Fray Juan de Padilla Cross - Lyons, Kansas
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 20.853 W 098° 16.591
14S E 563219 N 4244625
Cross located along US Hwy 56 west of Lyons, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WMEKCP
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 06/08/2012
Views: 9
The cross constructed of granite stands 26-foot tall. It was placed in 1950 by the Knights of Columbus to honor Spanish missionary, Fray Juan de Padilla, who traveled with explorer Coronado to the area in 1541 and killed by Indians in 1542.
Text of plaque:
Fray Juan de Padilla
This Cross is erected to the memory of Father Padilla, Franciscan Missionary, who stood with Coronado at the erection of the first Christian Cross on these prairies. Father Padilla devoted his life to the service of the Cross and to the Indians of Quivira and suffered a martyr's death in that service in the of our Lord 1542.
The symbol of the Cross is inscribed, Jesus Christ, Victor and expresses the victory of faith and sacrifice. The square quartered by the Cross, denotes the four corners of the World brought into Christian unity when Father Padilla carried the Cross of Christianity to the center of the New World.
This monument is a gift to the People of Kansas by the Knights of Columbia of this State. Erected 1950