05/29/2026
1904 FLOOD ANNIVERSARY AND UPCOMING EVENTS! History is happening in Franklin County this weekend! Lynsay Flory will present the complex story of the creation of a reservoir during Local Stories of Melvern Lake on May 30 at the FCHS Archives & Records Center or via Zoom. The Civil War Round Table of Ottawa, Kansas will host a program on the The Baxter Springs Massacre at Smoked Creations on May 30. Franklin County Heritage Homes is relaunching with an information meeting at Elliott Hall on May 31. Summer time means that all of Franklin County's community museums - Richmond Community Museum, Appanoose Museum AAPS, and Wellsville Historical Society - are opening their doors for the season. We look forward to sharing history with you!
DEPOT WORKERS TRAPPED BY FLOOD WATERS, MAY 29-31, 1904. Santa Fe Railroad workers were trapped in the Ottawa depot for several days as fast-moving water burst through the waiting room doors on the first floor and rapidly rose until it was shoulder-deep in the ticket office. Several boats attempted to rescue the men inside--which included Harry Keckler, Will Baxter, Chris Hester, John Holmes, Frank Fleming, and J.S. Yancy—but rapid currents made the rescue too dangerous. The men had no food except some radishes and onions they were able to rescue from the Railway Express Agency office using an improvised rope ladder. Reports vary, but it is believed the Marais des Cygnes River crested at about 33 feet, which was (at that time) the highest the river had reached since the town was founded in 1864. This photo by William H. “Dad” Martin shows men on a ladder tossed out a second-floor window and others standing on the platform roof. The roundhouse and car shops are also visible. By the time the river crested around 4 a.m. on Monday, May 30, hundreds were homeless and the town lost its drinking water and utilities when the public works building flooded.
