Norton County News Historical Edition:
The Indian Scare of 1878 
as told by S. Larrick, of Lenora

In September of 1878 a man and his wife and two children rode into Logan and horses which had been driven until nearly exhausted. They were terrorized, having heard that the Indians had broken away from their reservation in the Indian Territory and were coming toward Logan, killing and burning everything in their path. All day and far into the night settlers came into Logan from miles around and nearly all told of having seen the Indians. Some came on horse back and some in their immigrant wagons, anything that would carry the family, and was nearest at hand. The whole country was terrorized and some did not stop at Logan but went further east. Mr. Larrick and all of the men stood guard for two nights but nothing was seen of the Indians and the third days news was received that they had crossed the river at Jack Leathermans 25 miles west of Lenora where they killed all the chickens and tore the feather beds apart and scattered them around over the farm. Luckily Leatherman was not at home, and so escaped, for at Oberlin 19 people were killed, and only recently a monument has been erected to the memory of those massacred. From Oberlin the Indians went west and north. The soldiers from Fort Hayes (sic) and Fort Wallace persued (sic) them but never came close enough to capture them until they got to Arizona. The Buffalo hunters and settlers killed a few all along the line and to them is largely due the credit for their capture. (page 101)

©2005 Ardie Grimes.  Transcribed from Norton County News Historical Number 1870 - 1916, re-organized and re-formatted for ease of use. These pages are dedicated to free access to records, documents and photos of historical and genealogical value. Documents contained herein may be copied for personal, non-commercial use as long as this statement remains on all copied material.   These records, documents and photos may not be reproduced, published or re-published for any reason, in any format,  including electronic (web pages or CD's) and print, without prior written consent of the contributors or copyright holders.