Seward County in southwest Kansas has been cattle country since drovers first moved their herds into its open grasslands 150 years ago.

With settlement came farms and towns. Today the county boasts bountiful fields of wheat, corn, milo, alfalfa, and cotton.

It wasn’t always so bountiful.

The surface was arid and desolate. The only practical water source was the Cimarron River and the springs that flowed nearby.

Away from the Cimarron, travelers found that water, even in the smallest amount, brought a hefty price, except at Seymour S. Rogers’ place. He gave his water away free to anyone in need, which often yielded the comment, “That’s mighty liberal of you!” Roger’s source of water was known far and wide as “the Liberal well:’

Rogers opened a store and post office in 1885 to serve neighbors and travelers. Naturally, the post office was named Liberal. Addie J. Mason, who later became Mrs. Rogers, was Liberal’s first postmaster on June 14, 1886.

Situated as it was in the extreme southern part of the county a few miles north of “No Man’s Land: (the Oklahoma Panhandle), no one would have expected that Liberal would one day become the county seat.

Liberal surely could not compete with the centrally located towns of Fargo Springs and Springfield. Both were located north of Liberal and near the center of the county. Indeed, at about the same time that Roger’s post office was officially recognized as Liberal, Seward County was just being officially organized.

Gov. John Martin awarded the temporary county seat to Springfield on June 17, 1886.

County residents voted for Fargo Springs in a contentious election that witnessed armed supporters and defenders from both towns. The main point of contention was a soapbox full of Springfield votes declared invalid by the election officers. The elected county officers brought the records from Springfield and commenced business at Fargo Springs.

Springfield appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court. The soapbox ballots were recognized giving Springfield the majority. By the fall of 1887 the county records were returned to Springfield.

Meantime, the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railway Company, an affiliate of the Rock Island Railroad, was laying track from Meade County toward Seward County. The line was surveyed to run directly west from Plains, Kan., apparently destined for the Colorado coal fields.

They had planned to run the track through Springfield, but the town balked at raising bonds and the railroad changed its plans. The county seat conflict had been far too contentious. Fargo Springs was also bypassed.

At the Cimarron River crossing several miles to the southwest of Fargo Springs the town of Arkalon was established May 10, 1888, and many of the citizens of Fargo Springs moved there. Springfield held on but without a railroad its fate was sealed even though it was the county seat.

The change in direction offered a new opportunity for both the railroad and Seymour Rogers. The Kansas Legislature banned Texas cattle from entering the state by way of the famous cattle trails in 1885. An extension of the railroad across the Kansas border gave the advantage of loading Texas cattle and shipping them east without running afoul of Kansas law.

The line was surveyed to a point one mile east of Rogers’ place. Rock Island official Marcus A. Low purchased the land next to Rogers and directed a survey to establish a town. The town was naturally named Liberal, Kan., and the plat was recorded April 13, 1888.

In 24 hours the town company sold town lots that totaled $180,000. A week later 83 buildings were standing on the site. Many of the remaining Fargo Springs citizens began to move to Liberal. Over the next year the population swelled to 8,000, and Liberal was incorporated as a third-class city. Following the lead of Fargo Springs, citizens and businesses left Springfield and Arkalon for the new booming city on the southern border.

Seymour Rogers married his post mistress, Addie Mason, and in 1890 they sold the ranch and left the country for France, Addie’s homeland. They did eventually return to the U. S., settling in Missouri. They are both buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Joplin, Mo.

Springfield continued as the Seward County seat, but having no railroad access, its fortunes were rapidly dwindling. By 1891, Liberal was agitating for the county seat. As with most county seat fights there was plenty of intrigue, and in this case the scheming resulted in a murder, but that is a story to be told at another time on The Way West.

The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, Ks. Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st Road, Geneseo, Ks. Phone: (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.