On Wednesday, May 14, 1879, Patrick Henry Chapin, forty-two years of age, left
  Oquawka, Illinois, with his wife, Mary, and his three sons - Frank B., age seventeen, 
  Luke W., twelve, and Nealy, six years of age - bound for Medicine Lodge, Kansas, in 
  a covered wagon train. They were accompanied by S.W.K. Field and his wife and several
  others. These were pioneers headed for a new frontier in a covered wagon train of about
  five wagons and a number of horses.
     The Field's sons, Seward I. and Bob, both became lawyers in Medicine Lodge. After
  S.W.K. Field's death, his widow married C.B. Currie. Currie Lane, going east, north of 
  the hospital at Medicine Lodge, still bears his name.
     Frank B. Chapin kept a diary of the trip, which took four weeks, from May 14, 1879, 
  until June 11, 1879. Some excerpts from the diary:
     Saturday, May 17: Shipped a box of dishes at a country station, but could not ship
  Mrs. Field's trunk. Bad luck to the trunk. Camp late, had lots of trouble getting
  horse feed.
     Wednesday, May 21: Left camp 15 minutes of 7. Passed through Monroe and Paris. Had
  a stampede about 9 o'clock.
     Thursday, May 22: Left camp at 6:15. Passed through Middle Grove and Renick. Field
  lost his dog, Pete, at Middle Grove. Drove 25 miles. Camped at 15 minutes of 5 o'clock.
     Wednesday, May 28: Left our stopping place at 5:30. Did not get breakfast or feed
  until 8:00 o'clock when we stopped and dried out some things.
     Friday, May 30: Rained all the latter part of the night. Turned the horses loose
  early this morning. They went off, and we had a hard time to find them. Luke found them
  about 8 miles from camp. He got lost and had to hire two boys to bring him and the 
  horses back to camp. Got to camp at 2:30. Field has not come in yet. Will not travel
  today.
     Tuesday, June 3: Left camp at 7 o'clock. Drove without a road quite awhile. Stuck
  the Burlington road at 10:30.
     Friday, June 6: Left camp at 6:30. Passed through Eureka. Had hard work keeping the
  horses off from the corn and wheat. Drove 32 miles. Camped at 6 o'clock. The colts 
  were very near tired out.
     Sunday, June 8: Left camp at 6:30. Got to Wichita about 12:30. Crossed the Arkansas
  River. Stopped and took our dinner and then drove out about 7 miles and camped at 
  6 o'clock.
     Monday, June 9: Left camp at 15 minutes of 7. Met6 5 loads of buffalo bones going
  to Wichita. Luke saw a jack rabbit in the afternoon and took chase, but did not catch it.
     Tuesday, June 10: Left camp at 10 minutes of 7. cool and pleasant most of the fore-
  noon. Passed through Kingman about 11 o'clock. Drove out to Spring Creek and camped at
  4 o'clock. Expect to get through to the Lodge tomorrow.
     Wednesday, June 11: Left camp about 7 o'clock. Hauled Maggie's colt all day. Arrived
  at our destination about 15 minutes of 3, after a journey of 4 weeks. All well and 
  sound.
     P.H. Chapin and family settled just east of Elm Creek, northeast of Medicine Lodge
  on what is now known as the Swartz Place. He came West for his health, but only lived
  until 1885. His son, Frank, later was County Clerk and a banker. Luke was a rancher and
  horse trader. Nealy went West and settled in Ely, Nevada, where he became a banker,
  newpaper editor, and state senator.
     Luke married Ollie Harding, and they had two children - Willis Lee, born in 1890,
  and Mary, born in 1897. They lived on what was later known as the Whelan Place,
  northeast of Medicine Lodge, and then moved on further east to the place where Ted
  Chapin lives now.
     Six generations of Chapins have lived in Barber County. Children of Willis Lee
  Chapin and Myrtle Rogers Chapin are W. Luke Chapin, Lawyer, Ted R. Chapin, rancher, 
  and Dorothey Chapin Smith (Mrs. Tom Smith) who constitute the fourth generation. Their
  children make the fifth generation.
     W. Luke and wife Ruth Harbaugh Chapin, have two sons, Dwight David and Bill, each
  of whom has a son and a daughter.
     Ted and wife, Mary Margaret Finnerty Chapin, ahve three duaghters. Dorothy Jo is 
  a graduate of Wichita State University with a major in Spanish. She attended colleges
  in Puebla, Guadalahara, and Mexico City. She taught Spanish at Oswego and Chanute, Kansas.
  Patricia is a graduate of Kansas State University with a major in Journalism. She was
  a reporter on the Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, then was graduated from the Unversity
  of Chicago with an MA in Business and a law degree. She is now an associate lawyer with
  the firm of Peterson, Ross, Roil, Barber & Seidel in Chicago. Catherine Ruth and her
  husband, Jim Colborn, are graduates of Kansas State University. She has just received
  her MA in Elementary Education from Kansas State University and is a kindergarten
  teacher in Onaga, Kansas. She and Jim live in Manhattan, Kansas.
     Dorothy Lee and husband, Tom, have three sons: Thomas Chapin Smith, President of 
  Gold Crown Investments, Kansas City, who with his wife, Nancy, have a son and a daughter;
  Robert Gordon Smith, who lives in Clearwater, Kansas, and he and his wife, Glenda, have
  a son and a daughter; and Ted Willis Smith, just recently married, who also works for
  Gold Crown Investments.
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg.128  
     Submitted by: W. Luke Chapin, Ted R. Chapin, Dorothy Chapin Smith