WHEN CORONADO CAME TO KANSAS
WHEN CORONADO CAME TO KANSAS Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, with 36 soldiers and Father Juan de Padilla, marched north from the Rio Grande valley in the spring of 1541. Coronado's objective...
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FOOL CHIEFS VILLAGE
FOOL CHIEFS VILLAGE The Kansa, for whom the state is named, once occupied 20 million acres of land in eastern and northern Kansas. In 1825 the U.S. government reduced the lands to a reservation...
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THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTER
THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTER In a park three miles north and one mile west is the exact geographic center of the 48 contiguous states. The location has been officially established by the U.S....
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CHISHOLM TRAIL IN SUMNER COUNTY
CHISHOLM TRAIL IN SUMNER COUNTY The Chisholm Trail probably began as a buffalo migration route, linking summer pastures in the Central Plains to winter pastures in Texas. American Indians followed...
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HISTORICAL KANSAS
HISTORICAL KANSAS When Kansas territory was opened for white settlement on May 30, 1854, a bitter contest developed over the slavery question. Established the following December, Topeka, 25 miles...
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FORT WALLACE
FORT WALLACE First called Camp Pond Creek, Fort Wallace was established in 1865. The fort served as the headquarters for troops given the task of protecting travelers headed west along the...
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BUTTERFIELD STAGE LINE
BUTTERFIELD STAGE LINE When the Kansas Territory was created in 1854, it stretched all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The current state boundary, a few miles west of here, took effect in 1861...
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HOLLENBERG RANCH AND THE PONY EXPRESS
HOLLENBERG RANCH AND THE PONY EXPRESS Begun in 1858, the Hollenberg Ranch, four miles north and one mile east of here, served as a stop on the Oregon-California Trail until the late 1860s. Gerat...
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OPENING OF THE MID- CONTINENT OIL FIELD
OPENING OF THE MID-CONTINENT OIL FIELD Kansas has long been oil country. There are legends that Indians held council around the lights of burning springs. Emigrants, it is known, skimmed...
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HOLLENBERG RANCH PONY EXPRESS STATION
HOLLENBERG RANCH PONY EXPRESS STATION This building, constructed in 1857 by G.H. Hollenberg on his ranch here on the Oregon Trail, was a station on the Pony Express route in 1860-1861. It is...
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EL CUARTELEJO
EL CUARTELEJO Reconstructed here are the remains of a seven-room pueblo believed to have been built by Pueblo Indians from New Mexico. According to Spanish records Indians from Taos and...
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MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACRE
MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACRE Nothing in the struggle over slavery in Kansas did more to inflame the nation than the mass killing which took place May 19, 1858, about four miles northeast of...
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WAGON BED SPRINGS
WAGON BED SPRINGS About two miles west were the Lower Springs of the Cimarron, an oasis in dry weather, where shortcuts of the Santa Fe trail converged to continue up the river. The most popular...
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THIS GATEWAY TO KANSAS
THIS GATEWAY TO KANSAS Where the Kaw river joins the mighty Missouri in its sweep eastward, has witnessed many events of historical significance to this area, among them: 1804. Lewis and Clark, on...
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AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE BUFFALO
AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE BUFFALO For thousands of years American Indians depended upon the buffalo for food, materials for shelter, and numerous other necessities.This relationship ended...
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ELLSWORTH THE COWTOWN AND FORT
ELLSWORTH THE COWTOWN AND FORT When the Union Pacific built through here in 1867 this was buffalo country. As the engines chugged on west, the Hays newspaper reported: 'Passengers on the cars...
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EL CUARTELEJO
EL CUARTELEJO To escape Spanish oppression, a group of Indians from Taos Pueblo left their home in New Mexico and settled in what is today Scott County. Here they lived alongside the Kiowa Apaches...
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ARKALON AND THE SAMSON OF THE CIMARRON
ARKALON AND THE SAMSON OF THE CIMARRON Many Kansas towns originated as potential railroad centers. Three miles west of this marker Arkalon was founded in 1888 at the Cimarron river crossing of the...
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KANSAS - THE WHEAT STATE
KANSAS - THE WHEAT STATE For centuries Kansas was the home of Native Americans who benefited from the richness of the region: vast herds of buffalo on the plains, deer and other game in the...
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THE LAND OF QUIVIRA
THE LAND OF QUIVIRA The Wichitas once populated southern Kansas. They lived in villages of cone- shaped grass lodges, growing crops for food and trade. In the fall and winter they headed west...
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