Cheyenne County, Kansas

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Cheyenne County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is St. Francis.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,616.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The county was named after the Cheyenne tribe.Template:Sfn

History

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19th century

In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state.

Cheyenne County was established by an act of the state legislature on 1873-03-06,Template:Sfn which defined the original borders of the county as: Template:Blockquote The county was surveyed the following year, and its first settlers arrived in 1879.Template:Sfn

Early settlement was in and around Wano, the "T" ranch (the county's first cattle ranch) being established Template:Convert from there in 1876, and Jacob Buck and the families of A. M. Brenaman, L. R. Heaton, a man named Bateman all settling around the area.Template:Sfn Brenaman was the first postmaster at Wano post office, established on 1880-08-23.Template:Sfn The first storekeepers opened their store the following month, with the first school being Kepferle, and the first school district established on 1881-12-03.Template:Sfn A dedicated school building, for 10 pupils, was donated by F. J. Graham and opened on 1882-01-10.Template:Sfn By 1886 there were 5 school districts.Template:Sfn

The name Wano was an Anglicization by the settlers of the Spanish word "bueno" meaning "good".Template:Sfn It was not only the name of the post office but of its first newspaper, the Wano News, also run by Brenaman.Template:Sfn Like the county's second newspaper, the Echo, the News was short lived and only had 5 issues.Template:Sfn Later newspapers were the Cheyenne County Rustler, established on 1885-07-03 and originally published in Wano and later St Francis; the Frontiersman, the Cheyenne County Democrat, and the Bird City News, all published in Bird City;Template:Sfn Template:Sfn and the Plaindealer published in St Francis.Template:Sfn

Independent county government was finally established in April 1886, by proclamation of Governor John A. Martin in response to a petition from the previous month.Template:Sfn The appointed county commissioners were J. M. Ketcham, W. W. McKay and J. F. Murray; with B. W. Knott as the county clerk.Template:Sfn Martin originally proclaimed Bird City as the county seat, as an initial temporary arrangement.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn An election for the county seat and for elected county and township officers was held in May 1886,Template:Sfn and Wano was chosen as county seat.Template:Sfn However, that first election was tainted by voter fraud and later voided by a judge.Template:Sfn The current county seat of St. Francis was eventually chosen by an election in February 1889Template:Sfn and later approved by act of the state legislature on in February 1891.Template:Sfn

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Farming and biota

In 1886, Template:Convert of the county was fenced farms and Template:Convert unfenced farmland, comprising 12% of the county.Template:Sfn There were Template:Convert of cultivated land, Template:Convert being devoted to corn, then the most lucrative crop, followed by Template:Convert to sorghum, its second most lucrative, and Template:Convert of enclosed prairie land.Template:Sfn However, most farmers were livestock farmers.Template:Sfn

By 1910, the leading crops were (in descending order of value) wheat, corn, barley, hay, and broomcorn.Template:Sfn There was not originally much native timberland in the county.Template:Sfn

Geology and hydrology

The county is crossed by the Republican River, whose tributaries include Bluff Creek, Cherry Creek, Plum Creek, and Hackberry Creek.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Other trivers include Little Beaver Creek and a Template:Convert reach of Big Beaver Creek in the south-east corner of the county, and the Arickaree River in the north-west corner.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

The soil is mainly sandy, with limited amounts of limestone in some of the streams.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Adjacent counties

Dundy County, Nebraska (north/Mountain Time border)
Rawlins County (east)
Sherman County (south/Mountain Time border)
Kit Carson County, Colorado (southwest/Mountain Time border)
Yuma County, Colorado (west/Mountain Time border)

Major highways

Sources: National Atlas,<ref>National Atlas Template:Webarchive</ref> U.S. Census Bureau<ref>U.S. Census Bureau TIGER shape files</ref>

Time Zones

Template:Further The county is in the Central Time zone, but is bordered by the Mountain Time Zone in three directions; it is the only county in the United States to have this characteristic. Dundy County, Nebraska to the north, Yuma County, Colorado and Kit Carson County, Colorado to the west, and Sherman County to the south are all located in the Mountain Time Zone. As a result, Rawlins County is Cheyenne County's only neighbor to also observe Central Time.

Demographics

File:USA Cheyenne County, Kansas age pyramid.svg

Population pyramid based on 2000 census age data

Template:US Census population In 1886 there were 2607 people in the county.Template:Sfn By 1910 this had risen to 4248.Template:Sfn

As of the 2000 census,<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> there were 3,165 people, 1,360 households, and 919 families residing in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 1,636 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 97.91% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.98% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.59% of the population.

There were 1,360 households, out of which 27.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were married couples living together, 5.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 30.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.80% under the age of 18, 5.10% from 18 to 24, 22.70% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 26.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,599, and the median income for a family was $34,816. Males had a median income of $24,976 versus $19,569 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,862. About 7.40% of families and 9.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.80% of those under age 18 and 6.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Presidential elections

Cheyenne County is a Republican stronghold. Only four Republican presidential candidates from 1888 to the present day have failed to carry the county, the most recent of which ironically being Kansas Governor Alf Landon in 1936 as he also failed to win the state's electoral votes. Template:Hidden

Laws

Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, the county remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 2000, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Unified school districts

Communities

File:Map of Cheyenne Co, Ks, USA.png

2005 map of Cheyenne County<ref name="County-Map-Current"/> (map legend)

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Cheyenne County.<ref name="County-Map-Current">Template:Cite web</ref>

Post offices

In 1886 there were six post offices in the county: Bird City, Calhoun, Lawnridge, Marney, Orlando, and Wano.Template:Sfn In 1888, four had been added — Clugh, Gurney, Jaqua, and Neville — and Wano had become St Francis.Template:Sfn By 1910 this had shrunk to just four: Bird City, Jaqua, St. Francis, and Wheeler.Template:Sfn

Townships

Cheyenne County is divided into seven townships. None of the cities within the county are considered governmentally independent, and all figures for the township include those of the cities. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.

Township	FIPS	Population center	Population	Population density /km² (/sq mi)	Land area km² (sq mi)	Water area km² (sq mi)	Water %	Geographic coordinates
Benkelman	06025		57	0 (1)	186 (72)	0 (0)	0%	Template:Coord
Bird City	06850	Bird City	771	1 (2)	884 (341)	0 (0)	0.02%	Template:Coord
Calhoun	09950		57	0 (1)	231 (89)	2 (1)	0.70%	Template:Coord
Cleveland Run	14150		67	0 (1)	186 (72)	0 (0)	0.08%	Template:Coord
Jaqua	35025		46	0 (1)	124 (48)	0 (0)	0.01%	Template:Coord
Orlando	53050		63	1 (2)	93 (36)	0 (0)	0%	Template:Coord
Wano	75375	St. Francis	2,104	2 (6)	937 (362)	0 (0)	0.05%	Template:Coord
Sources: Template:Cite web

Cheyenne started off in 1883 as a single municipal township attached to Rawlins County for judicial and financial purposes.Template:Sfn In the May 1886 election before any county or townships officers had been elected and the county seat had been chosen, there were intended to be three townships: Bird City, Wano, and a township named Hour-glass, dividing up what had by then become three municipal townships although swapping some parts of the municipal townships around for the proposed new townships.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

In the end, the county initially had 13 townships: Beaver, Benkelman, Bird City, Calhoun, Cherry Creek, Cleveland Run, Dent, Eureka, Jaqua, Lawn Ridge, Nuttycombe, Orlando, and Wano.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn At the start of the 20th century, there were 17 townships: the aforementioned 13 plus Alexander, Evergreen, Jefferson, and Porter, all added some time between 1888 and 1890.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn There since has been some consolidation in the 1970s.

References

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Sources

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External links

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County

Maps

Cheyenne County Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT
Kansas Highway Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT
Kansas Railroad Maps: Current, 1996, 1915, KDOT and Kansas Historical Society

Template:Geographic Location

Template:Cheyenne County, Kansas Template:Kansas Template:Authority control