Chouteau's Island, Lakin, Kansas
N 37° 56.637 W 101° 17.051
14S E 299289 N 4202056
This history sign in just west of Lakin, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WM90PP
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 06/09/2010
Views: 15
This sign provides the history of this area, which used to be the boundary of Mexico.
Marker Name: Chouteau's Island
Marker Type: Roadside
Marker text:
Kansas Historical Marker
Chouteau's Island
In the spring of 1815 Auguste P. Chouteau's hunting party traveling east with a winter's catch of furs was attacked near the Arkansas river by 200 Pawnees. Retreating to what was once an island five iles southwest of this marker the hunters beat them off with the loss of only one man. In 1825 increased travel on the Santa Fe trail brought a government survey and Chouteau's island was listed as a turning off place for the dangerous "Jornada" to the Cimarron. For a time the river here was the Mexican boundary. When Maj. Bennett Riley and four companies of infantry, serving as the first military escort on the trail, arive in 1829, with a west-gound wagon train the troops went into camp near the island. They spent the summer fighting off Indians, losing several men and part of their oxen. The return frm Santa Fe of the caravan with a Mexican escort was celebrated in a colorful exchange of military inspections. Erected by Kansas Historical Society and State Highwa Commission.
Marker Location: Kearny
Official Marker Number: 82
Name of agency setting marker: Kansas State Historical Society
Marker Web Address: [Web Link]
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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