For a time I was part owner of a town, and on my way to fortune.

And then one of those quick changes that mark Western history in the making occurred and I was left--but I will tell you the story.
At the town of Ellsworth, which I visited one day while carrying dispatches to Fort Harker, I met William Rose, who had a contract for trading on the right-of-way of the Kansas Pacific near Fort Hays.

His stock had been stolen by the Indians, and he had come to Ellsworth to buy more.
Rose was enthusiastic about a project for laying out a town site on the west side of Big Creek, a mile from the fort, where the railroad was to cross.

When, in response to a request for my opinion, I told him I thought the scheme a big one, he invited me to come in as a partner.

He suggested that after the town was laid out and opened to the public we establish a store and saloon.
I thought it would be a grand thing to become half owner of a town, and at once accepted the proposition.