Each week we’ll take a step back into the history of Great Bend through the eyes of reporters past. We’ll reacquaint you with what went into creating the Great Bend of today, and do our best to update you on what “the rest of the story” turned out to be.

Coxey’s Army
In 1894, a group of men began marching from Ohio to Washington D.C. to protest the lack of employment they faced as a result of the Panic of 1893.  It was considered the worst financial crisis, the country had ever faced up to that time.  They were called Coxey’s Army, and they embodied the frustration the nation felt--strong in many ways, but with no elasticity of funds, stuck. They created a sensation, which explains the prominent political cartoon appearing in the Great Bend Register March 29, 1894.
One of the people that witnessed their march was Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz.   He was a political activist in the 1890s, and many scholars believe the story is an analogy about the politics surrounding the gold standard vs. silver or paper money.    

Banking questions
On March 29, 1894, the Great Bend Register reprinted a story written by E.W. Bolinger of Great Bend in the American Banker of March 22, asking for currency reform.  The well-reasoned appeal was prompted by legislative activity occurring at the time to shore up the nation’s currency system.  He eloquently spoke in favor of greenbacks over gold or silver, and circulation based off the “banking principle” over the “currency principle.”  
“Circulating bank notes have been in existence since 1685 when they were first introduced in Sweden And there are few countries except ours that do not possess a system of bank circulation.”  
Bolinger wanted the tax upon state bank circulation to continue, rather than be repealed, which was the talk amongst legislators at the time.  He felt this would throw the control of the banks “in the hands of 45 different legislatures of all degrees of intelligence and political complexions.”  Certainly not a recipe for stability.
The entire country needed stability.  But big businesses, especially the railroads, were having a particularly hard go of it.  In fact, a major player in the Great Bend area, The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, failed later in 1894, but the March 29 edition still listed it at the top of the railway time card on page 2.  It provided two eastbound and three westbound trains daily.  Luckily, the city didn’t depend on it solely for service.  Other trains listed were the C.K. & W.R.R. express trains and the Missouri Pacific, each of which included daily service, except the C.K.& W. R.R. did not provide Sunday service.  

Poor Omer
One Great Bend youth, Omer Mendenhall, was an unlucky youth mentioned on page 3.  
“There came near being an impromptu lynching in the Fourth ward last Thursday.  Luch Miller, Ray Tullis, John and James Welch And David and Leonard Krause, Jr., boys just entering their teens, placed a rope about the neck of Omer Mendenhall and dragged him about until he was badly choked and bruised.  The boys were arrested upon complaint of Will Mendenhall and Justice Clayton administered a fine with a severe reprimand.”
According to genealogical records, Omer was the son of William Mendenhall, and was born in June, 1884.  How he became the subject of this mean action by older boys is unknown.    
As we were searching for more information about Omer, we learned he was the victim of an unfortunate accident.  From the sounds of it, one might conclude he might have wished that bankruptcy had spelled the end for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe.  
The story came from the annals of a 1903 railroad law review.  The case was decided March 7, 1903, by the Kansas Supreme Court, but the action occurred sometime while Omer was 15 years old.  He agreed with the brakeman of one of the A.T. & S.F. trains to pay him 25 cents to carry him from Great Bend to Hutchinson, the summary said.
“(He) paid the brakeman this amount, and the brakeman told him to get upon the platform of the baggage car, and to get off at the stopping places on the way for the purpose of keeping out of sight; that plaintiff rode upon the car platform as far as Ellinwood, and in getting off the train while it was still in motion, on the opposite side from the depot, stumbled over a semaphore board, fell under the train, and received injuries requiring the amputation of both feet.”
His father sued the railroad on his behalf, claiming that the brakeman was responsible.  However, the Supreme Court felt differently, and denied the claim because Omer was not actually a passenger of the train, because he had not bought a ticket, and was considered bright enough to know he was essentially getting away with something he wasn’t supposed to.    
At some point, the family moved from Great Bend to Fort Scott.
In the end, Omer found some happiness.  According to the  Fort Scott Daily Tribune, June 8, 1905, “Omer Mendenhall, the young son of W. I. Mendenhall. ex-chief of police, has taken out a license to marry Miss Lulu Potts of this city. Mr. Mendenhall formerly worked for J. A. Tite, but lately he has been in New Mexico, having recently returned.”
He lived there until he died, March 9, 1955.