Charles Jesse Jones (1844 - 1919)

Born 31 Jan 1844 in McLean, Illinois, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Martha J (Walton) Jones — married 20 Jan 1869 in Doniphan, Kansas, United States

Died 1 Oct 1919 at age 75 in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas, United States

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Biography

Charles Jones is Notable.

The American frontiersman, savior of the buffalo, first breeder of the catalo, member of the Cowboy Hall of fame and co-founder of Garden City, Kansas was born 31 Jan 1844 with some saying he was born in Tazewell County and others in McLean County, Illinois. He was the second of twelve children born to Noah and Jane (Munden) Jones. In both 1840 and 1850, the family lived in McLean County, Illinois where Noah Jones had a 160 acre pre-emption claim.^[1][2] However, Col Henry Inman, friend and colleague to Buffalo Jones who wrote Jones' biography, states he was born in Tazewell County^[3] which may be the case since McLean County was twice reduced in size, 1837 and 1841 respectively, and similarly the once quite large Tazewell County underwent multiple border revisions and reductions between 1829 and 1841.

Early Years in Illinois & Indiana

It should here be noted that Col. Inman's biography is filled with first-person narrative written by or spoken by Buffalo Jones. The Colonel tells us Buffalo's father Noah Jones was a boy when Jones' grandfather Charles emigrated from Scituate, Massachusetts to Illinois. The Jones family claimed to be descendants of Mayflower passengers, something to be explored further. Noah Jones, an earnest anti-slavery advocate, married the Quaker Jane Munden and Col. Inman ascribes Jones' "unmistakable traits" to this lineage of "God-fearing, sterling old-fashioned Virginia Quakers."^[4] While Jones enjoyed an outdoor upbringing filled with hunting and the development of a love for nature, he also described childhood as, 'work, work.'

When Jones came of age he realized his education had been limited and took the train to Bloomington, Indiana where for two years he studied at the Wesleyan University, among his classmates was Joseph Fifer later governor of Illinois. His university study was brought to an end by typhoid fever which greatly affected his vision.^[5]

To Eastern Kansas

In early 1866, Jones' desire to "go West" became reality and he settled in Troy, Doniphan County, Kansas (recently having become a State rather than a Territory)^[6] where he commenced the planting and growing of a large orchard, twice demolished by swarms of locusts.

On 20 Jan 1869, he married Martha J Walton, formerly of LaPorte, Indiana, at Doniphan County, Kansas.^[7] In January 1872, he found the families next home on the south fork of the Solomon River in Osborne County, Kansas - buffalo country. Jones became a legendary buffalo hunter but by the summer of 1872 wrote, "...the idea of my buffalo rescuing project was but a creature of the brain, not yet perfectly formulated but that was the year I determined to 'some sweet day' capture a herd, domesticate and perpetuate the species...I captured about a dozen that year."^[8]

The Western Frontier & Garden City

The town of Garden City, Kansas (not far west of Dodge City) was laid out in 1878 and Jones first arrived there on an antelope hunt in early 1879 and his services were engaged to promote the town for which he is generally given credit as one of the four founders. And, he owned the northwest quarter of the town's original one square mile. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad soon arrived.^[9][10] The county names in western Kansas in this period changed with the prairie wind and in the 1880 census records the location is given as the now defunct Sequoyah county.^[11]

In March of 1886, Jones traveled down into Texas witnessing the extreme devastation of the great blizzard of that winter which killed uncounted thousands of cattle but not the buffalo. This galvanized his efforts toward domesticating the buffalo and eventually cross-breeding with cattle resulting in what he called the catalo. Jones efforts were primarily centered on the capture of buffalo calves on the open range which were returned to his Garden City ranch for domestication and various breeding endeavors. By 1889, Jones own estimate of wild buffalo remaining outside a herd in a national park was a shocking 150 animals--there had been an estimated 15 million in 1865.^[12]

Washington: Inaction and Eventually Action

As early as 1887, Jones began going to Washington in his attempts to save the American buffalo with a plan to transport those remaining to Yellowstone National Park. In 1896 he met with Grover Cleveland's private secretary and Interior Secretary Hoke Smith and thought he had the support of the administration only to later find no action taken. Attempts with the McKinley administration in 1897 suffered the same fate. At the end of 1898, calculations showed 500 domesticated buffalo throughout the world with their lineage all traced to the efforts of Buffalo Jones.

Finally in 1900, the US government leased 20,000 acres in New Mexico Territory for Jones to maintain a herd. In 1901, congress allocated funding for Jones' Yellowstone National Park herd idea and in 1902 Theodore Roosevelt appointed Jones the first game warden of Yellowstone, a position he held for five years. Jones would continue his domestication and breeding efforts for years.

Later Life

By 1900, Jones official residence was in Topeka, Kansas^[13] where he lost wife Martha in 1907. His travels and adventures continued with the Arctic Expedition in search of musk oxen and travels in Africa. Among his friends were President Roosevelt, William F "Buffalo Bill" Cody and he spent time on the lecture circuit.

He passed away 1 Oct 1919 in Topeka from malaria contracted in Africa. He is interred at the Valley View Cemetery, Garden City, Finney County, Kansas^[14] where everything from a main thoroughfare to an elementary school is named in honor of the man who saved the American buffalo.

Legacy

Less than a century after Jones' passing, the Yellowstone National Park buffalo herd numbered more than 4,000 animals. And, buffalo may still be found in Garden City, Kansas.

Children

• William (Willie) Grant^[11] - 1870-1882
• Charles Edward^[11][13] - 1877-
• Olive Walton^[13] - 1882-1961
• Jessie G^[13] - 1884-1957

Sources

1. ↑ US Census, Year: 1840; Census Place: McLean, Illinois; Roll: 65; Page: 284; Image: 1078; Family History Library Film: 0007643
2. ↑ US Census, Year: 1850; Census Place: Money Creek, McLean, Illinois; Roll: M432_117; Page: 54B; Image: 485
3. ↑ Inman, Henry Col., Buffalo Jones Forty Years of Adventure, 1899, Crane & Co, Topeka, p 14
4. ↑ Ibid
5. ↑ Inman, Henry Col., Buffalo Jones Forty Years of Adventure, 1899, Crane & Co, Topeka, p 27
6. ↑ US Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Center, Doniphan, Kansas; Roll: M593_432; Page: 77A; Image: 252334; Family History Library Film: 545931
7. ↑ "Kansas County Marriages, 1855-1911", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q293-JT1L : Sat Mar 09 07:59:05 UTC 2024), Entry for Charles J Jones and Martha J Walton, 20 January 1869.
8. ↑ Inman, Henry Col., Buffalo Jones Forty Years of Adventure, 1899, Crane & Co, Topeka, p 37
9. ↑ Kersey, Ralph T (historian),History of Finney County, Kansas, Finney County Historical Society, 1950
10. ↑ History of Garden City, Kansas
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} US Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Garden City, Sequoyah, Kansas; Roll: 396; Family History Film: 1254396; Page: 461C; Enumeration District: 398; Image: 0711
12. ↑ Inman, Henry Col., Buffalo Jones Forty Years of Adventure, 1899, Crane & Co, Topeka, p 255
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3} US Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Topeka Ward 3, Shawnee, Kansas; Roll: 500; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0154; FHL microfilm: 1240500
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #9402152

• Inman, Henry Col., Buffalo Jones Forty Years of Adventure, 1899, Crane & Co, Topeka
• Kansas Historical Society Biography of Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones
• Wikipedia Biography of Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones