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1893 Map of Medicine Lodge

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Medicine Lodge
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1949
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1949

About this map

Medicine Lodge serves as the focal point for this late nineteenth-century survey of Barber County, where the settlement patterns follow the drainages of the Medicine Lodge River and its numerous tributaries. Surveyed in 1890, the map illustrates a landscape of established townships and fledgling railroad connections, most notably the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad threading through the northeast.

Smaller outposts like Sun City, Lake City, and Mingona appear amidst a complex network of waterways, including Turkey Creek, Bear Creek, and Elm Creek. To the south, the terrain descends toward the Salt Fork Creek and Hardtner, revealing the transition from upland townships like Eagle and Nippewalla toward the Oklahoma border. The intricate contour work by W.H. Herron highlights the gypsum hills and broken breaks that characterize this portion of the Kansas prairie.