Brief
History from wikipedia:
Smith County was
organized on February 1, 1872, by James J.
Johnson; John T. Morrison, Andrew and
Joseph Marshall;
A. H. Black; V. J. Battomly; John W.
Simmonds; and Ira Chase. Conatining the
towns of Kensington, Smith Center, Cedar,
Gaylord, Athol, and Lebanon, the
county was named for Major James Nelson
Smith, a Union officer killed at the
Battle of
Blue River near Kansas City on March
21, 1864.
In 1853 an Indian
battle was fought a few miles southwest of
Smith Center between the Pawnee, Delaware,
and Omaha
Indians on one side, and the
Cheyenne, Comanche, Arapaho, and Apaches
on the other. The fighting lasted three
days. The
battle involved the territoriality
of the Indians in the area and the rights
to the land. The result was a complete
victory for the
Pawnee and their allies and they
retained their "control" of the area.
|
