is no record of other white men ha v- <br />ing set foot in this territory until the visits of the French fur traders <br />nearly 200 years later. Through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 <br />this territory becam{; a part of the United States and was visited by <br />"orne of the expeditions sent out to explore the newly acquired land. <br />Council Grove became an important'post on the Santa Fe trail fol- <br />lowing the treaty with the Indians in 1825. <br />The area comprising the state of Kansas was included in the In- <br />dian Country by act of congress in 1830 and became a Territory <br />open to settlement in 1854 through the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The <br />number of white inhabitants in 1854 was approximately 1,400 sol- <br />diers and civilians living in army camps, missions and trading posts <br />as far west as Council Grove. The principal occupations in these <br />early days were farming, stock raising, milling and trade with the <br />Indians. <br />Kansas was admitted as a state in 1861. The growth in popula- <br />tion since 1854 had been rapid except during the great drought of <br />1860 at which time thousands of settlers left the state. Those losses <br />were offset by the tide of immigration which swept into Kansas fol- <br />lowing the homestead act of 1863, the freeing of the slaves, the end <br />of the Civil War, the end of the Indian raids, and the building of <br />railroads and towns. By 1870 the state population had reached <br />363,000, and in 1890 the census indicated Kansas had a total popula- <br />tion of 1,427,096. This expansion took place throughout the entire <br />state and was accompanied by the exploitation of natural resources. <br />Agriculture was the first and is yet the most important source of <br />income in the Neosho basin. The region having a wealth of mineral <br />resources, also, mining, manufacturing and processing had an early <br />beginning and is making a rapid growth. <br />Coal is found in abundance in the lower part of the basin. De- <br />posits of lead and zinc were discovered in Cherokee county. Natural <br />gas was first discovered in the Neosho basin at lola in 1871. By <br /> <br />'.- ,,::~,:".~'~>":~"~:.:'. '.: ..:.' :;':-. <br /> <br /> <br />i~it;~!;:1;~;~ <br /> <br />--- .' .,: .: '::'~'~':: <br /> <br />.. .... <br /> <br />..;.. ..... <br /> <br />. ..' '" <br /> <br />. .' . <br />;-':':::';;/:';'" <br /> <br />(11) <br /> <br />.','. <br /> <br />.:.' ... <br /> <br />..... .' <br />'. -. :',,~:~ "',<: '~'>...-' . .' <br />~:.'--,:::. .,:..:.....:t.- _.;<~.< :-;' :...... <br />;::~~.\.::' . ;~:. <;.-/.:~.::- '.; ".: :~ '.-. <br /> <br /> <br />:.',-.' <br /> <br />'-'.";'.. (':~' <br />