County of Marker: Barber County
Location of Marker: Main St. & Kansas Ave., Medicine Lodge
Marker Erected by: The Medicine Lodge Guest Tax Committee
Marker Text:
The Merchants' and Drovers' Bank was the first bank in Medicine Lodge, established in October, 1880, by H.M. Hickman from Wellington. It closed on January 10, 1882. Two days later the Medicine Valley Bank was formed with Wylie Payne, President; George Geppert, Cashier; and Frank Chaplin, Assistant Cashier. In August, 1882, construction was begun on the corner of Main Street and Kansas Avenue. A fine bank building was completed in March 1883. Tragedy struck on April 30, 1884, when the marshal of Caldwell, Henry Brown, his assistant, Ben Wheeler; and two cowboys, John Wesley and Billy Smith attempted to rob the bank killing Payne and Geppert. Chaplin had gone to the post office prior to the robbery. A posse pursued the robbers into the gyp hills, trapped them in a box canyon, captured them and brought them on to jail. Later that night, townsmen demanded to see the robbers, who tried to escape. Brown was shot and killed and Wheeler wounded. The three survivors were hanged from an elm tree on Spring Creek at the bottom of East 1st Avenue. In May, 1884, the directors of the Medicine Valley Bank elected new officers. Frank Chaplin remained as Assistant Cashier. Then in October, 1884, The First National Bank succeeded the Medicine Valley Bank and continues to remain vital to the community.
"This photograph shows a group of robbers from Medicine Lodge, Kansas. The men in shackles are identified from left to right as: John Wesley, Henry Newton Brown, Billy Smith, and Ben Wheeler the would be robbers of the Medicine Valley Bank in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Brown, a former member of Billy the Kid's Gang, and Wheeler a former outlaw and friend of Brown's, found themselves on the other side of the law with their appointments as marshals of Caldwell, Kansas. However, on April 30, 1884, Brown, Wheeler, Smith, and Wesley attempted to rob the Medicine Valley Bank. The robbery was unsuccessful and the robbers were eventually apprehended and brought back to Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Their time in jail was brief when pandemonium erupted over their capture, creating a diversion for escape. In a hail of bullets, Henry Brown was shot dead while an injured Wheeler was captured and hanged beside Wesley and Smith." ~ Kansas Historical Society
"On April 30, 1884, four armed men burst into the Medicine Valley Bank. In the ensuing melee, both the bank's president Wylie Payne and its chief cashier George Geppert were shot and killed. Before he died Geppert managed to seal the vault and the robbers left empty-handed.
As it happened, a group of a dozen cowboys who by chance were in a stable across the street at the time, formed a posse and gave immediate chase. The four culprits were trapped in a box canyon and forced to surrender. Imagine the shock when two of the robbers proved to be Henry Newton Brown, marshal of nearby Caldwell, Kansas, and Ben Wheeler, his assistant marshal.
"Despite a sketchy past, Brown had become a respected citizen of Caldwell, a rough and tumble town similar to Dodge City and Abilene and located where the Chisholm Trail met the Santa Fe Railroad tracks. Indeed, in December of 1882 brown was presented with a beautifully engraved gold and silver mounted Winchester bearing a silver plaque honoring him for cleaning up the town." ~ Heritage Auctions