Ness County

The legislature of 1867, carved western Kansas into counties, giving Ness County the form and name it still retains today. The County was named in honor of Noah V. Ness, who was a corporal in Company G, Seventh Cavalry and who died of wounds received at Abbeyville, Mississippi on August 11, 1864, having served two and one-half years for his country. Historians should note Ness County is the only county in Kansas named after a corporal.

The Indians lived on the land that is now Ness County before the time of Christ. Artifacts and pottery found on the village sites and burial grounds confirm the presence of Indians who belonged to what has been classified by Waldo R. Wedel of the Smithsonian Institute, as the “Woodland” Culture.

These Indians resided here from about 400 BC to 700 AD. About this time the county experienced a “dust bowl” lasting 32 years. During this time the Indians left; when the wet years came, the Indians returned and Wedel Classified these Indians as the “Hopewellian Culture” and they resided here during the years 750 AD to 1000 AD and then another extensive dust bowl occurred with the usual result.

In 1946, a burial site on the North side of the Pawnee River, in the southeast part of Ness County, was discovered by P.L. Pembleton and pottery was sent to Professor Albert C. Spalding of the University of Kansas and this site was classified by Mr. Spalding as being “Upper Republican.” These Indians lived here during1300 AD to 1450 AD. These Indians have been named as ancestors to the Pawnee.