Before the county was formed, people were traveling
on its land for 50 years along the Santa Fe Trail. The trail opened
in 1821, and the land that eventually became Ford County has about
100 miles of trail due to several different routes. The Wet and
Dry Routes that unite in Eastern Ford County, the Lower Crossing
of the Cimarron Cutoff, the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Road, and the
Middle Cimarron Crossing. as well as the main trail, are what
made up the Santa Fe Trail in Ford County.
A petition to form a new county was sent to Governor
James M. Harvey on October 14, 1872, and the proclamation was
received in April 1873. Governor Thomas A. Osborn signed the proclamation.
An election for county officers and the county seat was held on
June 8.
Ford County was named in honor of Second Colorado
Cavalry officer Colonel James H. Ford who was a commander at Fort
Dodge.
Settlers homesteaded most of the land, but some
of the land was purchased from 2 different sources. Those sources
were the Osage Treaty lands and the Santa Fe Railroad land grant.
Dodge City, the winner of the county seat election,
became a major shipping center after the Santa Fe Railroad came
there in 1872. It also became a cattle town during the peak years
of 1875-1885.
Kingsdown was founded by English settlers and was
named after the "Downs" in England. Windthorst, a community
founded by German Catholics, was created to support the school
and church that had already been built. The Dodge City area was
home to a Mexican village founded in the early 1900's to house
the workers for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Lasker
was one of the Jewish Agricutural colonies founded in Kansas.
Sources
Ford County Historical Society.
Dodge City and Ford County, Kansas 1870-1920: Pioneer Histories
and Stories.
Dodge City, KS, 1996.
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