Ford County is the southwestern most organized county of Kansas, embracing Townships 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 of Ranges 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, being thirty miles from north to south and thirty-six miles from east to west, possessing an area of 1,080 square miles.
The country is comparatively level, 20 per cent of the land, being bottomland, which along the Arkansas has an average width of fifteen miles; the upland is 80 per cent, and but a small portion of it is bluffly. Good building stone is found in the county contiguous to Fort Dodge, and near Spearville is found good sand and a good quality of limestone. The county is well watered, the Arkansas River flowing forty miles through the county, and other smaller streams coursing through it in various directions. The most important of these are Mulberry, Five-Mile, Kiowa, Spring and Crooked creeks. Timber is very scanty; what there is, is mostly cottonwood and box elder. These kinds are mostly grown on the timber claims. The county was named for Col. James H. Ford, of the Second Colorado Cavalry.
- Ford County Biographies
- Ford County Officers
- Fort Dodge History
- Dodge City History
- Dodge City Schools, Churches & Societies
- Dodge City Newspapers
- Spearville, Ford County
Resources for Ford County, Kansas
- Ford County Census statistics
Population by township for 1880. this not a listing by person. - Ford County Organization
Governor Thomas A. Osborn, in his proclamation providing for the organization of Ford County, on April 5, 1873 - Dodge City, Kansas
In August 1872, buffalo hunters and businessmen in various branches of industry, were attracted to this place. - Ford County Biographies
Leading citizens of the County.
Additional Kansas Resources
- History of Kansas
One of the best Histories of Kansas, taken from Kansas and Kansans - Kansas Indians
The Indian Linguistic families represented in Kansas may be separated into two principal divisions or heads - Kansas Biographies
Over 2100 biographies specific to Kansas in the 19th and early 20th century have been added to a searchable database.