Somewhere County, Kansas

INTRODUCTION

Written originally in longhand in pencil by

MAPLE LOCKLEY FREDERICK

But her story was never published

in book form.

Of which was discovered by Mr. Philip Corbin.

Then Rewritten by

P. ARDEN CORBIN

None of the original Manuscript survived after it had been exposed to Air and Humidity, after it had lain in a Cedar box for 133 years. Because when I finished rewriting her book, her manuscript had turned to dust. Even the Cedar box did not survive for more than four weeks.

Handling it many times made it fall apart, and eventually turn to dust.

CHAPTER ONE

FINDING AN OLD MANUSCRIPT

When I decided to write a book about Kansas, I drove to a place where I had heard of a writer who lived in a County that no longer existed. This County would have been located at about the Center of Kansas, so I drove to where I figured the center of Kansas was located. In this year of 2012, not much exists out there, except there is a Hillock where Somewhere, Kansas used to be.

Now what is a Hillock? Actually a hillock is a hill, with it’s sides all around it, being at least at 60 degree angle, which makes it impossible to climb, unless you can cut depressions in the side of this hillock, kind of like little holes, where you can fit the front part of your shoes into these holes, thereby allowing you to climb to the top of this hillock. There are not many places in any state, where there are these kinds of hills. The state of Wisconsin is one of those states, near Blanchardville, Wisconsin.

Then I left that area, because that hillock is on the northeast corner of where Somewhere County, Kansas was once located. I learned these facts from the manuscript that I found in a metal box. When a massive sized Tornado hit Somewhere County, Kansas, it apparently gathered up several million cubit yards of dirt that was near the Diamond Mine and carried it more than six miles, and deposited it where Somewhere, Kansas used to be, creating that Hillock.

In the southeast corner of Somewhere County, Kansas there was a Diamond rock that was so large, that the farmers, who dug down to it, never did find where it ended in two directions. It was 28 feet across it, in other directions.

When these farmers were trying to find how far this Diamond rock went in a southeasterly direction, they found a two-foot wide vein of Gold. These farmers dug down into the ground 232 feet, which is where they found that Diamond Rock. The reason they were digging down in the ground in that area was because Lewis Frederick found an Amethyst rock on top of the ground, 150 feet from that area, which told him that somewhere fairly close there would also be a Diamond deposit. So they dug down into the ground where Lewis Frederick told them to, and that is when they found that Diamond Rock.

This book originally was written by Maple Lockley Frederick, while she was having to remain at home, because she was pregnant with her first child, and it was safer anyway, because a man called Corbin Cotton, who was an Owner – Editor of a Newspaper in Somewhere, Kansas, of which he put out his first Edition in the spring of 1871. A Wolf dog, owned by a man called Spider Raven, is protecting Maple. And the specifics about him, you will read about, later in this book.

After I left that hillock area, I drove first to Frederick, Kansas, looking for possible relatives of the Frederick family, but I did not find any.

So I drove to another small town, and I was directed to an old house on the northeast edge of that town. No one lived there any longer, and had not since about 1912, and no one seemed to know how long it had been since anyone, other than Lorraine Frederick, had lived in that house with any kind of certainty. I was cautioned to watch out for Rattlesnakes, if I intended to walk around inside or anywhere outside of that house. I walk using a walker device. I did not have any kind of weapon with me, but somehow I knew, that if I encountered any Rattlesnakes, I would be able to talk to it, and it would not harm me. As I was walking near this old house, I was on the northwest side of this house, and shoved under the lower sill of this house, there was what looked like to be a metal box, that was about six feet in length, that was partially covered by other pieces of lumber and tree branches. So I began to remove all of those pieces of lumber and a few tree limbs, even though there were no trees anywhere close to this house, but eventually I finally got to where I could see this metal box with some clarity. It looked like it was about six feet long and about two feet depth, and about two feet high. It had an old padlock on it, but it was really rusty, so I looked around for a rock, but then instead decided to use one of the old pieces of lumber that I had removed from near that box. So I struck that old padlock and after about six bashings against that padlock, it gave way, so I removed that old padlock and opened up the lid of that metal box.

Inside was what looked like a Cedar Hope Chest? I lifted the lid to that cedar chest and inside of it, was some old clothes, and what looked like some tapestry, that when I touched it; just fell apart in my hands. But I kept searching deeper in that cedar chest and in one corner, I found a smaller Cedar box. I removed it from that cedar chest and took it to my vehicle, where I could sit down, because I have trouble standing very long, because I have several disks in my back that have been ruptured over the years, so I have to sit down if I stand in any one area for any longer than ten minutes. I am pretty good, just as long as I can keep moving. But if I stand in one place too long, then I have to sit down pretty quickly.

Anyway, I sat on the tailgate of my van and opened that small cedar box, and inside of that box, I found, first another box that was wrapped in what looked like some Cedar paper. So I removed that paper and there was another smaller Cedar box, and inside of that cedar box, were several sheets of paper that looked like it could be at least close to three inches thick. Which most probably would consist of about three hundred pages. But I closed that box lid. Went back and closed that metal lid to that metal box, then went back to my vehicle and I drove back to Topeka, Kansas. I did not go back to talk to anyone else in that town in the middle of Kansas.

The reason I did this is because I did not want to expose these sheets of paper to the fresh air of Kansas, and besides it kind of looked like it might rain soon. And while I was driving back to Topeka, Kansas, it did begin to rain, but not hard, but just an aggravating kind of rain that would make the highways slick and dangerous. Because I was no less than two hundred miles from my home in Topeka, Kansas.

I had to drive rather slowly anyway because of the rain. But I got back to Topeka okay, which took me a little over five hours, and into my apartment okay.

After I got myself settled in my most comfortable chair in my apartment, I only have three chairs in my apartment. I carefully began to read this Manuscript, that was written in long hand with a pencil, by a person whose name is Maple Lockley Frederick.

She says she is the wife of Mathew Frederick, who is the Owner and Manager of the Chronicle Truth Newspaper, in Somewhere, Kansas. Maple says she has been the Editor of that newspaper, but she is now at home, because two persons have told her that she has to be very careful for the next six months, because she is pregnant with her first baby, and her Personal advisor, whose name is Spider Raven, and her Husbands Father, whose name is Dr. Sycamore Frederick, is her Doctor, and they both tell her that she has to remain at home during the next six months and to not do any kind of strenuous work during that period of time.

Also because she slighted another man, whose name is Corbin Cotton, who is the Owner – operator of another Newspaper in Somewhere, Kansas, so she is being protected by a Wolf dog, that is owned by her personal advisor.

Maple says she has decided to quit being the Editor of her husbands newspaper, because Dr. Frederick has also told her that she has a condition, that he cannot tell her what it is called, because at this time it has no name, but what this condition does, it is preventing her from being able to walk very far, because it is affecting the bones in her body and also the Muscles. This condition will only prevent her from being very active, just as long as she eats right and does not over-exercise the limbs of her body.

Later I will tell the reader what she had.

As I read Maple’s manuscript, the paper is beginning to disintegrate, as I handle each page, before my eyes, so as I rewrite her book, this will have to be the only time I will be able to read her manuscript, because when this book is finished, I will only have dust in this little Cedar box, which also is not in very good condition, since it has been exposed to the dry air here in Kansas. Even though I keep the humidity in my apartment about fifty percent all of the time. Once this book is rewritten, the only way anyone will be able to know what was in Maple’s original Manuscript is to ask me, because I will have been the only person who was able to read it.

I looked to see if I had any film left in any of my Camera’s, but there is none, so I cannot take a photograph of this Cedar box and this manuscript.

I do not want to handle it too often, for fear of it totally disintegrating. Anyway this is how Maple has begun her original Book about Somewhere County, Kansas and about the town of Somewhere, Kansas.

THE BOOK

So as to collect whatever information is needed, to write this book, Spider has contacted everyone that he knows, which is everyone who lives within Somewhere County, Kansas. And has made appointments with each of them, to come and see me, and I am Maple Lockley Frederick.

While Maple was going to College, she learned this new kind of writing, which was invented by Sir Isaac Pitman. It is called Shorthand; she uses this shorthand when each person comes to her for an interview, which she keeps in journals, that has lines going across the paper in these journals that have been supplied to her by her husband.

I don’t have any information as to what happened to those Journals. They were most probably in the Frederick house in Somewhere, Kansas.

What happened to everyone in Somewhere County, Kansas and Somewhere, Kansas, will be explained later in this book.

After Maple begins to see every person who lives in Somewhere County, Kansas, she will then assemble all of her

Journals in chronological order, and then she will begin to write her book, which will be called

SOMEWHERE COUNTY, KANSAS.

CHAPTER TWO

MAKING AN IMPORTANT DECISION

A relatively small County has been created, when Kansas was being settled. Mostly because the persons who created this County, had been on a Wagon Train, and a member of that certain family, contracted the dreaded disease called Chicken Pox, and because they did not want to cause other members of this Wagon Train, to get this dreaded disease, because in the 1850’s it could have been fatal to the entire Wagon Train…SO…This family is a large family, with eleven children, with ten of them above the age of seven years of age, with the oldest being twenty two years of age, who is also married, with a wife and two other children, and one on the way.

The child who has contracted this dreaded disease is ten years old, and he is very sick, with Spots all over his body, and he has a fever, which does not seem to want to go away. His name is John Frederick. But because the Leader of this family is a Medical Doctor, he figured he could eventually cause his son to get well, but as with most wagon trains, the Wagon train leader does not want to stop and waste valuable time, until this child might get well. So these two families, pull out of this wagon train with their fourteen extra horses, other than the eight horses that are pulling two covered wagons, and ten Cows and a Bull and a Dog, and at that time they are near a town called Hollyrood, Kansas which is about sixteen miles from where they are now located.

One of the older members of this family goes to this small town, but he is not welcome, and is not allowed to buy anything, because bad news always travels faster than any other kind of news. This young mans name is Lewis Frederick. And some of the towns people demand that this young person leave and to not come back until his brother is completely cured of this dreaded disease called Chicken Pox.

So on his way back to where his parents and brothers and sisters are camped on a small rise on the prairie, he comes upon a small herd of Buffalo, so he shoots one of them, and because he is within earshot of his parents camp, which is about a mile away, other members of that family come, after they hear his Rifle shot. They too are riding horses, so after this Buffalo has been skinned, all of the members of this family that helped Lewis with this buffalo, they cut it up and haul what is edible, back to their parents encampment. All of these boys have always carried Knives that their father has given each of them, when they reached the age of 10 years of age.

The boy Lewis, who had started into his higher grades in an St Louis School, told his older brothers, that they could use the stomach and intestines after they have been completely cleaned out, which could be used to carry water inside of it.

One older brother, who is Sycamore, Junior, says it is your idea, so you figure out how to dispense with all of that stuff inside of these two organs, and maybe it will work. So that is what Lewis does, he remains behind with his horse Hobbled nearby this Buffalo carcass, and after he works for two hours, he finally gets most of the guts and stomach cleaned out.

And by that time there are numerous Crows and other birds flying around where all of what remains of this buffalo is located, so he gathers up the intestines and the stomach and rides back to where his parents and the rest of his family are camped. He leaves the rest of this buffalo for whomever or whatever wants to come and eat it. They surely will not starve for sometime.

Lewis has done some roaming around and has found a small stream, and he took these intestines and stomach to that stream, so he could really clean out everything. After he flushes out these organs a couple of times, after he knew all of the food stuffs has been cleaned out of them, he then ties knots in one end of the stomach, and then he completely fills this stomach with water, and ties another knot in the other end, so it will not leak out. Using some rope he ties the stomach to his Saddle horn, and then he ties several knots in the Intestines, and as he ties these knots he fills each section with water, so after he has done this to half of the large intestines he ties a knot in that end, and using another length of rope ties the rest of this organ to his saddle horn, and then he rides back to the campground home.

When he gets home his Mother is very pleased as to what he has done. Some of his brothers and all of his sisters say they will not drink any water that comes from these things, But Lewis’s Mother says, now she can cook a real meal using fresh water and some of that dried Jerky she has brought with her from St Louis, Missouri, and some vegetables she has found on the prairie earlier today. Like Buffalo beans and some wild potatoes and a kind of sour flower that tasted real good when she ate some of them.

When she served this to all of her children and her husband, some of the boys have decided to eat a little, and when they tasted it, decide that it sure tastes real great, so finally all of the girls at first take a small portion and they all go back for seconds and third helpings, because they actually loved what they ate. So Lewis forgave all of them for doubting what he has done that day in bringing all of that water home in the Water Bags that he has made out of the Intestines and the Stomach of a Buffalo.

So as to keep this meat from spoiling, it is packed in wooden barrels, using salt as a preservative and keeping the lids tightly on all of these wooden barrels, to keep the flies away from most of it.

They use some of the buffalo hide that was cut into narrow strips, as a kind of rope, and they built a fire in a pit that they dug into the ground, by looking around where all of these buffalo have walked across this prairie, they found dried up buffalo dung, and gathered up as many of these buffalo chips into Gunny sacks of which they have brought with them, back to where they were camped, and placed some of these dried buffalo dung chips into this trench in the ground and then they pounded some split barrel staves into the ground and using this buffalo hide as string, they hang at least fifty pounds of this buffalo meat on those strings, and the smoke keeps the flies away from this meat.

They keep this up for a week, and after that length of time, some of this meat has dried enough so they can all eat some of it. It is very good tasting, so they decided to dry all of this buffalo meat, thereby keeping most of it from spoiling. This actually takes about six weeks to dry all of this buffalo meat.

In the meantime, because they knew they will not be going anywhere for many months and most probably never, it is decided that some members of this family will build themselves a Sod house, and a Sod barn, so all of their horses and Cattle would have a place to get out of the Rain or Snow or whatever.

After this family has been in this area for about two weeks, the ten-year-old boy becomes better, his name is John, and soon he is completely cured of this disease called Chicken Pox. But they do not go into the town of Hollyrood again, even though it is only about sixteen miles away from their camp. They instead decide to start their own town.

You have to remember that this area is not yet considered to be any kind of state, but is actually part of the Colorado Territory, because this day is July 4th of 1851. And this Doctor and his family have remembered that it is that date, but the way they celebrate this day is by having a party.

Now some of the members of this family can play a guitar and Dr. Frederick has an accordion, and his wife has and does play a violin. So they begin to play these instruments and the children dance to this music.

Music on the Prairie will carry for many miles, especially if the wind is blowing from a direction whereof it will carry for at least ten miles. And since shortly after breakfast this music began playing, by sundown, there are other persons who have come to where this family is having their party. And some of these other persons are pioneers who have settled other areas of land and they came from as far away as ten or more miles distance and some from as close as seven miles distance.

Once the word went out to the surrounding countryside, others came also and they brought more and different kinds of food with them, when they finally did arrive at this party. This party goes on for two entire days and nights.

New friendships are formed, but some persons were still skeptical of new strangers. Especially strangers who have more than what they have themselves. And they seemed to be more organized than most folks.

CHAPTER THREE

MAKING A PLAN FOR SPECIFIED

PIECES OF PROPERTY

So after this party finally did break up, Dr. Frederick says they have to make a plan for a specified amount of property, and mark it out by placing markers on the corners and probable property lines of that property, so when it comes time to register our claim with whatever authority we need to register it with, we will have it all laid out.

He shows his Sons how he wants all of them to mark whatever territory they mark off, as to how to mark it, just in case some other persons might also lay claim to that same piece of property. Dr. Frederick takes a Barrel stave and using a Hatchet, splits it into two separate pieces. He shows each of his boys, {he has seven} that when you Ride your horse in four separate directions, you will ride your horse for one half hour, then stop and pound one of your stakes into the ground, with all of the necessary information on that half barrel stave. Then look around and place enough rocks over this stake, so that it creates a pyramid. Be sure to write in your notebook, the same information, because the grass will most likely hide this pile of rocks. In a book that each of you have always carried, you will mark where this stake is located to the best of your abilities. You each have a compass, so each of you will know in what direction you each traveled. Make whatever notations you deem important in that book, and don’t be afraid to over do anything. Like marking rocks and knolls and hills and trees in that book. Be imaginary when you mark a rock, like strange looking initials, that maybe an Indian might make, using a piece of Flint stone, or using one of the colored stones we have found while traveling, which do not seem to wash away when it gets wet. Draw a Map of where you know this encampment is located, and then draw a map of where each stake is located in relation to this camp, and continue to ride your horse for another half hour, and do the same thing, and finally continue that map when you reach your furthest point from this camp.

Remember that sometime in our future, someone will make a claim for this same piece of land, but we will have been here first. Be sure you write the date on that piece of wood, and the time of day you wrote that date on that piece of wood, only write the time in this way, for example; if the time is one in the afternoon, write it like this; 1300, nothing more and nothing less. If it is before ten am, then write it like this, like 0955, which is five minutes before ten am.

Now after you have ridden your horse for a total of two hours, in 30-minute intervals, then make a right turn, and do the same thing for one hours time. Then make another right turn and continue for another two hours riding time, and place these stakes in the ground for as many times as is necessary. Remember we are trying to create as much territory as we can, so don’t be afraid to gallop your horse as fast as you can. Because remember, these horses were raised on this prairie, which means they can run for many hours, without stopping. Now do you all totally understand what you have to do? And each of them nods yes.

So after we have breakfast tomorrow morning, you all who are over the age of 12 years will do what we have talked about. And while you are doing that, the rest of us will be marking out how large our town will be, and we will mark it in the same way you will be marking out how large our farm will be.

JULY 7 1851

So every boy over the age of twelve years of age rides his horse in the manner that was described the day before. And each makes notes in his notebook as to where they were camped. They each took sixteen Barrel staves with them, and a hatchet, a pencil, and a piece of Flint and a piece of colored rock, so they could pound that barrel stave into the ground, so as to mark off the area of ground they are planning to call their families homestead farm. All of this will take one days time to do.

Then Sycamore Frederick, Sr., using the same formula, with each child walking a designated