Plain Camp

"THE WET ROUTE"

Site C-5 -- Interpretive Marker Text

Plain Camp Marker

BRANCH: The Wet Route
DESIGNATION: Plain Camp
LOCATION: From the Site C-4 marker, continue southwest on U.S. 56 3.8 miles to the marker on the left.
GPS AT MARKER: N38 01.466 -- W99 17.979
TOPOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE: None
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: None
USGS AERIAL PHOTO: Plain Camp
MODERN DAY MAP: Santa Fe Trail Map Pawnee County, Kansas
TOPOGRAPHIC MAP: Topographic Map
HISTORIC DESCRIPTION: Plain Camp was the first of four campsites listed on The Wet Route by Charles Folsom in his 1842 itinerary.
DISTANCE: From Pawnee Fork Crossing (Site C-2), 15 miles.

(Excerpted from "Table of distances on the route from
Independence, (Missouri,) to Santa Fe.)
To Miles

Ash Creek 24

Pawnee Fork of Arkansas 8

Plain Camp 15

Little Pond 21

Small Drain 20

Anderson's Caches 20

Charles J. Folsom, Mexico in 1842. (New York: Wiley and Putnam; Robinson, Pratt and Company, 1842), 133-34. Hereafter cited as Folsom.
COMMENTS: By conjecture, Plain Camp was so named because the location had no distinguishing characteristic as did Folsom's other campsites, Little Pond, Small Drain, and Anderson's Caches. The camp would have been east of the marker closer to the Arkansas River. En route, you will pass Site G-3 which will be discussed later.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: NE 1/4, Section 28, T-23-S, R-18-W, Pawnee County, Kansas.

(Excerpted from "Table of distances on the route from
Independence, (Missouri,) to Santa Fe.)
To	Miles
Ash Creek	24
Pawnee Fork of Arkansas	8
Plain Camp	15
Little Pond	21
Small Drain	20
Anderson's Caches	20

Township 23 South of Range 18 West, Pawnee County, Kansas

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