The Wickedest Cattletown in Kansas

The short, but violent, run of Ellsworth.

- Mark Boardman

Somebody called Ellsworth the “Wickedest Cattletown in Kansas,” and the place had its moments. But its time was brief—and it almost didn’t get to that level of notoriety.

The town was platted in February 1867, just a few miles away from Fort Harker (previously Fort Ellsworth), but a small settlement was already in place. The location, in the center of the state, was no accident. The Santa Fe and Smoky Hill trails went through the area, and by July of that year, so did the Kansas Pacific Railway. But the next year saw growing pains.

The Smoky Hill River flooded the place in June. American Indian raids and a cholera outbreak caused many to flee; some accounts state only 50 residents remained of the estimated 1,000 who’d been there just months before.