County of former bank: Barber County
Location of bank building: Main St. & Kansas Ave., Medicine Lodge
Marker on site 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.
"The beginnings of the modern cooperative movement can be traced back to the town of Rochdale, England.
A band of 28 working people formed the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. Desperate over low pay and high living cost, the 28 local workers invested their money, time, and energy and opened the first consumer based cooperative.
"Their goal was to provide themselves with the basic human needs: food, shelter, goods and services. The fame from the Rochdale Pioneers came not from what they did, but from how they did it. Working together, not one, but all workers benefited. From that small group emerged what has become known as the "Rochdale Principles", a set of practices and procedures that have served as a guidepost for cooperatives around the world.
"Cooperatives have come a long way since Rochdale. There are 47,000 cooperatives in operation today that provide credit and financial services, telephone and electric service, insurance, housing, child care, health care, food, farming, marketing and supply, and news distribution services. Familiar cooperative enterprises include: Associated Press, Ocean Spray, Nationwide Insurance, Land O' Lakes, Ace Hardware and Sunkist. Seven hundred twenty million people belong to coops all across the world. Each year America's cooperatives generate more than $100 billion in economic activity. Cooperatives serve more than 120 million people in cities, towns, and suburbs throughout rural America. Cooperatives embody the best traditions of American self-reliance and independence. Coops are successful because they provide nonprofit services to their communities that may not be readily available otherwise." ~ SCTelcom