Editing Great Bend, Kansas (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Kansas}}

Prior to American settlement of the area, the site of Great Bend was located in the northern reaches of [[Kiowa]] territory.<ref>{{cite web | last = Sturtevant | first = William C. | title = Early Indian Tribes, Culture Areas, and Linguistic Stocks [Map] | publisher = [[Smithsonian Institution]] | year = 1967 | url = http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/early_indian_west.jpg | access-date = July 31, 2014}}</ref> Claimed first by [[France]] as part of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]] and later acquired by the United States with the [[Louisiana Purchase]] in 1803, it lay within the area organized by the U.S. as [[Kansas Territory]] in 1854.<ref>{{cite web | title = Louisiana Purchase | work = Kansapedia | publisher = [[Kansas Historical Society]] | date = Aug 2012 | url = http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/louisiana-purchase/17876 | access-date = March 5, 2014}}</ref><ref name=Territory>{{cite web | title = Kansas Territory | work = Kansapedia | date = Mar 2013 | url = http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/kansas-territory/14701 | access-date = March 5, 2013}}</ref> Kansas became a state in 1861, and the state government delineated the surrounding area as Barton County in 1867.<ref name=Territory/><ref name=Blackmar/>

The first settlers of the area arrived in 1870. Living in sod houses and dugouts, they worked as [[Bison hunting|buffalo hunters]] since trampling by [[American bison|bison]] herds precluded crop farming.<ref name=Weiser>{{cite web | last = Weiser | first = Kathy | title = Great Bend, Kansas – History and Information | work = Legends of Kansas | url = http://www.legendsofkansas.com/greatbend.html | access-date = November 19, 2011}}</ref> In 1871, the Great Bend Town Company, anticipating the westward construction of the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad]], founded Great Bend at a site roughly three miles west of [[Fort Zarah]] on the [[Santa Fe Trail]].<ref name=Weiser/><ref name=Cutler>{{cite web | last = Cutler | first = William G. | title = Barton County | work = History of the State of Kansas | publisher = A. T. Andreas | location = [[Chicago]] | year = 1883 | url = http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/barton/barton-co-p1.html#GENERAL_HISTORY | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030105105231/http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/barton/barton-co-p1.html#GENERAL_HISTORY | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 5, 2003 | access-date = November 19, 2011}}</ref> They named the settlement after its location at the "great bend" in the [[Arkansas River]] where the river's course turns eastward.<ref name=Name>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n252 145]}}</ref> The town began to grow as more settlers arrived over the following year and opened several businesses.

[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Barton County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of [[Barton County, Kansas|Barton County]]]]
The railroad reached Great Bend in July 1872, and an election at about the same time declared the town the permanent county seat.<ref name=Blackmar>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o8X5krq3fP8C | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o8X5krq3fP8C/page/n782 786]}}</ref> Great Bend was [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] as a city soon thereafter. The county courthouse and the city's first public school were built the following year.<ref name=Cutler/>

In 1873, following the arrival of the railroad, Great Bend became a shipping point for cattle.<ref name=Cutler/> This stimulated local business but also transformed the city into a rowdy, violent cowtown.<ref name=Weiser/> In 1876, the [[Kansas Legislature]] extended the legal "dead line" restricting the presence of Texas cattle 30 miles west of Barton County. The cattle trade moved westward accordingly, and the city became more peaceful.<ref name=Cutler/>

Over the following decades, Great Bend continued to grow and modernize, becoming a center of area commerce. This was despite two disasters which struck the city:  a downtown fire in 1878 and a [[smallpox]] outbreak in 1882 which resulted in a brief quarantine.<ref name=Cutler/> In 1886, local speculators began to fund exploration for [[petroleum]] in the area. By 1930, the oil and gas industry brought more than $20 million annually to the county.<ref>{{cite web | title = History | publisher = Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau | url = http://www.visitgreatbend.com/history.asp | access-date = November 20, 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111124225734/http://www.visitgreatbend.com/history.asp | archive-date = November 24, 2011 }}</ref> More than 3,000 wells produced during the 1930s, and the influx of workers dramatically increased the city's population.<ref name=Weiser/>

The [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] opened [[Great Bend Army Airfield]] west of the city in 1943. The base served as training facility for [[B-29 Superfortress|B-29]] bomber aircraft personnel during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite journal | title = U.S. Army and Air Force Wings Over Kansas, Part One | journal = Kansas Historical Quarterly | publisher = [[Kansas Historical Society]] | volume = 25 | issue = 2 | pages = 129–157 | date = Summer 1959 | url = https://archive.org/stream/kansashistorical25kansrich/kansashistorical25kansrich_djvu.txt | access-date = November 20, 2011}}</ref> After the war, the City of Great Bend acquired the base and repurposed it for civilian use as [[Great Bend Municipal Airport]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Great Bend Municipal Airport – History | publisher = City of Great Bend | url = http://www.greatbendks.net/index.aspx?NID=256 | access-date = November 20, 2011}}</ref>

The city continued to grow through the 1950s, its population peaking at almost 17,000 in 1960. In 1973, the [[Fuller Brush Company]] relocated its production facilities to Great Bend, becoming one of the city's major employers. Despite a modest decline in population in recent decades, Great Bend continues to serve as a commercial center for central Kansas.<ref name=Weiser/>