DAR Pawnee Rock monument - Pawnee Rock, KS, USA - Daughters of the American Revolution on Waymarking.com

Pawnee Rock, one of the most famous landmarks on the Santa Fe Trail, is located in Pawnee Rock State Park, just north of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, United States. Originally over 150 feet tall, railroad construction stripped it of some 15 to 20 feet in height for road bed material. A memorial monument, picnic area, and pergola have been constructed on the top. From the top of the pergola is a view the Arkansas river valley and the route of the Santa Fe trail.

This sandstone citadel marked the halfway point on the Santa Fe Trail and was one of the most prominent landmarks on the long journey. American Indians were said to have met at Pawnee Rock, used as a vantage point to spot bison herds and approaching wagon trains.

Pawnee Rock was long a meeting place of the Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians. Numerous battles were fought at Pawnee Rock between the tribes, and as a result, many bones have been found in the soil in the vicinity.

Matt Field, who traveled the Santa Fe Trail in 1840, later wrote, "Pawnee Rock springs like a huge wart from the carpeted green of the prairie." Traders, soldiers, and emigrants who stopped, carved their names into the brown sandstone. Some of these names are still visible among the markings of the more recent visitors.

The monument is a 4 sided obelisk with buffalo and indian heads on various sides. The monument stands on the hill alongside an observation platform that visitors may take stairs to teh top to experience the majestic view of the area.

DAR Chapter: Kansas Daughters of the American Revolution Date Placed: 05/25/1912 Inscription: The engraved sides read: "In honor of the brave men and women who passing over the old Sante Fe trail, endured the hardships of frontier life, and blazed the path of civilization for posterity" The Indian head side reads: "Monument erected May 24, 1912 Official Board Mrs. J. S. Simmons President of W K D C M. E. Heynes Grace V. Bowman of Pawnee Rock Lavina J. Smyser Lucy B. Johnston Ida Wilson Moore Elizabeth Johnson" The Buffalo Head side reads: "Erected by Woman's Day Club Daughters of the American Revolution Woman's Relief Corps Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs Woman's Christian Temperance Union" The base has the words "Pawnee Rock" in rock letters raised from the surface of the monument

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/29/2023 FLMathfreak visited it