Kansas Pike Plaza Nears Completion

The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association is putting the finishing touches on the first plaza to honor the Pike expedition in the state of Kansas.

The Zebulon Pike Plaza is located at the east edge of the city park in Larned, Kansas. Approved by the City of Larned in October, 2005, the Plaza will commemorate the Pike crossing of the Pawnee River near the Plaza site on October 29, 2006, and the contributions made to the development of the United States by his exploration of the Southwest.

Included in this multi-use historical site is appropriate interpretive signage, a shelter house, barbecue cooker, and benches constructed of native limestone. The area will be ringed with unique limestone fence posts particular to west central Kansas. Grassy areas will be planted with buffalo grass, and trees native to the area will punctuate the Plaza.

The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter underwrote the project with chapter funds, and was supported in this ambitious project by the City of Larned.

Plans call for the chapter to dedicate the Plaza on the bicentennial of Pike’s crossing the Pawnee on October 29, 2006. The dedication will be associated with the Santa Fe Trail Association’s Rendezvous scheduled for October 27-28, its central focus being the Pike Expedition.

Speaking at the dedication will be Santa Fe Trail Association member John Michael Murphy of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a noted Pike authority and a commissioner on the national Pike bicentennial commission.

Bringing greetings from the Pike Family Association will be Roy Pike, the Association President. Click here for more.