County Fights

A Kansas Portrait

Few Kansans have heard of towns named Ravanna, Eminence, Kendall, Woodsdale, Heartland, Farmer City, Appomattox or Surprise, because they were all losers in county seat fights. Disputes over the location of the seats of county government were common in late nineteenth century Kansas. Supporters believed that if their town was selected the county-seat, its prosperity and permanence would be guaranteed.

Almost all the county seat fights involved disputed elections and resulted in various law suits and countersuits. Some involved bribery, fraud and even violence.

In Gray County, for example, millionaire Asa T. Soule persuaded the residents of Montezuma to withdraw in favor of Ingalls through the promise of a railroad and freely dispersed checks ranging from $100 to $500. In spite of these efforts, Cimarron was the winner in the 1887 election. In validating the election returns, the Kansas Supreme Court ordered the county records to be moved to Ingalls. In an attempt to remove the remaining records from Cimarron in 1889, a gunfight resulted and a bystander was killed. The matter was not settled until 1896 when Cimarron was the county seat. Violence resulting in deaths also occurred in the county seat disputes in Wichita and Stevens counties.

In most cases, after the dispute was resolved, a courthouse was built, amicable relations were resumed and life in the county returned to normal and to the concerns of settling the frontier.