The Iola battalion was formed in 1861; three companies, commanded by Capts. Colman, Flesher, and Killen served in the Ninth Kansas, and two companies, commanded by Capts. W. C. Jones and N. B. Blanston, served in the Tenth Kansas volunteer infantry. As the county was located so near the border of the state there was danger of invasion from Missouri guerrillas and hostile Indians from the Indian Territory. While the Allen county soldiers were with Gen. Lane, a raid was made on the unprotected settlers of Humboldt, Sept. 8, 1861, by a band of Missouri guerrillas, Cherokee and Osage half-breed Indians. On Oct. 14, 1861, the town was captured and set on fire by Confederate cavalry. The Confederate officers claimed that this was done in retaliation for the burning of Osceola by Gen. Lane. The land office had just been opened before this and J. C. Burnett, the register, managed to have his sister save $25,000 in land warrants, that were in the office at the time. After the burning of Humboldt a military post was established there, but no actions took place until the Price raid in 1864. The militia of the county was organized into a battalion, known as the Allen county battalion, and was composed of six companies, three from Iola and the northern part of the county, two from Humboldt and one from the extreme southern part of the county. This organization comprised all the able bodied men in the county between the ages of 16 and 60 years.
The first railroads in Allen county were built in 1870, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas being completed across the southwestern part of the county in the spring, and the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston in the fall of the same year. Bonds were voted by the county to aid in the construction of the railroads. In 1880, bonds having been voted by different townships along the line, the Fort Scott & Wichita railroad was built across the county east and west, through Iola. There are now 96 miles of main line railroads in the county: The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe running almost directly north and south in the western part of the county, and a branch southwest from Colony, Anderson county, across the extreme northwest corner. The Missouri, Kansas & Texas crosses the eastern part, almost directly north and south, with a branch north from Moran and another running west with its terminus at Iola. Another line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas enters the county near the center on the west and crosses the southwest corner, while the Missouri Pacific crosses from east to west somewhat north of the center, through Iola.
The first church in the county was that of the United Brethren, begun in 1859 and completed the following year. For some years this church was used as a union church by all denominations and also as a school house. The Humboldt Herald was the first paper established. It was started Nov. 16, 1864, by Maj. Joseph Bond and two years later the Humboldt Union was established with Orin Thurston as editor.
In Nov., 1871, a tax was voted for the establishment of a county poor farm. Settlement of the county was somewhat retarded for some years by the contention between the settlers on the one hand and the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas railroad company over the title to
