History of the Wet-Dry Routes Chapter

The first organizational meeting of what would become the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter was held on July 20, 1990. At that meeting it was decided that there was enough interest to form a local Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association. We were officially added to the roster of chapters by the SFTA at their board of directors meeting held in September 1991 at Arrow Rock, MO.

After our first meeting, the Wet/Dry Routes chapter immediately went to work to provide educational and entertaining programs, conduct tours of the Santa Fe Trail in our area and initiate marking projects. As the marking progressed, information was researched and gathered which resulted in the publication of an auto-tour guide which enabled travelers to visit the various markers. The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter continues to enhance our marking projects, present interesting programs, and create special activities. In addition, members of the Chapter continue to research the area to locate other sites associated with the Santa Fe Trail, attempt to preserve the Trail resources we have documented and seek out further documentation about our area. For more history, click here.

Location and Directions

The general area of concentration for the Wet/Dry Routes Chapters is between the Ash Creek Crossing and Fort Dodge, in the Kansas counties of Pawnee, Edwards and Ford.

The area of the Wet/Dry Routes can be easily accessed by simply following U.S. Highway 56. Town and cities along this modern-day route include Great Bend, Pawnee Rock, Larned, Garfield, Kinsley, Offerle, Bellefont, Spearville, Wright and Dodge City.

Once early Santa Fe Trail travelers left Pawnee Rock and crossed Ash Creek, they would travel another six miles and reach Pawnee Fork, located at present-day Larned, KS. From Pawnee Fork, travelers would continue along the north bank of the Arkansas River until they reached one of the several crossings or beyond. This is the route that became known as the “Wet Route”. The Wet Route has also been referred to by such other names as the river route, the water road, and the lower road. A caravan, captained by Charles Bent in 1833 and escorted by Captain William Wycliffe’s Command, departed the river valley near Pawnee Fork crossing to pursue an upland course to the Arkansas. From that date forward, traffic on the Santa Fe Trail alternated between the established road along the river known as the “Wet Route” and the road across the upland that became known as the “Dry Route.”

In the Kansas Historical Quarterly 16 (November 1948) on page 348, an article by H.B. Mollhausen and titled, “Over the Santa Fe Trail Through Kansas in 1858,” stated the following:

By the way, there is a road across the upland known as the “Dry Road.” It is even shorter than the road down the river which has been called the “Water Road,” but the “Dry Road” is always avoided by the oxen caravans, and usually by the mule caravans, too because of the lack of water.

Other references to this route include such names as the bluff road, the ridge road, and the upper road. It also was referred to as the cut-off and the straight road, concluding that taking this route could save several miles. Historical references estimated the mileage saved on this route as being from ten or eleven miles to twenty or thirty miles. Modern measurements indicate the difference between these two routes is about six miles.

Wet-Dry Routes Chapter Points of Interest		Wet-Dry Routes Chapter Events and News
A few of the many sites of interest along the Santa Fe Trail within the Wet-Dry Routes Chapter Area are listed here. Click here for a membership form.		All officers of the Wet/Dry Chapter were reelected for 2007 at the winter meeting in January. The Faye Anderson Award was presented to the Warner Family at the meeting to honor their role in preserving the Santa Fe Trail through three generations. Read all about us in our latest newsletter! Click here to view planned events.

Chapter Projects

Marking the Trail:

The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter has made marking the Wet Route and the Dry Route of the Santa Fe Trail its top priority. Chapter members, and landowners, work hand-in-hand to achieve this project. The marking project has been an ongoing, top priority project of the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter.

In many locations, this consists of a series of markers measuring 18 by 24 inches, made of high intensity aluminum and mounted on cedar 4 X 4 inch posts. These markers are designed to furnish interpretive text about the various locations, and are used in conjunction with distinctive Kansas “post rock” limestone posts at various sites.

Wet /Dry Chapter Dedicates the Zebulon Pike Plaza in Larned

Joining in the nationwide observance of the Pike Expedition, the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association planned and developed an interpretive plaza site near the Pawnee River in Larned, Kansas, which was dedicated in a ceremony on October 29, 2006. The Pike Plaza commemorates the expedition’s crossing of the Pawnee River near the site on October 29, 1806, and the contributions made to the development of the United States and the Santa Fe Trail by his exploration of the Southwest. The chapter dedicated the Plaza 200 years to the day of Pike’s October 29 crossing of the Pawnee. The dedication was associated with Santa Fe Trail Association Rendezvous, which was held October 27-28, with the central focus of the Rendezvous being the Pike Expedition.

Included in this multi-use historical site is appropriate interpretive signage, a shelter house, barbecue cooker, and benches constructed of native limestone. The area is ringed with unique limestone fence posts particular to west central Kansas. Grassy areas planted with buffalo grass, and trees native to the area will punctuate the Plaza. The Wet/Dry Routes Chapter was generously supported in this ambitious project by the City of Larned.

A brunch was served at the Larned Community Center at 10:00 a.m. Speaking at the dedication was 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. Following his presentation, a group gathered at the Zebulon Pike Plaza for a formal dedication, which included a formal flag-raising of an 1806-pattern U.S. flag by uniformed reenactors, and remarks by Rev. Roy Pike, a descendent of the explorer.

For a look at some of the Wet/Dry chapter’s completed projects on the Santa Fe Trail, click here.

Membership

Click here for a membership form.

Art Source: The painting featured at the top of this page was done by artist and SFTA member Doug Holdread. Visit Doug's Website