Santa Fe Trail Association

Quivira Chapter

"The storm burst, and the o’ercharged sky poured fourth its torrent over the grassy plains.
The wind increased to a hurricane, and drove the falling rain almost horizontally before it."
— Matt Field, near Cheyenne Bottoms, 1839

History of the Quivira Chapter

The Quivira Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association covers approximately 90 miles of the portion of the Santa Fe Trail that traveled through McPherson, Rice, and Barton counties in Kansas. The chapter was organized in 1992. The name Quivira was adopted from the Quivira Indians, one of the Native American tribes to inhabit the central plains. The Quivira Chapter marks the beginning of the short-grass prairie and the area of the Buffalo. Map: Map of Quivira Chapter Boundary

Location and Directions

The Santa Fe Trail enters the Quivira Chapter at the McPherson/Marion County line. The major cities within the Quivira Chapter are McPherson, Lyons, and Great Bend. U.S. Highway 56 closely follows the Trail east to west through the chapter area. You can reach U.S. Highway 56 from Interstate 70 by traveling south from Salina on I-35 to exit 60 at McPherson. From Wichita, go north on I-35 to the same exit.

 



Points of Interest

A few of the many sites of interest along the Santa Fe Trail within the chapter area.
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Chapter Events & News

View planned chapter events and read all about our chapter in our latest chapter newsletter.
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An Auto Tour of the Trail

Download a brochure with maps to follow the Santa Fe Trail through the Quivira Chapter.

The Quivira Chapter is working on the completion of the Quivira Auto Tour project to mark the Trail through the chapter.

Goals of the Quivira Chapter

The goals of the Quivira Chapter are to preserve and protect the Santa Fe Trail and to educate people about the Trail and its history.  The Chapter hopes to increase landowner involvement in chapter activities, and to increase overall membership.  We encourage all people, especially landowners, to become involved in chapter activities.

Membership

Anyone interested in the Santa Fe Trail is welcome to join. Membership in the Quivira Chapter is just $10 per year for individuals or families.

To download the membership form, click here.

 

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

Our Mission
The mission of the Santa Fe Trail Association is to protect and preserve the Santa Fe Trail and to promote awareness of the historical legacy associated with it.  The Santa Fe Trail Association’s purposes are exclusively charitable and educational within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.