Santa Fe Trail Ruts - near Howell, Kansas - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Santa Fe Trail Ruts located 9 miles west of Dodge City, Kansas are remains of the once major thoroughfare of westward expansion. Much of the remains have been lost, However, a splendid specimen of some approximate 140 acres have been preserved by the Boothill Association. This section contains a major arch of the trail as it curved across the Kansas countryside. Also on this parcel are several separate sections of the ruts. The ruts at this point stretch some 400 feet in width. When one of the ruts would become too deep, wagons would be shifted and new troughs would be dug into the earth.

There have been a number of intrusions which have severed the trail in various locations. These intrusions include U.S. 50, a railroad and irrigation ditch built in the 1890 f s which winds back and forth across the ruts. Cattle grazing on the ruts have also greatly impaired sections of the trail.

In addition to the above mentioned intrusions, the Arkansas River has shifted as much as half a mile to the south from its original channel. Despite these alterations in the historic scene, the well defined ruts retain a great deal of their historic integrity.

- National Register Application