Thomas County History
Thomas County in 1885
THOMAS COUNTY--
An unorganized county, lying in the
northwestern portion of the State. It
lies equi-distant from the State of Nebraska on the north and Colorado on
the west, Rawlins county intervening
in the first instance, and Sherman in
the latter.
Rawlins bounds it on the
north, Sheridan on the east, St. John
and Gove on the south and Sherman
on the west. It has, an area of 1,080
square miles, and had a population in
1880 of 161 people.
The nearest railroad point is at Monument, St. John county, a station on
the Union Pacilic Railway (Kansas Division), distant from the south line but
three miles.
The general surface is a gently-rolling prairie, bluffs occurring occasionally on the banks of streams.
There is but little timber in the county, a few trees being met with on the
margins of the creeks. The county is
well supplied with water-courses, and
is in consequence a valuable country
for grazing purposes. But little attention has been paid to agriculture, the
inhabitants devoting themselves almost
exclusively in stock-raising, cattle and
sheep predominating.
The North and South Forks of Sappa
creek run northeast across the north
western partion, being apart from each
other but a distance of six miles. Prairie Dog creek has its source in the west
central portion, and has a northeast
course. The North and South Forks of
the Solomon river have their sources in
the southwestern portion, the former
flowing northeast, and the latter east.
The South Fork of Saline river also has
its source in the southwestern corner,
and flows along the southern line in an
easterly direction. There are several
other streams tributary to ihe above.
The postoffices are Colby, Cumberland, Letitia, Otterbourn, Quickville,
and Streator.
About one-half of the government land of the county is settled. Nearly all of the land is subject
to homestead pre-emption and timber culture. Union Pacific Railway (Kansas Division) land, 207,360
acres.
There is also in the county $8,000 acres of indemnity school land, aside from regular 16th and 36th
sections.
(as published in the Thomas County Cat, Mar. 12, 1885)
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Thomas Co. KHHP
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