Shown are two sad irons that were collected from the Plowboy site in Shawnee County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. Sad irons have been used since the Middle Ages and would have been held with some type of padding around the handle when hot. One of these irons still has a detachable wooden handle. The other iron handle was not detachable and has lost its wooden covering. The sad irons needed to be kept clean and rust-free, unlike these examples. The Plowboy site was home to the Kansa, the Potawatomi, and Euro-Americans. At various times, the site contained a farm, a trading post, and a post office with nearby military trails, Mormon routes, a railroad and the California-Oregon trail.