FIRST - Settler - Seymour Rogers - Liberal, KS
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 02.042 W 100° 54.602
14S E 330119 N 4100353
Mr. Rogers also coined the town's name.
Waymark Code: WM10JHY
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2019
Views: 1
County of Marker: Seward County
Location of Marker: US-54 (Pancake Blvd.) & Yellow Ridge Rd., Visitors Center lawn, Liberal
Marker Erected by: Seward County and State Historical Societies
Marker Text:
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 present Kansas presumably at or near here, and moved on northeastward across 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.
After more than a month spent in exploring central Kansas, the expedition returned to the Southwest, disappointed in the quest for riches but favorably impressed by the land itself. Juan Jaramillo, Coronado's lieutenant, wrote: "It is not a hilly country, but has table~lands, plains, and charming rivers. . .. I am of the belief that it will be very productive of all sorts of commodities."
According to legend, Seymour S. Rogers, the first settler here in the mid~1880s, was said to have been "mighty liberal" with water from his well. From this came the name for the city established here in 1888.
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