Jump to Navigation

National and State Registers of Historic Places

Santa Fe Trail - Cimarron National Grassland Segment 1

Picture of property Cimarron National Grassland
Elkhart vicinity (Morton County)
Listed in National Register Apr 3, 2013

Architect: N/A
Category: transportation
Thematic Nomination: Historic Resources of the Santa Fe Trail (Amended 2013)

In addition to the Point of Rocks - Middle Springs Santa Fe Trail Historic District, there are five segments of the Santa Fe Trail in the Cimarron National Grassland that are nominated to the National Register. Travel over this portion of the trail began in 1822 and ended with the arrival of the railroad at the short-lived town of Sheridan, Kansas in 1868. These trail segments are closely related to nearby Point of Rocks and Middle Spring, which was the next reliable water source west of the Lower Cimarron (or Wagon Bed) Spring. Documented trail segments in western Kansas and in the Cimarron National Grassland have confirmed the pattern of traffic in this region that historically tended to follow the four-parallel-column formation. This particular segment includes trail swales and a commemorative marker erected in 1914 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This segment was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for its significance in the areas of transportation, commerce, and social history, and it has the potential to yield additional information on the use of the trail during its initial period of significance.



New Search