In 1831, south of the future site of Ulysses, Kansas, (at that time, it was a part of Northern Mexico Territory), explorer Jedediah Smith was killed by Comanche warriors. This was on May 27, 1831. The first Ulysses town was created in June 1885. It was about two miles east of present-day Ulysses. About six weeks later Ulysses' first newspaper, "The Grant County Register", started publishing.