35:, in October, settling on the Solomon River. They and some of their new neighbors built them a dugout, a single room measuring fourteen by sixteen feet. The dugout had a fireplace and probably logs and/or sod were used for the roof and some of the walls. After the structure was completed, the family moved into it and Mr. Chapman built a rough wood floor for it.
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Very quickly the
Chapman home started to serve the growing numbers of settlers as a fort during Indian disturbances. During this time relations between the settlers and the Indians were hostile and many Indian raids transpired. Sometimes large numbers of settlers took refuge in the Chapman dugout.
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Even the
Chapmans had a cabin inside the fort, but apparently they never took refuge in it. They preferred to remain in their dugout. Capt. Elisha Hammer took a troop detachment from Salina to visit Ottawa County and begged the Chapmans to leave their dugout. They still stayed, enduring near
42:
One time the
Indians set a grass fire in an apparent attempt to burn out the white settlers. The native prairie grass was six feet high and burned well in the wind that accompanied the fire. The result was many buffalo died in the fire.
53:
was built about a mile to the north. The town of
Lindsey developed around Fort Solomon. The majority of the county's population lived in log cabins inside Fort Solomon from summer 1864 to spring 1865.
81:(N.p.: Centennial Committee, n.d.), pp. 2, 6-7; William C. Pollard, Jr., "Forts and Military Posts in Kansas: 1854-1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Faith Baptist College and Seminary, 1997), pp. 26-7.
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The largest number was fifty-two men, women and children. In the nights of refuge, the men would keep watch for
Indians and the women and children would sleep on quilts on the floor.
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120:(Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1883), p. 1425; Marvin H. Garfield, "The Military Post as a Factor in the Frontier Defense of Kansas, 1865-1869,"
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When the
Chapman dugout was used as the area fortress, it served as the community Sunday school. About ten persons met there every Sunday.
61:
Eventually the raids ceased. In 1868 or 1869 the
Chapmans completed a brick house and left their dugout, which fell into disrepair.
133:
Chapman, pp. 11-2, 15-6, 18; I. L. Stull, reminiscence, p. 1 (from the Ottawa County
Historical Museum, Minneapolis, Kans.).
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on August 21, 1863, the family in
September moved west, since the guerrillas passed within sight of their farm.
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In the early 1860s
Stephen B. Chapman and his family lived on a farm near the town of Black Jack, south of
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20:. In summer 1863 Bushwhackers began traveling through the area, terrorizing the citizens. After
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The dugout's use as a refuge pretty much ended by summer 1864. At that time
94:(Minneapolis, Minn.: Northwest Publishing Co., 1902), p. 20.
157:Buildings and structures in Ottawa County, Kansas
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116:(N.p.: Centennial Committee, n.d.), p. 12;
124:, Vol. 1, No. 1 (November 1931), pp. 59-60.
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92:Plat Book of Ottawa County, Kansas
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114:Ottawa County History: 1864-1984
118:History of the State of Kansas
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162:1863 establishments in Kansas
79:Short Stories of Pioneer Days
122:Kansas Historical Quarterly
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33:Ottawa County, Kansas
103:Chapman, pp. 14, 29.
22:William C. Quantrill
77:Lavina G. Chapman,
90:Chapman, pp. 8-9;
26:Lawrence Massacre
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65:References
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