The Way West

Indianola, Kan., was one of the first towns founded in the new territory of “Kansas.” Travelers had passed by the location on a branch of the California-Oregon Trail for years before the town was platted.

A small Pottawatomie village was begun in 1846, being the first sign of an established settlement on the banks of Soldier Creek (northwest of present-day Topeka).

When Fort Riley was established in 1853, a military road was constructed through the area connecting the new post with Fort Leavenworth. Seeing the commercial potential of the location, a town company was formed, and lots were offered for sale on June 27, 1855. Business boomed immediately, as long trains of military wagons carried supplies westward for construction of Fort Riley.

Indianola was north of the Kansas River. Papin’s Ferry, southeast of Indianola, provided an important connection to the south side of the river where Topeka had been established a few months earlier than Indianola.

Topeka was a Free State town while Indianola’s founders were pro-slavery. Consequently, the military favored Indianola, making the town a very active place.

Being so close to one another, one would have expected conflict between the two towns, but they somehow managed to preserve good relations.

A local “fight” remembered as “The Battle of Indianola” arose between Indianola townspeople and a militia of abolitionist farmers. The conflict created a minor stir that was really more of a dust up than a battle.

Out in the country Dr. Jenner and Robert McNown came to blows over the boundary lines that divided their farms.

According to a newspaper report “Dr. Jenner emerged from the encounter minus an eye, which had been flicked out by a bullet fired by McNown.” McNown was “absolutely fearless.”

Many years later as a soldier in Company E, 2nd Kansas Volunteers, he was involved in the Battle of the Blue against Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederate forces in Jackson County, Mo.

A story in the Nov. 16, 1901, Topeka State Journal related “that he arranged all of his affairs before he left home on the assumption that he would be killed, and that when he had passed through a part of the fighting unscathed he deliberately rode out between the lines and there found the death which he courted.”

He is buried in the Topeka Cemetery in a section “reserved for those who paid the ultimate price for freedom.”

In another Indianola frontier tale, a stranger dressed in a Union uniform arrived in town in a suspicious manner. He claimed he was a detective, but Dr. Samuel Ashmore suspected that the stranger was a horse thief.

To Dr. Ashmore one drink meant “a drunk” and a drunk always carried the requirement to “shoot up” his immediate vicinity. And so it was, no doubt buoyed with a goodly amount of tangle foot, the good doctor volunteered to rid the town of the stranger.

Passing by the man standing in a doorway, Dr. Ashmore whipped out a revolver and opened fire! Fortunately for the stranger Ashmore was easily overpowered, his revolver was confiscated, and he was sent on his way. But that was not the last of Dr. Ashmore’s vigilante proceedings. He next “tried his marksmanship” with a shotgun but once again missed. His prowess with weapons left a lot to be desired, but the “detective” took the hint and left town.

Another of Indianola’s legendary residents was William Clinton. The story was that his wife was old enough to be his mother,“and by that means had got a good sum of money.” They let rooms in their log cabin until the 60’x 45’ hotel was built. An addition of 18’ x 20’ gave the hotel an “L” outline. Clinton was also the postmaster. Not long after the hotel was built, he was caught “rifling the mails.” Apparently, the hotel business was not profitable enough to keep him honest. Clinton was not immediately locked up and promptly disappeared.“With him went the young handsome Mrs. Deborah Harding, who also left a husband behind.”

The hotel passed on to other owners but retained the Clinton Hotel name. Being the most imposing structure in Indianola, town activities tended to revolve around the Clinton Hotel. The two-story building featured a high attic, used for a Masonic lodge. The main floor featured a barroom, parlor, general store, and a large dining room. The kitchen was in the “L.”

Nine very small sleeping rooms were on the second floor. Dances brought merrymakers from miles around to Indianola and its famous hotel, for even though it was built for letting rooms, the true intent for its construction was its commodious dancing hall. The capacity of the sleeping rooms was purposely sacrificed to allow for a 20-foot-wide hall that extended the entire length of the building.

But Indianola’s sun was already low on the horizon. The railroad built to what was to be North Topeka in 1866. The town gradually disappeared, but not before one last Masonic dance was held. Members of the Kansas Legislature in session at the Capital in Topeka were invited for one last Indianola hurrah 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.