Month: August 2025

Those Walker sisters sure knew how to cook! Bertha Walker Johnson and Emma Walker Musgrove were restaurateurs for many years in Lakin, and the sisterly duo became well known for their excellent food and friendly service.

Bertha and Emma were the daughters of Jesse and Mamie Walker. Bertha, the oldest of the 11 Walker children, was born in 1909 in Tennessee where her parents farmed tobacco. The family moved to Virginia in 1911 and then to Kentucky where Emma was born in 1920. In 1921, the Walker family moved to Kansas, coming to Kearny County in 1927. According to the History of Kearny County, the family settled south of Lakin midway through the sandhills on Bear Creek on the SW quarter of 36-25-37. They eventually moved, living both in Hartland and Lakin where most of the children attended school.

Bertha married in 1924, and Emma in 1945. Their lives would take them in different directions. Bertha’s husband, Paul, was a mechanic, and the couple operated filling stations and garages while living in Missouri and in Texas. In 1929, the Johnsons moved back to Kansas, and in 1934, Bertha and her only child, Don, moved in with her parents. It was at this point in time that Bertha’s career in the food industry began. She went to work at the Tumbleweed Café on East Highway 50. This café was located where Lakin Automotive now stands. Bertha later left for Omaha, Neb. to attend beauty school. Deciding that was not her calling, she returned to Lakin and went back to work at the Tumbleweed.  It was the Dirty 30s, and those were hard years. Bertha recalled, “if we served 12 meals, we had had a good day.”

In the late 30s, Bertha went to Great Bend where she worked in a hotel coffee shop. From there, she went to California where she managed the soda fountain and lunch room in a Rexall Drugstore at Pasadena. In September of 1953, Bertha and Emma’s father was struck by an automobile as he crossed the street to his home a block south of the Lakin depot. Mr. Walker was taken to the Kearny County hospital for treatment but died a few days later. Mrs. Walker went to California to live with Bertha but was very unhappy and homesick. Bertha brought her mother back to Lakin and stayed.

In 1954, Bertha purchased the restaurant equipment of Everett Wagoner and opened shop in the 66 Cafe. This business was in the west side of the Phillips 66 building on US 50 which sat where Valley Tire is now located. Emma’s husband, Frank, was in the oilfield industry. Because of his job, the Musgroves had lived various places including Oklahoma and Kansas, but in 1957, Emma joined her older sister in the restaurant business at Lakin. Em’s daughter, Sandy, with her smiling face and genuine enthusiasm was a regular fixture in the cafes.

In October of 1958, Bertha took over management of the Red Crown which was located in the service station that once sat on the corner where Casey’s is now located. Em continued to manage the “66” Café, but it wasn’t long before the sisters were working under the same roof again. In 1961, Bert and Em moved out of the Standard station and into the new and spacious Red Crown Café building just a stone’s throw away to the east. At their grand opening on March 28, 1961, Bert and Em served up chicken pot pie dinners for only 65 cents.

Frank Stewart owned the Red Crown building, and eventually offered to sell it to the sisters, but Bert and Em needed time to mull it over. Stewart ending up selling the building to someone else. The Walker Sisters made the move to Main Street in 1964 where they operated the Downtown Café at 119 S. Main until 1975.

That wasn’t the end of the sisters’ cooking days though. They were both members of the First Baptist Church and Golden Agers where their tasty vittles were enjoyed at many a covered dish dinner. But their talents extended beyond the kitchen. Emma was a gifted painter, and two of her paintings now belong to the Kearny County Historical Society. Bertha was an expert quilter and a member of the Senior Center’s quilting group for many years. Her handiwork graced many quilts, and this writer considers herself fortunate to have been gifted some of Bertha’s work.

Emma Walker Musgrove died at Lakin unexpectedly on June 10, 1984, of an apparent heart attack, and Bertha Walker Johnson passed away April 7, 2000, at the High Plains Retirement Village. The Walker sisters left an undeniable mark on their community. The museum was gifted a wonderful collection of black and white photos, most of them taken inside the 66 Café when Bert and Em were running the business. Next week, in lieu of an article, we will be sharing with you several of those photos which contain some familiar faces.

 

SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vol. I; Kearny Senior Center Newsletter November 1982; Ancestry.com; archives of The Lakin Independent; and Museum archives.

 

After Lakin won back the county seat from Hartland, not only did several Hartland residents move here, but several Hartland buildings were moved to Lakin as well. In November of 1894, the Kearny County Advocate reported that Captain J.H. Leeman had contracted with carpenters J.B. Harbolt & Adam Heiland to disassemble one of the businesses houses at Hartland and rebuild it for a hotel on two lots on the west corner of South Main Street and Railroad Avenue in Lakin. Leeman had previously been the proprietor of the Buffalo House at Hartland, but that hotel burned down in November of 1893, and Leeman was eager to get back into the hospitality business. The contractors pushed work on Leeman’s new hotel, and the Lakin House was opened that Christmas when Leeman treated a group of 25 to a turkey dinner. The Lakin House was advertised as one of the “most home-like and commodious Hotels in Western Kansas.” With the depot only a short distance away, the hotel’s location was perfect.

The Lakin House underwent changes in management several times and even housed the Kearny County Courthouse from 1895 to 1899. Then, in November 1901, James (Jim) Gibson purchased the property. Later that same month, Gibson also took a wife when he married Mary Ellen Nash, the eldest daughter of John and Mary Ann Nash. The English-born Gibson, a resident of Kearny County since 1894, was congenial and favorably known about town, and his new wife was quite the cook.

Jim Gibson thoroughly renovated the Lakin House. The enterprise was advertised as having the best food and prompt service with new carpets, furniture, bedding and “everything that goes to make its patrons a comfortable home.” In 1905, Gibson added a laundry room, and in April 1906, he changed the name of his enterprise to the Gibson House. Later that year, work began on a two-story concrete block addition to the north of the wooden structures. This addition opened in early 1907 and added “some ten rooms on the second floor for the accommodation of the traveling public” with the lower floor holding a billiard room and reading room. The culinary department of the hotel was located in a rear room, and there was even a barber shop in connection with the hotel.

 

The Gibson was a popular resort for commercial travelers, and game dinners (when in season) were one of the Gibson’s special features. Jim was an ardent sportsman and usually attended to killing the game himself. The Gibson was also frequented by big land companies who liked to bring their eastern patrons there to be fed. “The Gibson House always fills the bill. The land agent knows what a good dinner will do for a prospective buyer and if he can work him through one of Lady Gibson’s meals just before showing him a fine quarter, he is sure of a sale,” The Advocate claimed in a January 1911 issue. “Everybody who comes to Lakin will remember the meals and tell easterners of the way they were served in that town of Lakin.”

According to The Advocate, James Gibson never tired of making improvements in and around his popular house. In 1907, The Investigator reported that Gibson was going to sink a soft water well, “and in case of fire his facilities for subduing the flames will be of the best.” At that time, the Gibson House advertised as the only modern equipped hotel in Kearny County with steam heat and soft water.

At least three fires occurred at the Gibson. In October of 1903, Mrs. Gibson’s hands were severely burned when she grabbed a lamp that had caught fire and exploded as she threw it outside. She was heralded for her quick action which was believed to have saved the hotel and possibly the town. In March of 1908, a small fire burned a hole through the roof of the Gibson. Then, on the evening of Saturday, September 27, 1913, Lakin’s fire bell rang out alerting residents that the Gibson House was ablaze. Lakin’s fire department responded promptly, and in a few minutes, citizens from all parts of town were helping fight the flames. All but one of the hotel guests were two blocks away attending a performance at Snow’s Opera House. When the alarm sounded, everyone left the opera house, including the actors, to help fight the fire and save what furniture they could. Still, in a very short time, the wooden frame part of the Gibson House was reduced to ashes, and the cement building was left a total wreck. For a while, it looked as if the Eyman store next door would also burn, but the fire department saved it. However, all the stock and fixtures were carried out into the street.

Almost all of the furniture that was on the hotel’s ground floor was saved, but everything in the upper rooms burned. The only clothing that Jim and Mary Ellen saved was what they were wearing. Pool tables, chairs, tables, dishes, and other assorted items were strewn from the depot to the Kearny County Bank on the opposite end of the block. According to the papers, a big rain which had preceded the fire Friday night and into Saturday, along with calm winds, was all that kept Lakin’s Main street from going down in flames. The origin of the fire was unknown, but the supposition was that it started from the explosion of a kerosene lamp.

On October 24, 1913, the Advocate reported that Gibson was repairing the cement block building, and in November, the paper reported that H.H. Tipton had purchased the property. Gibson re-opened his billiard and pool room in another location, but the following June, he and his wife moved to Lamar, Colo. where they reportedly had secured a billiard hall, barber shop and home.  As for the old Gibson building, the structure still stands at 119 South Main. It has had a myriad of proprietors and businesses pass through it over the years, including hotels, eateries, and bars/recreation rooms. While many may recognize it as the former location of CJ’s Pawn Shop, long-time residents will remember it best as the Downtown Café. The building is currently owned by Kelly Ramos and undergoing repairs and renovations.

 

SOURCES: “Diggin’ Up Bones” by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; archives of The Advocate, Investigator, Hartland Herald, Hartland Times, Dodge City Globe, Hutchinson News and Topeka Capital-Journal; and Museum archives.

Nearly 37 years as the area’s wildlife officer provided Bruce Peters with more than a few tales. Lakin was quite a change for Peters when he came here in October of 1966 to work for the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission. After nine months as a security guard at the State Office Building in Topeka, Bruce found that he really liked the open spaces, the Arkansas River and the sand hills. Lake McKinney was like a wonderful jewel. With roughly 3,000 surface acres of water, the lake provided a winter home for some 250,000 to 300,000 ducks, a few geese and sandhill cranes. Peters worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service his first three winters to band at least 1,000 mallards. He said that it was cold hard work, but getting to handle so many ducks was “quite neat.”

One of Bruce’s more amusing stories was about a group of fishermen who had come to fish for channel cat in Ray Pope’s pay-fishing ponds southwest of Deerfield. The men arrived shortly after lunch, and the fish were really biting. Soon the men had a nice string of catfish, more than they had planned to buy. They paid Ray and prepared to return to Garden City, but on the way to Deerfield, they realized what time it was and how much time that they still had to fish. So they made their way to Lake McKinney, put their strings of fish in the lake, and started fishing again.

“I was checking fishermen along the dam when I encountered them,” Bruce said. “They couldn’t wait to show me their catfish. I soon realized that they had an over limit of nice channel catfish. I asked to see their fishing licenses and then asked them about the fish. They tried to keep straight faces, but I soon tumbled that something was going on. They finally broke out in laughter and showed me their bill of sale Ray had given them.”

When department biologists wanted to release wild turkeys, they contacted Bruce, and he thought the river bottoms in Hamilton and Kearny counties would be ideal. He was invited to help set up drop nets in the Liberal area too. “We soon had limited numbers of turkeys in these counties. They did well for several years.”

When Peters came here, Southwest Kansas was the pheasant capital of Kansas, and a motel room was nearly impossible to find in early November on opening weekend. “We were at that time an area that hunted mainly small game so most everyone went out to hunt on the opening day. We had bob white quail and blue quail, and prairie chicks were found in the edge of sand hills.”

Four-hour NRA Hunter Safety Classes were held, and local sportsmen needed these classes if they hunted in Colorado. In 1973, hunter safety became mandatory in Kansas for hunters born after July 1, 1957. Peters taught hunter education to multiple generations.

About 1979, the forestry part was dropped, and the fish and game commission was combined with Kansas Park Authority to become the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Bruce said this was a trying time for many officers as they were then cross-trained as police officers to work in the state parks. “I loved wildlife law enforcement but didn’t care for the park shifts and being a police officer.” This practice was eventually discontinued so that wildlife officers and park officers are separate entities.

In 1982, Bruce was honored as the Spikar-Safari Club International Wildlife Officer of the Year for the State of Kansas. He had been recommended for the award for his work in getting the Beymer Park Water Recreation Area developed.

Bruce noticed that hunter numbers began to decline around 1980. He said many sportsmen “just put their shotguns away” and those who did hunt moved away from hunting small game to hunting deer. He attributed the changes to more restrictions and less water fowl. “It was no longer considered really “In” to be a hunter.”

Around 1990, the Greater Canada Geese project was started, and many nesting boxes were placed near water areas. Eventually several thousand geese wintered in the Lake McKinney area. In the fall of 1995, Bruce was allowed a collection permit to shoot Sand Hill Cranes and collected 33 of them. These birds were used to secure data that would later help Kansas establish a Sand Hill Crane Season. Going into 2000, the area was in a drought. Wildlife numbers were down, and Beymer Park was the only public water in Peters’ coverage area that still had fish.

Bruce retired from his duties with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks in June 2003. During his tenure, some unusual wildlife visited the area including a moose that spent some time in Grant County and an alligator at the Ulysses Golf Course. The gator was taken to several schools before Bruce took it to the Great Bend Zoo. A small black bear moved through southwest Kansas one summer, coming into the state near Elkhart, moving northeast to just north of Ulysses. Bruce tracked the bear which was spotted along HWY 25 nine miles south of Lakin and seen 10 miles north of town a few days later. The bear moved further north toward Leoti where it turned west and was last sited in Kiowa County, Colorado. Bruce even trapped a Golden Eagle south of Syracuse that had killed several small piglets, and he took the eagle to Lee Richardson Zoo where it lived for several years before being released back into the wild. Peters relocated several species, including over 400 skunks, and he showed many of the different wild animals that he picked up. “If I was at a café or quick shop with a bunch of people around the truck, I probably had some critter for everyone to look at.”

This article was gleamed from a collection of stories that Bruce Peters wrote in the early 2000s for The Lakin Independent and Kearny County Historical Society. Bruce was a KCHS member, and his wife, Linda, has served as an officer for many years and currently serves as president of the organization. After Bruce’s recent passing on July 19, a memorial was established in his name at the Kearny County Museum.

Monthly gatherings of the local Fiddlers, Pickers and Singers used to draw large crowds of people to Lakin from all over Southwest Kansas. Unfortunately, their numbers grew thin because there just wasn’t enough new blood stepping in to fill the shoes of the members who died. Then came Covid, followed by the death of Curtis Young, the club’s president, in December 2021. What was once toted as the “best place in the world to come and have entertainment with fiddlers and pickers” folded.

The Western Plains Chapter of the Kansas Oldtime Fiddlers, Pickers and Singers met for the first time September 4, 1977, at the Lakin Grade School. There were around 135 guests with 14 performers. Officers were elected at the October meeting, and membership in the state organization was finalized in January of 1978. There were many chapters in Eastern Kansas, but Lakin’s was the first west of Arkansas City. KOFP&S had begun in 1966 as a non-profit entertainment and education corporation. The organization’s mission was to promote, encourage, educate and preserve the enjoyment by the general public of the form of entertainment known as oldtime music.

At first, the Western Plains Chapter met at various places such as the high school auditorium, the Saddle Club, Lake McKinney and even Lee Richardson Zoo. Then the Memorial Building became the venue of choice. The gatherings gave amateur musicians an opportunity to share their talents as well as hone them. The repertoire ranged from oldtime country music to gospel to bluegrass and even some original numbers. But sheet music was rarely seen; most of these musicians played by ear, and few had ever taken a music lesson. There were bass and steel guitarists, fiddlers, banjo strummers, harmonica blowers, keyboard artists, singers and more. Both experienced musicians and beginners were welcomed.

There were also those who came just to listen. KOFP&S encouraged community participation and invited guests to attend performances at no cost, but many non-musicians paid the minimal membership fee and joined to support the music, the musicians and KOFP&S objectives. There was no smoking, no drinking and no dancing; still, the seats were filled with young and old fans who clapped their hands and tapped their feet to the beat. Many sang along. Music, friendship and even some good-natured ribbing made for an afternoon of wholesome entertainment. Every musician was given a round of applause no matter how good or not-so-good his or her performance. Eventually the chapter began handing out yearly awards to performers who were voted as favorites. Musicians could also receive state-wide recognition by competing at KOFP&S conventions.

From the beginning, Lakin’s monthly jam sessions led to lasting friendships and other opportunities for the musicians to entertain at community events, senior centers, nursing homes, fairs, fundraisers and more. The fiddlers and pickers were regulars at many area events including Deerfield Days, Pioneer Day at the Kearny County Museum, and the Lakin Grade School’s Kansas Day celebrations.

In 2012, the chapter reorganized and broke away from the state organization. With numbers waning and fewer donations, sending fees to the state organization didn’t make sense. The club was renamed the High Plains Country Music Fiddlers, Pickers and Singers, but its purpose of bringing western Kansas musicians together remained the same. For over 40 years, these musicians not only spread joy every time they met, they also helped to preserve a part of America’s musical heritage.

SOURCES: Archives of the Lakin Independent and Museum archives with special thanks to Mary Grubbs.