COUNCIL GROVE
COUNCIL GROVE Council Grove takes its name from a council of Osage Indians and representatives of the U.S. government that met here in 1825 and ended with a historic purchase. The U.S. paid $800 for a right-of-way across Osage land that became the famous Santa Fe Trail. Thousands of traders passed along this route. After Seth Hays opened his trading post here in 1847, Council Grove became one of the most important points on the trail — the last place for freighters going west to get supplies until they reached Bent’s Fort, 600 miles away.
Hays’ post stood on what was then the Kaw reservation, a 400-square-mile preserve established in 1846. Squatters began to occupy the Kaws’ land, farming illegally on the reservation, and by 1872 U.S. officials had forced the Kaws to Oklahoma.
The 1851 mission school is now operated as Kaw Mission State Historic Site and Hays’ trading post still stands today.
Note: This sign was replaced in 2011-2012.
US-56, Morris County
Riverfront Park, Council Grove
Plaque via Kansas Historical Society, and is used with their permission. Full page