Where in Elk County Am I?

[patyrn]

and we pronounce it FI-AT, not FEE-AHT, like the Wichita TV weathermen report and the name of the car..........................

[flintauqua]

OK, I'm back home now.

I guess Frank is up, unless it was Myrna

Charles

[frawin]

Well Charles, Myrna should do this but she left it to me. I really don't have an idea what to put out there, but here goes.
" I am setting at the First Settlement in Elk County" where am I??

[Dee Gee]

Seeing how you said ELK County and not HOWARD County I would guess GRENOLA.

[frawin]

Dale, the key word is "Settlement", not town.

[Diane Amberg]

White or Native American?

[frawin]

Diane, I very much doubt that it could be pinpointed where and when the first Indian settlement was established, in any case it is White settlement.

[frawin]

Diane, settlement was the keyword in my source as it was not described as a town.

[Diane Amberg]

Ok, 1864. Someone else can add the name(s) and exactly where.

[jensarlou]

Here is what I found:

The first settler to enter upon the land included within the confines of what is now Elk County, was Richard Graves, who came in 1856, and was twice driven out by the Indians.

The country at this time was new and almost a wilderness, overrun by wild animals and roving bands of Indians, and, in consequence, settlements were few and unconnected.

The land at this time belonged to the Osage Indians, upon which legal settlement could not be made. There was, however, a strip of land extending along the northern part of the county, six miles wide, known as the "ceded strip," upon which legal settlement could be made. It was consequently along the streams included within this belt where the earliest settlements were made. But it was not long to be confined to this narrow limit. Bold, adventurous men there were, who became attracted by the beautiful and fertile valleys of the Elk River and its tributary streams, and at the risk of their lives among the Indians, upon whose rights they were intruding, and with expectations of being driven off by United States troops, they determined to make an effort to settle upon these desirable lands. Only a few at first made the attempt, and, in consequence, their presence was not distasteful to the authorities or alarming to the Indians. Others now began to come in, until in 1870 the number of "squatters" had become quite considerable. Among those who were leaders of the vanguard, and who came to stay, were J. C. Pinney, James Shipley, R. M. Humphrey, Elison Neat, H. G. Miller, J. B. Roberts and others.

Andrea