If you’re any kind of Hermes reader, you know – Hugotonites love history. Depending on who you’re talking to, you’ll be treated to any number of stories from “way back when” or “back in my day. . .” To show off local history, Stevens County Economic Development Director Jan Leonard has been digging – at times literally – into the history of Hugoton and Stevens County in order to entice history buffs to visit.
Recently, he’s been researching the story of the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, as they are rumored to have lived in Hugoton in the early days of their life of crime.
During the course of Jan’s investigations, he discovered the story of Dr. William Elwood Bundy, a physician who practiced in Hugoton for several years.
Dr. Bundy and his wife Elmira moved to Hugoton in 1911. He was most noted as a cancer doctor. Bundy had developed a formula designed to be applied topically to areas of skin cancer. Within a month or two of applications, the cancer would rise to the surface, then be peeled painfully out. Using this process, he could remove all the cancer runners without surgery.
