Remembering Harrison Fulghem

At its annual meeting on May 9, 2013, Prairie Heritage voted to help with efforts to memorialize Harrison Fulghem, an extraordinary resident of both Dunlap and McDowell Creek (where Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge is located).

Fulghem is known as the inventor of the "Fulghem Post" (once erroneously called the "Chapman Post"). A row of Fulghem Posts is below (right), lining the Dunlap Cemetery. Building fence in the Flint Hills is extremely difficult because of the rocky soil. Fulghem solved the problem by centering fence posts in limestone blocks, thus eliminating the need for post holes. Fence-building crews from Dunlap worked on the Aye, Chase, and many other Flint Hills ranches.

Harrison Fulghem began his life in Dunlap, but he spent many years raising his family in the McDowell Creek community. He had the county contract to keep the roads graded. McDowell Creek residents still alive today remember his kindness to them when they were little children. The McDowell Creek community is restoring an abandoned local church--where it hopes to display the history of the area. Prairie Heritage voted at its annual meeting to support these restoration efforts and to provide material to include the story of Harrison Fulghem.