Page:Kansas A Cyclopedia of State History vol 1.djvu/65

 Not caring to undertake the trip alone, he spent some time at Fort Leavenworth, and then accompanied Mr. Dunbar to the agency of the Omahas, Otoes and Pawnees at Bellevue, Neb. Soon after arriving there Mr. Dunbar went as a missionary to the Grand Pawnees and Mr. Allis to the Pawnee Loups, with whom he remained until 1846. Among his other labors was the establishment of the Pawnee school at Council Point on the Platte river. For several years he was the interpreter for the United States in the negotiation of treaties and in this capacity aided in the acquisition of the Indian lands in Nebraska and Kansas. In 1851 he went to St. Mary's, Iowa, where he lived on a farm for two years. He then returned to Nebraska and there passed the remainder of his life. As a member of the Nebraska Historical Society he made valuable contributions to the Indian history of that state and Kansas.

 Allison, a village of Decatur county, is located in the township of the same name, on the north fork of the Solomon river, about 25 miles southeast of Oberlin, the county seat, and 8 miles from Dresden, which is the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice, some local trade, and in 1910 reported a population of 25.

Alma, the judicial seat and principal city of Wabaunsee county, is located a little northwest of the center of the county on Mill creek and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., and is the terminus of a division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. which connects with the main line at Burlingame. The first house in Alma was built in the fall of 1867 and the following December the town was made the county seat. In 1868 a hotel and school house were erected, and after the advent of the railroads the growth was more rapid. Mill creek furnishes water power for operating a flour mill and some other concerns. Being located in the heart of a rich agricultural and stock raising region. Alma is a shipping point of considerable importance. It has a bank with a paid up capital of $50,000, an international money order postoffice with four rural delivery routes emanating from it, excellent express, telegraph and telephone facilities, an electric lighting plant, two weekly newspapers—the Enterprise and the Signal—and a monthly publication called the Emblem, devoted to the interests of a fraternal organization. The city has a modern high school building, erected at a cost of $16,000, and both the Lutherans and Catholics have parochial schools. The mercantile establishments of Alma rank favorably with those in other cities of its size. Good building and cement stone are found in the vicinity. The altitude of Alma is 1,055 feet. In 1910 the population was 1,010.

Almena, an incorporated town of Norton county, is located on Prairie Dog creek in the northeastern portion, at the junction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroads, 12 miles east of Norton, the county seat. It has a bank, a weekly newspaper, an opera house, good hotels, large grain elevators, an international money order postoffice with three rural routes, and in 1910 had a population of 702. Being located in the midst of a fine agricultural country, Almena ships large quantities of grain and live stock, and its