Ford County Historical Society 2007 Annual Meeting

The Ford County Historical Society held their annual meeting December 14, 2006, at the Manor of the Plains Community Room, Dodge City, with a dessert reception. The large crowd heard reports and elected the 2007 FCHS board and officers.

The 2007 FCHS officers and board are: President, George Laughead Jr.; vice president, Carol Jenkner; vice president, museum, Janice Klein; secretary, Ann Warner; treasurer, Jim Sherer. Additional board members are Noel Ary, Bill Bunyan, Michael Burkhart, Keith Chadd, Kenneth Felts, Kim Goodnight, Sonya Hughes, Terry Lee, Charles Meade, Dr. E.A. Liebl, Troy Robinson, Louis Sanchez, Don Shultz, Nancy Jo Trauer, Dennis Veatch, Jack Warner, Don Wiles and Fredric Young.

Donations Honored

Historian Glenn Boyer and author Jane Candia Boyer's continued donation of letters written by Morgan Earp's widow brings to Ford County some rare new information on our most famous lawman. The Boyers have been active for years now in adding to our archive with their generous giving.

David Wetmore and the Sunflower Bank continue to provide no-cost storage for key artifacts. Until a secured artifact room is available, bank storage will be necessary.

The Dr. C. Robert Haywood family donated Robert's entire research collection, including a thousand or so files. They also donated his map collection, and original manuscripts of many of his books. Marie was key associate on the research. They both will be honored with the Haywood Collection now in Dodge City at the Kansas Heritage Center.

Our September meeting, held at Eisenhower Hall, Fort Dodge, featured history book author Rod Beemer and his new book The Deadliest Woman in the West: Mother Nature on the Prairies and Plains, 1800-1900. A large crowd enjoyed fried chicken and pot-luck side dishes and desserts. Thanks to Fort Dodge for the use of their building, and to Rod for sharing his new research on the weather of the High Plains. There are copies for sell of Rod’s book at the Mueller-Schmidt House.

New FCHS friend, Dr. Robert 'Bob' Pepper, San Jose State University Emeritus, is providing massive amounts of new research on Ned Buntline and his connection to Dodge City. This is the first proof of any contact involving the myth of the "Buntline Special" and Dodge. Thanks to Bob for this new help.

Thanks goes to FCHS board member Sonya Hughes for paying two years of your Society’s Kansas State Historical Society dues. Sonya is always helpful and generous.

Thanks to Ford County

Great improvements have been completed to the front porch of the Mueller-Schmidt House by Ford County’s Public Works staff. The damaged supports were replaced and the porch roof repaired. We will be checking for more water damage, but are hopeful that the problem has been fixed. Again, thanks to the Ford County Commission and Ed Elam. One note of interest is that Dan Reichenborn had his dad’s tools so the work was completed exactly as the original in the 1960s. Kenny Tague did the majority of the work. Shawn Kaufman and John Chambers were also on-site.

Reports

The FCHS website continues to grow in both pages and hits. There are over 200 articles, 150 photographs and now three key books, including Robert M. Wright's Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital and Early Ford County by Ida Ellen Rath. Located on the Kansas State Library sytems at www.skyways.org/orgs/fordco/ , any search for Dodge City history will bring it up on first page results. Our "Braddock" Photograph Gallery continues to come up first in many searches for old west photographs. Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, KU Professor of History Emeritus, continues to help the FCHS website grow. Lynn scanned both the Wright and Rath books for our use. Thanks to the Kansas State Library for their free web space at skyways.org, one of the first web networks in the world.

The Ford County Historical Society continues to benefit from being a member of the Kansas Heritage Group, managed by George Laughead Jr., under Lynn Nelson. Lynn authored the first public Web sites (Kansas History Gateway; established as HNSource 6 March 1993), and started the WWW-Virtual Library with Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web. George is manager of the WWW-VL: United States History index. The Kansas Heritage group in total receives over three million users a year.

Kansas State Historical Society Preservation Conference

On May 10-12, 2007, the KSHS annual preservation conference will be held in Dodge City, with most events at the Santa Fe Depot. This state-wide event, chaired locally by FCHS vice president and Dodge City Historical Preservation chair, Janice Klein, will allow the FCHS to show over 150 visitors the historical attractions of Dodge City, including the Carnegie Center, the Trail of Fame, the Mueller-Schmidt House, and to have tours of Ft. Dodge and the Santa Fe Trail ruts. In addition, the Dodge Theater may be on a tour. FCHS members will be asked to volunteer for the events. The KSHS provides funding and speakers, and also area speakers are involved.

Dodge City Fire Department

Thanks to the work of the Dodge City Fire Department and Chief Dan Williamson for the Fire Bell Park, dedicated Oct. 14. The park features and protects the oldest fire bell in the city, and additionally honors past firemen that gave their lives in service. Ed Masterson is included, the first honor to him in the city.

Kansas Heritage Center

The great staff of the Kansas Heritage Center provided another year of outstanding service, both in producing our newsletter and in generous help on research. Thanks to Barbara Vincent, Dave Webb, Janice Scott and director Jim Sherer.