Hugoton
H. B. Kelly and John Hughes of McPherson
selected a town site in what was known as Seward County in May
1881. They formed a town company after they returned to McPherson
County, and it took another four years before claims were proven
on the twon site. It was July 1, 1885 that the first shanties
were put together. The town was named Hugo for author Victor Hugo,
but because there was already a Hugo, Colorado, the name was changed
to Hugoton. It was selected as the temparary county seat on September
2, 1886. There was a bitter and violent county seat war that resulted
in several deaths, including five men who were killed execution-style
in Oklahoma. Hugoton was named the permanent county seat in 1887.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Thomson, Edith Campbell. "History
of Stevens County Kansas." Edith Campbell Thomson, 1967.
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