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How about giving this document a little consideration.  It's the 2011 Annual Report of Valley County Economic Development and the Ord Area Chamber of Commerce.  (Yes, Ross, most of what is going on in Ord is occurring at both the town and county level, they actually think of themselves as one community, even though there are three towns and one village in the county)

http://www.ordnebraska.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2011-VCED-Chamber-Annual-Report.pdf

And, for a third party analysis of what a positive, cooperative attitude towards community economic development can accomplish, please read this document:

http://sites.nppd.com/aedc/TrendStudy/valley.pdf

And to think, it's 135 years later and there are still some who want nothing more than to keep that Bloody Chasm open, trying to swallow all attempts at bettering the chances for future prosperity for all of Elk County.

More about the downward trends Ord was facing, and the cooperative effort put forth to do something about them:

http://www.sog.unc.edu/programs/cednc/stbi/cases/pdf/ord.pdf

Communities that actually try to do something to end the downward spiral effecting most rural small towns and counties stand a chance of succeeding.  Those who listen to all of the naysayers and don't do anything to change the economic picture will simply continue to shrink until they no longer exist.

An example of a very small town in rural Nebraska that took a very pro-active approach to sustaining it's future:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/netradio/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1897484/Nebraska.News/Small.town.uses.local.tax.to.create.jobs..slow.population.loss

Another early historical work on the Civil War in the Kansas/Missouri/Arkansas/Indian Territory area, used as source material in many later works, and still referenced in recent books on the subject:

Abel, Annie Heloise The American Indian as slaveholder and secessionist; an omitted chapter in the diplomatic history of the Southern Confederacy (1915)


http://www.archive.org/details/americindiasslav00abeliala

Map showing the retreat of the Loyal Indians on page 263

Online access to Civil War on the Border by Wiley Britton:

http://openlibrary.org/books/OL13501182M/The_civil_war_on_the_border_...

Chapter 13, page 164 is the story of the battles and flight of the Loyal Creeks under Opothleyahola in Nov-Dec 1861.  Does not shed any light on how he traveled (fled) from around Skiatook, OK beginning Dec 26, to his arrival several weeks later at Coyville, KS.

This online book is the first of two volumes written by Britton about the Civil War along the Kansas/Missouri border, including actions in NW Arkansas and the Indian Territory, the second being available to read online at:

http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7073146M/The_Civil_War_on_the_border...

Websters New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition 1986:

"witch hunt - an investigation usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive political activity, disloyalty, etc., but really to harass and weaken political opposition."

Where's the big 'clapping hands' smiley? 

Thank you patriotdad!

Our towels used to be nice and soft and fluffy.  Now my wife calls them 'exfoliation sheets' (I think that's akin to calling them sandpaper.)  Maybe it's because we dry them on the clothsline and I always forget to get off my butt and go add fabric softener at the proper time in the cycle.

I was actually planning to post something here about the defunct county of Madison (1855-1861) that was comprised of parts of present day Greenwood and Lyon counties, but there is ambiguity as to its exact borders and the fact that the location given for the town that is stated as being its county seat, Columbia, may or may not have actually been within Madison County.

Anyway, reason I decided to post anyway is that in researching the above matter, I came upon a website on the history of Madison, the town, which has some info on the Howard Branch ATSF, and its conversion from narrow to standard guage.  Don't know if you have seen this, Waldo, and I can't speak to its accuracy but here it is:

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/madison/historyofmadison.htm

About half way down the page, a little below the pictures of the schools is a section on the railroads.