Santa Fe Trail, Boot Hill Museum, Kansas
The Hubster and I hadn’t driven far out of Dodge City, about nine miles, when we came upon the Santa Fe Trail Wagon Ruts roadside attraction.
We weren’t looking for it.
We almost missed it.
But we stopped to check this out.
*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!
The site is undeveloped, but as you can see, from the sign above, there are plans for some development.
The Santa Fe Trail served as the pioneer highway from 1821 to 1872 as a link from the east to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The trail allowed traders to move goods across the country safely and easily.
It was customary for the wagons to travel four abreast. This allowed for quicker circling in case of attack.
The ruts are still visible after almost 150 years.
You can also see the remains of the Soule Canal.
The Soule Canal, listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, includes the Eureka Irrigating Canal. This ditch and canal were put under construction in 1883, by Asa T. Soule, a prominent Dodge resident.
The canal was intended to bring water from the Arkansas River to fields needing irrigation. Unfortunately similar projects upstream and prolonged drought led to the abandonment of the project. It however, goes down as a major human accomplishment of imagination and construction.
I found a video that has an aerial view…so much the better to see the ruts!
See the world around you!
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