"The feeling between the two towns was all the time growing more bitter. Cases had been brought against Calvert, the census-taker, for perjury, and action was taken looking toward the setting aside of the organization of the county. The Kansas legislature, however, now met, and the political 'pull' of Hugoton was still strong enough to secure a special act legalizing the organization of Stevens county. It was now the legislature against the Supreme Court; for a little later the Supreme Court declared that the organization had been made through open fraud and by means of perjury. "Naturally, trouble might have been expected at the fall election. There were two centers of population, two sets of leaders, two clans, separated by only eight miles of sand hills. There could be but one county seat and one set of officers. Here Woodsdale began to suffer, for her forces were divided among themselves. "Colonel Wood, the leader of this community, had slated John M. Cross as his candidate for sheriff. A rival for the nomination was Sam Robinson, who owned the hotel at Woodsdale, and had invested considerable money there. Robinson was about forty years of age, and was known to be a bad man, credited with two or three killings elsewhere. Wood had always been able to flatter him and handle him; but when Cross was declared as the nominee for sheriff, Robinson became so embittered that he moved over to Hugoton, where he was later chosen town marshal and township constable. Hugoton men bought his hotel, leaving Robinson in the position of holding real estate in Woodsdale without owning the improvements on it. Hence when the town-site commissioners began to issue deeds, Robinson was debarred from claiming a deed by reason of the hotel property having been sold. Bert Nobel, a friend of Robinson's, sold his drug store and moved over with Robinson to Hugoton. Hugoton bought other property of Woodsdale malcontents, leaving the buildings standing at Woodsdale and taking the citizens to themselves. The Hugoton men put up as their candidate one Dalton, and declared him elected. Wood contested the election, and finally succeeded in getting his man Cross declared as sheriff of Stevens county.