Medicine Lodge
Derrick Updegraff, a follower of John
Brown, left Eastern Kansas and arrived at the present site of
Medicine Lodge in December 1872. A post office was established
on December 5, 1872. In February 1873, a town site was laid out,
and a general store had been built by the summer. During this
time up through 1879, the town was basically a trading post for
hunters and the Indians.
Medicine Lodge is named for the river
that is on the west side of the town. This stream itself was named
by the Indians, who often met in council to make medicine along
its banks.
However, Indians were still raiding
the settlements in the area, and a stockade was built for the
citizens of Medicine Lodge. 200 or so people and their livestock
were living inside the stockade walls and were guarded by the
Medicine Lodge militia that were are on the lookout for Indians.
On May 21, 1879, Medicine Lodge became
an incorporated city. Soon there were hotels, restaurants and
general stores, as well as a bank which was the scene of a robbery
on April 30, 1884. One person was killed, and the four members
of the gang were eventually found and killed.
The town's first newspapers began in
1879 (The Cresset) and 1880 (The Barber County Index). A gypsum
plant (the first one west of the Mississippi River) was built
in 1889; a sugar mill was established that same year; and the
flour mill was built in 1890.
The most famous resident of Medicine
Lodge was Mrs. Carry A. Nation who came with her husband, David,
in 1889. He was a lawyer and a minister, and he served the Christian
Church in Medicine Lodge.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Barber County History Committee.
"The Chosen Land: A History of Barber County, Kansas."
Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Company, 1980.
"Early History and Settlers
of Barber County, Kansas." Kansas State Historical Society.
September 28, 2005 <http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/barber/earlyhist.htm>
