the town site as possible. On August 3, 1886,
Governor Martin issued a proclamation for the organization of Stevens
county. It appeared upon the records of the State of Kansas that the new
county had 2,662 _bona-fide_ inhabitants, of whom 868 were householders.
These claimed a taxable property, in excess of legal exemptions,
amounting to $313,035, including railroad property of $140,380. I need
not state that the organization was wholly based upon fraud. An election
was called for September 9, and the town of Hugoton--at first called
Hugo--was chosen.

"There can be competition in the town-site business, however. At Mead
Center, Kansas, there resided an old-time Kansas man, Colonel S. N.
Wood, who also wanted a town site in the new county. Wood's partner,
Captain I. C. Price, went down on July 3 to look over the situation. He
was not known to the Hugoton men, and he was invited by Calvert, the
census taker, to register his name as a citizen. He protested that he
was only a visitor, but was informed that this made no possible
difference; whereupon, Price proceeded to register his own name, that of
his partner, those of many of his friends, and many purely imaginary
persons. He also registered the families of these persons, and
finally--in a burst of good American humor--went so far as to credit
certain single men of his acquaintance with large families, including
twenty or thirty pairs of twins! This cheerful imagination on his part
caused trouble afterwards; but certain it is that these fictitious
names, twins and all, went into the sworn records of Hugoton--an unborn
population of a defunct town, whose own conception was in iniquity!

"Price located a section of government land on the north side of the
sand hills, eight miles from Hugoton, and this was duly platted for a
town site. Corner lots were selling at Hugoton for $1,000 apiece, and
people were flocking to that town. The new town was called Woodsdale,
and Colonel Wood offered lots free to any who would come and build upon
them. Settlers now streamed to Woodsdale. Tents, white-topped wagons and
frail shanties sprung up as though by magic. The Woodsdale boom
attracted even homesteaders who had cast in their lot with Hugoton. Many
of these forgot their oaths in the land office, pulled up and filed on
new quarter sections nearer to Woodsdale. The latter town was jubilant.
Colonel Wood and Captain Price, in the month of August, held a big
ratification meeting, taun