Relief

Scope and content: The documents in this file pertain to relief aid in Kansas. This description does not cover all the letters in this file, only a few. A telegraph on October 3, 1873, from Kansas Governor Osborn to Secretary of the Interior, Columbus Delano, asks for an extension of time on the payment for settlers on the Sax and Fox Reserve. A letter on August 25, 1874, from W. H. Odell of Great Bend, Kansas, states there are 1000 people in the county of Barton that are destitute of the means of subsistence, and aid must be given if they are to live until another crop is raised. A letter on July 30, 1874, from T. M. Helm, calls attention to the devastation of Northwest Kansas by the grasshoppers. In the letter, Helm states the grasshoppers have destroyed everything from the vegetation to the foliage of the trees and have rendered the people of Smith County bound to suffer. A letter on November 29, 1874, from W. H. Odell, accepts the appointment to distribute clothing issued by the government to those who need it in Barton County.