June 30, 2017
You are reading “Our Past Is Present”
from the Geary County Historical Society.
Today’s story is from a letter
printed in the “Junction City Union” in 1890 written by John Mulligan. He describes the first Fourth of July
celebration in our area, which took place in 1854. Mr. Mulligan explains that he arrived with
the first batch of mechanics and laborers at Fort Riley. He was hired by Major Ogden to take charge of
the quarrying of rock for buildings. Mr. Mulligan went on in his writing to
state that “in the summer of 1854, the soldiers and citizen laborers were
determined to celebrate the Fourth of July.
In order to do so they made a private agreement with some parties
outside the post to secretly deliver one hundred and fifty gallons of whiskey
and ten gallons of wine to a location on Three Mile Creek. Private Drum was to receive the goods and was
on hand the night of July 1st as agreed. As the last keg was rolled into the brush, a
Sergeant and two soldiers appeared on the scene and arrested the entire
party. The threat was made to confiscate
the whiskey and wine, have Private Drum court martialed and have all of them sent
to the penitentiary for not less than ten years. Drum threw himself on the ground crying
bitterly and begging for the Sergeant to let them go stating they would never be
caught doing such a thing again. A
proposition was made to the Sergeant that the liquor and ten dollars in gold
would be given him, if he would let them off.
The Sergeant did so with the understanding that the heads of the kegs
were to be knocked in and liquor poured on the ground. As the party began to leave the Sergeant
began to knock in the heads of the kegs, but wait…. That’s not the end of the
story. The Sergeant only pretended to
destroy the liquor. He actually saved
it… and sold the liquor for a dollar a quart.
The Fourth of July celebration for him and others was a huge success.”
This has been “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
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