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  George William Castone: An Integrated Baseball Life at the Close of the Nineteenth Century, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  George William Castone was a Black baseball player during the 1880s and 1890s. He pitched for integrated town teams and minor league teams, as well as Black clubs, such as the Lincoln Giants in Nebraska and the Cuban Giants in the northeastern United States. Most of his time on the diamond was spent in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, but Castone also played on an otherwise white barnstorming team organized in Salt Lake City that traveled through Montana, Oregon, and California. He was among the few Black players on minor league teams in the Colorado State League in 1889 and the Nebraska State League in 1892, before the color line barring Black players from organized baseball was firmly drawn. In the early twentieth century, Castone was a waiter and an artist, best known for his oil-on-canvas paintings. He passed away in St. Paul, Minnesota in January 1967, just a few days before his 100th birthday. This essay was originally published in 2019 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume two of the anthology (Baseball Biographies with Kansas Connections).

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  Inaugural Season of Intercity Base Ball in Leavenworth and Kansas City, 1866: Frontiers and Antelopes, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  The inaugural year for baseball played among formally organized base ball clubs (BBC) in Kansas and in Kansas City, Missouri was 1866. Little has been written about the events of that year other than retellings and embellishments of a myth created in 1927 about James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok umpiring a game between the Kansas City Antelopes and Atchison Pomeroys to prevent violence during the contest. In truth, the first club organized in the area by local business owners and other professionals was the Frontier BBC of Leavenworth in November 1865. The first club organized in Kansas City, Missouri was the Antelope BBC in July 1866. Members of these clubs initially participated in intramural games, but challenges were soon issued and accepted through newspaper announcements. The first intercity matches were arranged in October and November 1866. The top two teams that year were the Frontiers and Antelopes, who played a home and home series of one game in each city. Each of the games was followed by a sumptuous dinner and other entertainment hosted by the home club. The era of gentlemen’s base ball clubs in Kansas lasted only a few years before town teams composed of the best local players and possibly a few hired ringers became widespread. This monograph describes the inaugural season of intercity baseball in Kansas and adjacent Kansas City, Missouri. This essay was originally published in 2018 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume one of the anthology (Essays on Baseball Origins in the West, 1858–1883).

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  Integrated Baseball in Kansas during the Sport's Era of Segregation, 1865-1945, second edition

  Mark E. Eberle

  Black athletes were barred from playing baseball in the major and minor leagues prior to 1946 with few exceptions. Less studied is integrated baseball among independent town teams, and this research has focused on particular players or circumstances rather than an entire state or region across a long span of baseball history. Most newspapers published in Kansas prior to 1923 and several published after that year have been digitized, providing a substantial amount of information that makes the state well suited to serve as a case study of the broader history of integrated baseball from 1865 to 1945. This book begins with biographies of more than 80 Black baseballists who played in or umpired games with white or predominantly white town teams and minor league clubs. With the foundation provided by these experiences, the questions of why, when, and where these integrated teams took the field are examined and placed within the context of segregation and exclusion across the broader community. The second edition of the book has been updated with new information about the players in Kansas and across the continent.

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  Seventh US Cavalry Base Ball in Kansas, 1868–1870, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  From 1868 through 1870, the Seventh US Cavalry and other military units played baseball in Kansas at their various posts and in the field. Details of several games were reported in local newspapers, as well as the New York Clipper. The Seventh Cavalry clubs, most notably Captain Frederick Benteen’s Company H, continued to play through 1875 while stationed in the South and the Dakota Territory, before the regiment was decimated at the Battle of Little Bighorn (Greasy Grass) in 1876. This essay focuses on the Seventh Cavalry’s baseball experiences in Kansas. A list of known games played by the regiment from 1868 through 1875 and several newspaper clippings of box scores are provided. This essay was originally published in 2019 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume one of the anthology (Essays on Baseball Origins in the West, 1858–1883).

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  The Color Line in Kansas Baseball and the “Champion Stars” of Fort Scott, 1874–1878, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  Fort Scott was represented by the second baseball team in Kansas to join the National Association of Base-Ball Players in 1866. The city was also the site of the state’s first known baseball games between segregated teams of Black and white players. In 1874 and 1877, a Black baseball team named the Star Base Ball Club claimed the informal city championship of Fort Scott. This essay describes the first games between Black and white teams in Kansas, the early history of baseball in Fort Scott, and the history of the Star Base Ball Club during the 1870s. This essay was originally published in 2019 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume three of the anthology (Essays on Crossing Baseball’s Color Line, 1874–1946).

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  Topeka Enters the Minor Leagues, 1886–1887: Bud Fowler and Goldsby’s Golden Giants, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  The first minor league baseball teams in Kansas represented Topeka and Leavenworth as members of the Western League in 1886 and 1887. The 1886 Topeka Base Ball Club was an integrated team, featuring Bud Fowler at second base. Although Black ballplayers were generally excluded from playing on minor league or major league clubs prior to 1946, Fowler was a fan favorite in Topeka and the team’s leading hitter. The team finished fourth among the six teams. In 1887, the Topeka Base Ball Association hired Walton Goldsby to manage the club and improve on the previous record. Goldsby assembled a team on which all of the members except one had played or would play for major league clubs. The team became known as Goldsby’s Golden Giants. They easily won the Western League pennant and are arguably one of the best minor league teams of the nineteenth century. The stories of these two clubs are summarized. This essay was originally published in 2020 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume five of the anthology (Essays on Baseball from Various Viewpoints, 1856–1940).

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  Toward a Black Baseball League for Kansas City, 1898–1916: Proposals and Challenges, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  Studies of Negro Leagues baseball from 1920 through the 1950s address various aspects of the organization and operation of the leagues and provide portraits of the teams, players, and other prominent individuals. However, there were earlier attempts by Black teams to organize leagues during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Given the many proposed and short-lived leagues prior to 1920, the focus of this monograph is the proposals that included teams from Kansas City. None of the leagues proposed before the First World War survived beyond its inaugural season, but the number of proposals offered during a span of three decades reflects a persistent interest in a Black baseball league. Their failures provide insight into some of the challenges that had to be overcome before the Negro National League could be organized in Kansas City in 1920. The various proposals from 1890 through 1916 for leagues including Kansas City and the challenges the organizers faced are described. This essay was originally published in 2019 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume four of the anthology (Black Baseball in Kansas City, 1870–1919).

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  “What’s in a name?” Baseball Goes to Town in 1886, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  In 1886, the St. Louis Browns of the American Association defeated the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs) of the National League in a postseason series, the only time an American Association club won the series played from 1884 to 1890. Also in 1886, the Missouri Pacific railroad organized the construction of a rail line in Kansas from Council Grove through Osage City to Ottawa. To commemorate the Browns’ season, the Missouri Pacific named two new stations after Browns’ players: Bushong in Lyon County and Comiskey in Morris County. Albert “Doc” Bushong was a catcher for the Browns, and Charles Comiskey was the club’s first baseman and captain (player-manager). Early reports of the towns named after baseball players contained incorrect information, but more recent publications have correctly described the events. This monograph provides additional details of the events and documents contemporary sources. The town of Comiskey no longer exists, but the small community of Bushong recently became a trailhead on the extensive Flint Hills Trail State Park, which follows the final alignment of the Missouri Pacific railroad bed. This essay was originally published in 2022 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume five of the anthology (Essays on Baseball from Various Viewpoints, 1856–1940).

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  Who’s on First? Kansas City’s Female Baseball Stars, 1899–1929, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  Although female players were typically excluded from formal baseball teams, teams consisting entirely or partly of female players were organized across the country as early as the mid-1800s. The first female baseball club in Kansas and adjacent states was organized in Wichita in 1873. These early teams predated the arrival of the barnstorming teams with female players and usually one or more male players, who were sometimes disguised as women. Female players on most of these early traveling teams wore bloomers, and the teams were referred to as “bloomer girls.” Women on later teams wore traditional baseball uniforms and objected to the name. Some of these professional female ballplayers of the late 1800s and early 1900s, such as Maud Nelson of Chicago and Lizzie Murphy of New England, became well known. Two of the prominent players lived in Kansas City. This is the story of the professional careers in baseball—not softball—of Mae Arbaugh from Kansas City, Kansas and Ruth Egan from Kansas City, Missouri, both of whom played first base from 1899 to 1929, earning the respect of fans and male players. This essay was originally published in 2019 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume five of the anthology (Essays on Baseball from Various Viewpoints, 1856–1940).

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  Baseball’s Color Line in Kansas and the Chanute Black Diamonds of 1904–1906, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  The major and minor leagues excluded black baseball players for most of their history until Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1946 and 1947. However, at the local level, the color line was not always so absolute. Town teams were occasionally integrated, and segregated teams played each other, sometimes with the local championship on the line. Among the small towns where this occurred was Chanute, Kansas, where a black ball club named the Chanute Black Diamonds was first organized in 1900. From 1904 through 1906, the Black Diamonds assembled a team of the best players from Chanute and nearby Humboldt and Iola that was competitive against both black and white teams in the region. They also earned the city’s championship in 1905. In addition, several members of the team were occasionally sought by white ball clubs wanting to bolster their rosters. Although they never had the opportunity to play in any of the local minor leagues or in the Negro National League (which was not organized until 1920), the Black Diamonds were so well known throughout the region that the team sometimes drew more fans, black and white, than their white counterparts. This monograph summarizes the baseball experiences of the Black Diamonds during this period. This essay was originally published in 2020 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume three of the anthology (Essays on Crossing Baseball’s Color Line, 1874–1946).

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  Eisenhower, Wilson, and Professional Baseball in Kansas, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  Ever since General Dwight David Eisenhower mentioned in 1945 that he had played professional baseball under the pseudonym Wilson sometime after his 1909 graduation from Abilene High School, there have been attempts to document this assertion. Yet, he offered little detail for researchers to follow, not even the team or year. If true, however, it has been speculated this would have made him ineligible for intercollegiate competition in 1911–1915 while he attended the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he played on the football team. Thus, interest in the story has persisted. Newspaper accounts of baseball mention a professional ballplayer named Wilson, who was a member of the minor league teams in Abilene and other towns in the region from 1909 through 1914. It was during 1909–1911 that the recently graduated Eisenhower waited in Abilene, seeking opportunities to earn money that would help pay for a college education. Superficial research has led to speculation that this ballplayer named Wilson, at least in some instances, was actually Dwight Eisenhower. However, it is impractical to try making sense of Eisenhower’s sparse comments about his baseball career without a thorough consideration of the historical context. This study examines Eisenhower’s experiences in baseball, his statements about playing professional baseball, and the contemporary intercollegiate eligibility rules. A biographical summary for the ballplayer named Wilson associated with baseball in Abilene is also provided. This essay was originally published in 2017 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume two of the anthology (Baseball Biographies with Kansas Connections).

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  Promoting Good Roads: Basketball and Baseball on the Red Line Road in 1915, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  The first good road associations in Kansas with an interest in interstate travel were organized in 1910–1914. Construction of roads in rural Kansas was seen as a benefit to farmers and ranchers and to towns trying to attract visitors as automobiles and cross-country trips became more common. Initially, most of these efforts were implemented by counties and other local entities, with volunteers making substantial contributions. Most of these early routes were marked by colored bands painted on telegraph and telephone poles. Thus, they were sometimes known by names such as the Red Line Road or Golden Belt Road. These two roads ran from Kansas City to Denver but followed different routes across most of Kansas. To promote the Red Line Road, boosters in Glasco and Plainville organized sports teams to barnstorm across Kansas and eastern Colorado, painting bands on poles as they went. The teams scheduled games in towns along the route to earn money to pay their expenses. This monograph presents an overview of early road construction in Kansas and the efforts of the Glasco basketball team and Plainville baseball team in promoting the Red Line Road in 1915. This essay was originally published in 2020 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume five of the anthology (Essays on Baseball from Various Viewpoints, 1856–1940).

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  Scott Joplin, Ragtime, and Baseball in Sedalia, Missouri in 1900, Revised

  Mark E. Eberle

  Scott Joplin first achieved recognition as a composer with the publication of his Maple Leaf Rag in Sedalia, Missouri in 1899. A few months later, a Sedalia newspaper reported that Joplin and fellow musician Henry Jackson organized the Shortridge-Robb baseball club. They planned to host a team from Kansas City at Liberty Park in Sedalia on 4 August 1900. Nothing else was published about the team in surviving Sedalia newspapers. This monograph examines the circumstances surrounding the organization of the Shortridge-Robb baseball club in an attempt to ascertain why it was organized and whether it played any games. This essay was originally published in 2020 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume five of the anthology (Essays on Baseball from Various Viewpoints, 1856–1940).

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  John W. "Bud" Fowler in Colorado, California, and Ohio

  Mark E. Eberle

  John W. Jackson Jr., better known as John W. “Bud” Fowler (1858–1913), was a Black baseball player, captain, manager, umpire, and promoter. His baseball career spanned at least 33 years, from 1877 to 1909. In 1878, Fowler became the first known Black baseball player in the major or minor leagues, and he went on to play for a total of 18 minor league clubs with rosters composed predominantly of white ballplayers during the era of racial segregation. He played for numerous teams from New England to southern California and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, he was the most widely known Black baseball player in the country during his lifetime. In 2022, Fowler was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He has been the subject of two full biographies, the latest of which was published in 2013. Nevertheless, substantial gaps remain in what has been documented about Fowler’s career and his life outside baseball. This is due, in large part, to the limited availability of digital newspapers and other resources from across the broad geographic area in which he lived and played. As additional information becomes available, it is possible to fill some of the gaps and refine some of what has already been published about him. The three essays included here are part of that process. They describe and document Fowler’s time in Colorado (1885), southern California (the winter of 1888–1889), and Ohio (periodically from 1880 to 1905). The Ohio essay also focuses on his professional relationship with dentist William H. Drake in Findlay.

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  William Lewis Eagleson and the Origins of African American Newspapers in Kansas

  Mark E. Eberle

  From July to November 1876, Reverend Thomas W. Henderson of the A.M.E. Church, edited a newspaper (“campaign paper”) in Leavenworth and Lawrence, Kansas named the Colored Radical. The following year in Fort Scott, Kansas, William L. Eagleson edited a newspaper named the Colored Citizen. While these were the first two African American newspapers published in the state, both were printed by the white publishers in Lawrence and Fort Scott. In February 1878, William and his brother, James, purchased their own printing equipment and restarted publication of the Colored Citizen, making it the first newspaper in Kansas written, edited, and printed as a Black-owned enterprise. In July 1878, the Eaglesons moved their printshop to Topeka and continued to publish the Colored Citizen. William Eagleson remained the editor and was joined in this role by Reverend Henderson. This monograph summarizes the history of the Colored Citizen and its successors in Topeka during the nineteenth century, which serves as a prelude to a biography of its editor, William Lewis Eagleson (1835–1899). In addition to establishing the Colored Citizen, he was the editor of the first weekly African American newspaper in Oklahoma and the first Black columnist hired by a white-owned newspaper in Kansas.

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  Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 (Second Edition)

  Mary Elizabeth Downing-Turner and Michael Davis

  Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 captures the experiences of sailors who served aboard the USS Abner Read. Collected over the course of decade, this collection features more than 120 interviews with sailors who fought aboard the Abner Read during the War in the Pacific. First-hand accounts of life on the ship, the incident at Kiska, and the sinking of the ship during the Battle of Leyte Gulf all feature prominently in this edited volume. There are amusing anecdotes, mundane details, and graphic descriptions of the horrors of war. Though only in service for twenty-one months, the experiences aboard the USS Abner Read changed the lives of everyone who served on her.

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  Lighthouse on the Plains: Fort Hays State University, 1902-2002

  James L. Forsythe

  Fort Hays State University is located at Hays, Ellis County, Kansas. It is approximately 250 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri, and 325 miles east of Denver, Colorado. It was the farthest west of any of the schools in the Central High Plains when it was founded. The university serves a vast area of western Kansas that is approximately 250 miles long and 225 miles deep. It also attracts students from contiguous counties in Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma. The constituency that once was essentially agrarian has changed as the new economy of the world has changed. More non-traditional and international students attend, and thus there is more of a global view of the world on the campus. This history covers 100 years of Fort Hays History and provides an indepth look at the development of the institution over time.