Nescatunga

Clark Cronin, just south of the location of Nescatunga, Kansas., 2 Nov 2004. Photo by Phyllis Scherich.

The foundations of the Nescatunga blacksmith shop, 2 Nov 2004. Photo by Phyllis Scherich.

At right: Detail of March 1892 USGS Map (reprinted 1945) showing Nescatunga, Comanche County, Kansas.
Polyconic projection. Scale: 1/125,000. Contour interval: 20 feet. Surveyed by reconnaissance methods.
Map courtesy of Eugene Markstrom.

Nescatunga is located in Comanche County, Kansas, at Latitude 371415N and Longitude 0991307W. See: USGS 7.5' map "Nescatunga Creek North".
View 1:10,000 TopoZone online topographical map.
View USGS topographical map, 01 July 1980.
TerraServer online USGS aerial photograph, 01 April 1996
Tiger Map: Location of Nescatunga (historical) Kansas
Upper Salt Fork Arkansas: Watershed Profile

News Articles About Nescatunga
March 2, 1886:
Our Cemetery
Nescatunga Enterprise, March 2, 1886.
March 20, 1886:
NESCATUNGA.
Its surroundings, Advantages, Necessities and Business Enterprises.
Nescatunga Enterprise, Volume 1, Number 1, March 20, 1886.
May 4, 1886:
Spelling Contest
Nescatunga Enterprise, May 4, 1886.
June 5, 1886:
Civil & Criminal Cases in District Court, June 9, 1886.
Nescatunga Enterprise, June 5, 1886.
June 19, 1886:
Destructive Wind, Hail and Rain storm.
Nescatunga Enterprise, June 19, 1886.
July 24, 1886:
Recipe for Dan Davis' Lemon Pudding
Nescatunga Enterprise, July 19, 1886.
December 4, 1886:
OUR TOWN
Nescatunga Enterprise, December 4, 1886.
December 18, 1886:
Indian Creek News Items
Nescatunga Enterprise, December 18, 1886.
January 1, 1887:
Unclaimed Letters and Cards at Nescatunga Post Office
Nescatunga Enterprise, January 1, 1887.
January 13, 1887:
Public Drunkenness
Nescatunga Enterprise, January 13, 1887.
February 12, 1887:
NESCATUNGA: The Ell Town of Comanche County
Nescatunga Enterprise, February 12, 1887.
February 19, 1887:
Death of John Cushion / Prairie Fire
Nescatunga Enterprise, February 19, 1887.
February 19, 1887:
Grand Army Post at Nescatunga
Nescatunga Enterprise, February 19, 1887.
May 14, 1887:
Marriage: Charles M. & Maud (Merriam) JONES
Nescatunga Enterprise, May 14, 1887.
March 12, 1887:
Charter Members: Grand Army of the Republic Post at Nescatunga
Nescatunga Enterprise, March 12, 1887.
March 19, 1887:
Mr. & Mrs. S.S. FUNK: Silver Anniversary
Nescatunga Enterprise, March 19, 1887.
March 19, 1887:
Cave Creek Neighborhood News
Nescatunga Enterprise, March 19, 1887.
July 2, 1887:
Unclaimed Letters and Cards at Nescatunga Post Office
Nescatunga Enterprise, July 2, 1887.
October 8, 1887:
Marriage: Samuel B. & Ester L. (Marsh) Allen
Nescatunga Enterprise,October 8, 1887.
October 15, 1887:
Unclaimed Letters and Cards at Nescatunga Post Office
Nescatunga Enterprise,October 15, 1887.
December 17, 1887:
Stable Fires
Nescatunga Enterprise, December 17, 1887.
MORE EARLY DAY HISTORY OF COLDWATER
by J. P. Grove: "After our failure to consolidate the two towns, and the next morning after the meeting, Sam Sisson and I hired Kid Doak to drive us in a spring wagon to Kinsley, the nearest railroad point, which we reached in the late evening. The next morning we bought all of the available lumber in Kinsley and hired teams to haul it to Coldwater, and started at least some of them on the way down that same day. At any rate we thus fixed it so that the Nescatunga crowd would have to wait for lumber until another supply could be shipped to Kinsley." -- The Western Star, March 4, 1921.
C.F. Spicer: An account of pioneer days in Comanche County, Kansas -- The Western Star, June 10, 1921.
William V. Jackson: Little Tragedies of the Prairie
The Western Star, August 18, 1933.

Obituaries & Articles: Nescatunga Residents

Earl Otterbein BACON Died at Nescatunga; burial place unknown.
Surnames: Bacon & Woodward.

Bernice Anita BECK Died at Nescatunga; probably buried in the Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Beck & McKee.

John D. BECK (Not buried at Nescatunga)
Surnames: Beck & Carthrae.

Quita BECK (Buried at Coldwater cemetery)
Surnames: Beck, Duncan, Halliday, Kern, McKee, Sims & Wright.

Sarah BERRY Died near Nescatunga; possibly buried in the Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Berry & McWilliams.

Miss BOND, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. A.P. BOND Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Bond & McWilliams.

Ethelbert Gilmer CARTHRAE
Buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Coldwater, Kansas.
Surnames: Allderdice, Brewer, Briggs, Brown, Carthrae, Diemart, Garr, Hall, Mahan, Stewart, Todd, Wallace & White.

Matie CHENOWETH Died near Nescatunga; burial place unknown.
Surnames: Chenoweth.

Henry CLARK Buried: Coldwater.
Surnames: Clark, Elzen & Parcel.

Bennie DAVIDSON Died at Nescatunga; probably buried in the cemetery near Duckworth schoolhouse.
Surnames: Davidson, Halliday & Wihebyrner.

Infant DAVIDSON Died at Nescatunga; buried in the cemetery near Duckworth schoolhouse.
Surnames: Davidson.

Mary DAVIS Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Davis & McWilliams.

Dr. C.L. DUNN (Died at Medicine Lodge, probably buried there.)
Surnames: Dunn & Hammett.

ELLIS Infant Son Buried: Bethel Cemetery.
Surnames: Ellis.

Narcissus (Wright) GATES Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery.
Surnames: Carthrae, Cline, Cole, Dodson, Downing, Darnell, Elliot, Gates, Greenler, Guizlo, Hitchcock, Jackson, Knecht, Oller, Overocker, Pepperd, Parcel, Todd, Wright & Zerby.

Ralph GEORGE Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: George & McWilliams.

George HERNDON Son of Charles Herndon of Nescatunga; possibly buried in the Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Herndon & Rigg.

HUFF Child Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Huff.

Fred HUFF Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Deubler, Huff & Richardson.

John JANSON (Died at Coldwater, probably buried there.)
Surnames: Dumser, Helbert, Janson, Leonard, Schultise & White.

Elizabeth LeDou Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Bearse & LeDou.

Burton LITTON Burial place unknown.
Surnames: Elliot & Litton.

Mary May MAXTED
Surnames: Eden & Maxted.

McINTIRE Infant Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: McIntire and McWilliams.

James Otis NOFSKER Burial place unknown.
Surnames: Nofsker.

Mrs. Anna RATLIFF
Surnames: Ratliff

Cara SCHLOSSER Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Schlosser & Smith.

Florence Ruth (Harrison) SCHWADER Buried: Coldwater Cemetery.
Surnames: Harrison, Schwader & Williams.

John SCOTT Died crossing a river in Central America.
Surnames: Cook, Pope & Scott.

Belle SIDES (Not buried at Nescatunga)
Surnames: Sides.

Ida SIDES (Not buried at Nescatunga)
Surnames: Sides.

Leon O. & Anna E. (Behler) SKINNER
Surnames: Behler, Griffith & Skinner.

Perry C. SKINNER (Not buried at Nescatunga)
Surnames: Skinner.

Marriage of Stephen & Mary (Sunderland) SMITH
Surnames: Smith & Sunderland.

Mrs. Leah SUNDERLAND Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Sunderland.

Emma Sophia (Herren) TODD Buried: Coldwater.
Surnames: Allderdice, Avery, Barber, Botts, Carthrae, Cox, Deewall, Dodsen, Eddleman, Fulton, Hall, Herren, Klingensmith, Mahan, Metzger, Parker, Pepperd, Plank, Purves, Stark, Stewart, Todd & Webber.

Olive VEATCH Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Veatch & Smith.

George WHEELER Buried: Bethel Cemetery.
Surnames: Wheeler.

WILKINS Child Died at Nescatunga; probably buried there.
Surnames: Wilkins.

WILKINS Daughter Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Wilkins.

Elias & Lucy Adeline (Stewart) WILLARD He was a Civil War Veteran; both he and Mrs. Willard are buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.
Surnames: Allderdice, Austin, Botts, Cross, Dunn, Handy, Hollingshead, Ireland, Johnson, Nettleton, Pepperd, Shankel, Stewart & Willard.

George WILLARD Buried in Coldwater cemetery.
Surnames: Willard.

WILSON Infant Buried: Nescatunga Cemetery.
Surnames: Smith & Wilson.

Hattie (Pierce) WIMMER: Perils of the Plains by Hattie (Pierce) Wimmer. An account of pioneer life as experienced by Will and Hattie Wimmer, how they met, married, and lived within the boundaries of the vast Comanche Cattle Pool of South Central Kansas in the late nineteenth century.

Nescatunga In Literature
Note from Phyllis Scherich to Jerry Ferrin: "Have you read The Tether: Una Grey's Story by Kunigunde Duncan? It was published in 1953 by L.C. Page & Company, Boston, and has 393 pages. It is described as fiction, but is actually written about the town of Nescatunga and the author's mother. A disclaimer in the preface states, The characters in this story are entirely fictional, and have no relation to any person in real life, which would have allowed to author to add to the story to 'fill in the gaps'. The book's dedication is: For My Mother, Kunigunde Keen Duncan. The story is known to be about Nescatunga because it identifies the town they "went west" to as Nescatunga. It is direct. It also talks a lot about Coldwater."
"Biographical Note: Flora (Kunigunde Duncan) Isely, b. 1886, wrote and published a great deal of poetry during the early 1900s and later wrote a number of books. She graduated from Wichita High School in 1904 where she later taught three years. In 1911 she married author Bliss Isely, and during most of their married lived on a farm near El Dorado, Kansas. They had three sons, Malcolm, Kenneth and David, who died in childhood. In 1938 she published the book Blue Star, a book based on the life of Corabelle Fellows Campbell Tillman, and during the 1940s she co-authored a book with D.F. Nichols on Mentor Graham. She wrote a number of articles dealing with the Dust Bowl and Wichita history for local and national newspapers. Her books include a book of poems, The Land of the Little Boys, and Mentor Graham: The Man Who Taught Lincoln (1944)." -- Source: The Isely Collection, Wichita State University Libraries - Department of Special Collections.
A genealogical webpage indicates that Kunigunde Duncan was born at Nescatunga, Comanche County, Kansas, on 29 August 1886, that she was a writer and historian and that "Nescatunga has vanished from map". Source: http://members.aol.com/iseli/kansas.ged

"Since our last issue we have also learned of three other immigrants who were saved by taking to a tree near the Elm creek bridge. The party consisted of a gentleman by the name of Jones and his two sons, from Kentucky. They had taken claims, however, near Nescatunga, Comanche county." -- The Wild Waves: The Elm and Medicine Rivers Spread Devastation Through Their Valleys, The Cresset, Thursday, April 23, 1885, Medicine Lodge, Barber County, Kansas.

AUDIO LINK: Stars Fell On Nescatunga

Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!