 |
| Soapy registers at the St. Elmo Hotel Parsons, Kansas Parsons Daily Eclipse March 31, 1880 |
(Click image to enlarge)
arsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas. The town was named after Levi Parsons, president of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) Railroad. The town was founded in 1870 and incorporated the following year by the railroad. The location for the town was chosen because it was where the two branches of the railroad being built from Junction City, Kansas and Sedalia, Missouri would meet, and was on a ridge between Labette Creek and Little Labette Creek, which were soon dammed to provide a water source. The railroad commenced building a massive rail yard, foundry, and locomotive shop at Parsons, which for many years was the third largest railroad facility west of the Mississippi River with only Kansas City and Los Angeles being larger. Settlers from nearby towns uprooted and moved to Parsons, and new settlers arrived on every incoming train. Parsons soon became a major hub for several railroads including the Missouri Kansas & Texas Railroad, Parsons & Pacific Railroad, Kansas City & Pacific Railroad, and the Memphis, Kansas & Colorado Railroad.
As Parsons was a large railroad town, my guess is that Soapy stopped over for a night or two, operated his swindles, and then got back on a train continuing on his way to other better prospects. I could not find anything on the St. Elmo Hotel.
 |
| Parsons, Kansas Forest Avenue (now Broadway Ave) August 4, 1873 Courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society |
 |
| Main and 18th Streets Parsons, Kansas Colorized postcard |
"When a gambler picks up a pack of cards or a pair of dice, he feels as though he has reduced an unmanageable world to a finite, visible and comprehensive size."
— Annabel Davis-Goff, The Literary Companion to Gambling
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for leaving your comment and/or question on my blog. I always read, and will answer all questions asap. Please know that they are greatly appreciated. -Jeff Smith