A flock of chickens
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This photograph shows a flock of chickens, a man, chicken coops, farm buildings, and a windmill on an unidentified farm, presumed to be in Haskell County, Kansas. Poultry was a very important food source before refrigeration was commonplace in rural households on the prairie. Chickens and turkeys also provided a much-needed source of income through the sale of live birds and eggs.

A flock of turkeys
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This photograph shows a young girl standing near a flock of turkeys on an unidentified farm, presumed to be in Haskell County, Kansas. A farm building and cart are also visible in the photograph.

Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
This photograph shows Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins, (1871-1961), "Wheat Queen of the World" from Sublette Kansas. Ida was born in Harmon, Missouri and later moved with her family to an area near Wichita, Kansas in 1875. At a young age she learned the daily task of farm life along with hard work and determination. When Ida's husband Joel D. Watkins, (1860-1902), died in 1902, she was left to manage 1,650 head of cattle on their ranch in Cimarron County, Oklahoma. For eight years she operated the ranch and worked beside her hired hands branding calves and driving the cattle to market while earning the title "Cattle Queen of the Southwest." Ida eventually sold the ranch and turned her attention from cattle to wheat. When she moved back to Kansas in the 1910s, Ida built an empire by buying acres of land in southwest Kansas in Finney and Haskell counties and turning them into wheat fields. In 1926, Ida had planted and harvested 1,950 acres more than any farmer in the area. The Associated Press dubbed her the "Wheat Queen of the World." By 1932, Ida was farming between 3,500 to 5,000 acres of land. Ida was passionate about farming so much that, in 1932, she testified before the Shannon Committee regarding the government's interference in agriculture. Ida stated that she did not want amendments or an investigation of the Federal Farm Board what she wanted was to "kick the devil out of the farm board." On November 24, 1961, Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins passed away at the age of ninety in Garden City, Kansas.

Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins
Date: July 31, 1930
This press photograph shows Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins, known as the "Wheat Queen of the World," seated in an automobile in her wheat field. She built an empire by buying acres of land in southwest Kansas in Finney and Haskell counties, and turning them into wheat fields. In 1926, Ida had planted and harvested 1,950 acres more than any farmer in the area. The Associated Press dubbed her the "Wheat Queen of the World." By 1932, Ida was farming between 3,500 to 5,000 acres of land. Ida was passionate about farming so much that, in 1932, she testified before the Shannon Committee regarding the government's interference in agriculture. Ida stated that she did not want amendments or an investigation of the Federal Farm Board what she wanted was to "kick the devil out of the farm board." On November 24, 1961, Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins passed away at the age of ninety in Garden City, Kansas.

A man feeding chickens
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
View of a man feeding chickens on an unidentified farm presumed to be in Haskell County, Kansas. Also visible in the photograph are a farmhouse and several farm buildings.

A Reeves steam tractor turning virgin sod
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of a large Reeves steam tractor plowing prairie land to turn up sod.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Satanta, Kansas
Creator: Bohi, Charles W., 1940-
Date: Between 1950s and 1970s
This series of photographs show the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Satanta, Kansas. The one-story combination depot is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Sublette, Kansas
Creator: Bohi, Charles W., 1940-
Date: Between 1950 and 1960
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Sublette, Kansas. The one-story wooden structure was moved to the Sublette fairgrounds in the early 1980s to be the home of the Haskell County Historical Society.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Sublette, Kansas
Date: Between 1970 and 1975
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Sublette, Kansas. The one-story wooden structure was moved to the Sublette fairgrounds in the early 1980s to be the home of the Haskell County Historical Society.

Black Friday meets its master
Creator: Garden City Daily Telegram
Date: April 10, 1935
Several articles about life in the Dust Bowl can be found on the front page of this newspaper from Garden City. Articles of particular interest include two articles on "raging dusters," one on the winter wheat crop, and a brief article discussing the postponement of community meetings to distribute aid under the soil erosion program. The newspaper also includes articles about other newsworthy events occurring in Garden City and around the state of Kansas.

Buffalo wallow in Haskell County, Kansas
Date: Between 1870 and 1879
This is a photograph showing a man seated by a buffalo wallow in Haskell County, Kansas. These were large shallow areas where the bison (buffalo) rolled in the earth, covering themselves with dust or mud to ease the torment of flies, ticks, and other insect pests.

Building construction in Sublette, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
A view of new building construction in Sublette, Kansas. This picture is, possibly, of the two story T. M. Deal building's construction, near the AT&SF railroad tracks in Sublette.

By the President of the United States, a proclamation: whereas it appears that the public good will be promoted by eliminating certain lands within the State of Kansas from the Kansas National Forest
Creator: Taft, William Howard, 1857-1930
Date: February 24, 1913
This proclamation by President William H. Taft changes the boundaries of the Kansas National Forest. The original forest boundaries are illustrated on the diagram from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The forest was located west of Garden City and south of the Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fe Railroad in Finney, Haskell, Grant, Kearny, and Hamilton counties. The proclamation excludes land west of Syracuse, Kansas and east of the Colorado border.

Cabbage patch vegetable garden
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of a cabbage patch vegetable garden in Haskell County, Kansas. Farm buildings and part of a windmill are visible in the background.

Cabbages on a Haskell County, Kansas homestead
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: 1912
This is a view of a cabbage patch vegetable garden on an unidentified farm in Haskell County, Kansas, in 1912. The early settlers experimented by trial and error with many different kinds of crops. Also visible, in the background, are a corral, farm buildings, windmill, farmhouse, and someone seated in a horse-drawn carriage.

Cattle in a farm corral
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
View of cattle in a corral, next to a barn, on an unidentified farm presumed to be in Haskell County, Kansas.

Cattle in a fenced pasture
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
View of cattle in a fenced pasture, next to a barn, on an unidentified farm presumed to be in Haskell County, Kansas. Also visible in the photograph are a man afoot, a horse-drawn carriage, a farmhouse and outlying farm buildings, and a man and boys astride horses.

Cattlemen, cowboys, and cattle
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
View of cattlemen and cowboys posed on horseback, an automobile, and on a fence near a pasture and corrals. F. E. (Gene) Murphy is in the right foreground, standing at the left of the automobile, with a hat and coat on and his right arm extended along his right side. Also visible in the background is a herd of cattle.

Cattle standing in a farm pond, Haskell County, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of cattle standing in an unidentified farm pond in Haskell County, Kansas. A windmill and several buildings are visible in the background.

Charley Davis home and farm in Haskell County, Kansas
Date: 1919
This postcard shows a house, out buildings, and cattle owned by Charley Davis in Haskell County, Kansas.

Council of National Defense Woman's Committee correspondence
Date: 1918
This collection consists of correspondence between individuals and committee members to the state chair of the Woman's Committee of the Kansas Council of National Defense. The Council of National Defense was established at the federal level in 1916 as an emergency agency under the Army Appropriation Act and abolished in 1921. It was created in reaction to World War I to coordinate resources and industries for national defense and improve civilian morale. The Woman's Committee of the Kansas Council of National Defense performed the same functions at the state and local levels, coordinating women's activities for national defense. The materials are organized alphabetically by county. The digitization of this collection was paid for through the Margot R. Swovelan Endowment Fund.

County Affairs, Haskell County
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1885-1889 : Martin)
Date: 1885-1889
These letters, spanning 1887 to 1888, are from the offices and residents of Haskell County, Kansas regarding its organization to Kansas Governor John Martin. Many of the letters are signed petitions confirming the population requirements are met for the county's organization. A Governor's Proclamation appoints an official to verify that the county meets requirements. Other letters request the appointment of the temporary county seat and county officials like the commissioners, clerk, and census taker. Haskell County was organized on July 1, 1887 and named for Dudley C. Haskell of Lawrence, a former military man who died while serving the state as a Congressman in 1883, and contains the cities of Satanta and Sublette.

Eighth biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1891-1892
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1893
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture contains two parts and the page numbering starts over at the beginning of Part II. The volume contains a section on each county, providing summary information about the history of the county, a description of the landscape, crops, livestock, schools, and churches. A large number of tables with statistics about Kansas residents and crop yields, broken down by county, are also included. Other chapters are devoted to interesting subjects such as apiculture, artificial forests, loco weeds, and chinch bugs.

Eleventh biennial report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 1897-98
Creator: Kansas State Board of Agriculture
Date: 1899
This biennial report from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture includes information on beef and pork production, farm poultry, Kansas mineral products, livestock, and other agricultural topics. Also covered are county statistics for population, acreages, productions, livestock, assessed valuation of property, and a listing of churches for each county. Proceedings and other activities of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture are included.

Farm and automobile
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of an unidentified farmhouse and buildings presumed to be in Haskell County, Kansas. Also visible are a windmill, barn, and two people seated in an automobile.