In late October, 1869, Robert McBratney, president of the proposed Junction City, Solomon Valley & Denver Railroad, led an inspection tour along the Solomon River to evaluate the proposed route. McBratney was joined by U. S. Senator Edmund G. Ross; Benjamin Franklin Mudge, professor at the Agricultural College and former state geologist; and Richard Mobley, state agent for the sale of railroad lands. The team found a growing collection of homesteads scattered along the river valley.

The settlers were on edge from a series of Indian raids that had begun in 1868, but were hopeful and enthusiastic over the possibility of the coming of a modern railroad to the valley.

Beyond the confluence of the North and South Solomon Rivers known as “The Forks,” lay a kind of “no-man’s land,” an unexplored region recognized as the domain of Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux.

McBratney had inquired in vain to find a scout, anyone, who had been beyond the forks. No military man or even the most experienced frontiersman had ventured into the unknown land.

Captain Richard Stanfield, Company D, and Lieutenant Chauncey Whitney, Company A, Kansas State Militia, both veteran Indian fighters, met McBratney at “The Forks” with a command of 60 volunteer troopers. Kansas Governor James M. Harvey ordered the escort to support the inspection party.

Before taking up the western march, Senator Ross showed his military prowess by putting the men through a cavalry drill. The drill was followed by a brief speech encouraging the men in their commendable efforts to protect themselves and the frontier settlements.

Ross reminded them that their efforts were indispensable to furthering the development of a railroad that would bring the security of prosperous farms and villages to the entire Solomon Valley.

McBratney chronicled events in a letter published in the November 6, 1869, Junction City Daily Union: “Our ardent desire is to reach its head, and nothing but positive inability shall defer us. Beyond this we travel without road or guides, except the river, and with hourly prospects of encountering Indians — but we are going.”

Blowing snow with a strong north wind greeted the expedition with the dawning of the next morning. Senator Ross and Commissioner Mobley concluded to return to the settlements, requiring a detail of troopers as escort.

McBratney expressed his regret at the parting. “The genial good nature of the senator, together with his hearty sympathy with the objects of the expedition, his admiration for the country and his solicitude for the protection and welfare of the frontier settlers, renders his presence with us not only exceedingly agreeable to ourselves, but encouraging to the people of the border and to the men on whose strong arms we must rely for the success of our enterprise and the future development of this glorious portion of our state.”

As for Mobley, who McBratney called Jolly Dick, “His long experience in Kansas, his adventurous spirit and healthy hilarity make him an attractive companion on the march or in the bivouac.”

Dispatches were entrusted to Senator Ross to be mailed at the “first convenient post office.” McBratney’s letters to the Junction City Daily Union were among the dispatches. McBratney concluded, “It must, in the nature of things, be some time before we shall be heard from again.”

The snow had let up as the expedition broke camp to move up the north branch of the Solomon River. After a trek of two miles, they followed a “gentle ascent” to an upland prairie of rolling hills, but smooth enough for wagon travel. Unfortunately, the snow returned with “blinding fury,” driving them into a noon camp in the shelter of timber along the Solomon.

Despite the protection, “Camp Stanfield” was bitterly cold. An inch of ice was found the next morning in the water buckets. That the militia was poorly supplied became excruciatingly evident as corn supplies for the horses ran critically low.

In the coming days, rich deep soil was routinely discovered. McBratney noted, “The sod seems to be very firm and hard, the hoofs of 60 men in front of us making no impression perceptible to ordinary eyes.”

There were sweet grapes in one of the creeks and occasional sand plums added to their delight. The valley was abundant in timber, “very well-wooded, with cottonwood, pin oak, elm and ash.” Cedars grew to 25 feet in height.

Buffalo paths were cut into the sod from the bottomland to the highlands of the prairie. “They resemble wagon ruts, except that they are wider, usually being from 10 inches to a foot and two or three inches below the surface.”

Thousands of buffalo could be seen grazing on the highlands above both sides of the river. The men were forbidden to shoot, not knowing if, or when, an Indian attack might come. Occasionally, a small band of buffalo, “after staring at us for a short time, gallop leisurely off to a short distance then stop, take another look and resume their feeding.”

Grass was scarce from the close grazing of the buffalo. The harsh reality of short rations was disheartening, for in this incredible land, the unknown taunted them to “lead on.” How could they think of retreat when their greatest desire was discovery of that which had been unknown on The Way West?

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray, can be reached at 220 21st Rd., Geneseo, KS 67444, phone (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@ kans.com.