CHAPTER XV.

THE FIRST LEGISLATURE.

134. Place of Meeting.-The first State Legislature met at Topeka, the temporary capital designated by the Wyandotte Constitution, on the 26th of March, 1861. The infant State possessed no buildings of its own, and the House assembled in the Ritchie Block, burned many years ago, which then stood on the southeast corner of Sixth and Kansas Avenues, and the Senate in the Gale Block, a short distance south. The inconveniences of a leaky roof forced an adjournment of the House to the Congregational Church, where it concluded its sessions. The Legislature organized with Lieutenant-Governor Root as President of Senate, and Hon. W. W. Updegraff as Speaker of the House.

Marcus J. Parrott.

135. Election of U. S. Senators.-On the 4th of April the Legislature elected the first two United States Senators from the State of Kansas. There was but one ballot, and there were many changes of votes. James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy were chosen. The final vote stood: James H Lane, 55; Samuel C. Pomeroy, 52; Marcus J. Parrott, 49; Fred. P. Stanton, 21; Mark W. Delahay, 2; S. D. Houston, 1; S. A. Kingman, 3; A. J. Isaacks, 11; Martin F. Conway, 1.

136. Legislative Acts.-The Legislature remained in session until June. Its most important act was authorizing the issue of $150,000 in bonds to meet the current expenses of the State. Its most interesting historical act was the adoption of the great seal of the State, for which many designs were offered. The most striking feature of the design chosen is the motto, Ad Astra per Aspera, with which every Kansas child is familiar, and which was the suggestion of Hon. John James Ingalls. But the main business of this first Legislature of Kansas was with war.

A company was formed of officers and members of the Legislature, which, during the recess, day after day, was drilled by a member who had attended a military school and knew something of tactics.

137. Kansas Responds to Lincoln's Call.-On the 15th of April President Lincoln issued his first call for 75,000 men.

On the 22nd of April the Legislature passed an act for the organization of the militia. Under the act, Governor

Robinson organized 180 companies, divided into two divisions, four brigades and eleven regiments. On the 17th of April, five days after the firing on Sumter, Captain Samuel Walker, of Lawrence, tendered Governor Robinson a company of one hundred men. Within a week seven military companies had been formed in Douglas county alone. By the end of the month companies had been formed in nearly every county. In the latter days of May the organization of the First Kansas Volunteers was begun in Leavenworth. On the 3d of June, a party of volunteers from the First Kansas crossed the Missouri river from Leavenworth to Iatan, on the Missouri side, and captured a Confederate flag. In the affair three men were wounded. This was the first Kansas blood shed in the Civil War. The next day the Legislature adjourned.

138. Topeka the Capital.-The Legislature of 1861 provided for an election to be held on the 5th of November, 1861, to determine the location of the State capital. Topeka received 7,996 votes, Lawrence 5,291, all others 1,184, and Topeka was declared the capital.

SUMMARY.

1. The first Kansas Legislature met at Topeka, March 26, 1861. 2. James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy elected United States Senators.

3. Legislature issued bonds, adopted a seal and motto, and formed of its own members a military company.

4. Kansas volunteeers are offered, and the militia is organized. 5. The State capital was located at Topeka, November 5, 1861.

139.

CHAPTER XVI.

CRADLED IN WAR.

Kansas Soldiers.-The first year of Kansas as a State, found her "soul in arms, and eager for the fray." It may be said that for the four years that succeeded the firing on Fort Sumter, the thought, the occupation, the experience of Kansas was war. Everything gave place to meeting the responsibilities, and enduring the anxieties, sufferings, and losses of war.

The United States census of 1860, gave Kansas 143,643 inhabitants, of whom 34,242 were in the vicinity of Pike's Peak. This population was greatly diminished by the "drought of 1860." The entire quota assigned to Kansas during the Civil War was 16,654 men, and the number raised was 20,097; thus Kansas furnished a surplus of 3,433 men. In proportion to the force furnished, Kansas lost, in killed, more soldiers per 1,000 than any other State in the Union.

There was never in the course of the struggle a man drafted in the State of Kansas, nor was there ever a bounty offered either by the State, or any city or county in the State. Troops were raised continually as called for from the first to the last. The First Kansas regiment was mustered June 3, 1861, the Seventeenth was mustered July 28, 1864.

140. The "Frontier Guard".-The "Frontier Guard" was a body of men, who, for fifteen days, from April 18th

to May 3, 1861, before many troops had reached the city of Washington, guarded the White House and Mr. Lincoln. The "Guard" was commanded by General James H. Lane, and D. R. Anthony; Marcus J. Parrott, Sidney Clark, A. C. Wilder, Henry J. Adams, Mark W. Delahay, Samuel W. Greer, and many other Kansas men belonged to it.

Samuel W. Greer.

141. Volunteer Organizations.The volunteer organizations sworn into the service of the United States were: The First, Second, Eighth, Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Seventeenth Infantry, and First and Second Colored Infantry. The Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Cavalry. The First, Second, and Third Batteries, and Independent Colored Battery. In the course of the four years' war, these commands saw service over a wide area. The First Kansas took part in the siege of Vicksburg, and saw service in Louisiana. The Seventh Cavalry took part in the operations about Corinth, Miss., in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The Eighth Infantry fought at Perryville, Ky., Chickamauga, and Mission Ridge, marched east to Atlanta, and back again to Nashville, participated in the great battle of December, 1864, and saw its last active service in Texas. The Tenth Infantry took part in the battle of Nashville, the siege of Mobile, and the assault on Fort Blakely, and was mustered out at Montgomery, Ala. The Eleventh Cavalry carried its guidons to far Wyoming, 1,000 miles from Fort Leavenworth. The First Kansas Battery was ordered to Indiana to meet the famous "Morgan raid," and subse