priation for a capitol building, which rose only to the height of the foundation, but was sufficient to consume the appropriation. The foundation was afterwards occupied by the building of Lane University. The frame house on Elm street was the meeting place of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention, which gave the structure the name of Constitutional Hall. The second Legislature held its entire session at Lecompton, but the third Legislature, which entertained different political convictions, adjourned to Lawrence, which was thereafter virtually the capital, the successive Legislatures meeting at Lecompton, and adjourning at once to Lawrence.

488. In Lawrence.-Lawrence furnished two "capitols" in which the Legislature met. One is described by the local historian as the "new brick building, just south of the Eldridge House," of which the two houses occupied the second and third floors, the other was "the old concrete building on Massachusetts street, north of Winthrop." In Lawrence met, in 1861, the last of the Territorial Legislatures.

489. Topeka.-The first State Legislature met in Topeka, the temporary and soon to-be-voted permanent, seat of Government.

The "Ritchie Block," the "Gale Block," and the Congregational and Methodist churches served as the meeting places of the two branches of the Legislature, of the Supreme Court, and the officers of the State. "Constitution Hall" was a structure on Kansas avenue, which had witnessed five meetings of the Legislature under the Topeka Constitution. By contract with citizens of Topeka, this structure was incorporated into a more commodious edifice

in which met the Legislature of 1864, and its successors till 1870.

490. History of Capitol Building.—During thirtythree years the capitol of Kansas has been growing. The ground was given by the Topeka Town Association in 1862. In 1866 the Legislature provided for the erection of the east wing of the capitol building. On the 17th of October of that year the corner stone was laid. The wing was so far completed that it was occupied by the State officers in December, 1869. The legislative halls were first occupied for the session of 1870. The Legislature of 1879 provided for the erection of the west wing. The House of Representatives occupied the unfinished new hall for the session of 1881, and the State offices in that wing became occupied during that year. The. Legislature of 1883 provided for commencing work on the foundation of the central portion of the building. The structure was so far completed as to admit of a temporary finishing of rooms in the basement of the south wing, and their occupancy in 1892. The Legislatures of 1891 and 1893 made but very slight appropriations for the capitol building, and the work became practically suspended until it was resumed under the appropriations of the Legislature of 1895. The capitol still remains an illustration of the history of the State, "still achieving, still pursuing." Succeeding the line of temporary structures— frame, stone, brick and concrete-which served to house the executive, judicial and legislative departments of the government of Kansas for sixteen years, the growth of the present capitol has reflected the growth of the material State.

Year by year the halls have stretched away; inviting porticoes have reached forward; columns have arisen, and

last, the high dome has mounted upward. The interior has exhibited modern improvements and inventions, from gas to electricity. The structure is not completed, any more than Kansas is completed. But, as Kansas lives longer and learns more, the beneficial progress leaves its impress on the capitol in the shaped and fashioned stone, and steel and bronze, "from turret to foundation stone.”

While the edifice has been rising, widening, extending, the prairie acres around it have been embraced in the transformation scene of which Kansas has been the stage. The Capitol Square, twenty years ago, furnished one of the first marked observances of "Arbor Day" in Kansas. On the proclamation of the Mayor of Topeka, Major Thomas G. Anderson, the people of Topeka, young and old, gathered between noon and sunset and planted around the Capitol a thousand trees.

[NOTE.-The facts in this chapter are derived from "The Story of the Capitol," contributed by Judge F. G. Adams, Secretary of the State Historical Society, to the Topeka Mail and Breeze of March 22, 1896.]

SUMMARY.

1. The first Territorial Government of Kansas was quartered at a fort.

2. The second home of the Government was at a mission.

3. Pawnee a capital for a day.

4. Lecompton and Lawrence offered rival attractions.

5. Topeka became the permanent home, and the State builds its own house.

CHAPTER XL.

MAN AND NATURE.

491. Opinion of Captain Pike.-Captain Zebulon Montgomery Pike, when he looked over Kansas, in 1806, did not believe it, or the greater part of it, an agricultural, or even a habitable country.

After he had seen a good stretch of eastern and upper central Kansas, and had descended into the western valley of the Arkansas, he said: "In the western traverse of Louisiana the following general observations may be made: From the Missouri to the head of the Osage river, a distance in a straight line of probably 300 miles, the country will admit of a numerous, extensive and compact population; from thence, on the rivers La Plate, Arkansas and Kansas, and their various branches, it appears to me only possible to introduce a limited population. The inhabitants would find it most to their advantage to pay their attention to the raising of cattle, horses, sheep and goats, all of which they can raise in abundance, the earth producing spontaneously sufficient for their support, both in winter and summer, by which means their herds might become immensely numerous, but the wood now in the country would not be sufficient for a moderate population more than fifteen years, and then it would be out of the question to use any of it in manufactories, consequently their houses would be of mud bricks (like those in New Spain), but,

possibly, time may make the discovery of coal mines, which would render the country habitable." The opinion of Pike, of Kansas, was the earlier explorer's account of high prairie country. Major Stoddard, in his description of the newly acquired province of Upper Louisiana, expresses his doubt if the country forty miles from St. Louis can be cultivated on account of the absence of timber for fencing.

492. Indian Territory Limits.-The Government of the United States in defining, in 1830, the limits of the Indian Territory, did not give any certain western boundary. The Territory was to stretch back from the Missouri river, or the Missouri and Arkansas line for 200 miles, or as the country is habitable."

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Pike, in his journeyings in portions of Kansas, now covered by fields and pastures and orchards, speaks of traveling over "salines," wastes, and deserts, sterile and “wearisome heaths." A he saw it, so it appeared to those who came after him, and so the country was platted in the early maps as "The Great American Desert.'

493. Coal.-The only possibility that Pike admits of mistake in his calculation, is, that "the discovery of coal may make the country habitable." Otherwise the country must remain at best a range, its people herdsmen and shepherds, after the fashion of those inhabiting New Spain.

In the word "discovery" has been found the key to the situation. Man has discovered coal in Kansas, and it has been discovered east, south and west of Kansas. That was the first discovery the "actual settler" made in Kansascoal, and it has been found in increased quantities since, and the country has grown more and more habitable, and inhabited.