Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-02-19
BARBER COUNTY.

Prepared for the State Board of Immigration ]
Located in the center of the southern tier OF
| counties. adjoining the Indian Territory Con-
tains 1,l34 square miles, sufficient for 1856
farms OF 100 acres each. 1t has population of
$500; taxable wealth, S3,5OO.OOO. divided into
lands, $Z,2OO.OOO, town lots, 5000, 900, personal
property, t4OO.OOO, railroad property, $500, 600
Property Is assessed at 331S per cent of its real
value, 30 the actual wealth of the county ex-
ceeds 100000. The county was settled aud
organized in 1873; it has never had a county
scat confession other Internal war. Ithas never
| asked for and has never needed one dollar of
outside aid; has never had crop failure Ii
has Is municipal townships and Incorporated
cities. these being Medicine Lodge, the county
seat; Kiowa, the gateway to the Cherokee
Strip; Hazelton, in the center of the richest aR-
ricultural belt; Sharon, 10 miles east of the
county seat in the rich Sharon valley. These
towns are all prosperous, with churches
schools and good society. Other smaller towns
are Lake City, Sun City. Aetna Mngona, Deer
head, Hardtner, Elm Mills and Isabel The
county has three lines of railroad: The Santa
Fe, running to Hazelton. Kiowa, Sharon and
Medicine Lodge; the Missouri Pacific, going to
Hazelton and Kiowa. and the Mulyane extern
sion Of the Santa Fe. running through the nor
best waterad Of any in Kansas, it's never-failing
streams being supplied by cool springs of pure
water. Most Of the streams are skirted by
timber and from each reaches out broad second
bottoms, rich as those beside the Nile The
eastern half Of the county is comparatively
level, gently rolling land; the western half is
more broken, forming a combination for stock
raising which has made the county wealthy.
Most of the soil is what is known as ''mulatto''
soil; 1t Is very deep. impregnated with gypsum
and sand; never bakes, is easily titled, and
responds with wonderful productiveness any
grain, grass, vegetable or fruit ever yet planted
maturing. The rough land is covered with rich
buffalo and other native grasses affording I'M
surpassed grazing for stock. The county is
free-range the only one in this part of Kansas
that is. This feature permits the farmer to
handle stock without great outlay of money
for fencing. There was marketed last year. live
stock raised in Barber county amounting to
more than q half million dollars. The wheat
crop in 1889 averaged, in the county, pa. bush
els TO the acre, while many fields went as high
as 30 bushels; corn averaged 40 bushels, and rs
bushels was frequent crop; oats yield from
40 to 20 bushels millet from to tons Prai-
RE hay is plentiful everywhere and free as
water, though many farms are being provided
crops are cut each season. The county has
raised good cotton and there is gin at the
county seat. Its sorghum sugar industry is
now known to the world. The Sugarworks at
Medicine Lodge, started late in 1885, produced
over half a million pounds of sorghum sugar,
and from beets grown four acres made
10000 pounds of beet sugar. The works are be-
ing enlarged, a refinery put in, and this season
they expect to manufacture four million
pounds of beet and sorghum sugar. Farmers
who raised sorghum for the mill realized from
$50 TO $50 per acre for their labor; they will
realize double this on the sugar beets they
plant. The county has about 100 organized
school districts and 20 school houses those at
Kiowa, Hazelton and Medicine Lodge being
large, brick, modern buildings, heated by
steam. There are churches or church organiza-
tons In every town, city or neghborhood. The
Immense gypsum deposits are being utilized
by cement and plaster mandatory at the
county seat that will ship out from three to
I'VE car loads of manufactured product, daily
There are deposits, of marble, several colors
in the western part of the county that have
been worked. The county has two successful
creameries, one at Hazelton and one at Medi-
cine Lodge; two large Touring mills, one at
HaZelton, one at Elm Mills; five newspapers
the Index and Cresset at Medicine Lodge;
Herald and Journal, at Kiowa and Express, at
Hazelton. The county has the best natural
roads in Kansas. Land is worth from 50 to $50
per acre. Stock needs feeding but months in
the year. The farmer can usually pillow with
his coat on 300 days in the year. There are
more sunny days than in any country, Sunny
Italy not excepted.