Elk created by business-minded pioneer
(The first of two parts)
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
The modern-day road which winds along Middle Creek begins at U.S.-56/77 and 250th in Marion County and ends at U.S.-50 at Elmdale in Chase County. The former village of Elk was situated at the Marion/Chase county line, about one-half mile east of the current Brad Matz farmstead.
Years before the community of Elk got its name, an enterprising young settler by the name of Henry Collett established a homestead about 20 miles west of the nearest commercial center, Cottonwood Falls.
According to the 1860 Chase County census, Collett and his parents and several brothers and sisters were living in the area. They originally immigrated to Canada from London, England, then moved to Illinois, and finally settled in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Collett was a teen-ager at the time. According to family history, he went back east for a time and worked for the Union Army during the Civil War.
When he returned to Kansas in 1865, Collett began improving a 160-acre claim located a mile or two upstream from his parents' place. He named the wooded stream Middle Creek because it was the middle of three creeks which flowed through the area, the other two being Stribby Creek and Wildcat Creek.
Collett's homestead was nestled between steep hills ridged with limestone. The creek was well-wooded, protected by the hills from prairie fires which destroyed many trees along the Cottonwood River.
When the land was surveyed, his homestead was found to be in Chase County along the county line.
In 1866, Collett married Carolina Houston. Her father was a second cousin of Sam Houston of Texas fame. Her parents owned a farmstead south of Elmdale.
Postmaster/businessman
When Collett was commissioned a postmaster in 1874, he chose the letters E L K to post the mail. Why those letters were chosen nobody knows. Nevertheless, his home site and the developing community around it became known as Elk.
Collett's position as postmaster drew people to his place on a regular basis. As the area became populated with more and more people, he saw an opportunity to supply goods and services.
He was an enterprising young man. In addition to farming the rich bottom land, he expanded into other areas to meet the needs of the settlers. In time, his businesses provided jobs for area residents.
Collett's first commercial enterprise was the sale of wood poles to settlers who were establishing homesteads to the west, where trees weren't as plentiful. The pioneers used the poles to build side walls for barns. The space between the poles was packed with prairie grass to provide insulation.
Collett also built a lime kiln on Marion County land close to his home.
George Starkey, writing in 1939, explained how it was produced. The kiln, or oven, was built along a high, steep bank. Three or four feet back from the bank, a large hole was dug down to the level of the bottom of the bank. A horizontal tunnel was dug into the bank to the bottom of the hole for a draft.
The hole was filled with wood and broken limestone and a fire lighted beneath it. After 95 hours of baking, the stone was turned into lime. It was cooled and traded to farmers and others who mixed it with sand and gravel to provide mortar for stone structures.
According to some sources, Collett supplied the mortar for the first house built at Clover Cliff Ranch.
In 1882 and 1884 respectively, he established a blacksmith shop and a dry goods/grocery store close to his house. Freight routes were established to El Dorado and Junction City to pick up or deliver merchandise.
Surplus milk, eggs, garden produce, and grain were brought in by farmers and traded for all kinds of supplies. The store's sorghum barrel was supplied by a settler who operated a sorghum mill.
South of his place, Collett built an ice house. The ice was used to keep dairy products fresh. The building later became a community ice house. All farmers who wished could help put up ice in winter with the privilege of withdrawing 50 pounds of ice daily during the summer.
Expansion
In 1887, the village spread west into Marion County. The wagon road running north and south along the county line became known as Main Street.
Collett sent his son, Fred, to Kansas State University to take a six-week blacksmith course. He purchased a lot from Jacob Linn, whose farm lay on the west side of the road, and built a large two-story building. He moved the blacksmith shop into it.
A huge grindstone weighing 500 pounds was installed in the shop. An old-fashioned windmill on top of the shop furnished the power for the shop machinery and a flour mill located on the upper floor.
Fred was renowned as an excellent workman with a well-equipped shop. Customers from throughout the state brought work to him.
In 1896, Fred married Edith Philips, a neighbor girl and Marion County school teacher. Her father had a contract with Fred Harvey to provide beef for the Harvey House in Florence.
In 1897, because it was a long distance to a creamery, Collett established a "skimming station" north of his store. Two other men also invested in the enterprise. The separated cream was hauled to Marion.
A few years later, the hand cream separator was introduced to farms, reducing the large volume of business. By the end of 1902, the skimming station became a receiving station for cream. The station was remodeled into a house in 1908 and later burned to the ground.
A race track was established just south of the Collett farm home. Several Marion County residents including Mahlon Riggs of Marion raced their trotting horses there.
(to be continued)
