Many of the first settlers or their family members had originally immigrated to America during the Great Famine of Ireland and then slowly moved westward.

The immigrants established the settlement of Butler City along Bluff Creek which served as the first settlers' main water source.

The rail line that originally ran through Blaine was built as a narrow-gauge railroad called the Kansas Central.

Another little railroad was built from Blaine seven miles south to Westmoreland called the Kansas, Southern & Gulf Railway.

It was later changed to the Westmoreland Interurban Railway and used a touring car and trailer on railroad wheels to move freight.

[4] Although Irish Catholics made up the majority of Blaine and the surrounding area, these people did not exist in cultural isolation.