Douglass Historical Museum

05/27/2026

This is a story about another ghost town near Douglass. It was called Haskin's Camp and was located west across the river from Gordon, then north. It became a booming oil camp when oil was discovered in the early 1900's.

HASKIN'S CAMP

Haskin’s Camp flourished and vanished northwest of Gordon. Much of it was located on the farm of Clark Haskin who was a member of the first casing crew. Clark Haskin, a Union army veteran from Vermont, homesteaded 390 acres in Walnut Township, Butler County Kansas in 1871. Haskin, a successful stock raiser, farmer and trapper, never dreamed that someday a town would be named for his family.

The Clark Haskin house was built of native limestone in 1884. It was two-story built in Section 20 and faces east on the north/south road that once was the main street of Haskin’s camp. Henry Thompson was the stone mason. Clark’s son, Charles Edward hauled the stone quarried from the hillside on the farm, with a team and sled. 1882 is engraved in the stone on a large barn Haskin built.

The house, built with three chimneys, three large rooms upstairs, three rooms downstairs plus a pantry and cellar was owned by descendants until 1982. At that time, Charles W. “Billy” Haskin sold it to D.E. Dunn, Jr., who has remodeled it.

Billy Haskin’s daughter, Gevelle, always wanted to be married in front of the house. Her parents sold the property before she married Jeff Runyan. They obtained the owner’s permission to be married in front of the house on April 21, 1995. It was fitting since she was the great-great granddaughter of Clark Haskin. The house made a beautiful background for her wedding photos. The house and barn remain landmarks at the Haskin’s Camp site. South of the Haskin house is a family cemetery. It has several ancestors including, Clark, his wife Almira, their son George, and an infant son of Herbert Haskin.

The Camp was the out-growth of the Oil Industry. The first producing oil well drilled in Butler County was on the Varner lease southwest of Augusta in 1914. It produced about one hundred barrels a day. Number six on the Varner lease in 1919 produced sixty thousand barrels of oil a day. The Varner lease was part of what soon came to be Haskin’s Camp.

In 1913, Charles Haskin signed a lease with Natural Gas. By 1918, Wichita Natural drilled wells, both oil and gas, including Haskin #17, Smith #26, Kirkpatrick #9, Hanes #10, Varner #16, and Love #21. The Love farm (Sec. 29) near Haskin’s Camp had a casinghead gasoline plant in operation by December 1916. The oil company became known as Empire Gas and Fuel Company.

It became necessary for Empire to build accommodations for their employees’ convenience. That is how Haskin’s Camp came into being. The Camp consisted of more than twenty-five company houses. Cellars were built for every few houses to provide shelter from storms and place for food storage. Rent for the houses was $5.00 per month.

The camp had a post office, a blacksmith shop, general store, bank, and fire house with a wagon, and a boarding house. The boarding house was busy around the clock. As one crew finished eating another was ready and waiting. A gas pump was installed when the Ford cars came on the scene. The Empire Gas Company, now Cities Service was the founder and operator of the oil camp.

Floral School was a one room school and had eight grades and about 120 pupils at one time. They held lots of activities at the schoolhouse.

They had some exciting times at the camp. The men played poker a lot for something to do and one night after the game came a knock at the door and a visit from the Klu Klux Klan. They invited John Bryde, a contractor and a large husky man outside to talk to him. He went out but holding a shotgun and a pistol in his holster and started blasting away. When that was empty, he fired the pistol at them and that really scattered them in a hurry. He didn’t hit anyone with the pistol but put a lot of buckshot into them. The Doctor was busy several days removing buckshot from the rumps of the Klan members.

Empire built several swinging foot bridges on the West bank of the Walnut River to be used by the employees as a short cut to the wells. June 1916, three men and two women came from Wichita in two cars loaded with beer and whiskey. They were at Ed Varner’s place talking with oil drillers who had gathered around. A man came up to them with a gun saying “Stick ‘em up”. He had to repeat the order, adding he meant business. All hands shot up in the air except the Miller woman. She thought he was kidding.

“Come on kid!” she said. “I’m not afraid of your old gun. A second time she dared him to shoot. The man grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and told her he was out for business. “Oh, to h---- with –” the woman did not get to finish her sentence. The man fired and she died almost instantly.

The other woman and J.A. Gillespie were near the swinging bridge when they heard the shot and the woman’s scream. They heard the man coming towards them after he had searched the party, further frightening them with a shot in the air. He was on them before they knew what was going on. He opened fire at the Snyder woman and the bullet struck her in the hip.

Gillespie grabbed for the gun and caught it. The holdup man first caught hold of Gillespie’s thumb with his teeth and almost severed it. Gillespie succeeded in wrenching the weapon from his hands and beat him. They man lay still and Gillespie thought he was either dead or unconscious and went for help. When he returned the man was gone.

Sheriff Newt Percell, Jim Crow and other officials were on the scene early. Bloodhounds were taken to the spot. The man was trailed to a chapel north of Rose Hill where the trail stopped. It was thought that someone gave him a lift into Wichita, and he was never apprehended. As a result of the fracas, the three men with the women were arrested and charged with white slavery and selling liquor.

One of the worst tragedies was the drowning of George Dennett on April 4, 1922. He attempted to cross the swollen Walnut River near the camp driving a horse hitched to a wagon. The bridge was under water. The south bank had washed out and when he struck that place the wagon overturned throwing Dennett and the wagon in the swift current. The strong current carried him a quarter of a mile downstream. He managed to get to get a foothold and started for shore and the men who witnessed the event were trying to get a long pole to pull him to shore. Just as he reached for the pole he slipped and disappeared into the strong current. He was later recovered. He was age 76 and employed by Empire as a teamster for three years. He was married twice and had a total of sixteen children between the two marriages.

Haskins camp remained until the mid-1930’s. When the oil was running out, most of the houses were moved and a few remained for years. Most of the land was returned to farming ground. Leases west of the Walnut River were considered Haskins Camp and leases East of the River were considered Browntown. Many reunions were held over the years as the residents wanted to keep in touch with each other and exchange pictures and not to forget their little oil town called Haskins Camp.

Sources: “Haskin’s Camp” by Roxie Olmstead, “Haskin’s Camp by Viola Dennett

Editor’s note: Thanks to Mary Baldwin for helping with the research. There is much more in-depth information about Haskin’s Camp at the museum.

The gentleman with the car is Raymond Duryea. The photo is labelled Haskin's Camp on the back, and we never knew where that was.

05/27/2026

Hello everyone! My name is Carrie Shores, and I’m the Chair of the Douglass His… Carrie Shores needs your support for Help Preserve History at Douglass Museum

05/27/2026

We are trying something new! Reach out to become a member!

05/27/2026

Gildan Dryblend Tees. Gildan Long Sleeve, Sweatshirt, Hoodies. *Choose LOCAL PICK UP at check out. Pick up will be at the museum.*

05/25/2026

Our town's founding father, Joseph Douglass is buried in the Douglass Cemetery.

05/24/2026

We are excited to have you join us next weekend.

05/24/2026

Come see us today from 1:00-4:00 pm!

05/23/2026

What a great day at our open house! Still time to drop by Saturday and Sunday!

05/22/2026

Come see us this weekend!

We are excited to have you join us next weekend.

05/12/2026

Pioneer Justice Smashed Horse Stealing Gang
Vigilantes of Butler, Cowley, Sedgwick Counties
Lynched Eight to Halt Crime

In the late 1860’s and through 1870 thousands of Texas longhorn cattle were being brought north along the Chisolm trail to Abilene where they were loaded on the Kansas Pacific railroad for shipment to eastern markets. The trail passed near the little settlement of Douglass and crossed the Walnut River four miles to the north.

With the dozens of drovers came lawless characters who took what they wanted at gun point, or by stealth. Murder and robbery stood high on their list of accomplishments. In this area rendezvous points were established in Butler County. One such place was owned by two brothers, George and Lewis Booth, for a gang suspected of stealing horses and operating from Texas through Kansas and on to Nebraska.

Horse and cattle stealing spread over a wide territory and adequate law enforcement was much too limited to cope with the gang. To a settler, horses were a means of communication, transportation and aid in times of stress. Deprived of his horse, he was helpless.

Many Horses Stolen
Perhaps one of the most enlightening documents concerning trouble arising from theft of horses is an authentic vigilante manifesto written during a period when eight horse thieves were hanged or shot at Douglass. The vigilantes struck at least twice in three weeks, and their work in Butler, Cowley and Sedgwick counties makes one of the most interesting studies in criminal records of the state. This organization sought
out some men in high places, punishing men of wealth and sufficient influence to evade the law.

In part the manifesto reads:
“Since the first settlement of Butler, Cowley and Sedgwick counties in 1868 the people have suffered from the depredations of horse thieves. Within ten (10) miles of Douglass, Butler County, at least 300 horses have been stolen within the past year. In hardly any instance was the horse recovered and no horse thief has been successfully prosecuted in any court of justice. The evidence was clear that a regular organized band of horse thieves existed in the county. Parties losing horses would trace the animals to certain localities and suddenly lost all clue to them. There also had been a number of murders perpetrated in that region, but none has been suffered thereafter.”

Thieves Feared
“So numerous were the horse thieves that no man dared institute a prosecution against any other man for horse stealing, however strong his suspicions might be. The suspected men whom everybody felt confident were horse thieves, swaggered about the streets of Douglass, El Dorado, and Wichita and threatened the lives of any men who ever utter any suspicions against them. Amont the men who indulged in this style of conversation were those known as James Smith, George and Lewis Booth, Jack Corbin, William G. Quimby, Dr. Morris and his son Alex, and Michael Dray.”

Jack Corbin posed as a law officer, wearing partial uniform, a pistol on each hip and jingling spurs. He was one of the most feared of those suspected and thought to be the most fearless. Young Alex Morris was only 17 years old and James Smith’s real name seems to have been Gilpin.

“Such, reads the manifesto were the leaders of the gang which stole horses, stole cattle, hanging around the new towns of the country, armed to the teeth, threatening the lives of quiet citizens and distributing written notices to persons who had their horses stolen saying they would be ‘sent to hell’ unless they kept their mouths shut.”

Mail Carrier Afoot
John Long, who carried mail from Douglass to El Dorado, lost his only horse. A man dedicated to his work, Long walked the distance, stopping en route at Augusta. The mail was received from stagecoach at Douglass and distributed from there. The stage crossed the Walnut River north of town.

Horse stealing continued to hound the pioneers of this three-county area to about November 1, 1870. That fall a man named Crawford came from Illinois with his two sons. He was well along in years, but the sons were young and vigorous. They brought with them several fine horses and mules and settled at a campsite on land below Wichita on the Arkansas River. One day a son on a mule rode into Wichita for supplies. While in town the boy was accosted by three or four men who claimed the mule.

The boy returned to camp and told of the theft. Crawford took his sons, rode back to Wichita, located the mule in a livery stable and repossessed it. On the way back to camp they were overtaken by four men. Crawford was knocked from his horse and his life threatened if he did not deliver up the horses they were riding, together with the mule.

All were unarmed. The sons spurred their mounts and escaped. The thieves beat the old man severely, but finally chased the boys. However the latter arrived safely at camp, secured weapons, and drove off the men, rescuing their father.

But the thieves were not to forget the Crawfords’ fine stock and soon afterward managed to steal five of the animals.

Recognize Assailants
On Nov. 10, 1870 (Thursday) a general election was being held in Kansas. Voting in the little Butler County settlement was being done at the Douglass House. It so happened that Crawford and his sons came there that day. As he was standing in the hotel a young man, wearing two guns and jingling spurs walked by.

“Who is that man?” Crawford inquired of Chester Lamb, a Douglass Resident.
On being told that the man’s name was Corbin, Crawford replied: “That’s the man who struck me and took my mule.” The sons also identified the Booths and James Smith later that day.

Numerous horses had been stolen before those of the Crawfords, and Corbin’s identity was passed quickly from mouth to mouth. When election booths closed that night, the Booth brothers and Corbin rode to the Booth ranch north of town and across the Little Walnut River.

The vigilante manifesto can best describe what took place that beautiful moonlight night of Nov. 10, 1870:
“About 9:30 a group of men rode up to the door and called for the three to come out. Knowing it was useless to resist, they obeyed. The riders marched them to the timber a few rods from the house and it was there that Jack Corbin confessed. He gave full particulars of the theft of the Crawford horses and told who had herded the animals the night before. But he could not tell where the horses were at that time because they apparently had changed hands during the day. He also revealed the names of others of the gang, after which he was hanged from a tree limb.

Shot in Flight
“Seeing the fate of their companion, the Booth brothers started to run, telling their captors to ‘go to hell’. A volley of lead felled them to the ground where they were left by the vigilantes. En route back to Douglass they encountered James Smith at the stagecoach crossing of the Little Walnut River. Seeing the men, Smith surmised their purpose, fired on them and dashed his horse (said to have been a white mule) into the underbrush. His pursuers returned fire and their bullets found him in the darkness. It later was reported that Smith had wounded one of the vigilantes, but this was never confirmed, since all were sworn to secrecy. When the stage came down the trail that next morning the driver discovered Smith’s body spread-eagled beside the road.”

Then, with the names of leaders of the horse thief gang in their possession, on the night of Dec. 1, 1870, the vigilantes struck again.

Among those named by Corbin were a William G. Quimby, a prominent merchant in Douglass, a Dr. Morris and his son Alex, who owned and operated a drug store, and a clerk in the Quimby store, Michael O’Dray (most often spelled Dray). Following the deaths of the first four these men said in the streets that they would hang every man who had anything to do with the killings. Dr. Morris, on his fine horse with elegant trappings, rode day and night endeavoring to recruit a party to retaliate for the deaths. Several citizens were threatened in an effort to learn the names of vigilante members.

Reprisals Threatened
Feeling rose to a fever pitch and threats were made to hang the Crawfords and a man named D.W. Bouthwell if they were cleared of murder charges then pending against them. On Saturday a warrant was issued for John Long, the mail carrier, John Stanley and S.E.D. Parker, but when the arresting officers called at their homes they were absent. Warrants also were issued for others suspected of having a hand in the affair. A.J. Uhl refused to submit to arrest in the night by a set of horse thieves, but said he would permit arrest by any respectable citizen. An officer from Augusta went to Douglass and got Quimby, Morris and his son and O’Dray to aid him. On Monday, Nov. 29, Uhl and some others came into Douglass and had a conference with the Quimby party who threatened to arrest Uhl and his friends and kill them. Quimby told them men would soon come from Augusta and make the arrest.

The manifesto reads: “Quimby and Dr. Morris also said the ‘road agents’ were coming to send the people of Douglass ‘to hell’, adding that the ‘road agents’ had cleaned out the vigilantes at Wichita and would do the same at Douglass.

“By noon there were 900 men collected in Douglass. The sentiment of the crowd was that they would abide by the law but would not be arrested by any known or suspected horse thief, with the chance of being murdered afterward. During the day affadavits were made against Quimby, the Morrises and Michael Dray for horse stealing, and they had an examination before a justice, and their cases were continued for 15 days. These parties stated from the first that they would kill every man on the streets that day if they got loose. The Quimby party had been placed under guard.

Accusers Stay Away
On Tuesday, Bouthwell and all of the parties who had been arrested for murder (except the Crawfords) had an examination, but none of the prosecuting witnesses appeared and the cases were dismissed. Quimby and the three others were held for trial and were allowed to remain with their families most of the time until Thursday night. At intervals several citizens of the anti-horse thief party received written notices signed with the picture of a rope, to “leave the country, on pain of death.

But the aroused vigilantes were determined to wipe out the horse stealing in that area. The manifesto described their last work as follows:

“On Thursday night, Dec. 1, 1870, about 60 men (others report 300) seized Captain Tanner and the guard over the Quimby party and took them – Quimby, the two Morrises and Michael Dray – two miles south from Douglass to the timber just off the public road near the Walnut River. From a nearby sawmill they secured a plank which they placed in the forks of two trees and hung the four men side byside. None of the four attempted to escape and no female member of their families was present at the time of their ex*****on. The next day the crowd which had gathered in Douglass dispersed. The bodies of the men who had been hanged were taken down and an inquest held. The sum was $700 in cash and drafts was found on the bodies.”

Wife Shocked
According to at least one former Douglass resident, it is said that Mrs. Quimby, whom everyone loved and respected, attempted to save the life of innocence. The accusation against her husband apparently came as a real shock. The informant said “Mrs. Quimby was a fine woman and knew nothing at all concerning her husband’s undercover dealings.” Others of the men’s families apparently were present when they were seized, for accounts state that “despite pleas from their weeping families the men were taken.”

With hands tied behind them, the four men were marched on foot ahead of the 60 vigilantes two miles south of town where they were hanged.

The manifesto states: “Quimby, at his ex*****on, confessed that he planned and aided in stealing horses and covering up the stolen property. I know likewise Morris and his son, Alex, made a full confession of guilt, giving over 100 names of citizens of said Cowley, Butler and Sedgwick counties as belonging to the gang, with full particulars that they were thoroughly organized in every town and village throughout said counties. Amont the number may be found farmers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, sheriffs, constables, justices of the peace, and in fact men in every avocation of life. These names are on file with the proper parties…”

“By order of 798 organized men, comprising the vigilantes of Butler, Cowley, and Sedgwick counties.”

At one time the man (here nameless for various reasons) who headed the early Anti-Horse Thief Assn., in Butler County, later known as vigilantes, was hunted, with a price of $1,000 on his head. However, he successfully eluded the horse thieves. Also the identity of the man elected to tie the hangman’s noose at the lynchings was known, but those in the know were sworn to secrecy.

The Quimby home stood one block east of what is now the center of Douglass. The old house is gone and the location now is occupied by the dental office of Dr. Rodney Bohrer. Some say that the four bodies were brought into town before dawn and laid side by side on the back porch of the Quimby home. They later were carried indoors but when burial took place none can say.

In the Douglass cemetery is a marble headstone bearing the name of a boy named Quimby. He is known to have been one of the four Quimby children, two boys and two girls. Mrs. Quimby lived in Douglass for a few years following her husband’s death and then moved to Oklahoma. No trace of any of the families is known today.

From article in Wichita Eagle and Beacon October 7, 1962

Note: Jack Corbin was a scout for General Custer and was a major player during the Wash*ta Massacre. He did not follow to the Little Big Horn, but got hung instead.