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 Wagon Bed Springs - south of Ulysses, KS Posted by:  The Snowdog
N 37° 24.390 W 101° 19.935
14S E 293580 N 4142521
One of several markers on the west side of Highway 25 between Hugoton and Ulysses, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WM14D8F
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 06/15/2021
Views: 0
This is one of a group of markers at a road-side pull out on the west side of Highway 25 between Hugoton and Ulysses.
Marker Name: Wagon Bed Springs
Marker Type: Roadside
Marker text:
About two miles west were the Lower Springs of the Cimarron River, known today as Wagon Bed Springs. For early-day travelers on the famous Santa Fe Trail, the springs were an "oasis" in dry weather. Several shortcuts of the trail converged here, with the most popular route running between here and the Arkansas River near the present-day town of Cimarron. The sixty-mile stretch between the two river, known as the Jornada, was a perilous route for men and animals in dry seasons when wagon trains often ran out of water. Near here in 1831 the noted Western explorer and fur trader Jedediah Smith, after being lost and without water forfour days, was killed by Comanches just as he reached the river.
Late in the history of the trail a wagon box set in the ground to collect water from one of the springs. The springs take their name from that event.
Despite the important of this famous camping place, today there are few visible remains of the many travelers who once stayed here. In nearby areas, however, trail ruts can still be seen, left by the many wagons that traversed the trail.
Marker Location: Grant
Official Marker Number: 83
Name of agency setting marker: Kansas State Historical Society
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
Marker Web Address: Not listed
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