Trail Ruts 

A newsletter for Santa Fe Trail Center Museum and Fort Larned Historical Society

Published: August, 2021

 

2021 marks the bicentennial of the Santa Fe Trail.   Along with many museums along the trail, the Santa Fe Trail has noticed a resurgence in interest in the history of the Trail, and the cultures impacted by the first international super highway. 

 At the Santa Fe Trail Center, we are often asked what does the Santa Fe Trail have to do with Pawnee County?  Many landmarks in Kansas bear the name of dusty old trail named after a town two states away, but why is it still important?  After all, the trail was opened in September of 1821, and was only in use for approximately 60 years.    Santa Fe was once a quiet and remote village at the outliers of the Spanish and later the Mexican territories.   

 The trail symbolizes more than that.   Today, the occasional eroded swells in the landscape, and a few foundations are the physical remnants of one of the great pathways that shaped several nations. The trail was blazed by multiple cultures following paths to destinations for different opportunities.  For some, it was fortune, for others, it was either food, freedom and safety or to escape money lenders.  There were cultural clashes, and the trail was used in multiple battle fronts.  In the last years of the trail, the pioneer families that sought opportunities form other parts of the world would settle along the trail in hope of developing the land.   If it were not for those daring people, the United States would look completely different today.

Looking Back on the Trail

 

The Santa Fe Trail Center has had a successful summer.  In June, the museum worked with the Pawnee County Extension Agents Kyle Grant and Jennifer Webster to create “Heritage Days” which took place on June 11 and 12, and was well attended with an estimated 200 people over the two days.   Community involvement provided educational demonstrations in quilting, blacksmithing, painting, wood-stove pie baking, leather and wood working, needlework, flour milling, and several fur traders portraying some of the early explorers of this region.  Due to the generosity of the sponsors who contributed to the event, the museum’s education department raised $2,434.38.

 Members of the Fort Larned Historical Society held the second annual Boots and Brew fund raiser on July 14.   The event raised over $2,235.22 for the museum, and was well attended by everyone of Pawnee County. 

 

Looking Forward on the Trail

Fall Events and Exhibits

The Santa Fe Trail Center will be opening a new exhibit “Bison: Masters of the Plains” with a members-only preview on Friday, September 3, 2021 beginning at 5:00 p.m.   The traveling exhibit explores the past, present and future of this great North American mammal.  The exhibit creates an interactive environment that combines history, artifacts and hands-on activities to bring to life history of the majestic animal. 

 Sunday, September 5, El Dean Holthus will represent the Home on the Range Advisory Board and the Peoples Heartland Foundation speaking on sesquicentennial anniversary of Dr. Brewster M. Higley’s cabin and the writing of the state song of Kansas. 

 Saturday and Sunday, October 9 and 10, the return of the annual Tired Iron will celebrate the 21^st anniversary at the Santa Fe Trail Center.   Come enjoy one of Pawnee County’s annual favorite events, and enjoy the return of Sue’s BBQ and Bahama Mamas food trucks.  This year, there will also be a new fund raising event: the Santa Fe Trail Motor Run.

 

 

 

 

Brick and Pottery Making in Early Larned

Carol L. Jenkner

                 “Larned has an industry established at that place that is rapidly gaining a reputation over the state for the fine pottery-ware that the company is manufacturing.” Dodge City Globe, 1882.

 This piece of information appears with the display of brown pottery found in a case at the Santa Fe Trail Center. In addition, the Larned Weekly Optic of October 10, 1884 reported: “The brick for building the new courthouse at Dodge City is now being shipped from here.”

                 A brick making business appeared in Larned as early as 1876 and continued until the building boom ended at the beginning of the twentieth century. By one account, eighty percent of local business buildings in Larned were constructed of local brick. The two industries, brick and pottery making went hand in hand, using clay from deposits found at the southern edges of downtown Larned approximately where Schnack Park and the power plant sit today. In fact, one of the clay pits appeared to have been where the swimming pool now sits.

 Names associated with early brick and pottery making were J. C. Stephens, John Schnack, and Keller and Ebey. A search of Sanborn Fire Maps shows Keller and Ebey at Grant Street and South State Street in 1887. A Sanborn Map from 1884 shows Larned Pottery at First Street and Main Street.

 

In 2022, Pawnee County will celebrate the sequential anniversary of when it was officially organized in 1872.   Pawnee County was the eighth of nine counties officially recognized that year when the Santa Fe Railroad entered the region.   Homesteaders and the tide of European immigrants fueled the settlement of Southwest Kansas.    The Larned Town Company had been organized in January, and Larned was designated the temporary county seat in the proclamation of Governor James M. Harvey on November 4, 1872.   Larned began as a trading post when it was announced to be the county seat.  The origins of the county went through an evolution of legislative battles spawned by Captain Henry Booth, sutler of Fort Larned, and developer of Pawnee County and Larned Town Company.  In Pawnee County, Captain Booth was highly respected and much admired for the power he wielded, which allowed him much influence with the state legislature.   Pawnee County would be officially recognized along with the new boundaries two years later in 1874.