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In the rocky hills and gravel-filled valleys of
southeast
Kansas is the small
town of Galena, born of rugged characters when lead was discovered in
1877. Before this time, the land was only sparsely settled by
hunters and farmers earning meager livings from the rocky and sterile
soil.
The existence of lead
in the area was known by the Indians long before the white settlers
began to populate the area. Large lumps of almost pure lead were
often found on or near the surface and would be melted and made into
bullets at the camp fires.
In the spring of 1877, a couple of
young white men found several heavy stones which contained high
amounts of lead. The land owner, a German farmer by the name of Egidius Moll, wasted no time in making negotiations with the nearby
Joplin,
Missouri Mining Companies. Before long, more rich deposits
of ore were discovered and by June 1, 1877, two rival companies were
in the field bidding against each other for the lease and sale of
mining lots. The two rival mining companies also
formed their own town sites – Empire City north of Short Creek, and
Galena,
south of the creek, which was named for the abundant bluish-grey lead, to the south.
Galena was immediately laid out, and the
excitement caused by the lead discovery was so great, that no sooner
was a lot staked off than a purchaser was ready with the money in hand
to buy it. The influx of people was extremely rapid, so that in the
space of about two months Galena numbered a population of nearly 3,000
people. Business houses were hastily established, miners' shanties
were built by the dozens and and the town site was everywhere being
dug up with mining excavations.
A tract of eighty acres of railroad land adjoining the site was
purchased by a joint stock company called the South Side Town & Mining
Company, which also became a part of the town site.
Galena was incorporated as a city in May,
1877, in less than two months from the time it was laid out. That same
month, a post office was opened and a newspaper, called the Galena
Miner was established.
More wagons, tents and hastily constructed
buildings sprang up in the new boomtown, which, within months, supported a population
of almost 10,000.
For a time, a heated spirit of rivalry was
carried on between Galena and Empire City,
each keeping pace with the other, and seeking to excel in the race
The rivalry between the two mining
companies carried forward into the building of the two towns, bound
together by the rich veins of lead. Because
Empire City was nearer the field of
operations for the mining activities, the majority of new settlers
first camped upon that town site. However, the natural advantage was
with Galena, since nearly the whole, and by far the richest, of the
lead field lay beneath and near the town. No sooner was this
fact discovered, than Galena began to take the lead of
Empire City. This change soon began
to seriously discomfit the Empire
camp, who strove arduously to turn the tide, and save themselves from
being entirely absorbed.
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