When Steve and Glenda Schmidt of McPherson bought the southeast quarter of Section 4 in Lehigh Township in 2000, they bought more history than they knew. They thought they were buying a remnant of the Santa Fe Trail that passed through the property from 1822-1866.
Upon further research, Schmidt, president of the Cottonwood Crossing Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association, discovered a country school had been located on the property. Looking further back in time, he discovered the area is surrounded by history.
Claude Francis Laloge (also known as French Frank) was the first person to lay claim to the quarter section under the Homestead Act of 1862. His was the first claim filed in Marion County.
Laloge settled on French Creek, which runs west of the school site, in 1860 or 1861. As the first settler on the creek, he became known as French Frank. He operated a road ranch at a spot where the Santa Fe Trail crossed the creek. Laloge later moved to the Cedar Point area. He is buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery near Florence.
The Chisholm Trail ran north and south about one-quarter mile west of the school site from 1867 to 1871. The trail brought cattle from Texas to the railhead at Abilene.
Laloge relinquished his claim to the quarter of land, and several others claimed it without “proving it up” to gain ownership.
In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railroad was built, passing about one mile north of the school site. A rail siding was established to provide shipping and receiving for area cattlemen. It was named Waldeck. The name probably was given by Swiss Brethren who had settled the area after living for a time at Waldeck, Germany.
Brown Corby was laying claim to the quarter section in 1889 when Wasemiller School District No. 103 was organized and a school built.
Ten years later, the town of Waldeck was platted at Waldeck Siding, but few lots were developed.
When a neighboring school district (Waldeck School District No. 102) joined the Wasemiller School in 1912 or 1913, the school officially was named Union School No. 102-103. The lot for the school was deeded to the district by Pete and Minnie Klassen, who owned the quarter of land.
The school soon became commonly known as Waldeck School.
Reports show that school attendance was sporadic. Although many school-age children lived in the district, some did not attend school, and others did not attend regularly.
For example, in 1922-1923, there were 58 school-age children in the district. However, only 34 pupils were enrolled — 23 boys and 11 girls. The average attendance was 18 boys and eight girls. There were 600 cases of tardiness.
The school was closed at the end of the 1955-56 session. The district was dissolved two years later, and the land and contents sold at auction.
The land had several other owners before the Schmidts bought it in 2000.
At the biennial convention of the Santa Fe Trail Association Sept 25 to 27 in Arrow Rock, Mo., they received the Heritage Preservation Award for the “preservation, protection, and promotion of the Santa Fe Trail remnants on their property in Marion County, Kansas.”
Steve Schmidt also received the Award of Merit for his publication of the booklet “Lost Spring, Marion County, Kansas, A Historical Perspective,” for promoting and preserving the Santa Fe Trail, and for his service on the SFTA board of directors.
He led the effort to place signs across Marion County where the Santa Fe Trail crosses county roads.
Schmidt is in the process of writing another booklet about the Wasemiller and Waldeck Schools in Marion County.