Chaffees Corner - NW Corner Border of Kansas
Posted by: 
condor1
N 40° 00.090 W 102° 03.107
13T E 751672 N 4432087
This carved pillar of Limestone marks the north west corner of Kansas. Actually it marks a location 615 feet south of the actual plotted corner as replotted in 1993.
Waymark Code: WM6QZC
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 07/11/2009
Views: 38
The coordinates I obtained at the Pillar agreed with the published coords to .001 on both North and West.
Directions to get to the monument:
The easiest access is off of Highway 27 at the Devil's Gap/3 Corners entrance. This is marked but the sign is set back from the road and down in a ditch so watch carefully! You end up on County Road 31. You will be going thru open range area so drive slowly and watch for cattle in the area. About half way thru the open range there is a 2 lane trail (accessible with a car) that goes .4 of a mile to a green fenced-in area. This is the location of 3-Corners CO/NE/KS. Now it is just a little hike to this Limestone pillar.
According to Kansas field notes S and W, vol. 140, page 54, the NW corner of Kansas was marked on June 15, 1873 by a limestone 24- by 20- by 8 inches set 18 inches deep in a stone mound 9.33 chains n of MR. Chafees corner which had been set previously.
According to the general land office field notes Chafees corner is a stone six feet long with three feet exposed, is one foot square at the top and octagonal near the ground. it was set in 1869 and marked 1869 on the N face, 40 deg north on the E, 25 deg west on the S, and Colorado on the W.
This description agrees closely with the coast and geodetic survey description of the NW corner of Kansas. This description and the fact that when the coast surveys NW corner of Kansas is plotted it falls about 9.3 chains (Surveyors Chain is 66 ft) or 615 feet South of the state line, indicated that the coast and geodetic survey located Chafees corner and not the stone marking the NW corner of Kansas.
Monumentation Type: Dressed stone
Monument Category: State boundary marker
Monument Category (if other): Stone
Accessible to general public: yes
Historical significance:
Plotted and mounted in 1869 this pillar represents the indomitable nature of the men of that era. The location is buried in the grassland that cross the boundries of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. With the technology of the time it is amazing that they were able to plot to within 615 feet the actual corner of these three states. Since there are very few landmarks or geographic features from which to plot, it makes this feat even more impressive.
County: Yuma
USGS Quad: LAIRD (1985)
NGS PID: LK0526
Approximate date of monument: 05/15/1869
Monumentation Type (if other): Not listed
Explain Non-Public access: Not listed
Monument Website: Not listed
Other Coordinates: Not Listed
Other Coordinates details: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
1. A closeup photo of the monument is required.
______
2. A 'distant' photo including the monument in the view is highly recommended. Include the compass direction you faced when you took the picture.