137 years ago, on April 30th, 1884, a historical, yet tragic event took place here in Medicine Lodge. The town of Medicine Lodge was thrown into a state of excitement by the perpetration of murders and attempted robbery.
Shortly after 9:00 a.m., during a heavy rain storm, four men rode into town from the west. The bank had been open a short time. Mr. Geppert, the cashier, had just begun his work, while Bank President, E.W. Payne, sat at his desk writing. Three of the four
members entered the bank, one going to the cashier’s window and one going to the rear of the office. When ordered to throw up their hands, the cashier complied while Mr. Payne seized a revolver. Four shots were fired by the robbers, two were received by Mr. Geppert and one by Mr. Payne. Someone across the street heard the shots and alarmed Marshall Dean, who opened fire on the robbers. The robbers returned shots, broke for their horses and rode out of town. In a few minutes a group of well mounted, well armed, determined local men were in hot pursuit.
Those that remained in town rushed into the bank only to find the cashier laying dead in the vault with two gunshot wounds in his chest. Mr. Payne was lying near the vault groaning with pain. Hope for his survival was doubtful,
The pursuing party first saw the robbers beyond the crossing of the Medicine Lodge river south of town. When spotted, the robbers turned and opened fire and several exchanges occurred. Further south, the robbers were forced to leave their horses when one of them gave out. They took refuge in a canyon, three or four miles south west of town. To prevent escape, the posse surrounded the canyon while someone went to town for reinforcements. Within a short time, every gun, revolver, horse and mule was on its way to the canyon.
However, before the reinforcements arrived, the robbers had surrendered. The posse was surprised to find that the robbers were all well known. The leader of the gang was Henry Newton Brown, Marshall of Caldwell; the other three were Ben Wheeler, Assistant Marshall of Caldwell; William Smith and John Wesley (alias Harry Hill), both well known cowboys.
Of these men, Henry Brown had the most notoriety for his connections with "Billy the Kid" during some of his most exciting adventures. But after living the life of an outlaw, Brown evidently desired to “turn over a new leaf,” and had gotten married and “settled
down” in Caldwell, Kansas. In October of 1882, after a short stint as Assistant Marshall, the Caldwell City Council appointed Brown as Marshall.
Several weeks after Brown was appointed Marshall in Caldwell, Ben Wheeler, an old friend of Browns, was hired as Assistant Marshall. Caldwell was a tough trail town with a long history of violence, but the two outlaws-turned-lawmen were tough and effectively cleaned up the town. The citizens of Caldwell even gave Brown an extensively engraved, gold and silver mounted Winchester rifle, as token of their appreciation!
When the outlaws were returned to Medicine Lodge, they were put in jail. An angry crowd surrounded the jail and cried "Hang ‘em!". Later that night, three shots fired rapidly broke the silence. By this signal a crowd of armed men marched into the jail and demanded the prisoners. The sheriff refused but he was overpowered and the jail doors opened. The prisoners in the cell made a sudden dash for freedom and shots rang out from everywhere. Brown ran a few steps from the jail and fell, shredded with gunshots. Wheeler, who was badly wounded, was captured, along with Smith and Wesley. Wheeler, Smith and Wesley were taken by the crowd to an elm tree on Spring Creek east of town and told that it there was anything they would like to say, to say it now for their time of life was short. At the last some of the men begged for mercy, but the ropes were fastened around the robbers’ necks and were tossed over a limb. In a few minutes three bodies hung swinging in the wind. E.W. Payne, the bank president, died the next day, leaving a wife and nine children.
[A letter was found that Henry Brown wrote to his wife during the short time he was in jail, explaining that he didn’t mean for the robbery to end so badly. He wrote, “I did not shoot anyone, and did not want the others to kill anyone, but they did, and that is all there is about it.” He asked her to sell all of his possessions except the Winchester rifle, and wait for him to be released. Sheriff C.F. Rigg, collected the personal items of Brown and intended to send them to Caldwell. However, before he did someone stole the Winchester! It was later located in
a collection in Texas. The gun has now been acquired by the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. An authority on western firearms has said that the gun is one of the most interesting and historic of Winchester arms…from the American west’s most wild and wooly days.”
