Kansas Historical Markers
Kansas has many things to appreciate, even to brag about. While Kansas
may not have the Rocky Mountains, it has the Flint Hills and the Smoky
Hills; while it does not have the Great Lakes, it has 232 lakes and
reservoirs sprinkled across the state; while it does not have George
Washington or Mount Vernon, it does have President Dwight Eisenhower
and his home and library in Abilene; while it does not have Gettysburg
or Fredericksburg, it does have the Civil War battlefield at Mine Creek;
while it does not have President Abraham Lincoln, it does have Charles
Curtis, the first Native American to hold the second highest office
in the land; while it does not have the prime meridian located at Greenwich,
England, it does have the primary datum for North America and the geodetic
center of the United States; while it does not have Yellowstone Park,
it does have prairie parks like the Konza in Riley County and the Tall
Grass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County.
Markers erected by the Kansas Historical Society and the Kansas Department
of Transportation identify many of these interesting places, events
and people in Kansas. Most markers are located in roadside parks and
rest areas so that travelers may conveniently and safely stop to read
them. These markers are constructed of cast metal, and most have a distinctive
sunflower design at the top. The purpose of the historical marker program
is to create awareness of historically significant and interesting sites
in the state and to entertain travelers.
The first of these historical markers was erected in 1938, and this
program to mark historical sites continues into the 21st century.
The following is an abbreviated version of the historical markers text.
A free booklet containing complete text, and further information and
pictures on the Kansas Historical Markers program can be obtained by
sending your name, address and a postage and handling check for $2.50
payable to the Kansas Historical Society to: Markers Publication, Kansas
Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka KS 66615-1099.
Locate markers on the Kansas map above or find a list of markers by
county or number below. These historic markers are subject to change.
The Kansas Historical Markers program is jointly administered by the
Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Historical Society. For more information about the marker program at the Kansas
Department of Transportation, 785-296-0853.
Listings By Sign Marker Number
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53. BOYHOOD HOME OF GENERAL FUNSTON
Frederick Funston, five feet four and slightly built, went from
this farm to a life of amazing adventure. Youthful exploring expeditions
in this country were followed by two years in the Arctic from which
he returned down the Yukon River 1,500 miles by canoe. After ventures
in Latin America he served 18 months with Cuban Insurgents, fighting
in 22 engagements and reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Allen County
Town square, three blocks east of US-169, Iola
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11. ATCHISON
On July 4, 1804, Lewis and Clark exploring the new Louisiana Purchase,
camped near this site. Fifty years later the town was founded by
Proslavery men and named for Senator D. R. Atchison.
US-59, Atchison County
Roadside turnout, east of US-73 junction, Atchison
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117. MORMON GROVE THE CITY THAT DISAPPEARED
Near here, located in a grove of young hickory trees, was an important
rallying point in 1855 and 1856 for members of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), then emigrating to the Rocky
Mountains.
US-73, Atchison County
Roadside turnout, west of Atchison
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87. CARRY NATION
Carry A. Nation, the militant crusader against illegal saloons,
launched her career of saloon-smashing in Kiowa. She and her followers
in Medicine Lodge, her hometown, had closed the local saloons by
holding prayer meetings on their premises and displays of force.
However, as the Women's Christian Temperance Union's jail evangelist,
she found as many drunks as ever in the country jail. These men
named Kiowa as their source of supply.
K-8, Barber County
South edge of Kiowa
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69. MEDICINE LODGE PEACE TREATIES
In October 1867, Kiowa, Comanche, Araphoe, Apache and Cheyenne Indians
signed peace treaties with the Federal government. Fifteen thousand
Indians camped nearby during the council, among them the famous
chiefs Satanta, Little Raven and Black Kettle. Five hundred soldiers
acted as escort for the U.S. commissioners.
US-160, Barber County
Memorial Place Park
1 mile east of Medicine Lodge
Barton County
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70. FORT ZARAH
In 1865 the Federal government surveyed the Santa Fe Trail, great
trade route from western Missouri to Santa Fe. Treaties with Kansas
and Osage Indians safeguarded the eastern end of the road but Plains
Tribes continued to make raids. Fort Zarah, at this point, was one
of a chain of forts built on the Santa Fe Trail to protect wagon
trains and guard settlers.
US-56, Barton County
Roadside turnout, 1 mile east of Great Bend
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A mile northeast is Pawnee Rock, a famous landmark on the Santa
Fe Trail. Considered the mid-point of the long road between Missouri
and New Mexico, Pawnee Rock was a symbol of challenges overcome.
Many early travelers mentioned it in their journals, and many of
them scratched their names into its soft surface.
U.S. 56, roadside park, west of Pawnee Rock.
Bourbon County
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48. FORT SCOTT
This western outpost, named for General Winfield Scott, was established
by U.S. Dragoons in 1842. The fort was located on the military road
that marked the "permanent Indian frontier" stretching from Minnesota
to Louisiana and stood midway between Fort Leavenworth and Fort
Gibson. By 1853 the Indian frontier had moved west and troops were
withdrawn. Two years later the buildings were sold at auction, and
the city of Fort Scott grew up around them.
Brown County
Butler County
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23. THE BLUESTEM PASTURE REGION OF KANSAS
You are in the heart of one of the great grazing lands of the world.
Thousands of buffalo, antelope and elk once roamed here. After the
Civil War, and the wild days of Texas cattle drives, it became famous
as a feeding ground for beef cattle.
I-35 (Kansas Turnpike), Butler County
Milepost 96, Matfield Green service area
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Extra TOWANDA -- LAND OF MANY WATERS
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town and township lie tucked in the pleasant valley of the Whitewater
River, and take their name from the Osage Indian term "many
waters." First settler was C. L. Chandler, a returning '49er
from the California gold fields who built his cabin in 1858. Towanda
township was one of the first four in the makeup of Butler County--the
largest in Kansas.
In 1870, Rev. Isaac Mooney, frontier preacher and community builder,
platted ten acres for a townsite. The village quickly became a trade
center on the Emporia-Wichita wagon road and a division point for
two stage lines. Towanda gained wide fame in 1919, when giant oil
gushers were drilled on rockey Shumway land at the town's eastern
doorstep by Gypsy Oil Company and the Trapshooters group.
Close neighbor is El Dorado, the county seat on the east, since
pioneer days a prime adjunct to the Flint Hills cattle country and
for more than 50 years the focal point of vast petroleum development
in south-central Kansas. Its largest industries are modern oil refineries
of Skelly Oil Company and American Petrofina, while the Butler County
Community Junior College tops its cultural institutions.
(The complete text of the marker is included here because it was inadvertently omitted from both previous marker guidebooks.)
I-35 (Kansas Turnpike), Butler County
Milepost 76, Towanda service area
Chase County
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22. CHASE COUNTY AND THE BLUESTEM PASTURE REGION
OF KANSAS
The vast prairie, which surrounds this site is typical of the Bluestem
pasture region, more commonly known as the Flint Hills. Named for
its predominant grasses, the area extends from Oklahoma almost to
Nebraska in a narrow oval two counties wide which covers some four
and a half million acres.
US-50, Chase County
Roadside turnout, 2 miles east of Strong City
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94. A LANDMARK OF DISTINCTION
Cottonwood Falls has been the Chase county seat since both town
and county were established in 1859. The first log cabin was replaced
in 1873 by this stately building of native limestone and walnut,
which today is the oldest Kansas courthouse still in use. It was
designed in designed in French Renaissance style by John G. Haskell,
who also was the first architect of the statehouse in Topeka.
Pearl Street, Chase County
Courthouse Square in Cottonwood Falls
Chautauqua County
Cherokee County
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49. BAXTER SPRINGS MASSACRE
On October 6,1863, General James Blunt and about 100 men were met
near Baxter Springs by William Quantrill and several hundred Confederates
masquerading as Union troops. As Blunt's band was preparing a musical
salute the enemy fired. This surprise attack prevented organized
resistance, and though Blunt escaped nine-tenths of his men were
killed.
US-69 Alternate, Cherokee County
Roadside turnout, 2 miles north of Baxter Springs
Cheyenne County
Clark County
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77. BIG BASIN
The marker stands within a geological feature known as the Big
Basin, which is a sinkhole or "sink" about a mile in diameter and
more than a hundred feet deep. Although it has the appearance of
a valley, it is entirely surrounded by higher ground. Like several
other smaller sinks in this section of Kansas, Big Basin was formed
thousands of years ago by dissolving and collapse of massive gypsum
and salt formations lying several hundred feet below the surface.
US-283, Clark County
15 miles south of Minneola, 3 miles south of US-160 junction
Clay County
Cloud County
Coffey County
Comanche County
Cowley County
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59. THE GAS THAT WOULDN'T BURN
Natural gas in this locality was first found in 1903 at Dexter,
five miles north. The town, envisioning a prosperous future, advertised
its discovery far and wide. Crowds gathered to see the well fired,
then watched in dismay as the roaring gas blew out every flame near
it. For two years it was scornfully called "wind gas." Then analysis
revealed that it contained almost two percent helium.
US-166, Cowley County
Roadside turnout, 12 miles west of Cedarvale at K-15 junction
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60. OPENING OF CHEROKEE OUTLET
At noon on September 16, 1893, more than 100,000 people lined the
borders of the Cherokee Outlet listening for the pistol shots that
started one of the world's greatest races. The prize was 8,000,000
acres of land: a quarter section or a town lot to every eligible
settler who could stake a claim.
US-77, Cowley County
Roadside turnout, south of Arkansas City
Crawford County
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3. THE LEGEND OF GREENBUSH
According to legend, in 1869, Father Phillip Colleton was caught
at this site by a furious hail and thunderstorm. The frightened
priest took refuge under his saddle and vowed that if his life was
spared, he would build a church on this spot. The fervent promise
resulted in the establishment of St. Aloysius, Greenbush.
K-57, Crawford County
6.7 miles west of Girard at the site of the church
Decatur County
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43. THE FLIGHT OF THE CHEYENNES
After the Little Bighorn battle in 1876, the U.S. government forced
most Northern Cheyennes from the Northern Plains to a reservation
in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. In September 1878 a group
led by Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf attempted to return to
their homeland. Angry and embittered by their plight, they killed
settlers and herders as they fled through Kansas.
US-36, Decatur County
Roadside turnout, northeast of Oberlin
Dickinson County
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29. FATHER JUAN DE PADILLA AND QUIVIRA
In 1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado marched north from Mexico
with 300 Spaniards in search of the "Seven Golden Cities of Cibola."
With them were several priests, including Juan de Padilla, a Franciscan
friar. When the golden cities proved to be only adobe pueblos the
Spaniards went on to explore the Southwest and Padilla was among
those who discovered the Grand Canyon. Later he marched with a party
of 30 picked horsemen to the land of Quivira in Kansas.
US-56, Dickinson County
One mile south of Herington on city route
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30. HISTORIC ABILENE
At the end of the Civil War when millions of longhorns were left
on the plains of Texas without a market, the Union Pacific was building
west across Kansas. Joseph McCoy, an Illinois stockman, believed
these cattle could be herded north for shipment by rail. He built
yards at Abilene and sent agents to notify the Texas cattlemen.
In 1867 the first drives were made up the Chisholm Trail and during
the next five years more than a million head were received.
Dickinson County
Turnout Old Abilene Town
South Sixth Street, Abilene
Doniphan County
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5. ELWOOD
Elwood, first called Roseport, was established in 1856. In its
heyday scores of river steamboats unloaded passengers and freight
at its wharves and every 15 minutes ferry boats crossed to its Missouri
rival, St. Joseph. During the 1850s thousands of emigrants outfitted
here for Oregon and California. Late in 1859, Abraham Lincoln, seeking
the Republican nomination, here first set foot in Kansas, and spoke
in the three-story Great Western Hotel. Elwood was the first Kansas
station on the Pony Express between Missouri and California. Construction
of the first railroad west of the Missouri River begn here in 1859.
On April 23, 1860, the first locomotive, "The Albany," was ferried
over and pulled up the bank by hand. Elwood's ambitions for greatness
were thwarted, not by St. Joe, but by the river, which undermined
the banks and washed much of the old town away.
Fort Luxembourg Information Center parking lot , Doniphan County
203 Roseport Road, Elwood
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Two miles west is Troy, named for the famous city of Greek antiquity.
Following the organization of Doniphan County in 1855 Troy was named
the county seat and business began there in 1856. Initially it played
a secondary role to such Missouri River towns as Elwood, Iowa Point
and White Cloud, but the coming of the railroad in 1869 made it
more important than those communities which depended on the river
for their economic life.
US-36, Doniphan County
Roadside turnout, 1 mile east of Troy
Douglas County
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8. BALDWIN
Here, and for the next 300 miles west, Highway 56 roughly follows
the old Santa Fe Trail, and frequently crosses it. White settlement
began in this area in 1854, the year Kansas became a territory,
and in 1855 the town of Palmyra was founded. When Baker University
was established on the outskirts in 1858 a new town sprang up.
US-56, Douglas County
Roadside turnout, .5 miles east of Baldwin City
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7. BATTLE OF BLACK JACK
This "battle" was part of the struggle to make Kansas a free state.
In May 1856, proslavery men destroyed buildings and newspaper presses
in Lawrence, free-state headquarters. John Brown's company then
killed five proslavery men on Pottawatomie Creek not far from this
spot.
US-56, Douglas County
Roadside turnout, 2 miles east of Baldwin City
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10. LAWRENCE
Lawrence was established in 1854 by the Emigrant Aid Company, a
New England organization formed to prevent the new Kansas territory
from becoming a slave state. When the first legislature enacted
the so-called Bogus Laws with severe penalties for opposing slavery
Lawrence was the center of Free-State resistance. Free-State newspapers
here further antagonized Proslavery officers.
US-40, Douglas County
Roadside turnout, Tennessee Street, Lawrence
Edwards County
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73. THE BATTLE OF COON CREEK
Indian attacks along the Santa Fe Trail were frequent from the
1820s to the 1870s. Near here, where the trail followed the Arkansas
River, the Battle of Coon Creek was fought June 18, 1848, between
some 200 Comanches and Osages and 140 soldiers, half of whom were
recruits bound for service in the Mexican War.
US-50, Edwards County
Two miles east of Kinsley at Arkansas River bridge
Elk County
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112. PRUDENCE CRANDALL
In 1831, Prudence Crandall, educator, emancipator, and human rights
advocate, established a school which in 1833, became the first Black
female academy in New England at Canterbury, Connecticut. This later
action resulted in her arrest and improsionment for violating the
"Black Law."
US-160, Elk County
Osage Street in Elk Falls
Ellis County
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This noted U.S. Army post was established in 1865 as a headquarters
for troops given the task of protecting military roads, guarding
the mails, and defending construction crews on the Union Pacific
Railway. Fort Hays also served as a major supply depot for other
army posts in western Kansas.
US-183 Bypass, Ellis County
Roadside turnout, south of Hays on old US-40
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40. VICTORIA
Nowhere in America were two colonies more unlike than those that
came here. Scarlet-coated Britishers who chased antelope on hob-tailed
ponies were joined by frugal and hard-working German-Russian immigrants.
A Scotsman, George Grant, with 69,000 acres purchased from the railway,
offered country estates to aristocrats. The immigrants came for
religious freedom and to escape the czar's army. Cricket and Hays
city dance halls delighted one colony, homestead rights and the
steppe-like prairie the other. Victoria, established in 1873, was
named for a queen and laid out by a London architect. Herzog, just
north, established in 1876, was built of sod and named for a Volga
village.
First Street, Ellis County
Roadside, Victoria
Ellsworth County
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89. 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 reports:
"Passengers on the cars between here and Ellsworth have almost daily
fine sport shooting at buffalo, immense herds of the huge beasts
constantly entering for races with the locomotives." Ellsworth,
founded in 1867, was the main terminus of the Texas cattle trade
in Kansas 1871-1875.
K-14, Ellsworth County
Turnout, North Main Street, city of Ellsworth
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101. HISTORICAL KANSAS
The rolling land hereabout was once sheep country, but cattle have
taken over. Stone fence posts found here are examples of the many
still in use in this portion of Kansas. In an area where wood for
posts was scarce, man used materials at hand. He split the Greenhorn
"post rock" from limestone strata, and with a little working, there
were the posts!
I-70, Ellsworth County
Milepost 224, westbound rest area, east of K-156 junction
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102. THE SMOKY HILLS REGION
This area of Kansas contains the Smoky Hills, an area of rolling
hills with occasional mesas and buttes. Pawnee Rock, Coronado Heights,
and Rock City are notable elements of the landscape, as are the
rock "toadstools" in this park. More of these unique forms, sculpted
by erosion, may be seen at Mushroom Rocks State park near Carneiro,
east of Ellsworth.
I-70, Ellsworth County
Milepost 224, eastbound reas area, east of K-14 junction
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12. BEERSHEBA
In 1882 the first Jewish agricultural colony in Kansas was established
when some 60 recently arrived Jewish immigrants from Russia, sponsored
by the Hebrew Union Agricultural Society, settled northeast of here
along Pawnee Creek.
K-156, Finney County
Rest area west junction of K-23 and K-156
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80. THE INDIAN AND THE BUFFALO
The buffalo was the department store of the Plains Indian. The
flesh was food, the blood was drink, skins furnished wigwams, robes
made blankets and bed, dressed hides supplied moccasins and clothing,
hair was twisted into ropes, rawhide bound to hold to handles, green
hides made pots for cooking over buffalo-chip fires, hides from
bulls' necks made shields that would turn arrows, ribs were runners
for dog-drawn sleds, small bones were awls and needles, from hooves
came glue for feathering arrows, from sinews came thread and bowstrings,
from horns came bows, cups and spoons, and even from gall stones
a "medicine" paint was made.
US-50, Finney County
Roadside turnout
East city limits of Garden City
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76. DODGE CITY THE COWBOY CAPITAL
For ten years this was the largest cattle market in the world and
for fifteen it was the wildest town on the American frontier. Established
with the coming of the Santa Fe in 1872, Dodge City became the shipping
center of the Southwest. The hunters who exterminated the buffalo
here marketed several million dollars worth of hides and meat. Hundreds
of wagon trains carried supplies to Western towns and army posts.
US-50 Business, Ford County
Roadside turnout, west of Dodge City
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75. FORT DODGE
Fort Dodge, named for Major General Grenville M. Dodge, was established
here in 1865. It was a supply depot and base of operations against
warring Plains Indians. Custer, Sheridan, Miles, Hancock, "Wild
Bill" Hickok, and "Buffalo Bill" Cody are figures in its history.
US-400, Ford County
At site of fort, southeast of Dodge City
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96. FORT DODGE-CAMP SUPPLY MILITARY ROAD
The Fort Dodge-Camp Supply military road passed several hundred
feet west of this marker. The route was established in 1868 during
General Philip H. Sheridan's winter campaign against Indians in
Texas and the Indian Territory. This ungraded prairie trail, approximately
90 miles long, was important for transporting supplies from Fort
Dodge and Dodge City to Camp (later Fort) Supply, in present Oklahoma,
and was an important link in the communications system of western
outposts.
US-54, Ford County
Rest area northeast of Bloom
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74. THE ROAD TO SANTA FE
The Santa Fe Trail, extending 750 miles from the Kansas City area
to the old Spanish settlement of Santa Fe, was the great overland
trade route of the 1820s to 1870s. Its commercial use began in 1821,
when William Becknell headed west with a pack train from Franklin,
Missouri. For more than 500 miles the road lay in Kansas, angling
southwest past such historic landmarks as Council Grove and Pawnee
Rock.
US-56, Ford County
Roadside turnout, 8 miles east of Dodge City
US-50 and US-283 junction
Franklin County
Geary County
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This building was erected in 1855 in the now extinct town of Pawnee
for the first legislature of Kansas. The members were mostly Missourians,
fraudulently elected in an effort to make Kansas a slave state.
They came in wagons and on horseback well armed, and camped out
on the prairie. The session lasted from July 2 to 6.
Huebner Road, Geary County
South of Huebner Road at old Capitol Building, Fort Riley Reservation
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27. FORT RILEY
Here where the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers unite to form the
Kansas, Fremont's expedition of 1843 camped and reported great numbers
of elk, antelope and Indians. In 1852 the army selectied the site
for a Western outpost, temporarily called Camp Center.
Huebner Road, Geary County
Fort Riley Reservation
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98. HISTORICAL KANSAS
Seven miles ahead you will drive through the southern edge of Fort
Riley, established as Camp Center in 1852. The fort was visited
by Horace Greeley, noted editor of the New
York Tribune when he traveled by stagecoach to the Pike's
Peak region in 1859 to determine if reports of gold discoveries
were humbug. Of Fort Riley, "I hear that two millions of Uncle Sam's
money have been expended in making these snug arrangements and that
the oats largely consumed here have often cost three dollars per
bushel!"
I-70, Geary County
Milepost 310, westbound rest area 12 miles
East of Junction City
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99. HISTORICAL KANSAS
Abilene, 20 miles ahead, was a cowtown of major importance in the
history of the American West. During 1867-1871 much of the town
was a mixture of bawling Longhorn cattle and cowhands up from Texas
- with numerous, more worldly two-legged critters in supporting
occupations. Abilene's most respected early lawman was Thomas J.
Smith, killed by a half-crazed settler in 1871, contributed to the
town's bloody history by engaging rowdy Phil Coe in a blazing gun
battle at eight feet.
I-70, Geary County
Milepost 294, westbound rest area west of Junction City
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104. HISTORICAL KANSAS
Five miles to the northeast the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers
united to form the Kansas or Kaw. At the junction, the city, which
bears the name, was founded in 1857. Before the arrival of the westward-building
Union Pacific railroad in 1866, steamboats occasionally navigated
the Kaw River from Kansas City to Junction City, when they could
elude the sifting sandbars.
I-70, Geary County
Milepost 294, eastbound rest area, 2 miles west of Junction City
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105. HISTORICAL KANSAS
North on scenic K-177 is Manhattan, home of Kansas State University,
established as Bluemont College in 1858. Above Manhattan is the
huge Tuttle Creek dam and reservoir, described in the 1950s by embattled
valley residents as "Big Dam Foolishness."
I-70, Geary County
Milepost 310, eastbound rest area
12 miles east of Junction City
Gove County
Graham County
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42. NICODEMUS
In July 1877 Negro "exodusters" from Kentucky established a settlement
here in the Promised Land of Kansas which they named Nicodemus.
Although the colonists lacked sufficient tools, seed and money,
they managed to survive the first winter, some selling buffalo bones,
others by working for the Kansas Pacific railroad at Ellis, 35 miles
away. In 1880 the all-Negro community had a population of more than
400.
US-24, Graham County
Roadside turnout, Nicodemus
Grant County
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83. WAGON BED SPRINGS
About two miles west were the Lower Springs of the Cimarron River,
known today as Wagon Bed Springs. For early-day travelers on the
famous Santa Fe Trail, the springs were an "oasis" in dry weather.
Several shortcuts of the trail converged here, with the most popular
route running between here and the Arkansas River near the present-day
town of Cimarron.
K-25, Grant County
Roadside turnout, 12 miles south of Ulysses
Gray County
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116. THE SANTA FE TRAIL
Cimarron, settled in 1878, got its name as the starting point at
one time of the shorter Cimarron or dry route to Santa Fe. Here
the Santa Fe Trail divided, one branch heading directly southwest,
the other (present US-50) following the Arkanss River to Bent's
Fort (near La Junta, Colorado), then south over Raton Pass.
Greeley County
Greenwood County
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58. GREENWOOD COUNTY AND THE BLUESTEM PASTURE
REGION OF KANSAS
This county lies almost wholly within one of the world's great
beef cattle feeding grounds, the Bluestem pasture region of Kansas.
The area, more popularly known as the Flint Hills, extends across
the state from north to south in a narrow oval two counties wide,
and covers four and a half million acres.
US-54, Greenwood County
Rest area west of Verdigris River bridge,
5 miles east of Neal
Hamilton County
Harper County
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66.OLD RUNNYMEDE
Two miles northeast of here, in 1890, stood a typical English village.
Curving driveways led to English-style houses set among rows of
clipped hedges. Nearby were polo grounds, a steeplechase course,
a racetrack, tennis courts and a football field. Red-coated hunters
rode to hounds across the buffalo-grass prairie. Farms and orchards
were modeled after English estates and on the townsite a three-story
hotel and other businesses were established.
K-2, Harper County
Roadside turnout, 6 miles northeast of Harper
Harvey County
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61.RED TURKEY WHEAT
Children in Russia hand-picked the first seeds of this famous winter
wheat for Kansas. They belonged to Mennonite Colonies preparing
to emigrate from the steppes to the American prairies. A peace-loving
sect, originally from Holland, the Mennonites had gone to the Crimea
from Prussia in 1790 when Catherine the Great offered free lands,
military exemption and religious freedom. They prospered until these
privileges were threatened in 1871.
US-50, Harvey County
Roadside turnout, .5 miles east of Walton
Haskell County
Hodgeman County
Jackson County
Jefferson County
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13.BATTLE OF HICKORY POINT (2 locations)
In September 1856, a band of Proslavery men sacked Grasshopper
Falls (Valley Falls) and terrorized the vicinity. On the 13th, the
Free-State leader James H. Lane with a small company besieged a
party of raiders in log buildings at Hickory Point, about one-half
mile west of this marker.
Osage Road near Dunavant, Jefferson County
US-59, Jefferson County
Roadside turnout, 5 miles north of Oskaloosa
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95. KANSA INDIAN AGENCY
At the mouth of Stone house creek, 2 1/2 miles southeast of this
marker, the U.S. government in 1827 established an agency for the
Kansa Indians. Here Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the famous frontiersman,
built a log house when he was appointed "agriculturist" to teach
the Indians farming. His twelfth child, Napoleon, born here August
22, 1828, was the second white child and first white boy born in
present Kansas of whom there is record.
US-24, Jefferson County
Roadside turnout, east of Perry
Jewell County
Johnson County
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6.OVERLAND TRAILS
Here US-56 lies directly on the route of the Oregon-California
and Santa Fe Trails. Nearby, the trails branched. On a rough sign
pointing northwast were the words, "Road to Oregon." Another marker
directed travelers southwest along the road to Santa Fe.
US-56, Johnson County
Roadside turnout, 1.5 miles southwest of Gardner.
Kearny County
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72. SANTA FE TRAIL RUTS, 1821-1872
Looking east, up and over the bank of the ditch, one can see the
wagon ruts of the Santa Fe Trail. You will notice a difference in
the color and texture of the grass in the ruts. This is a characteristic
of the ruts along the trail.
US-50, Kearny County
Roadside turnout, 4 miles east of Lakin
16. CANNONBALL STAGE LINE HIGHWAY
Flamboyant and colorful, Donald R. "Cannon" Green (1839-1922) ran
a stage-line connecting the railroad to towns across southwestern
Kansas. Green started his first stage service in Kingman in 1876.
It ran through Pratt to Coldwater and later to Greensburg, a town
he helped found in 1886.
US-54, Kiowa County
Turnout east city limits of Greensburg
Labette County
Lane County
Leavenworth County
-
4.FORT LEAVENWORTH (4 markers)
Established in 1827, Fort Leavenworth is the oldest army post
in continuous operation west of the Missouri River. Serving as
the army's chief base of operations on the Central Plains, the
fort furnished troops and supplies for military operations as
far away as the Pacific Coast. Troops stationed at the fort were
given the task of maintaining peace on the frontier and protecting
trade on the newly established Santa Fe Trail. With the establishment
of the Oregon-California Trail in the 1840s, travelers on that
trail also received protection.
7th Street, K-7 and US-24, Leavenworth County
Markers at: 7th Street entrance to Fort Leavenworth; turnout
on K-7, 11 miles northwest of city of Leavenworth; turnouts
on US-24, .3 miles west and .5 miles east of US-24, US-73, and
K-7 interchange
-
9.LAWRENCE AND THE OLD TRAILS
Between Lawrence and Topeka, the Kansas turnpike passes near
the route of the old Oregon-California Trail, traveled in the
1800s by explorers, missionaries, soldiers, emigrants in search
of land, and forty-niners in search of gold. Fifteen miles south
of here was the Santa Fe Trail, which for more than 50 years served
mainly as a trail of trade and commerce. From the Missouri River
it was some 2,000 miles to Oregon and California and around 800
to Santa Fe, following trails established centuries earlier by
Native Americans. Tribes living in this area during the 1800s
included the Delaware, Kaw, Kickapoo, Shawnee, and Wyandot.
I-70 (Kansas Turnpike), Leavenworth County
Milepost 209, service area 6 miles east of Lawrence
Lincoln County
-
35. LINCOLN COUNTY AND THE INDIAN WARS
By the 1850s Plains Indians were faced with ever-growing numbers
of travelers and settlers in central and western Kansas. Treaties
were negotiated by the U.S. government, often taking advantage
of tribal divisions, forcing native peoples onto reservations
and limiting their hunting areas. Although relations between settlers
and Indians were generally peaceful, tensions developed as more
settlers arrived.
K-18, Lincoln County
Roadside turnout, 3 miles east of Lincoln
Linn County
-
In October 1864, a Confederate army under General Sterling Price
was defeated near Kansas City. He retreated south, crossed into
Kansas, and camped at Trading Post. Early on the morning of October
25, Union troops under Generals Pleasonton, Blunt, and Curtis
forced him from this position, and a few hours later the Battle
of Mine Creek was fought over these fields.
US-69, Linn County
Roadside turnout, 2.5 miles south of Pleasanton
-
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 this marker. Charles Hamelton who
had been driven from the territory by Free-State men, retaliated
by invading the county with about 30 Missourians.
US-69, Linn County
Roadside turnout, .5 miles north of Trading Post
Logan County
Lyon County
-
91. EMPORIA--HOME OF WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
When native-born William Allen White entered college at Emporia
in 1884, the city, incorporated in 1857, already was called the
Athens of Kansas because of its two higher schools. The State
Normal, now Kansas State Teachers College [Emporia State University]
was established in 1863, and the College of Emporia, where White
enrolled, was founded in 1882.
I-35 (Kansas Turnpike), Lyon County
Milepost 132, Emporia service area
McPherson County
-
33. KANSAS INDIAN TREATY
In 1825 President James Monroe approved a bill providing for
the survey of the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri to New Mexico and
the making of treaties to insure friendly relations with Indians
along the route. A mile west of this sign, on Dry Turkey Creek,
a monument marks the site of a council on August 16, 1825, between
U.S. Commissioners Reeves, Sibley and Mather, and Son-ja-inga
and fifteen other headmen of the the Kansas or Kaw nation.
Old US-81, McPherson County
4 miles southeast of K-61 junction
Marion County
Marshall County
-
25. MARYSVILLE
A few miles below Marysville was the famous ford on the Oregon
Trail known as the Independence, Mormon or California crossing.
There thousands of covered wagons with settlers bound for Oregon,
Mormons for Utah and gold seekers for California crossed the Big
Blue River.
US-36, Marshall County
Roadside turnout, one mile east of Marysville
Meade County
-
78. THE LONE TREE INCIDENT
During the first half of the 19th century the U.S. government,
in response to public pressure for land and resources, began a
program of concentrating Indian tribes on reservations. After
the Civil War, an evergrowing number of settlers made it difficult
for Native Americans to survive on the Plains. There was resistance
from many Plains Indians, eventually resulting in open warefare.
US-54, Meade County
Roadside turnout, 1 mile west of Meade
Miami County
-
Osawatomie - the name derives from a combination of Osage and
Pottawatomie - was settled in 1854 by Free-State families from
the Ohio Valley and New England. John Brown, soon to become famous
for his militant abolitionism, joined five of his sons at their
homes near the new town in October 1855. By the spring of 1856,
local defiance of Proslavery laws and officials was so notorious
that 170 Missourians "punished" the area by looting Osawatomie.
US-169, Miami County
Roadside, Sixth and Lincoln Avenue, Osawatomie
Mitchell County
-
36. WACONDA (GREAT SPIRIT) SPRING
Many moons ago, so runs an Indian legend, Waconda, a beautiful
Princess, fell in love with a brave of another tribe. Prevented
from marriage by a blood feud, this warriror embroiled the tribes
in battle. During the fight an arrow struck him as he stood on
the brink of a spring and he fell mortally wounded into the waters.
US-24, Mitchell County
Roadside turnout, 2 miles east of Cawker City
Montgomery County
-
54. THE BLOODY BENDERS
Near here are the Bender Mounds, named for the infamous Bender
family--John, his wife, son and daughter Kate who settled here
in 1871. Kate soon gained notoriety as a self-proclaimed healer
and spiritualist. Secretly, the four made a living through murder
and robbery.
US-400 and US-169 interchange, Montgomery County
Rest area, north of Cherryvale
-
56. CIVIL WAR BATTLE DRUM CREEK TREATY
In May 1863, a mounted party of about twenty Confederates, nearly
all commissioned officers, set out from Missouri to recruit troops
in the West. Several miles east of here they were challenged by
loyal Osage Indians. In a running fight two Confederates were
killed and the others were surrounded on a gravel bar in the Verdigris
River about three miles north of this marker.
US-160, Montgomery County
Roadside turnout, one mile east of Independence
-
55. MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Until 1867 this was Osage Indian country. White settlement started
when the government opened a strip along the east boundary for
land-hungry settlers. The Osages quickly began selling "claims"
to immigrants for a few dollars each. By 1869, when the county
was organized, the Verdigris valley was alive with campers.
Montgomery County
Archived 1999 at Brown Musem, Coffeyville
Morris County
Morton County
-
84. LA JORNADA & POINT OF ROCKS
The Cimarron Cutoff or Dry Route, of the old Santa Fe Trail extended
southwest from several Arkansas River crossings to the Cimaroon
River, a distance of 50 to 60 miles. This route was a perilous
stretch of arid plains known to travelers as "La Jornada."
US-56, Morton County
Roadside turnout, north of Elkhart
Nemaha County
-
32. THE LANE TRAIL
Near here the towns of Plymouth and Lexington once stood as outposts
on the Lane Trail, approximated today by US-75. Established by
James H. Lane in 1856, the trail bypassed proslavery strongholds
in Missouri and offered a safe route for free-state settlers entering
Kansas.
Neosho County
-
52. MISSION NEOSHO
The first Indian mision and school in present Kansas was established
in September 1824, about three and one half miles west of the marker. Benton
Pixley, the missionary followed chief White Hair and his band
of Great Osages who had migrated from Missouri about 1815.
US-59, Neosho County
Roadside turnout, 1.5 miles north of Erie
Ness County
-
79. HOMESTEAD OF A GENIUS
A mile and a half south is a quarter section of land originally
homesteaded by George Washington Carver. An African American and
one of America's great scientists, Carver revolutionized agriculture
in the South with his discoveries. From sweet potatoes and peanuts
alone, he made paint, soap, wallboard, milk substitute, medicines,
cosmetics, and some 500 other products.
K-96, Ness County
15 miles west of Ness City
Norton County
Osage County
Osborne County
-
38. GEODETIC CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA
On a ranch 18 miles southeast of the marker a bronze plate marks
the most important spot on this continent to surveyors and mapmakers.
Engraved in the bronze is a cross-mark and on the tiny point where
the lines cross depend the surveys of a sixth of the world's surface.
This is the Geodetic Center of the United States, the "Primary
Station" for all North American surveys.
US-281, Osborne County
Roadside mile north of Osborne
Ottawa County
Pawnee County
-
108. BIRTHPLACE OF FARM CREDIT
This 280 acres was collateral for the nation's first Federal
Land Bank loan made on April 10, 1917 to farmer-stockman A. L.
Stockwell. In those days, farmers and ranhers found credit hard
to come by. If available, it was often very expensive. . .as much
as 10 percent per month.
US-56, Pawnee County
Southwest of Larned
-
20.THE CALIFORNIA-OREGON TRAIL
From the 1830s to the 1870s, the 2,000-mile road connecting Missouri
river towns with California and Oregon was America's greatest
transcontinental highway. Several routes led west from the river,
converging into one trail by the time the Fort Kearny (Neb.) vicinity
was reached. One of them began near present Kansas City and passed
this point, crossing Rock Creek, not far from the highway bridge.
K-99, Pottawatomie County
Roadside turnout, south of Westmoreland
-
107. LOUIS VIEUX
Of Potawatomi Indian and French ancestry, Louis Vieux was an
early resident of this area. Probably born near Lake Michigan,
Vieux, with a portion of the Potawatomis, moved to Iowa and later
Indianola, Kansas, near Topeka. In 1847 or 1848, Vieux moved to
this area of what became Pottawatomie County, located on the Oregon
Trail near the Vermillion river crossing. The Vieux family with
its seven children, lived in a log cabin and Vieux built and operated
a toll bridge over the river.
Hill Road, Pottawatomie County
3.3 miles east of Louisville (off K-99)
-
18. ST. MARYS
This city and college take their name from St. Mary's Catholic
Mission founded here by the Jesuits in 1848 for the Pottawatomi
Indians. These missionaries, who had lived with the tribe in eastern
Kansas from 1838, accompanied the removal to this area. A manual
labor school was operated at the mission until 1871.
US-24, Potawatomie County
East city limits of St. Marys
-
19.THE VIEUX CROSSING
A few miles to the northwest, the Oregon-California Trail crossed
Vermillion Creek, heading toward the Pacific from the "jumping
off" towns on the Missouri River. The crossing was named for Louis
Vieux, a Potawatomi leader of French and Native American lineage
who established a toll bridge there in the 1850s.
US-24, Pottawatomie County
Roadside turnout, 2 miles west of Belvue
Pratt County
Rawlins County
-
85. FRONTIER DAYS IN RAWLINS COUNTY
Travel is so smooth and effortless today that it is hard to visualize
its hazards in the mid-19th century. For example, in June 1859,
four mules pulling a Denver-bound Pike's Peak Express stagecoach--six
days and 450 miles out from Leavenworth--were terrified by Indians
a few miles northeast of Here. Plunging down a precipitous bank,
the animals upset the coach and its best-known passenger, Horace
Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune.
Lake Road and Second Street, Rawlins County
Lake Atwood City Park
Reno County
Republic
County
-
This is the site of a large, fortified village of the Republican
band of Pawnee Indians, occupied during the early 1800s.
As the inscription on the stone marker indicates, the village
was long believed by local, state and national historians to be
that visited by Zebulon M. Pike in 1808. On the strength of this
belief, the site was purchased and presented to the state in 1899
by Elizabeth A. and George Johnson. Later investigations cast
doubt on the claim, chiefly because the topography does not match
that described by Pike.
Nevertheless, there can be no question that the farsighted and
public-spirited action fo the donors save this important location
from destruction. Today it is the only major preserved Pawnee
village site in the Central Plains area, and this museum, constructed
around a scientifically excavated house floor, is unique in Plains
archeology.
Rice County
-
68. CORONADO AND QUIVIRA
Eighty years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Spanish
explorers visited Kansas. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, seeking
gold in New Mexico, was told of Quivira by an Indian called the
Turk. Here were "trees hung with golden bells and people whose
pots and pans were beaten gold." With 30 picked horsemen and a
Franciscan friar named Juan de Padilla, Coronado marched "north
by the needle" from a point in Texas until he reached Kansas.
US-56, Rice County
Roadside turnout, 3 miles west of Lyons
Riley County
Rooks County
Rush County
-
113. FORT HAYS--FORT DODGE TRAIL
Established in 1867, the Fort Hays--Fort Dodge Trail, which passed
near this spot, was first used by the military and some civilian
traffic in 1868. The following year Alexander Harvey, a former
member of the Sixth Cavalry, built a trading post on the trail
on the north bank of Walnut Creek near here, and provided a place
to ford the creek.
K-96, Rush County
Rest area in Alexander
Russell County
-
39. THE ARRIVAL OF THE RAILROAD
When railroads first built across Kansas in the 1860s, Plains
Indians inhabited much of the central and western part of the
state. They did not welcome the incursion, sensing a danger to
the buffalo herds that provided them with food, shelter, and clothing.
In an attempt to defend their lands, Cheyennes, Arapahos, and
other tribes frequently attacked railroad workers and tore up
tracks.
US-40 Business, Russell County
Roadside turnout, east edge of Russell
Saline County
-
103. HISTORICAL KANSAS
Ten miles ahead is Abilene, first of the major cattle trail towns
of Kansas, and famed in the story of the Cowtown West. Following
the Civil War, millions of Longhorn cattle were stranded on Texas
ranges. Beef-eating Northerners were hungry and the problem was
to bring the supply to the markets.
I-70, Saline County
Milepost 265, eastbound rest area near Solomon
-
100. 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 forested river valleys. Native
Americans were the first to farm this area, growing corn, beans,
squash, and sunflowers in the fertile valley soils.
I-70, Saline County
Milepost 265, westbound rest area near Solomon
Scott County
-
81. EL QUARTELEJO
In Scott County State Park three miles northwest is El Quartelejo,
only known Indian pueblo in Kansas. About 1650, it is believed,
Taos Indians migrated here to escape Spanish oppression. Later
they were persuaded by the Spanish governor to return to New Mexico.
In 1706 Juan Uribarri formally took possession of the valley for
Spain, calling it San Luis province.
US-83, Scott County,
Roadside turnout, 10.5 miles north of Scott City
Sedgwick
County
-
62.THE CHISHOLM TRAIL
At the close of the Civil War when millions of longhorns were
left on the plains of Texas without a market, the Union Pacific
was building west across Kansas. Joseph McCoy, an Illinois stockman,
believed these cattle could be herded over the prairies for shipment
by rail. He built yards at Abilene and sent agents to notify the
Texas cattlemen. The trail he suggested ran from the Red River
to Abilene but took its name from Jesse Chisholm, an Indian trader,
whose route lay beween the North Canadian River and this vicinity.
North Broadway, Sedgwick County
Roadside turnout, 2 miles north of I-235, Wichita
-
64. INDIAN TREATIES OF 1865
In October 1865 hundreds of Plains Indians camped on these prairies
to negotiate peace with U.S. government officials. Among them
were Chiefs Black Kettle and Seven Bulls (Cheyennes), Little Raven
and Big Mouth (Arapahos), Rising Sun and Horse's Back (Comanches),
Poor Bear (Apache), and Satanta and Satank (Kiowas).
North Broadway, Sedgwick County
Roadside turnout, north of Kechi Road, Park City
Seward County
-
93. ARKALON AND THE SAMSON OF THE CIMARRON
Many Kansas towns orginated as potential railroad centers. Three
miles west of this marker Arkalon was found in 1888 at the Cimarron
River crossing of the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska railway, a
part of the Rock Island. Town lots were cheap, and people flocked
in by the hundreds. However, the deep sand of the area was a serious
handicap to the movement of horse-drawn freight, and this town
never succeeded in establishing itself as a profitable marketing
point. It was sustained for some years by its large yards but
by the 1920s most of the population had gone.
US-54, Seward County
Rest area southwest of Kismet
-
92. FARGO SPRINGS AND SPRINGFIELD
The importance of railroads to the early settlement and prosperity
of the West is nowhere better illustrated than in the stories
of two Seward County towns. Fargo Springs, founded in 1885 about
three miles south of here, was the first town established in the
county. The next year Springfield was located where this marker
stands. In June it was named the temporary county seat but in
August, after an election, the government was moved to Fargo Springs.
The vote was contested and when recanvassed in 1887 the county
seat was returned to Springfield.
US-83, Seward County
Roadside turnout, 16 miles north of Liberal, on site of old
Springfield
-
114. 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 was the land of Quivira, described
to the Spaniards as a fabulously wealthy kingdom where gold was
commonplace. In June the expedition entered the Arkansas River
to what is now Rice and mcPherson counties. The Spaniards found
no gold, only the grass lodges of the Quiviran Indians, and the
guide who misled Coronado was killed.
US-54, Seward County
Jewel Avenue in City Park, Liberal
Shawnee County
Sheridan
County
Sherman County
Smith County
Stafford
County
Stanton County
Stevens County
Sumner County
-
65.CALDWELL AND THE CHISHOLM TRAIL
A mile southeast of this marker the Chisholm Trail entered Kansas.
It took its name from Jesse Chisholm, an Indian trader, whose
route lay between the North Canadian River and present Wichita.
In 1867 it was extended from the Red River to Abilene when the
building of the Union Pacific gave Texas cattle an Eastern market.
US-81, Sumner County
Roadside turnout, 1 mile south of Caldwell
-
63.CHISHOLM TRAIL AND WHEAT COUNTRY
This portion of the Plains - Indian country until about 1870
- is a center of Kanss agriculture and industry. Over the Chisholm
Trail, which ran a few miles west and roughly parallel to this
turnpike from the Oklahoma line to Wichita, a milion head of Texas
cattle were herded to Kansas railheads from 1867 to 1876.
I-35 (Kansas Turnpike), Sumner County
Milepost 26, Belle Plaine service area
Thomas County
Trego County
Wabaunsee County
-
106. 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 ahead, favored
the Free-State cause even though the territorial government was
at first Proslavery. Rebelling Free Staters attempted to set up
a rival legislature in Topeka in 1856. Acting for President Franklin
Pierce came Col. E. V. Sumner with five companies of U.S. dragoons
and two cannons specially loaded for legislators.
I-70, Wabaunsee County
Milepost 337, eastbound rest area near Paxico
-
97. HISTORICAL KANSAS
You are on the eastern edge of a Bluestem pasture region known
as the Flint Hills. Extending past Junction City, this nutritious
grazing area averages 60 miles in width, and reaches south into
Oklahoma. For centuries buffalo in great numbers grazed its acres.
Eventually they were succeeded by rangy Texas cattle. "Texas shipped
up the horns and we put the bodies under them," old Kansas cowmen
used to say. Today the Flints Hills fatten more than a million
fine cattle annually.
I-70, Wabaunsee County
Milepost 337, westbound rest area near Paxico
Wallace County
-
45. THE HIGH PLAINS
Here on the western border of Kansas is the heart of yesterday's
buffalo and Indian country. Until the 1870s millions of buffalo
grazed these plains, and in this area were fought some of the
last battles between Indians and whites. Troops stationed at Fort
Wallace, 25 miles east, patrolled the frontier and participated
in many skirmishes with hostile warriors.
US-40, Wallace County
Roadside turnout, Kansas-Colorado state line
Washington
County
-
Begun in 1858, the Hollenberg Ranch, four miles north and one
mile east of here, seved as a stop on the Oregon-California Trail
until the late 1860s. Gerat and Sophia Hollenberg, German emigrants,
sold food and other supplies, lodging, and draft animals to passing
travelers. Settlers, freighters, soldiers, stagecoach passengers,
and Pony Express riders all stopped there.
US-36, Washington County
11 miles west of Marysville
Wichita County
Wilson County
-
57. OPENING OF THE MID-CONTINENT OIL FIELD
Kansas has long been oil country. There are legends that the
Indians held council around the lights of burning springs. Emigrants,
it is known, skimmed "rock tar" from such oil seeps to grease
the axles of their wagons. A mile southeast is the site of one
of the most famous oil wells in the United States--Norman No.
1, first commercially successful well of the Mid-Continent field.
US-75, Wilson County
Roadside turnout, west of Neodesha
Woodson County
Wyandotte
County
-
Just east of this marker, at a point where an old Indian trail
led to the water's edge, Moses Grinter established the first ferry
on the Kansas River. The year was 1831, and Grinter became the
earliest permanent white settler in the area. His ferry was used
extensively by travelers over the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Scott
military road, and by traders, freighters and soldiers traveling
between the forts or to Santa Fe. This place was known as Military
or Delaware Crossing, and sometimes as Secondine, and here the
first non-mlitary post office in Kansas was established on September
10, 1850.
K-32 (Kaw Drive), Wyandotte County
Roadside turnout, east of I-435 Interchange
-
115. 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 their exploring trip assaying the new
Louisian Purchase, camped three days 4 blocks east,
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