The subject of this week’s interview caused the writer to realize more forcefully than ever before how much we are prone to overlook and to take for granted in life. So many people, particularly young folk, are engrossed in personal problems and friviolities to the extent that they fail to consider the older people they are constantly meeting in every walk of life. Next time you meet an old person, greet him civilly – treat him cordially, let your imagination envision his younger days when he found life as exciting or more so than you have found it. We talked at length with an unassuming man this week who has lived many years and seen much of life, but who of you would have guessed it if you merely met him on the street? It’s educational and stimulating to know neighbor – the man on the street.
Mr. Phillip Noon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Noon, was born March 19, 1858, at New Albany, Indiana. Incidentally, Mr. Noon remained a single man – he considered himself burdened enough in helping his father to get along on the early Kansas fronties and keep a family fed and clothed. When Phil was nine years of age, his parents came with their five children, a twelve year old daughter, Julia, who is now residing in Los Angeles, California, and their four sons, Phil, Pete, Pat and Tom, to Ft. Harker, Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Noon, both of whom came to America from Ireland in their early youth, were never privileged to enjoy the advantages of formal education. Mrs. Noon was about eight years old when she reached America and as a young woman she found employment in Louisiana and Indiana. Mr. Patrick Noon came to America during the Mexican War when a large portion of Texas was at stake. Patrick had gone to England from Ireland and harvested wheat two summers in order to earn his passage to America. He told his children that the wheat grew so tall in England that the stubble was often as high as his knees ever after the wheat had been cut low enough to make long bundles for shocking. He got experience using the flail and other crude instruments used in the United States many years later. Patrick Noon was not called on to fight for his adopted country until the Civil War called for enlistments. Patrick’s trade previous to the outbreak of the Civil War was shipping; he worked on steamboats hauling coal and freight which plied through the waters of the Ohio River, often from Louisville, Kentucky, to New Orleans, Lousiana, and sometimes up to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Having been enlisted by the Union ranks of the Civil War, Patrick became a teamster.
Because his parents lacked education, no written records were kept concerning their trip to Kansas – and except for the fact that Phil and his sister, Julia, had keen memories for dates, when they were youngsters, he would not know positively when the trip was made.
The Patrick Noon family left New Albany, Indiana, on July 4, 1867. They traveled as far as St. Louis, Missouri, by train. Having visited relatives in St. Louis a week, they continued to Leavenworth on a boat called "Star of the West." Phil recalls that he enjoyed watching the boats and he learned to know each boat by its whistle. Mrs. Noon had hoped that a brother of hers would be able to accompany them to Kansas and file claim on some of the new land but, because he was on a boat which failed to reach St. Louis before the Noon family left, she did not so much as get to visit with him.
At Leavenworth, the family discovered that their baggage had been left behind at St. Louis; they were obliged to wait over in Leavenworth a week before their baggage, packed in crates which they had made by hand from some of the wood which grew in plentiful quantities around their former home in Indiana, arrived safely on another boat. The Noons bought railroad fare which would take them to ultimate destination at Ft. Harker, about where Kanopolis is now situated.
Their troubles were not ended, as they were to learn as soon as they got to Salina (at that time Salina was 160 acres of land covered with tents and log cabins). A number of settlers had died of cholera in Ft. Harker and Ellsworth, and a few cases had developed in Salina. The Noon family was, therefore, obliged to remain in Salina an entire week at the house of a French woman where they were subjected to quarantine for cholera. Because no priests were stationed this far west, a priest was sent from Leavenworth to visit the stricken area. This priest having stopped in Salina, asked the newcomers to remain here until he returned with word that it would be safe for them to continue to the fort. The priest, however, never returned for he died in Ellsworth the day after he himself was stricken by the dreaded disease. The Noon family was finally permitted to ride to Ft. Harker, a comparatively short distance from Salina, in a boxcar. Every possible precaution was necessary to check the spread of the cholera; it was suspected that germs from the cushions of the railroad caboose were largely responsible for the cases which occurred in Salina.
The settlers could not risk living on their claims steady for any length of time because of the imminent danger of Indian attacks. For that reason most of the settlers from Elkhorn lived at Ft. Harker at the outstart of their homesteading days. The government furnished all the men employment by the railroad or otherwise with work tents, and ammunition. Families from the Elkhorn settlement who lived in the fort included the Alderdices and McGrudys. As soon as the men with claims could get their papers filled out by the government, they made up a gang and came to Lincoln county to work on their respective farms. Protection for them depended greatly on the number of men together and the amount of ammunition in the event of a surprise attack. Phil was allowed to accompany his uncle Tom and other men to this territory twice while Indians were yet a menace. The first time, in October 1867, they stayed away from the fort only two or three days; the following fall, they returned to stay a week. Because everyone who intended to hold a claim was expected to add improvements to their claims each year, Tom Noon and his neighbors came over from the fort occasionally to dig temporary shelters and storage rooms in the river banks and hillsides and to build foundations for the more permannent structures which they built as soon as circumstances permitted. Phil Noon, because he was the oldest son and was obliged to go ahead with the heavy farm work, had few privileges to attend school of any kind. He received a little schooling while living in Ft. Harker because the government donated a hospital room for the purpose of teaching the youngsters whose parents sought to build homes on the frontier land. Some of Phil’s schoolmates at Ft. Harker included Rube Sparks and the Smiths from Beverly, and Abe Schemerhorn a merchant in Wilson prior to his death a few years ago.
Phil recalls seeing John Haley brought to the fort following the battle on Beecher’s Island where Haley received a bullet wound in the hip. Before attempting to remove the bullet from Haley’s body, some of the soldiers strapped the stoutly built man to a table. The intense pain inflicted by the effort to extract the bullet caused Haley to jump to the floor and run around while strapped to the table. He was dismissed shortly thereafter and he carried the bullet in his body the remainder of his life.
(Part II)
Part of the land claimed by Tom Noon, situated four miles west and one mile south of what is now Lincoln Center, eventually became the Sheldon property. Patrick’s part of the original claim was "junked" after he moved his family to Junction City in 1869 where he operated a hotel, because he did not comply with regulations to stay near the claim and keep adding improvements. His wife was very much afraid of Indians so the Patrick Noon family did not attempt to settle in Lincoln county until after the Indians had left this part of the country. Phil, however, did not move to Junction City with his parents, but was allowed to remain with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Noon, who had only one child, a little daughter.
Some of Benteen’s soldiers, Gen. Custer’s regiment known as the 7th Cavalry, camped one mile north of the Sheldon Place. Phil’s aunt kept 15 good cows and made quite a profit by sending Phil to the camp with milk and butter, which the soldiers were glad to buy – milk was 15 cents a quart and butter sold at 40 cents a pound. Because the Noons had plenty of skimmed milk, they were able to keep several hogs all the time and were well supplied with pork in addition to buffalo, antelope, elk and turkey. They also raised chickens and had eggs to sell. The grass grew above Phil’s head and he was frequently obliged to stand up on his horse to sight the cattle from a distance. The most effective method for trailing cattle was to find a path where the grass had recently been broken by the cows pushing forward and to follow it until the cattle were located. The calves had to be kept in pens near the house for protection and the cows came to them at night; only occasionally did Phil have to drive them home at evening. George Green operated what was known as the Settlers’ Store in the soldiers’ camp.
On Sunday, May 31, 1869, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Noon were visiting in the Whalen home on what is now known as the Mike Healy place. Mrs. Alderdice and children and Mrs. Kline [Kyne] and baby were also visiting at Whalens. Some men from the Danish settlement were walking in the vicinity of Tom Noon’s home – a dugout, the top of which was built above the ground three logs high – when they noticed some Indians attempting to get away with a fine big team of horses belonging to a neighbor of Mr. Noon’s who broke prairie for the various settlers and who had picketed his team near the Noon house over Sunday. The Danes hurried to the dugout and broke in soon enough to fight off the Indians with the large supply of ammunitions stored in Noon’s home. The Indians tried time and again to get close enough to lariate the horses, but each time were forced to retreat before heavy gunfire. They finally disappeared without having success in their objective. Mr. Tom Noon tried in vain to persuade Mrs. Alderdice and Mrs Kline [Kyne] to remain in the Whalen cabin where they would be better fortified than if they were out in the open. The frightened women, however, determined to seek shelter at Judy Green’s home, south of the present Lincoln depot, where they thought they would be better protected, so started out afoot with their small children and were overtaken by the Indians near the slough a short distance from their goal. The Indians had Mrs. Wiechel [Weichel] of Trail Creek with them in captivity when they reached Mrs. Alderdice and took her along, after having killed her baby and three other children and left still another son for dead with an arrow protruding from his back. Mrs. Kline [Kyne] escaped by crossing the river where the water came only to her chin thus unabling her to walk across and hold her baby above her head. She heard some of the Indians say in fluent English that there should be two women instead of only one. It was suspected by some of the settlers that some horse thieves may have been painted to look like Indians and were influencing the Indians to go on the warpath against the honest, struggling settlers. So far as Mr. Noon knows, the Indians never raided except during the pleasant months when their horses were in the best condition and no hardship was incurred by traveling; he does not recall any time when the Indians trespassed east of Beaver – it is supposed that they thought there were too many settlers in that vicinity for them to profit by a raid. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Noon escaped from the Indians March 31, 1869, on their two ponies. Although Mr. Tom Noon was an excellent crack shot with a rifle, he realized it would be futile for him to attempt fighting off the Indians singlehanded. The Noons were pursued by three or four Indians until they were southwest of the Barret place, one mile west of the Rees mill. Mr. and Mrs. Noon then crossed Bullfoot to Elkhorn to the home of a Mr. Shaffer. From there a gang of men returned to the scene of the brutality suffered by the Alderdice children. It was this gang that rescued the little lad who survived with an arrow in his back. Phil Noon had been in Lincoln county just previous to the Indian massacres of ’69, but was visiting his family in Junction City at the time; he did not venture to return to his uncle’s until three or four weeks after the excitement had died down somewhat. Because the central land office was located at Junction City, most of the men living near Tom Noon were transacting business in Junction City at the time of the Indian raid – it is generally supposed that Indian spies had watched the men leave and decided to take advantage of the situation by harming those left at home and plundering the provisions.
Phil Noon believes he witnessed the first wheat harvest west of Spillman in Lincoln county. His uncle, Tom Noon, had planted six or seven acres of land to spring wheat in 1871 – spring wheat was the only kind planted in those days. The wheat was soft grain and made good biscuits and pancakes but the women complained that it was not suitable for light bread. The average yield was 15 to 20 bushels per acre. The wheat was sowed broadcast.
Phil had been visiting his family in Junction City and arrived at his uncle’s just before the wheat was harvested in the spring of 1871. Tim Foran, a man who worked in machine shops and who lived near Noon’s hotel in Junction City, had filed a claim in another part of Kansas but had let the papers drop. Phil suggested that he file a claim in what became Lincoln county. Tim decided to accompany Phil back to Tom Noon’s homestead. They were unable to find anyone coming directly to their destination, but one fellow with a pony team invited them to accompany him as far as Ellsworth. He said they could ride downhill if they were willing to walk uphill so as to lighten the load for his team. Having reached the home of John Lyden, Phil and Tim walked east to Rocky Hill where the Haleys lived. "Mother Haley," as the grandmother Haley was called, had several children; the eldest daughter, Julia, married a Mr. English. Although Phil suspected the Forans were rather well-to-do people, he had no idea that Tim was carrying money on his body. Tim drank lots of buttermilk and had gotten fleshy so that when he walked a short distance he became so sweaty that he was impelled to remove his money bag carrying $400 which he had worn concealed next to his body. He had stopped when he came to a dip in the land and asked Phil to help him spread his bills on the grass to dry. Several of the bills were of $20 and $5 denominations and many of them were $10 bills. Each pack held $100 worth of bills, and when they were spread out flat side by side they covered several square feet. When the bills had dried, Tim returned them to his belt which he wore outside of his wearing apparel thenceforth. Mr. Noon said he had thought a number of times since then that the money would have been safe if people had ridden by and seen so many bills on the ground, because even highwaymen, then, were inclined to rob a man of his food and traveling conveyance rather than of cold cash.
Tim Foran, after coming here with Phil Noon, helped shock and thresh the first wheat harvested on Tom Noon’s farm. A Swede, Olaf Nelson, who homesteaded the Irv Taylor farm, fashioned a cradle from a scythe and three willow poles – the scythe cut the wheat and the poles threw it back to the ground. The wheat was bound by hand. A Kentuckian who had had experience with crude threshing implements in the mountains stayed with the Noons for six months. He made a pen four feet high and split rails eight feet long which he crisscrossed over a wagon sheet which had been hung to catch the grain. The men used long sticks to serve for flails in separating the grain from the chaff. Two days later, a nice breeze enabled them to wind the grain – this was accomplished by spreading the grain over a clean surface and allowing the wind to blow away loose particles. Because most of the open prairie was covered with rank grass, the pioneers had no dust to contend with. As a matter of fact, Phil Noon has never encountered a severe dust storm such as Kansas experienced a few years ago. He was in Arkansas from 1931 to1936, and there – the dust merely drifted in and settled on the exteriors of cars and buildings; it did not sift inside of buildings and became the disturbance such as Kansas housewives had to contend with.
Mr. Noon recalls that the first binders that were used effectively around here bound the straw into bundles with wire instead of with twine as the modern binders do. Phil saw a point binder for the first time while visiting in Texas one time.
He is of the opinion that because work and food were plentiful, money circulated more freely, not in large quantities, but consistently among all classes of people; people were much better off then than now; except for flour, sugar and coffee, the pioneers had most of the necessities in their own homes and were not obliged to travel far or often except to go to the mill; the closet one, of which, was at Salina.
Good teams of horses were scarce in the early days so that in order to get his first crop ground into flour Tom Noon hired his neighbor, Jonathan Jenkins, owner of the Sheldon place, who had the rare good futune to possess a fine team of horses, to haul his grain to Salina and return the grist. He gave Jenkins half the flour in payment. The millers used to do custom milling a lot, take grain in exchange for flour, bran and other wheat products. The soft spring wheat brought $1.25 a bushel on the market.
Mr. Noon recollects that the first mill constructed in Lincoln was a temporary affair run with French burs made of stone which Elias Rees, founder of the Lincoln mill, operated as an accommodation to his customers while he watied for the logs with which to build a substantial mill. The makeshift mill was located about where Ira Lowder’s store now stands. The settlers were elated to have a mill in their own vicinity as they were [can’t read] trips to Salina for flour and cornmeal; thereafter, they were grateful because the corn season was unusually good in this section. This crude mill ground the grain fine and the settlers had only to sift it before using it for cooking purposes. All pioneer families had sifters and many had coffee mills with which they ground the coarsest meal finer.
Phil was privileged to attend school only one short term after coming to Lincoln county. He studied in a little room dug from the side of a hill, built out somewhat with native stone and a few logs. The little "subscription" school, so called because it was financed by a monthly tuition fee paid by the parents of the scholars attending, was located on the farm belonging to Tom Brann Sr. Tom Brann’s brother, Henry, came to Lincoln county from Ft. Harker at a later date.
Some of Phil’s fellow students were members of the Hendrickson families, Stranges, Birds, Jenkins, and Charles Cheney. The teacher at the subscription school, was a Mr. Warner a well-educated man from New York. Warner had filed a claim of his own, but because he did not stay to improve on the land, someone else claimed it as soon as his first papers expired.
Phil remembers having enjoyed many a meal of buffalo meat in the homes of the Hendricksons, Birds and Stranges. Although Mr. Noon was privileged to eat lots of buffalo, elk, antelope, wild turkey and other kinds of wild meat, he never shot any in his life; it was his duty to handle the teams for the hunters. Mr. Noon has authoritative information concerning the last buffalo killed in Lincoln county. Although he was not present, he has talked to men who saw the buffalo when some neighbors went out to help skin and quarter it. Ed Jackson, an early pioneer, has been accorded the honor of having bagged the last big game in this locality, a stray buffalo. Some boys by the name of Bird who had come from the East only a short time before had never seen a buffalo and considered it a real privilege to be able to see the last one see around Lincoln. C.C. Hendrickson killed a stray buffalo some years before this time; the buffalo killed by Mr. Hendrickson had become mired in the mud and was unable to get away. Jackson killed his buffalo with a pistol as he ran alongside of it; a good horse could easily outrun a buffalo.
Mr. Noon’s mouth fairly waters when he recalls the unexcelled fishing afford by the Saline river in the olden days. The water, instead of being muddy and sluggish as we see it now, was always clear and the fish could be seen against the clean sand bottom. Mr. Noon who has traveled extensively over a period of years has never tasted fish on either coast on in any other state that tasted so good to him and his fellow travelers as the fish which were once so plentiful in the stream bordering Lincoln Center, Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Noon, the parents of Phil, moved to Lincoln county in 1874 and homesteaded a place which had been claimed originally by Patrick Dorn, an Irishman from Canada. The elder Mr. and Mrs. Noon lived on their farm consistently the remainder of their lives. Patrick died in 1911 and his wife passed away in 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Noon had two more children, Mamie and John, after coming to Kansas. John was about a year old when his parents moved to Lincoln county, 65 years ago.
Mr. Noon was well acquainted with all of the early county officials, and recalls having been entertained in the home of a surveyor, Pat Lowe, while attending court. Mr. Lowe moved to Salina from Lincoln.
Mr. Noon also recalls having known a doctor whose name was accidentally omitted in previous issues of this series, Dr. Bryant. This doctor built the old opera hall in Lincoln, and at one time operated a drug store on the ground floor of the Saline Valley Bank building. A Mr. Coolbaugh had the first worthwhile grocery and dry good store in Lincoln that Mr. Noon recalls "having amounted to anything." One of Mr. Coolbaugh’s clerks was a popular cross-eyed fellow by the name of Jim Travis.
The only family records the Patrick Noon family possessed after coming to Kansas were lost when the old family Bible was destroyed as the result of poor shelter to protect the family’s belonging against the Kansas rains and winds. The Catholics receive birth certificates for their infants at the time of baptism, and all such records are kept safely in the church vaults. While visiting in New Albany, Indiana, in 1910, Mr. Phil Noon was able to secure the records pertaining to the ages and birthplaces of the five oldest Noon children who were born in Indiana.
Mr. Noon knew personally several colorful figures who have been introduced to the present generation through the vividly stirring accounts of history books as American heroes. To Mr. Noon who knew Gen. Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, in his boyhood, they were merely right good fellows to know; normal human beings such as they failed to arouse his boyish fancies in the least.
There are doubtlessly some among the youngsters and young adults of today who had been stirred by the various historical accounts concerning the early days of the "wild west" and who wish they might have known Mr. Noon’s friends, who will be privileged to witness a sight in 1990 that thrilled Mr. Noon on his homebound trip from Indiana in 1910 – Haley’s comet!
