Pawnee Rock, one of the most famous landmarks on the Santa Fe Trail, is located in Pawnee Rock State Park, just north of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, United States. Originally over tall, railroad construction stripped it of some 15 to in height for road bed material. Traders, soldiers, and emigrants who stopped, carved their names into the brown sandstone. Some of these names are still visible among the markings of the more recent visitors.

It served as a lookout for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, as well as a rendezvous and ambush for the Indians. As a camping spot it afforded some protection against hostile Indians. Many travelers and traders on the Santa Fe trail considered Pawnee Rock the most dangerous place on the Central Plains for encounters with the Indians.<!-- referenced again on 16 Feb 2021, but only checked one statement, so did not want to change the citation accessed date since many of the rest of the statements in this article may be sourced by older versions of these kansapedia sources -->

thumb|Pawnee Rock, approaching from the east along the old Santa Fe Trail. Pawnee Rock, KansasMuch of Pawnee Rock was destroyed in the 1870s by the railroad and by settlers for building stone. The remnant was acquired in 1908 by the Woman's Kansas Day Club. In 1909, was given to the State of Kansas as an historic site. On May 24, 1912, a stone monument was dedicated with great celebration before a crowd of some 8,000 onlookers. Pawnee Rock was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and today operates as Pawnee Rock State Historic Site.

Naming Pawnee Rock

thumb|Pawnee Rock, Pawnee Rock, KSMany stories have been told to explain how Pawnee Rock got its name. One source for the name comes from the belief that was sacred ground for the Pawnee Indians who held tribal councils on its flat top. Another from a great battle in which a small band of Pawnees were destroyed by a force of Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos. Both come from Pawnee lore. Among the plainsmen it is said that the Rock got its name in 1826.

Bibliography

thumb|[[Interpretive trail around the rim of Pawnee Rock, Pawnee Rock State Park]]

  • Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas; Tribune Publishing Co.; Great Bend, Kansas; 1912 p 145
  • Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas, A cyclopedia of State History, V. 2; Chicago Standard Publishing Col; 1912; pp 455–457
  • Porter, Clyde & Mae Reed and John E. Sunder; Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail; University of Oklahoma Press; Norman, Oklahoma; 1960
  • Survey of Historic Sites and Structures in Kansas; Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1957
  • Echoes of Pawnee Rock, compiled by Margaret Perkins (Wichita, KS, 1908)

References

  • Pawnee Rock Kansas State Historical Society.
  • Santa Fe Trail Research