DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the tale as the official marker tells it — and this one's got some weight to it, friends. We're out in Hardeman County, and those four dolomite hills you might've noticed rising up from the flat — those are the Medicine Mounds. The Comanche and Kiowa had campsites situated right around those hills, and they knew them for their healing properties.
Long before any railway surveyor ever laid eyes on this country, this place already meant something. In 1854, the area land was deeded to a railway company — though the rails themselves weren't coming just yet. Anglo settlers began arriving in the 1870s, and a small village took root.
Now here's where it gets interesting: that village didn't stay put. In 1908, when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway was built through the area, the whole town picked itself up and moved two and a half miles north. A townsite was platted that same year, and by 1911 it was fully established.
At its peak, Medicine Mound was a genuine going concern — twenty-two businesses, five hundred souls. That's not nothing out here. But then came the economic hardships.
Then came the Great Depression. And then came 1933, when a fire burned the entire town. The whole thing.
After that, Medicine Mound never quite found its footing again. The last business closed in 1966. Four ancient hills still standing, and a town that gave everything it had.
What the marker says
Early inhabitants of this area were Comanche and Kiowa Indians whose campsites were situated around four dolomite hills called Medicine Mounds and known for their healing properties. In 1854, area land was deeded to a railway company. Anglo settlers began to arrive in the 1870s. A small village developed but was moved 2.5 miles north in 1908 when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway was built. A townsite was platted that year and was fully established by 1911. At its peak, Medicine Mound boasted 22 businesses and a population of 500. Economic hardships, the Great Depression and a 1933 fire that burned the entire town were primary forces in the town's eventual demise. The last business closed in 1966. (1999)