| During the summer of 1868, the federal government moved a company of soldiers to the junction of the Arkansas Rivers and they made their camp on the banks of the Little Arkansas River, close to the present site of Wichita High School North. Their camp was some distance north of the site of the Wichita Indian village. It was first called Camp Davidson, then Camp Butterfield and finally Camp Beecher. The military outpost was abandoned in October of 1869.
The Wichita traders responsible for founding the city were aware of the minimum requirements for the establishment of a pioneer prairie town which could develop into a city. First, the town site should be on or near a stream; two, if possible, it should be on or near an established trail and should be so located that it could be selected as a county seat and attract a railway. To them, Wichita was the logical site, much better than the settlement of Park City to the north and El Paso (the name later changed to Derby) to the south.
James Richard Mead (1836-1910) hailed from Davenport, Iowa, from a family of capitalists. Using his family’s merchant and banking contacts in Leavenworth and other eastern Kansas towns, Mead was able, in his teenage years in the 1850’s, to build a large, commercial hunting and trading business in Kansas. He became an expert on Indian lore, Kansas geography, plains hunting and Indian trading.
Mead, accompanied by a cadre of employees, arrived in the Wichita area in 1863 to hunt the land around the Arkansas River forks. He was able to mount a major, well-supplied expedition using a $2,000 credit line at a Leavenworth bank. Mead was a methodical hunter, so frugal as to cut his spent bullets from animal carcasses and reuse them to save money. Mead closely examined every aspect of his hunting expeditions to ensure an acceptable ratio between expense and profit. Financial success followed Mead; and the 1863 trip yielded 3,500 lbs. of tallow, 330 buffalo hides and large numbers of wolf and elk skins, all together worth about $400. On subsequent journeys, Mead was able to realize about $70 a day for time spent on the plains where the city of Wichita would soon be located.
From the time the town was incorporated, July, 1870, until its elevation to a city of the third class, April, 1871, at least three marshals were appointed only to resign or leave for unexplained reasons. Gunplay and violent death were newcomers to the city streets and the first recorded violent killing is described in...Great Gunfighters of the Kansas Cowtowns 1867-1886.
Becoming a third class city mandated that an election must be held to replace the board of trustees with a mayor and city council. The first and newly elected mayor, E. B. Allen, soon appointed William Smith marshal of the town on April 10, 1871. The new marshal had little time to acquaint to his duties when three days later, on April 13, 1871, Smith resigned.
The city council then appointed Mike Meagher (1844?-1881) to the post of marshal and the post of assistant marshal to his brother, John Meagher. Additionally, two policeman were appointed, Bradford Dean and Adam Roberts.
The city also appointed a special police force to act as toll keepers over the river bridge. The new Chisholm Trail Bridge was an eight-span structure, constructed of wood and steel at a cost of $27,000 and crossed the Arkansas River in line with Douglas Avenue. Over half the construction costs were recovered by tolls collected during the first year the bridge was opened. Additionally, the bridge toll keeper’s duty was to remove firearms from anyone coming into the city, hold them for safekeeping giving gun owners a thin metal “check” as a receipt, and return the guns when that person left the city.
These first attempts at regulating firearms to maintain order in the city were not entirely successful as witnessed by this article describing the city’s night life.
| “In 1873, the St. Louis Republican published an article declaring that ‘Wichita resembles a brevet hell after sundown. Brass bands whooping it up, harlots and hack drivers yelling and cursing; dogs yelping, pistols going off; bullwhackers cracking their whips; saloons open wide their doors, and gayly attired females thump and drum up pianos, and in dulcet tones and mocking smiles invite the boys in and night is commenced in earnest’.” |
The police department’s most exciting event of 1873, occurred on Christmas Day when a fire almost consumed a millinery shop on Main Street before it was discovered. Other wooden structures were endangered before the fire was brought under control. The charred remains of a body (never identified) was found in the rubble, burned beyond recognition. This was, at first, believed accidental but, subsequent examination revealed a homicide. William C. Smith, one time Marshal, played an important role in the case and as town constable, assisted Marshal Meagher in his investigation. Smith was credited with establishing the identity of two men who were involved and subsequently charged with this crime. Both men were tried and convicted before Judge William P. “Tiger Bill” Campbell and were sentenced to hang.
On April 21, 1875, Wyatt Earp [Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (1848-1929)] was appointed policeman on the Wichita force, and the appointment entered on the records of the city. This was the first time that Wyatt Earp’s name appeared in the city’s official records. Wichita’s police force then consisted of Marshal Mike Meagher, Assistant Marshal John Behrens, Policemen James Cairns and Earp. The marshal’s salary was $91.66, Behrens earned $75.00, while Cairns and Earp each were paid $60.00 a month.
Also included in the history book:
Rowdy Joe Lowe
Wichita's First Drive-by Shooting
Wyatt Earp
The Delano District
Jessie Chisholm
James R. Mead
William Mathewson
William Greiffenstein
Cowtown Gunfights
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