Excerpt from Impressions of Early Kansas As I sit by the western window and the brief winter afternoon draws toward its close, my mind turns back to dear old Waverley. Outside the wind is rising and the waning day shows gray and chill, but far away I see visions of a fair, deep blue sky, gemmed with fleecy floating clouds. Instead of deep snows and ice bound streams, are wide expanses of green fields, velvet carpeted, and sown thickly with johnny-jump-ups and dainty strawberry blossoms. Away over the far wooded hills, distance lends enchantment to the purplish haze that rests forever above the winding river; while around all is spread the fairest country that ever gladdened the eyes and hearts of men, - the beautiful prairies of Kansas. Among the many towns and embryo cities that sprang up as it were by magic on the opening of the territory in eighteen fifty-five, was my own dear town of Waverley. This ambitious little county seat was laid out in true generous Western fashion over a square mile or so of charming hill and dale, its modest frame houses, many of them built of the native black walnut, separated by wide stretches of greenest verdure. Here and there the streets led over picturesque wooden bridges, for from the hilly eastern border to the noble plateau that formed the western boundary, there was a succession of hills and hollows, varied by deep, winding ravines, each of which prisoned a brawling, pigmy torrent during the winter thaws and the spring rains. Crowning the brow of the eastern hill, was the Woodson Hotel, a many windowed frame building of two stories, looking south. In front was a wide veranda from whose pleasant shelter the wayfarer could overlook the little city and the broad wagon road with its traffic and bustle, varied now and then by slow moving ox teams, or long lines of canvas covered wagons of the countless home seekers. These wagons were filled with furniture and bedding, weary women and sunburnt children. Sometimes a stove pipe protruded through an opening in the canvas telling of an attempt at warmth and comfort when the prairie winds blew cold. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.