Spring Meeting
April 22, 2007, Seward, Kansas

Minutes - Winter Meeting
Thirty members of the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter met for the winter meeting on February 18 at Kinsley, Kansas. Featured was the presentation of the Faye Anderson Award to the Warner Family which has preserved more than two miles of the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Road through three generations. Officers, for the 2007 year were elected: President and Program Director, David K. Clapsaddle; Vice President; Barbara German; Secretary/Treasurer, Merlene Baird. In other business, reports were given with respect to the poster contest and the marking project.

Following the business meeting, the program was presented by President Clapsaddle "A Tail of Two Cities" Franklin, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Spring Meeting
The Chapter's spring meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., April 22, 2007, at Mom's Cafe in Seward, Kansas. Lunch will be served: salad, smothered steak, potato, vegetable, drink, $6.25, gratuity included. The program will be presented by Amber Thompson of Larned, Kansas, singing songs of the trail era. You will recall that Amber sang the National Anthem at the dedication of the Zebulon Pike Plaza. Please contact your chapter president as to your intention related to the meal: 620-285-3295, adsaddle@cox.net. Reservations (required) should be made by April 14, 2007. The meeting promises to be a good time for all.

End of the Trail
Your editor is sad to report the death of Dick German on February 23, 2007. Dick was a long time member of the chapter and a personal friend to many. Our deepest sympathisers are extended to his wife Barbara (the chapter's vice president) and the entire German family. The chapter will place an interpretive marker in Dick's memory at the Mulberry Creek Crossing. Those interested in contributing to this memorial may mail their donation to Merlene Baird, Secretary/Treasurer of the chapter, Box 355, Larned, Kansas 67550.

Small Drain Marker
The Small Drain Marker east of Fort Dodge has been installed thanks to Tom Giessel. Your editor informed Tom that he would have to do all the work because of his aching shoulder (bad vertebrae). Tom said that there was nothing wrong with your editor's mouth. Following is a text of the signage.

The limestone marker at the Small Drain site east of Fort Dodge was made possible by a contribution of Charles and Margaret Mix, The parents of Larry Mix. Recently, Larry and Carolyn Mix made a contribution to place an interpretive marker at the same site in honor of Larry's mother and his recently deceased father. The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter wishes to express appreciation for the generosity of Larry and Carolyn.

Larry and Carolyn Mix donated the cost of the marker in honor of Larry's parent's Charles and Margaret Mix.

Rosters
Rosters will be distributed at the spring meeting in Seward, Kansas and those who will be unable to attend will be sent their copy. Alice Clapsaddle, membership chair, will happily accept late dues of $10.00 per family.

2007 - Summer Camp at Fort Larned
Fort Larned National Historic Site, in partnership with the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail, is pleased to announce a two day summer camp for the children from Fort Larned USD 495 elementary schools. Scheduled for June 5-6, 2007, the camp is for students who are currently enrolled in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades during the 2006-2007 school year.

The program is supported financially by local sponsors. Alice and David Clapsaddle will conduct the camp using his recent book, "I Heard a Coyote Howl" The book relates the story of the Cheyenne/Sioux village destroyed by troops under the command of Major General W. S. Hancock in April, 1867 through the eyes of a twelve year old Cheyenne boy. This village was located on the Pawnee River thirty-three miles northwest of present day Larned and is now owned by the Fort Larned Old Guard. Although the camp will be held at Fort Larned on the first day, it features a field trip to the village site on the second day. There, the children will engage in games played by Cheyenne children in the mid-19th century.

Spring Meeting April 22, 1:30 pm
Mom's Cafe, Seward, Kansas
RSVP - by April 14, 2007 - cost $6.25

Historical Exhibits
The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter is pleased to announce four separate exhibits presently on display in Larned. At the First State Bank is "Freighting on the Santa Fe Trail" a collection of artifacts including a pack saddle, ox yokes, ox chain, ox shoes, and a tar bucket which served as a container for lubricants used to grease the wagon axles. All the artifacts are authentic to the historic period.

At the American State Bank are two exhibits. "Westport Landings at Kansas City" and Prairie Ports on the Santa Fe Trail" The first exhibit features engravings and paintings of the landing on the Missouri river which became the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe Trail. The second exhibit features photographs of rail road construction and depots at end-of-the-track towns, mail, merchandise, and passengers were dispatched down the Santa Fe Trail. As such these towns which replaced the river ports became known as prairie ports.

At the Jordaan Meeting Room in the Chamber of Commerce building, "Crossings on the Santa Fe Trail" presents paintings, sketches, photographs, and maps of crossings on the various streams in west central Kansas: Cow Creek, Walnut Creek, Ash Creek, Pawnee river, and Coon Creek.

All the above cited images except one were taken from 19th century sources. The single exemption is the Ash Creek photograph taken in 1949 by Clay Ward.

Another Rut Preserved
Faye Gaines, Chairperson of the Santa Fe Trail Preservation Committee recently contacted David Clapsaddle, President of the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter in regard to a inquiry from a concerned citizen with respect to a single rut of the Santa Fe Trail's original Dry Route which is still visible in the Hillside Cemetery, three miles west of Kinsley, Kansas. The rut is one of several locations on this route where physical evidence of the trail remains. Departing the Wet Route southwest of the Pawnee Fork crossing near present Larned at a site called Forks in Santa Fe Road, the road proceeded to Big Coon Creek one mile southwest of the cemetery and on to the celebrated Caches west of present Dodge City, Kansas.

The rut marked by the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter, has been carefully preserved by Ray Wetzel, cemetery sexton and Wet/Dry Routes member, a policy is in place which prohibits any graves in a thirty foot width along the rut. However, some families which wish to have loved ones buried near the Santa Fe Trail have purchased lost adjacent to the thirty foot strip. Wetzel further states that the rut itself will become one of the roads to be developed in the rut area. Contrary to National Park Service edict, "the use of the rut as a road will ensure its longevity rather then its demise," Wetzel claims. Appropriate signage for the road is forthcoming.

Those interested in this particular site and the original Dry Route, are invited to visit www.santafetrailresearch.com/ and link on to A Directory of Santa Fe Trail Sites. The original Dry Route has not been included in other sources including the National Historical Santa Fe Trail compiled by the national Park Service.

The Cock Robin of Ash Creek
Northwest of Larned, one mile east of Ash Valley is a six foot concrete monument encased in the monument is a sandstone inscribed as follows,

A. D. 1841
W. D.
SILVER
DIE
SHOT

Below the last word "shot" is an inscription of an arrow. Originally, now long gone, a glass pane, protected the stone from the elements. Inscribed at the base of the monument is the date of 1917.

A 1931 edition of the Tiller and Toiler credits C. C. Like with the discovery of the stone while digging post holes previous to the time that the Arlington and Northern Railway laid tracks through that part of Pawnee County in 1917. company officials ordered the erection of the monument on the right-of-way one mile east of Ely, Later named Ash Valley. Who was W. D. Silver? The above mentioned newspaper account speculated:

Just how the murder came about will always remain a mystery. Perhaps the traveler was a member of a covered wagon caravan surrounded by a tribe of warriors, and he was a victim of their onslaught. Or perhaps he traveled only with a single companion, who evidently escaped the deadly warriors.

Such speculation is highly unfounded. In 1934, seven years before the date on the stone, the Indian Intercourse and Tribe Act became law. The law stipulated that Indian Territory was to consist of all lands belonging to the United States west of the Mississippi not within the states of Missouri and Louisiana or the Territory of Arkansas. The law further prohibited white settlement in Indian Territory with curtain exceptions. Christian missionaries sanctioned by the Department of Indian Affairs, Indian agencies, licensed Indian traders, and United States Arm posts. All of the above, including Fort Leavenworth, were by 1841, established in the far eastern end of what is now the state of Kansas far removed from the site of the Silver stone. To the west was Bent' Fort near present La Junta, Colorado, the anchor of the Bent, St. Vrain Company. Licensed to trade under Charles Bent's name, the company controlled all the Indian trade east of the Rocky Mountains, north of the Platte and south as far as the Texas panhandle. The Silver stone was farther removed from Bent's Fort to the west then it was from the Fort Leavenworth and the Indian related settlements to the east. Thus, one could conclude that Mr. Silver did not hail from any settlement in present Kansas or adjacent territories.

As to the possibility of an overland traveler in present Pawnee County, the chances are slim to none. The Oregon Trail followed the Platte River many miles to the north, the Santa Fe Trail was twenty some miles to the south of the Silver stone. It is not likely that a Santa Fe bound traveler would have strayed that far from the trail.

To return to the original question, who was W. D. Silver? It appears that there are two choices, one akin to the newspaper speculation cited previously; the other choice, plain and simple, is that the story is a hoax.

Chapter Membership
The membership roster (which will be available at the spring meeting) lists 79 memberships, 50 family and 29 single, a total of 79. A breakdown of these figures shows 13 are life memberships awarded by the Chapter as a part of the Faye Anderson Award or for other significant contributions. Sixty-nine memberships are from Kansas, 24 from outside the chapter area. Ten are from out of state; Illinois (2); California (1); Oklahoma (2); Colorado (1); New Mexico (2); Texas (2). Twenty-eight of the chapter's membership are also members of the National Santa Fe Trail.

Please review your roster information. If you find corrections or additions are needed, please contact Alice Clapsaddle, Membership Chair.

Spring Meeting
April 22, 1:30pm
Mom's Cafe, Seward, Kansas
(18 mile east of Larned, Kansas in K-19)
Please Respond-by April 14, 2007 - Cost is $6.25

Dues are always Due to the
Fastest Hand in the West
A roster of members is available at the meeting. Chapter dues in the amount of $10.00 are due at the January meeting or may be mailed to Alice Clapsaddle, 215 Mann, Larned, Kansas, 67550. Checks should be made out to the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter. Dues and email addresses are welcome.
"Printable Dues Form".
Do Not send our dues to the Santa Fe Trail Center

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