Confederate Guerrillas.
In the early 1860s, Stephen B. Chapman and his family lived on a farm near the town of Black Jack, south of Lawrence, Kansas. In the summer of 1863, Missouri Bushwhackers began traveling through the area, terrorizing the citizens. On August 21, 1863, William Quantrill and his men passed within sight of the Chapman farm on their way to commit the devastating Lawrence Massacre.
In September, the Chapmans moved west, arriving in Ottawa County, Kansas, in October, where they settled along the Solomon River. They built a dugout consisting of a single room that measured 14 by 16 feet. The dugout featured a fireplace, and its roof and some walls were constructed using logs or sod. Once the structure was completed, the family moved in, cut hay, and transported corn from Abilene to sustain themselves through the winter. They also began constructing a blockhouse.
During this time, relations between the settlers and the Native Americans were tense, leading to frequent raids and disturbances. Soon, many settlers sought refuge in the Chapman dugout, with as many as 52 men, women, and children taking shelter. During the nights spent in refuge, the men kept watch for any approaching threats while the women and children slept on quilts on the floor.
A dugout home in Kansas.
One time, the Indians set a grass fire in an apparent attempt to burn out the white settlers. The native prairie grass was six feet high and burned well in the wind, resulting in the deaths of many buffalo.
When the Chapman dugout was used as the area fortress, it also served as the community Sunday school, where the first sermon in the county was delivered by a Methodist circuit rider named Reverend Holly in 1864. The preachings continued with about ten people meeting every Sunday.
The dugout’s use as a refuge mostly ended by summer 1864. At that time, Fort Solomon was built about a mile to the north. The town of Lindsey developed around Fort Solomon. The majority of the county’s population lived in log cabins inside Fort Solomon from summer 1864 to spring 1865.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2025.
Also See:
Ottawa County, Kansas
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