Editing Morris County, Kansas (section)

==History==

===Early history===
{{See also|History of Kansas}}
For many [[millennia]], the [[Great Plains]] of [[North America]] was inhabited by [[nomadic]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. From the 16th century to 18th century, the [[Kingdom of France]] claimed ownership of large parts of [[North America]]. In 1762, after the [[French and Indian War]], France secretly ceded [[New France]] to [[Spain]], per the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]]. In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles.

In 1803, most of the land for [[History of Kansas|modern day Kansas]] was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile [[Louisiana Purchase]] for 2.83 [[Penny (United States coin)|cents]] per [[acre]]. In 1848, after the [[Mexican–American War]], the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] with [[Centralist Republic of Mexico|Mexico]] brought into the United States all or [[Southwestern United States|part of land for ten future states]], including southwest Kansas. In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized, then in 1861 [[Kansas]] became the 34th [[U.S. state]].

===19th century===
[[File:1845 trailmap.png|thumb|left|1845 [[Santa Fe Trail]] crossing Morris County]]
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Morris County.png|thumb|left|1915-1918 railroad map of Morris County]]
The county was established on ancient grounds of the [[Kaw (tribe)|Kaw]] American Indian tribe. Settlers and the Kaw lived in increasingly uneasy relationship as settlers encroached on native lands.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Council Grove, established by European Americans in 1825, was an important supply station on the [[Santa Fe Trail]]. The community was also the site of an encampment by [[John C. Fremont]] in 1845 and in 1849 the [[Overland Mail]] established a supply headquarters there.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

From 1821 to 1866, the [[Santa Fe Trail]] was active across Morris County.<ref>[http://www.santafetrail.org/chapters/cottonwood/ History of the Cottonwood Crossing Chapter, Santa Fe Trail Association.]</ref>

The county was originally organized as Wise County in 1855. The county was named for Virginia Governor [[Henry A. Wise]]. When Wise presided over the hanging of [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] at [[Harpers Ferry]] in 1859, abolition supporters renamed it to Morris County in honor of [[Thomas Morris (Ohio politician)|Thomas Morris]], a former [[United States Senator]] from [[Ohio]] who was an opponent of slavery.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

From 1846 to 1873, a [[Kaw people|Kaw Indian]] Reservation was centered around [[Council Grove, Kansas]] on 20 square miles of land.<ref name="morris-lok">[http://www.legendsofkansas.com/morriscounty.html Morris County History; legendsofkansas.com]</ref>  In 1851, the [[Methodist Church]] established an Indian Mission in Morris County.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Between 1877 and 1879, [[Benjamin "Pap" Singleton]], a former slave who escaped to freedom in 1846, staked out a settlement in Morris County for freedmen known as "[[Exodusters]]". Thousands of families migrated from the [[post-Reconstruction]] [[Southern United States|South]] to seek more opportunities and better living conditions in the [[Midwest]].{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

In 1887, the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] built a main line from [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]] to [[Herington, Kansas|Herington]].<ref name="Rock Island Rail History">{{Cite web |url=http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm |title=Rock Island Rail History |access-date=April 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619230000/http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm |archive-date=June 19, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  This main line connected [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]], [[Valencia, Kansas|Valencia]], [[Willard, Kansas|Willard]], [[Maple Hill, Kansas|Maple Hill]], [[Vera, Kansas|Vera]], [[Paxico, Kansas|Paxico]], [[McFarland, Kansas|McFarland]], [[Alma, Kansas|Alma]], [[Volland, Kansas|Volland]], [[Alta Vista, Kansas|Alta Vista]], [[Dwight, Kansas|Dwight]], [[White City, Kansas|White City]], [[Latimer, Kansas|Latimer]], [[Herington, Kansas|Herington]]. The [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] was foreclosed in 1891 and taken over by [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]], which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as [[Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad]], merged in 1988 with [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]], merged in 1997 with [[Union Pacific Railroad]]. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".

In 1887, [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] built a branch line from [[Neva, Kansas|Neva]] (three miles west of [[Strong City, Kansas|Strong City]]) to [[Superior, Nebraska]]. This branch line connected [[Strong City, Kansas|Strong City]], [[Neva, Kansas|Neva]], [[Rockland, Kansas|Rockland]], [[Diamond Springs, Kansas|Diamond Springs]], [[Burdick, Kansas|Burdick]], [[Lost Springs, Kansas|Lost Springs]], [[Jacobs, Kansas|Jacobs]], [[Hope, Kansas|Hope]], [[Navarre, Kansas|Navarre]], [[Enterprise, Kansas|Enterprise]], [[Abilene, Kansas|Abilene]], [[Talmage, Kansas|Talmage]], [[Manchester, Kansas|Manchester]], [[Longford, Kansas|Longford]], [[Oak Hill, Kansas|Oak Hill]], [[Miltonvale, Kansas|Miltonvale]], [[Aurora, Kansas|Aurora]], [[Huscher, Kansas|Huscher]], [[Concordia, Kansas|Concordia]], [[Kackley, Kansas|Kackley]], [[Courtland, Kansas|Courtland]], [[Webber, Kansas|Webber]], [[Superior, Nebraska|Superior]]. At some point, the line from [[Neva, Kansas|Neva]] to [[Lost Springs, Kansas|Lost Springs]] was pulled but the right of way has not been abandoned. This branch line was originally called "Strong City and Superior line" but later the name was shortened to the "Strong City line". In 1996, the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] merged with [[Burlington Northern Railroad]] and renamed to the current [[BNSF Railway]].

===20th century===
The [[National Old Trails Road]], also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and was routed through [[Herington, Kansas|Herington]], [[Delavan, Kansas|Delavan]], and [[Council Grove, Kansas|Council Grove]].