Cimarron
The Growth of a Town
Prepared by
Elsie D. Wagner 1976 est. Pictures from the book. The Santa Fe Trail The Cimarron Crossing The Cimarron Hay Station The Railroad Cimarron's First Building Hostile Indians Dull Knife The City of Cimarron Early Businesses The Optic July 4, 1879 More Businesses The Cattlemen The Blizzard of '86 A Growing Town Early Churches A Country Town The County Seat Dispute Soule Canal A Woman Mayor City Government Utilities Banking Service Public School System The Courthouse The Cimarron Hotel The Commercial Club A Swimming Pool The Read-A-Book Club The Cimarron Crossing Park Cimarron Crossing Celebration EpilogThe Santa Fe Trail
The first mention of this area in history was of the Cimarron Crossing on the Santa Fe Trail. Credited with establishing the Cimarron Crossing was Jedediah Smith, a trader using the famous trail. Earlier, William Becknell had organized the first trek into Santa Fe from Independence, Missouri. The Santa Fe Trail was a trade trail, 780 miles long. A wagon train usually consisted of 24 wagons, drawn by 10 oxen or mules. The cumbersome wagons, loaded with trade goods, creaked along the dusty trail, each day covering only about 17 miles. In addition to trade goods, each wagon train carried about 70 pounds of supplies per man. Approximately 50 days was needed to reach El Camino Real in Santa Fe. Because of the great profit made on these caravans, each wagon master tried to reach Santa Fe before his competitors. Soon more adventuresome traders were seeking shorter routes. The most direct short cut was the so-called "Cimarron Crossing."
The
Cimarron Crossing
This route left the Arkansas River west of Dodge City and headed daringly
southwest. The actual point of crossing was somewhere between the present towns of Cimarron and
Ingalls, depending upon the conditions of the river for fording. This waterless and
unmarked area was called the "Jornada," or Journey of Death, by the Spanish. This part of
the trip was by far the most
dangerous of the entire journey. The trail joined the Cimarron River some
50 miles away. Thus
came the name, Cimarron Crossing.
The
Cimarron Hay Station
Enterprising men established hay ranches along the trail to provide feed for travelers' oxen. In
1866, Colonel Robert Wright operated the Cimarron Hay Station, and the
government had ten soldiers and officers stationed there on escort duty. Indian raids became more numerous, however, and in 1868 Comanche's or Apaches captured a wagon train at the Cimarron Crossing and killed 17 men.
The
Railroad
Because of the great number of people moving to the west coast, there was a great demand for a railroad across the continent. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad began its big push to lay tracks westward. By late 1872, Santa Fe tracks were laid to the western edge of Kansas. However, the danger of attacks by hostile Pawnee and Comanche tribes was still so much a threat that soldiers
accompanied the track workers to protect them.
Cimarron's
First Building
The train stopped at the Cimarron Crossing for water. The first building built by the railroad there was a wooden water tower with a large windmill. These structures were erected in 1872 and were
probably the first permanent structures in Cimarron.
Hostile
Indians
Travelers seeking new lands and riches were attracted by any place where water
was available and where neighbors were reasonably close. Also, those areas under the protection of nearby forts drew
settlers. Indian raids were still a problem. As late as December
1872, a store in Pierceville, 20
miles west of Cimarron and on the railroad, was burned by raiding Indians.
The Indians were not satisfied with the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1868 that
promised that no
white settlers would move south of the Arkansas River. Any settlers at this time who ventured
south of
the river to live were harassed.
Dull
Knife
The area around Cimarron had an Indian scare in 1878 when Dull Knife, a chief of
a northern Cheyenne tribe, fled from the Oklahoma Reservation. The Indians were really not raiding, they
were trying to escape the reservation and return to Wyoming and Montana. However, the settlers
on both sides of the river were badly frightened, and many fled to Cimarron for safety. The
soldiers from Fort Dodge were pursuing the Indians, and they did not cross to the north side of
the river until they were five miles west of town. The damage recorded in this area was the
burning of a shack on the Frank Hull Claim, east of Cimarron. However, when the soldiers
overtook Dull Knife near the present site
of the Scott County Lake, a vigorous battle took place.
The
City of Cimarron
The actual platting of the City of Cimarron occurred in 1878. The Arkansas Valley Land and Town Company acquired land from the railroad and platted the section north of the Arkansas River and the area of the Business section in town today. This land company was a subsidiary of the Santa Fe
Railroad.
Early
Businesses
Little is know of the town during this decade. A Post Office was established in 1878, and the first
Postmaster was George A. Day. The agents for the Santa Fe Railroad at this
time were Shoup and
Radcliff. The Shoup family continued to live in Cimarron and held the position of postmasters until the
1930's. The original Mr. Shoup and a Mr. Dill also owned a wholesale and retail store in Cimarron in 1878. The other businesses established in 1878 were a wholesale and retail grocery and feed store, owned by a Mr. Johnson; and the first hotel, the Illinois House, was
built early in 1878 by Mr. Johnson and a Mr. Fey. This hotel stood facing the railroad tracks at the present location of the new City Building on Ash Street. The old two-story hotel was used as a rooming house until about 1936, when it
was torn down.
The
Optic
Two early newspapers failed, but the third one started was the Optic, in 1879.
The editor and
publisher was R. H. Mitchel. The yearly rate for the paper was $1.50, and the editor stated that
the
paper would "speak for itself."
In a letter written to the Optic on July 25, 1879, the writer says, "Cimarron is a flourishing little town of one or two hundred inhabitants with substantially well-built houses and business houses... I notice among other things a much better class of people than those usually found on the frontier. They have brought with them the civilization of the east and acquired the grit and independence of the
west..."
July
4, 1879
The first social event noted by historians in Cimarron was held on July 4, 1879, and was reported in
the Optic as follows: "The
4th at Cimarron"
While Cimarron is situated on the Western border of Kansas, yet the people are of that class whose
hearts are full of love of country. No grand display of fireworks at night, nor expensive sports of the day were indulged in, for our financial condition would not admit of it. A committee consisting of Geo. M. Mitchell, Mrs. Hattie Wood, and Miss Ella Johnson, had been appointed to
prepare a programme. The programme consisted of: First Dinner, second reading of the Declaration of Independence, third
Oration, fourth Singing...No groves near our town, the large new barn of Messrs.
Pitcher & Co., was secured for the occasion. The committee had a floor laid through the center of the barn, and two long tables were placed in the center of the floor extending almost the entire length of the barn. Cottonwoods and Willows were placed around the stalls on either side, and at the north door hung a large and beautiful banner of our country.
At about eleven o'clock the people with their children began to gather and by one o'clock, the most
luxurious table ever set in Foote County was ready for the hungry persons....In the evening soon after the sun had crept behind the distant mountains a light breeze came from the south. We again betook ourself to the celebration ground. The scene had changed: the tables were removed, and at one end elevated above the rest sat the musicians; the doors at either end were thrown open to admit the air. At about half past seven the music struck up, then the dancing commenced and continued unabated until the small hours of the morning. Upon the whole it was one of the most enjoyable affairs we have attended in years.
Nothing happened to mar or disturb the harmony of the occasion. And one, to have looked in and seen the throng of bright and smiling faces, would to say the least have been surprised to learn that Cimarron
could turn out so large and handsome a lot of ladies.
More
Businesses
The July 25, 1879, issue
of the Optic lists the following businesses in Cimarron:
General Store, owned by A. D. Wittick, who later organized the
Citizens' State Bank.
The family
owned a large ranch six or seven miles east of Cimarron as late as 1920.
Groceries
and Feed, owned by C. F. Leechan.
Dry
Goods and Groceries, owned by 0. Ruswick.
Illinois
House and Bakery, owned by Kenneth Fay.
Cimarron
House, owned by W. J. Dixon.
Meat
Market, owned by Jas. Mc Donald.
Lumber
Company, owned by G. M. Mitchell.
Coal
and Bone Yard, owned by R. Abbott.
Saloon
and Grocery, owned by J. C. Collier.
Saloon
and Billiards, owned by Davis and Love.
Arkansas
Town Company agent and Postmaster was L. E. McGarry.
Attorney
at Law was L. W. B. Johnson.
Real
Estate agents were George Foughty and W. P. Peter.
Livery
Stables, owned by L. A. Pitcher and Bennett and Koehn.
Blacksmith
was William Trask.
Carpenters--five
men whose names were not recorded.
The
Cattlemen
The area around Cimarron in 1875 was teeming with cattle. As early as 1872, Doc Barton had, with his partners, driven a herd of 6,000 longhorns northward from Texas. They ranged for 50 miles north and south and 20 miles east and west of their headquarters near Ingalls. The price of beef more than
tripled by 1882.
Many foreign investors established ranchers in this area of lush and nutritious
buffalo grass. However, the stories of the fertile soil and the passage of the Homestead Act, giving land to farmers who lived on their "claim" for a time, drew increasing numbers of farmers. This drove ranchers farther west. The weather was to deal the final crushing blow to the cattlemen of this region.
The
Blizzard of '86
On January 6, 1886, the worst blizzard in history descended upon the plains from North Dakota to Texas. Temperatures dropped from a balmy 50 degrees to 15 degrees below zero in a few hours. Many settlers living in temporary homes and cowboys and travelers were frozen. The great herds were driven before the storm into ravines and piled up there to die in the bitter cold. Many thousands drifted before the storm as far south as Texas. The storm lasted three
days.
Mrs. Ray Kelly, who was a child at the time of the blizzard, told of her parents going to the cow shed to try to save the cows and horses. The storm was so intense that they tied ropes to the house and around their bodies to enable them to find their way back to the house in the blinding storm. The three children were put to bed and told not to leave the warmth of the bed until the storm was over. In the morning the blowing snow had come into the house through the key hole and cracks around the windows and formed drifts several
inches high across the floor.
The storm lessened but returned two days later, adding to the suffering of the settlers. Sixty to ninety percent of the cattle around Cimarron were lost. Many cattlemen left without any attempt to
round up or rebuild their herds.
The cattleman's era was over, and Cimarron
began to grow as a farming community.
A
Growing Town
Originally a part of Ford County, the area was organized as Gray County in 1887. Cimarron had a population of 1500 at this time. The Commonwealth, a newspaper of the time, stated that on October 6, 1885, "...Cimarron has at least 25 businesses, all doing a splendid business drawn from the rich, fertile prairies tributary to our young town...." This period was one of the healthy growth for the
young town.
Over the next few years, Cimarron had the following businesses: six lumber yards, six hotels, seven livery stables, one Chinese laundry, two harness shops, four general stores, one bakery, one cheese factory, two brick kilns, one opera house, one stationery store, and one drug store. These, in addition to the land company and real estate offices, the railroad station and several restaurants and saloons.
Early
Churches
The first church service was held in 1874 in the Santa Fe station by a Reverend
Wright, a Presbyterian minister from Dodge City. By 1886 there were four churches:
The Methodist, the
Presbyterian, the United Brethren, and the Advent Church. Later, in 1926,
the Episcopal Church
bought the building owned by the United Brethren Church.
A
Country Town
The early town of Cimarron was spread out. Each family required more than the small lot needed for a house today because each family needed a barn for their horse and milk cow, a chicken house, and a garden plot. One family even had a large fish pond, covering one-fourth a city block, next to their home. Most of these homes were wooden. A few were built of sod and plastered or bricked over. One family lived in a dugout near where the first hole of the golf course is now. The oldest home still in use is on South Birch Street. It was built in 1886. Another house still in use on South Birch south of the railroad had one room with sod walls that have been plastered inside and covered with wooden
siding outside.
Another house on West Highway 50 was once situated on an island in the Arkansas River west of the bridge. This building was known as the "Island House" and housed five or six "ladies of the evening." (As Cimarron became more settled and organized, the owner of the house was asked to leave town and take his tenants with him.) The house was later sold and moved into town. At one time the only piano in town was in the "Island House." When the house was sold, a prominent family bought the piano and became the envy of many. To have a town's only piano was quite a status symbol!
The
County Seat Dispute
About this time, all Gray County was in a turmoil over the location of the County Seat. This was a point of contention in all newly-organized counties. The problem in Gray County was aggravated by a man
who didn't even live in Kansas. Asa T. Soule was a millionaire bitters manufacturer from Rochester, New York. He was urged by his friends, John and George Gilbert of Dodge City, to come to the country west of Dodge City and develop it. They built up pictures of irrigation canals, manufacturing plants to make sugar from sorghums, and even of extending
railroads west into the Colorado coal fields.
Soule was induced to come west and look at the potential riches of the area. He was convinced of the possibilities of the area and began to plan the building of his Western empire. The town of Cimarron did not
fit Into Soule's plans. It was already too well organized, with a population over 1,500 and a trade territory nearly 150 miles south and southwest. The Rock Island Railroad had not yet entered the
panhandle, and the Santa Fe was the closest railroad.
Cimarron was becoming a farmer's town. There was a farm on nearly every quarter section in the
eastern part of the county. So Mr. Soule chose a town six miles west of Cimarron for his town. It was
named Ingalls, for the well-known Kansas senator.
Meanwhile, one of the Cimarron newspapers, the Jacksonian, took up the task of letting the world know
that Cimarron was the logical place for the county seat. Ellis Garten was the twenty-year-old editor of
the paper, and his fiery style of journalism was a big factor in the county seat issue. Garten had visions of Cimarron becoming another Kansas City; and in one of his editorials he said, "...the western tide of civilization last settled in Wichita, but so far has the tide pushed on, that it must--like a tired dove--rest its weary wings again and like a beacon light gather the multitudes into its city of refuge. More than 150 miles west of Wichita on the banks of the Arkansas River and on the main line of the Santa Fe Railroad is Cimarron. Its crowning day will be the securing of the capital of Gray County."
In the temporary organization of the new county, Cimarron was successful. A. J. Evans was sent out by the governor to take the census, and he found the required population. In the first election, Cimarron
received 779 votes, Montezuma received 598 votes, and Ingalls 98 votes. This was the signal for Soule to begin to execute his grandiose plans. He promised Ensign and Montezuma a railroad for their help in selecting Ingalls as county seat. He promised to give Dodge City a bank and a college for its favors. He did
build Soule College north of Dodge City, which later became the old St. Mary's College.
Ingalls was to get a sugar mill to refine molasses. Finally, Soule began a 90-mile irrigation canal from west of Ingalls, through Cimarron and Dodge City Into Edwards County near Kinsley. The Eureka Irrigation Canal was to sell water rights to farmers along its route. The canal was built with teams of horses Instead of the big machines In use today. As late as 1920 the ditch through Cimarron had water in it. Canal Street in present-day Cimarron, the street south of the Cimarron Hotel, replaces the old ditch.
The canal was a financial failure and did not operate for many years. The small mounds of dirt north of
Highway 50 between Cimarron and Dodge City are left to remind passersby of Soule's great plan.
Two Ingalls papers, the Messenger and the Union, hailed Soule as the "People's Friend." To counteract this propaganda, Cimarron, having no benefactor and needing valid issues for public improvement, promised to
build a courthouse free--a gift from its citizens.
The election for permanent county seat was called for October 31, 1887. This was the signal for all kinds of schemes, fair and unfair, for getting votes. One of the most bizarre was the Foote Township Equalization Society, locally known as the "Oark Lantern Society." A group of 72 farmers in Foote Township sold their votes to Cimarron upon receipt of a bond for $10,000 signed by 15 Cimarron businessmen. Later, the bond was proven a forgery and no money was paid the farmers. It seems each man who signed the bond had signed not his own name, but another man's name, making the bond worthless.
The election was held with gun play and ballot-box stuffing. Cimarron showed the most votes, but Ingalls
appealed, charging fraud.
In the summer of 1888, the County Commissioners appointed a Cimarron man, A. T. Riles, as county clerk pro tem; and by a writ from the Kansas Supreme Court, he secured the records from Ford County and brought them to Cimarron. The Courthouse was established on the second floor of the brick building now
occupied by the Western Auto Store.
In the second election held on November 8, 1888, both towns claimed victory, but the Kansas Supreme Court claimed that Ingalls men had won both the Sheriff and County Clerk positions. The County Commissioners suspected fraud and planned to prevent these men from taking office. On January 12,
1889, Ingalls men attempted to move the records to Ingalls.
In the ensuing gun fight one man was killed and two wounded. The governor sent two companies of state militia to Cimarron to maintain order. They stayed In Cimarron for two weeks, but the county records taken to Ingalls in January remained there for over a year until February 1; 1893, when another election was held and Cimarron won, thus becoming the official county seat of Gray County.
A
Woman Mayor
Cimarron probably had Kansas's first woman mayor In Mrs. C. A. Curtis, who was elected mayor in 1895. She came to Cimarron from St. Louis in 1894, a widow at 35. She opened a small stationery store near the
present site of Nicolet's clothing store. She had no relatives in Cimarron, but her business ability and education quickly made her one of the influential citizens of the town. She was first elected to the school board and regularly visited the school and lectured the children on tidiness and the value of good study habits. The children were in awe of her gruff manner, but once they came to know her, they loved her. She knitted silk hose for her grandchildren In St. Louis, much to the dismay of the young Cimarron teenagers who wore long cotton hose.
Mrs. Curtis died three or four years after her arrival In Cimarron and soon before her approaching marriage to a local farmer. No one in Cimarron ever heard of her family after her death.
City
Government
The first elected mayor of Cimarron was J. K. Hopper, and Ordinance 1 was passed on August 20, 1885. This first year of incorporation the property tax was five mills. On October 15, 1885, the City Council ordered wooden sidewalks to be constructed and maintained on Main Street. The lumber used, as specified In the ordinance, was an inch thick and the sidewalks were ten feet wide.
Utilities
The first waterworks were constructed in July of 1886. A Dodge City firm,
D. Mitchel and Co., was given the contract. Twenty-five fire hydrants were rented for use at the fee of $50.00 per hydrant per year.
Water rates to the different types of businesses were listed:
Houses with private
bath -- $3.00 for two yearsPublic baths -- 12.00 for two years
Sprinkling Streets In front of businesses -- First year free
Sprinkling lawns and gardens -- $6.00 per 50-foot lot
Boarding houses -- 1.50 per room per year
Billiards and Saloons -- 3.00 per year
Barber Shops -- 5.00 per year The original water was on the hill where the present tower stands. The first water mains were made of wood, and some of them were still in use In 1913. The only two early bond issues for water were in 1912 and 1920, and these were for only $23,000. The first telephone in Gray County was the Gray County Independence Telephone Company, owned by J. W. Phelps. The first line was built in 1904 from the Phelps ranch near Ravana, 20 miles north of Cimarron, to Hatche's Barber Shop in Cimarron. Mr. Phelps installed this line to his brother-in-law's shop so that the family could visit and exchange news without the trip to town. Soon many friends and neighboring farmers were asking Mr. Phelps for phones, so the Phelps' family moved to Cimarron in 1905 and began building more lines. The first switchboard was in the Hatch Barber Shop, but as soon as the Phelps home was built, the office was moved into the home. A terrible sleet storm occurred In 1913 and completely destroyed all the telephone lines, but they were rebuilt, only to be destroyed again in 1917 when a tornado struck Cimarron. After this storm, service was disrupted for a month, and over 80 poles had to be replaced both east and west of Cimarron. The first people using the phone service in Cimarron were on a party line. The following eight homes and businesses were on that first city line: Drew Evens, Ellis Garten, Joe Emery, Ed Morrison, Frank Luther, C. W. Dilbuan, the Jacksonian, and the Courthouse. This private company was sold to L. E. Marts of Dodge City and an associate from Wichita in 1926. At this time the company which began with a single line connecting a farm and a relative in town had grown to a system of five exchanges In the county, with 700 phones, 500 miles of rural lines, and 88 miles of toll lines.
Banking
Service
The first bank in Cimarron was established in 1885. It was privately owned by Mr. Mayhew from Sumner County and Mr. Coffman from Wellington. Seventeen years later a bank was organized and managed by local
people. The Citizens' State Bank was chartered in 1902, with Mr. A. D. Wettick as president. Mr. Wettick was one of the first merchants in Cimarron. The directors of this locally-owned bank were F. M. Luther, N.
E. Wettick, Forrest Luther, J. A. Evans, and Margaret Evans. The Gray County State Bank was established In 1904, and it, too, was owned and operated by local people. The
first owners were the Francisco family. Other officers were C. E. Mackey
and C. B. Erskine, who later owned the bank. Later, this bank became the First National Bank.
Public
School System
The schools of Cimarron have always been located in the same place--on the hill. The first school was
a small frame building. The first teacher was a Mr. Lee. The first woman teacher was Miss Cora Wilkerson. In the school year 1897-98 the teacher was J . W. Miller, and the enrollment was 52. For the next decade only the elementary work was presented, although those pupils who wished were given additional work by the principal which enabled them to enroll in a business college.
The following school report was published
in the October 1902 issue of the Jacksonian: Total enrollment 82,
and an average daily attendance of 74. The number on the Honor Roll was greatly
reduced because of the G. A. R. . reunion in Dodge City which many pupils attended. In the future, requirements for a place on the honor roll will be perfect
attendance, excellent deportment, and close application to school work.
Parents
would do well to keep these requirements before the minds of the children.
J. N.
Dunbar, Teacher
In 1906 a high school was organized, and in 1907 the high school had an enrollment of 25. In 1909 four pupils received diplomas, enabling them to enter the State University or other colleges. During 1910 the building was remodeled and an addition built. An early teacher and one much loved by the community was M. G. Cleary. Mr. Cleary was superintendent of the schools in Kansas but returned to teach in Cimarron,
where he lived until his death.
By 1910 the school had grown until it was employing seven teachers. At this time the school had both boys and girls basketball teams and a band composed of ten boys. In 1920 Cimarron became one of the first school systems in the state to consolidate rural schools with the urban system and transport the rural pupils to
Cimarron. Mrs. Earna Bevington was County Superintendent at the time and deserves much credit for getting
consolidation accomplished.
The
present school building was built in 1935
(This school is now gone and replaced with a
new school) and is used for both Junior High and High School. The new Grade School was built in 1967 and includes the kitchen and lunch room facilities for the entire school. One building in the Cimarron school plant that has an interesting history is the student lounge. This was built in the early 1920's as a dormitory for the teachers. All unmarried female teachers were required to live here. It was operated much like a college dormitory with a housemother. Needless to say, the curfew laws were obeyed by the young
teachers in the very same way that they are obeyed in colleges. Several young Cimarron bachelors met and married the girls who lived in the "dorm."
Later the building was used as a lunchroom for the school, then a band hall was located there, and finally it was
used as a student lounge.
Another interesting insight into the position of esteem held by teachers in that time is the fact that a Cimarron administrator was almost dismissed because he smoked cigars in public. This case was brought before the State Department of Education and was reported in the Kansas City Star. Cimarron teachers were
certainly "put upon a pedestal" in the '20's.
The
Courthouse
Gray County was originally a part of Ford County. It was organized as a separate county in
1887. Several names were suggested for the new county, such as Foote, Buffalo, or Sequoia, but
Gray was chosen. The first courthouse was on the second floor of the building now occupied by
the Western Auto Store. Later a red brick building was built south of the railroad. The present
courthouse building was built in 1927 at the cost of
$100,000.
The
Cimarron Hotel
A building built in 1890 as a sanitarium Is now being restored and is rapidly becoming an area landmark. The Cimarron Hotel was first called the New West. A doctor from the east who had tuberculosis came west for his health. He stopped in Cimarron, where the high altitude, pure air, and dry climate enabled him to regain his health. The publicity given the climate of western Kansas resulted in the construction of the New West. Later this building became a hotel, consisting of 30 bedrooms and an excellent restaurant. In later years it was acquired by the
Luther family and became known as the Luther Inn. It has been in continuous operation since it was built.
The
Commercial Club
About 1904 the businessmen of Cimarron organized a Commercial Club to promote
all worthwhile
community prospects. This club became very active and by 1911 had started the Gray County
Free Fair. In 1914 the club promoted the Million Bushel Wheat Club, the improvement of the city
water and light plants, and the initiation of a coast-to-coast highway following the old Santa Fe Trail.
This highway became U.S. 50 and follows the old trail through Kansas and Colorado. This early
club was so successful that it even supported a clubroom for its meetings. Over the years other
organizations such as Rotary, Jaycees, Lions, and Business and Professional Women have
continued the work of this first club in promoting the
growth and improvement of Cimarron.
A Swimming Pool
One of the highlights of the growing town of Cimarron was the building of a free swimming pool in the early 1920's. The children of Cimarron, as all children, wanted to swim in the long hot summers. Many
learned in the river or in farmers' horse tanks. The Campfire Girls camped for
several summers near Ravana at
the Erkie Ranch and spent their days swimming In the creek.
Then Garden City opened their big free pool. That summer several groups of Cimarron youth camped in the
Garden City Finnup park and spent quite a bit of time in the free pool.
The fathers of some of the young people decided that Cimarron needed a pool of its own. Leaders of the
group advocating a Cimarron pool were Harve Dickerson, Dr. Taylor, Drew Evans, and Mr. Sherwood. The pool was built on South Main Street and was a great success. The older people also enjoyed the pool. In those days the men could not swim without swimming tops, and the older women wore long hose. There was no qualified life guard, but in spite of this, everyone learned to swim, and many young people became excellent
divers.
After nearly 50 years and damage sustained by the frequent flooding of the Arkansas River, the
pool was declared unsafe. In 1972 the city built a new pool on the southwest edge of the school
property. This
beautiful pool is filled all summer by swimmers and sunbathers of all ages.
The
Read-A-Book Club
The decade beginning in 1930 was a dreary time for most people. The whole country was in a depression. Crops failed, the dust blew, and many businesses failed. Cimarron was no exception. People did not have the money to travel or buy the things they usually did. A group of young women, some married and some just out of school decided to form a reading group. Each month, one of the group purchased a new book, reviewed it, and
then passed it around for the others to read. Mrs. Erskine encouraged
these young women, who called themselves the Read-A-Book Club. Soon the growing accumulation of books was left at the Methodist Church or the Courthouse for others to borrow. It was not long before the group was given the use of a two-room building on Main Street just south of the Ford Garage. This was the beginning of the Cimarron Library.
The women kept the small library open two afternoons a week. Often the patrons were greeted by the small children of the librarians, asleep in a playpen in the middle of the library floor. No effort was too great for these women to keep the library open and growing. The group held innumerable "book teas" in their homes where the guests donated a book in return for a pleasant afternoon. Everyone in town became
interested and many small donations were made.
The library outgrew the small building, and the library was moved to the
building where Dr. Penner has his office, then later to the old Citizen's Bank building. By this time the W. P. A. was making funds available for many projects in the depression-ridden country, and the Read-A-Book Club was able to hire a full-time librarian. By 1947, the library was given to the city of Cimarron. As a free library, it is supported by a county and city mill levy. It is of interest that in 1948 the library operated on only $20 a month from the city funds.
Today the library has 15,000 books and has
an average circulation of 1,250 books.
The
Cimarron Crossing Park
The Cimarron Crossing Park came into being as a result of the dream and
persistence of C. C. Linley. When Tim told of his idea for a park on the river he was told that it could not be done, that in no way could he get the cooperation of the townspeople to start the park, let alone the money and interest to keep the park going. But
Tim Linley did not give up, and in July, 1948, a small tract of land was purchased from Leo Leatherwood by the city. The interest shown since the park was started was amazing. More ground was donated by the
Luther family and by the Northern Gas Company. Trees and shrubs were donated by individuals
and clubs.
Picnic tables, playground equipment and stoves were also donated. The Luther family
presented the shelter
house and much of the landscaping around it.
Elsie Bartlow drew plans for the landscaping, supervised the memory garden, and until 1975 was the supervisor of the park. She says that in the years between 1950 and 1957 between 18,000 and 20,000
people visited the park, many from foreign countries.
The flooding Arkansas River has harmed many of the trees and shrubs in the park, but after every flood,
people of the area have worked long hours, repairing the flood damage.
According to Mrs. Bartlow, no one has ever refused to help maintain the park, and her list of contributors, kept
these 30 years, would make a large book.
Cimarron
Crossing Celebration
One of the earliest celebrations held at the park was the first Cimarron Crossing Celebration in June 1950. The entire town enjoyed the buffalo barbecue, the parade, the beauty pageant, and other festivities. Today the park is supervised by a committee and is a busy place in the summer with picnics, ball games, and campers.
Epilog
So goes the story of Cimarron. First a stop for water on the railroad, then working its way up to a thriving
town, catering to the people who live in it.
Cimarron is now 100 years old. Never has the city lived up to the meaning of its name. Never has it been "wild and unruly." The people of Cimarron never had the cattle drives and drifters many towns had. The people who came here were solid citizens, interested in the land. As Colonel Wright stated in 1888, "...the people have brought with them the civilization of the east and acquired the grit and independence of the west."
I have been given permission by the family of Elsie Wagner to include this copy of Elsie's book, "Cimarron, The Growth of A
Town" Thanks John and family.
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