Wichita, Kan., in 1870 was just coming into its own. The confluence of the Arkansas River and its little sister, the Little Arkansas River, provided a rich oasis of water, groves of timber, and tall prairie grass anchored in deep fertile soil.

Settlement of the area began in the fall of 1864 when Jesse Chisholm built comfortable cabins, corrals, and sheds near a spring on what became known as Chisholm Creek. Wichitas, Wacos, and Kichais, being Union supporters during the Civil War, were forced to flee Indian Territory.

After spending a year on Walnut Creek south of present-day El Dorado, the tribes moved to the Arkansas/Little Arkansas valley to be close to Chisholm, a well-known Indian Territory trader.

Other traders were attracted to the site, especially after the close of the Civil War when Chisholm resumed trading in Indian Territory. By 1867 Texas drovers discovered Chisholm’s trail, driving tens of thousand of Texas longhorns past the “Wichita” settlement on their way to the new railhead at Abilene, Kan.

Wichita became an official town when another trader, Dutch Bill Griffenstein filed a plat with the proper officials on March 25, 1870.

Texas drover C. H. Rust described Wichita in 1870 as “... a mile long, 100 yards wide and an inch thick.”

According to Rust, Wichita was, “... where the Long and Shorthorns fought it out right,” indicating that even though the Civil War was over, the Texans, who considered themselves “Longhorns” were still fighting it out with the “Shorthorn” northerners.

One could add gamblers, prostitutes, soldiers, bullwhackers, Indians, and a wild mix of adventurers to the mix.

Into that mix William Antrim, Catherine McCarty, and her two sons, Billy, age 11, and Josey, age 10, arrived on the scene in July of 1870.

Antrim and McCarty had not found occasion to marry, but they had been together for nigh on to six years, having come from Indianapolis, Ind. Antrim had served in the Fifty-fourth Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry and later worked in Indianapolis as a driver and clerk for the Merchant’s Express Company.

Irish-born Catherine McCarty, described as “a jolly Irish woman, full of fun and mischief,” landed in New York. Her story is uncertain. Some say that Billy’s father was a young man by the name of Bonney. McCarty only related that she had been widowed in New York before moving to Indianapolis. Researchers disagree whether his name was Michael or Patrick McCarty.

No one knows why Antrim and McCarty chose Wichita, but it’s clear that she had a business venture in mind. She also did not waste any time making her presence known in Wichita.

When a petition to incorporate the town was circulated, being a promising business owner, the name of Catherine McCarty was included with the 124 signatures on the petition, dated July 21, 1870. She was also present the next day at the all-male first city board of trustees meeting.

McCarty established the City Laundry on the main floor of a two-story building with plenty of living space upstairs for her and the boys, Billy and Josie. Antrim filed a claim for a farm six miles northeast of town. By Aug. 1 he had five acres under cultivation and a small frame house on the property.

The City Laundry turned out to be a popular and keenly profitable establishment. With the first edition of the Wichita Tribune, March 15, 1871, the editor encouraged readers to patronize the business.

The City laundry is kept by Mrs. McCarty,

To whom we recommend to those

Who wish to have their linen made clean.

On March 4, 1871, McCarty moved out of Wichita to a farm next to Antrim. Billy and Josie helped dig a well and cellar, built a small cabin, broke seven acres of sod, and planted 57 fruit trees. She rightly recognized that Wichita was no place to raise two impressionable boys.

In less than a year McCarty and Antrim had purchased several lots in town and two farms. But a dark shadow loomed over the couple’s future. Catherine McCarty had contracted tuberculosis, commonly known as consumption. After all the plans and hard work, she sold her farm on June 16, 1871. By mid-August all the properties were sold, and they moved away.

Catherine and William Antrim were married March 1, 1873, at Santa Fe, N.M. Catherine lost her battle with consumption Sept. 16, 1874, at Silver City, N.M.. William Antrim lived until 1922. He is buried in Adelaida, Calif.

Catherine’s youngest son, Josie, bounced around from job to job. He passed away at Denver. Colo., on Nov. 25, 1930. When no one claimed his body, it was donated to science without a known burial site. Billy moved on to Arizona doing ranch work where he was labeled “The Kid.” On his return to New Mexico, Billy passed from mere mortal to legend, changing his name to William H. Bonney. The one and only Billy the Kid was indeed just a kid when he first experienced the Wild West at Wichita, Kan., 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, Kan. Phone: (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.