Kansas Territory in 1856
Creator: Ritchey, William E
Date: 1903
A map of Kansas Territory in 1856 showing Coronado's route to and from Quivira in 1541. The Santa Fe Trail is annotated in red. On the reverse is a newspaper article with a map drawn by George Allen Root showing Coronado's route to Quivira and giving distances between points. There is a note from W[illiam] E Ritchey, Harveyville, Kansas, July 9, 1903 to A. R. Greene, Special Inspector Department of the Interior requesting that Greene mention Ritchey's work in an article which will be published by the Kansas Historical Society.

Camping trip on Dumas Trail
Date: 1910
This black and white photograph shows a group of people camping beside their car on the Dumas trail.

Jesse Chisholm
Date: Between 1850s and 1900s
Unmounted tintype portrait of Jesse Chisholm.

Oregon Trail
Date: Between 1900 and 1940
Letters, notes, and reminiscences of the Oregon Trail. Included are first hand accounts of traveling the trail, routes taken, and the hardships endured. The Oregon Trail was primarily used from 1840 through 1860 for pioneers heading west looking for new places to settle.

National Old Trail's road
Date: Between 1920 and 1925
Notes and maps on the National Old Trail's Road, a route that stretched from Boston, Massachusetts to San Francisco, California. The National Old Trail's Road was established in 1912 and crossed the length of Kansas, intersecting such famous trails as the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail.

Leavenworth-Pike's Peak trail
Creator: Lathrop, Amy
Date: 1962
A listing and detailed account of each station on the Leavenworth Pike's Peak Trail. A map is also included showing the route of the trail, cutting across Kansas into Colorado Territory. The trail was primarily used during the 1850s and early 1860s.

Mormon trail
Date: Between 1910 and 1940
Accounts of the Mormon trail, which traveled from Independence, Missouri, through several southeast Kansas counties, eventually exiting the state through Washington County. This trail was primarily used by Mormon's during the 1840s through the 1860s heading west to settle in Utah.

Kiowa trail
Date: Between 1905 and 1915
Accounts of the Kiowa trail, which traveled from Wichita, Kansas through Harper, Kingman, and Barber counties. This trail's origins date back to the early 1870s and was used primarily for trade.

Fayetteville road
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
Letters, maps, and reminiscences relating to the Fayetteville road, also known as the Fayetteville Emigrant Trail. This trail started at Arkansas Post in Arkansas, then headed towards the northeast corner of Oklahoma, crossing the Neosho River, entering the state of Kansas in what is now Montgomery County. The trail crossed the Verdigris River about two miles north of the Kansas state line, went through the present-day site of Coffeyville making its way northwest, finally meeting with the Santa Fe Trail at Turkey Creek in McPherson County, Kansas. In total, this trail crossed several Kansas counties, those being: Montgomery, Chautauqua, Elk, Butler, Harvey, Marion and McPherson.

Trails correspondence
Date: 1905-2003
Letters, accounts, correspondence, and reminiscences of trails. Some trails covered are the Chisholm, California, Palo Duro, Jones and Plummer, Oregon, and the Butterfield Overland.

Council Grove, Kansas
Date: Between 1880 and 1890
This black and white photograph shows a view looking west of the Santa Fe Trail through Council Grove, Kansas.

Santa Fe Trail in Dodge City, Kansas
Date: 1872
This black and white photograph shows an east view of the Santa Fe Trail through Dodge City, Kansas.

Sod house on Boyd's ranch in Kansas
Date: 1886
Photo 1 shows the sod house built in 1868 on Boyd's ranch, the first settlement between Strong City, Kansas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was located on the Santa Fe Trail, near Larned, Kansas. Several people (adults and children) are in the picture. Photo 2 is a more distant view of Boyd's Ranch, including outbuildings, machinery, and windmill. According to the inscription included with the original photo, it was the first ranch in the Arkansas Valley outside of the military reservation. "No one made the trip over the Santa Fe Trail with out stopping over nite at Boyds Ranche." The inscription also notes that five tribes of Indians were centered around the ranch: Pawnee, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa. A copy of a letter donated with the pictures, dated January 30, 1928, relates how the sod house was built and used, and a few details about Al Boyd's life. This information was written down by Louise Seiple in her diary and was told to her by Mr. Charles Bond.

Waterways on Santa Fe Trail, Pawnee County, Kansas
Date: 1880-1889
Views of Pawnee Creek and the Santa Fe Trail ford in Pawnee County in the 1880's. Two men are shown on the banks of the creek, looking east, in one photo. Two men in a horse-drawn buggy facing northwest, are in the creek in the other photo.

Charles Keeler to Governor Thomas Carney
Creator: Keeler, Charles G.
Date: May 08, 1863
A letter written to Governor Thomas Carney from Captain Charles G. Keeler. Keeler advises Carney about the location of a Kansas bridge that is about to be built. He believes the location should be at the Chouteau ferry site in Johnson County, thereby securing trade from the southern portion of the state as well the Santa Fe trail trade. A searchable, full-text version of this letter is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Santa Fe Trail ruts, Ford County Kansas
Date: Between 1925 and 1929
This is a photograph showing the Santa Fe Trail ruts ten miles west of Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas.

Cattle toll crossing in Hodgeman Co.; Parker's Ranch toll crossing
Creator: Holbrook, Eloise
Date: Between 1930 and 1938
A history of the cattle toll crossing and Parker's Ranch toll crossing in Hodgeman County. Included in this history is a description of the ranch's land and the amount of cattle that came through in one summer's drive.

Hodgeman County toll bridge
Creator: Holbrook, Eloise
Date: Between 1930 and 1938
A history of the Hodgeman County toll bridge, written by Eloise Holbrook. Included in the history is a description of how the bridge came to be built, who the owner was, and the dedication of a monument for the bridge in 1925.

History of Gove County, Kansas
Creator: Harrington, Wynne Powers, 1870-1943
Date: December 11, 1917
A historical sketch of Gove County, Kansas, written by W.P. Harrington. The history covers early European exploration and continues until the end of the nineteenth century.

A local history of Jerome Township, Gove County, Kansas
Creator: Baker, Fred
Date: 1918
A local history of Jerome Township, Gove County, Kansas as recollected by Fred Baker, Gove City, Kansas. Baker wrote this sketch and submitted it in March 1918 to the Golden Belt Educational Association at Hays, Kansas and was awarded a prize. Also included is a letter from Judge J.C. Ruppenthal, Russell, Kansas, to William Connelly, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas, who received the sketch from Baker and wished for it to be donated into the Society's holdings.

Fort Harker, Kansas, 218 miles west of Missouri River
Creator: Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882
Date: 1867
This is a photo showing U. S. Army troops on the grounds of Fort Harker, Kansas. Fort Harker (originally called Fort Ellsworth) was established in 1864 in order to provide protection for the Kansas Stage Line and military wagon trains transporting goods along the Smoky Hill Trail and the Fort Riley Road. The fort closed in 1872 and was located in present day Kanopolis, Kansas.

Courthouse in Independence, Missouri
Creator: Meyer, Herrmann J.
Date: 1854
A copy of an engraving of the courthouse in Independence, Missouri. The reproduction first appeared in "United States Illustrated" and depicts the early settlement of Independence and its courthouse. Located along the Kansas and Missouri border, the town was considered the "Queen City of Trails" because it was the point of departure for the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails.

Along the trail west of Ingalls, Kansas
Date: September 5, 1914
A colored photograph of a covered wagon traveling along the trail west of Ingalls, Kansas. Next to the trail is one of Soule's irrigation ditches.

Pony Express
Date: Between April 1860 and October 1861
Photo of a painting of an Overland Pony Express rider passing men installing poles in the ground, unidentified location. The poles may support telegraph wires. Photographed by Savage of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, from a painting by George M. Ottinger.

Pony Express Station, Marysville, Kansas
Date: Unknown
A drawing on a postcard of the Pony Express Station in Marysville, Kansas.