Council Grove Historical Trail
Council Grove, KS 66846 Map This! |
| 800-732-9211 |
| visitors@councilgrove.com |
| Admission: none |
| Hours: none |
The name "Council Grove" originated from treaty negotiations conducted here in 1825. The treaty, forged between U.S. commissioners and Osage Indian chiefs, granted whites safe passage along the Santa Fe Trail.
The site of Council Grove was a camping and meeting place for Native Americans, explorers, soldiers, and Santa Fe Trail traders. Here they found ample water, grass, and abundant wood due to the extensive groves of hardwood timber. As a rendezvous point for caravans moving west on the Santa Fe Trail, Council Grove provided both Hispanic and American travelers an opportunity to repair wagons and secure provisions in preparation for the long overland trip to Santa Fe.
The Kaw (or Kanza) Indians lived in three villages located three, seven, and ten miles southeast of Council Grove from 1848 until their removal south to Indian Territory in 1873.
Noted personalities such as John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, George Armstrong Custer, and the great Kaw chief Allegawaho are associated with Council Grove. Early-day settler Seth Hays was the great grandson of Daniel Boone and Kit Caron?s cousin. Today the famous Hays House Restaurant still operates in the store building constructed by Seth Hays in the late 1850s. Because of efforts to preserve our many historic buildings and sites, Council Grove offers visitors an encounter with authentic western American history.
Visitors to Council Grove can follow a twenty-one site historical tour of the town. The tour route is marked by directional signs and each site has an interpretive sign. Additionally, a tour guide brochure identifies each site. The touring experience is augmented by nine newly-installed wayside exhibits which interpret the sites listed by the National Park Service as National Historic Santa Fe Trail Sites.
| For more information on Council Grove, see: |
| http://www.councilgrove.com/ |
| http://www.city-data.com/city/Council-Grove-Kansas.html |