E. C. SALES.

In the spring of 1869 several young men took claims along the Walnut river and built claim cabins. Judge T. B. Ross and James Renfro came into the county in January of 1869 and commenced work upon claim houses into which they moved with their families in the March following. They resided upon the same claims about two and a half miles above Winfield on the east bank of the Walnut. These with Wm. Quimby and family, and Mr. Sales and family, who settled on the Walnut just below Thompson’s place in December 1868, were the first settlers with families of whom any evidence can be found. At this time there was no house on Grouse creek, nor upon the Arkansas river below Wichita.

The special census of Cowley County held on February 10, 1870, lists Ellis and Sarah Sales.

Cowley County Democrat, Winfield, Kansas, Thursday, July 13, 1876.

Wm. Quimby and family, and a Mr. Sales settled on the Walnut below Thompson’s place. They were the first actual settlers in Cowley County.

Winfield Courier, May 15, 1879.

Mr. E. C. Sales is putting up a patent lime-kiln on the land of Mr. A. A. Wiley in the canon beyond the Tunnel mill. When this kiln gets well into operation, it is expected that it will be able to supply Winfield any day and all the time, there being no delay to wait for burning. It will be ready in about three weeks. The stone at that place is the best in the county for lime.

No other entries relative to Sales could be found.

RKW commented:

The Winfield census of 1880 lists E. C. Sales, age 43, and his wife Sarah, age 41.

The Winfield Courier of December 30, 1887, reported the funeral of Hebron Sayles, who accidentally shot himself while handling a revolver. The funeral was from the residence of his father at 1714 South Manning street. (Perhaps the name has been recorded earlier as it sounded rather than how the family spelled it.)

Note that C. M. Wood called him “Eli Sayles” in his reminiscences...

The Story of C. M. Wood.

[The personal reminiscences of Cliff M. Wood were given by the Winfield Courier in a series of articles in the following issues: January 14, January 21, January 28, February 4, and February 11, 1886.]

During the winter of 1868-1869, while counter jumping in the store of H. L. Hunt & Co., at Cottonwood Falls, Chase County, Kansas, I accidentally overheard a conversation between James Renfro and Frank Hunt concerning a beautiful country way down the walnut river in a wild Indian country near the Indian Territory, known on the map as Cowley County. My curiosity was somewhat excited and I at once determined to investigate and explore for myself. I went directly to a friend of mine, U. B. Warren, then a prosperous hardware merchant, doing business in the same town, and told him what I had heard. We both at once resolved to make the trip, and about the first day of April, joined team to a spring wagon and started up the south fork of the Cottonwood river, thence down the Walnut to El Dorado, then a small village, and the county seat of Butler County, where we stopped for the night. The next day we came on down the river as far as Muddy creek, at the north end of Cowley County, where we stayed all night with a cattle man by the name of Turner, the first habitation we came to in the county. Next morning we pulled out to explore the then forbidden ground we found below Turner’s ranch. First came Eli Sayles’, about two miles; next came John Jones’ cattle ranch near the mouth of Rock creek; below him John Watson; after him we found no habitation or sign of civilization except signs of claim taking, until we reached James Renfro’s claim, known now as the Gilleland or Taylor farm, where he had a neat little hewed log house erected with a good roof without doors, windows, or chinking.