The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-18
SIX DIED IN THEIR BOOTS.
Biggest Day in the OId-Time History
of Medicine Lodge.
From the Kansas City Star.

From the Kansas City Star.
'Did I ever tell you about the time we
had the big funeral in the Lodge, six men
dead and all died with their boots on?''
The speaker was an old cattleman who
lene was the cattle market of the great
west down to the present time. He had
lust taken a big drink with an old friend
from the city and they were sitting be-
hind the stove in Southern Kansas joint
watching a game of poker. The old veter-
an got up, gave the sand box a kick to
provide it a more convenient location, and
took a fresh chew from long plug, then
settled down to tell his story.
when l first went west in $780, he
said, 81 had no experience with the range
and there were many new things for me
to learn. l bought a bunch of cattle on
the Panhandle and trailed them through
to Barber county. / and my cowboys
squatted on some vacant quarters of land
in the brakes west of the Medicine river.
We were in the rough country several
miles west of Medicine lodge.
Medicine Lodge is an old town as towns
go In Kansas. Away back in early days
the Indians gave the stream that runs
through the town the name of Medicine
river. 1t has peculiar properties and real
ly served them as medicine. The Lodge
got its name because it was a camping
place for sick Indians, and they would
come two days ride on their ponies across
the ranges to get the water. Later the
government made some treaties at the
lodge that made it headquarters and
trading post sprang up. BY the time /
located in the brakes to the west, the
lodge was right smart of a place 1t had
a faro bank and a dance hall and plenty
Of saloons, and bank of deposit for the
cattlemen The town is Just east of
e.
is cut up with great canyons, some of
them 100 feet deep. Part of them are great
sinks with sloping banks, but most of
them have banks with very steep sides
They just break square off and bunch
of cattle that gets stampeded will tumble
into these canyons and break their necks.
To be candid with you, that country amt
worth a damn except for grazing cattle
You can't hardly raise kaffir out there to
rough your stock through the winter It's
Just simply no account except for grazing
and not much for that.
But I'm on the wrong trail. You want
ed to know about that promiscuous fu-
neral affair. IL was the first day of MAY,
1894, and we had had big dongs in town
the day before. told you we had a bank
there them The saloons had degenerated
into joints under prohibition and the town
was getting mighty civilized by that time.
wiley Payne was president of the bank
and a young fellow named Gebhart was
cashier Gebhart had been down east and
had Just got back that morning. He ana
Payne came down early and opened the
bank a little earlier than usual. was
on the way TO the bank myself and was
about a block away when l saw four men
ride up and tie their horses. Three went
into the bank. There was an old woman
crossing the street, and all of sudden
she yelled bank robbers" at the TOP of
her voice and began TO run. With that
the shooting began in the bank. Both the
president and the cashier were shot 10
death by the robbers Every man in
town who had gun, and we all carried
EN-. got ready to shoot. There was a lot
of cowboys at the hotel and In the joints
They had rode their horses into town and
left them in the livery stables with sad
dies on. When the shooting began to ger
hot the robbers ran for their horses, climb
ed on and started up Medicine creek. The