Kansapedia

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TOPIC

TIME PERIOD

COUNTY

BARTON COUNTY

SOUTH CENTRAL

The Santa Fe Trail passed through what would become Barton County, Kansas, on Plains Indian hunting grounds. Midway on the trail to Santa Fe, a sandstone citadel offered travelers a dramatic view of the land. Organized in 1872, the county played an important role in the cattle industry. Decades later, during World War II, the area was home to an air field and pilot training base.

An expedition of the explorer, Zebulon Pike, reached the area in 1806 seeking the source of the Arkansas River. The team identified the northern bend of the river, which flows east from the Colorado mountains. The Cheyenne Bottoms, near Blood Creek and Deception Creek, is a wetland area that attracts hundreds of thousands of shorebirds during spring and fall migration.

Near the midpoint of the Santa Fe Trail, which passed through the area, is an outcropping of Dakota sandstone called Pawnee Rock. One of the most prominent landmarks on the route, people left their mark by carving their names in the stone. Much of the stone was later removed and used for construction by settlers and the railroad.

Quick Facts

Date Established: February 26, 1867
Date Organized: May 16, 1872
County Seat: Great Bend
Courthouse: 1917-1918
Kansas Region: South Central
Physiographic Regions: Arkansas River Lowlands, Smoky Hills
Kansas Byway: Wetlands & Wildlife

Pipes were used by Plains Indians during trade negotiations and to mark special occasions. Pipestone is usually brownish-red in color, fine in grain, and easily formed into shape by the artisan. This pipestone had yet to be completed when it was created centuries ago. It was found in Atchison County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1925.

LEARN MORE

The geographic center of the state is just northeast of Great Bend in Barton County. Located in the south central part of the state, the county is in the Arkansas River Lowlands region with one of the area’s few natural lakes. Once part of the old Washington County, Peketon County, and later an enlarged Marion County. The county was organized in 1872 and named for Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, who served as a nurse during the Civil War. Barton is the only Kansas county named for a woman. Prior to organization, the area’s revenue and judicial needs related to Ellsworth County, which initially caused complicated tax issues when the county was organized. A courthouse was built by architect John McDonald in Great Bend in 1872. It was replaced by a courthouse designed by W. E. Hulse in 1917.

Fort Zarah was established in 1864, northeast of present-day Great Bend, to protect traffic along the trail. Construction of the Santa Fe railroad followed the Santa Fe Trail and reached the area in 1872. Cowboys herded cattle from Texas to the railroad where they could be shipped to the markets in the East. These cattle drives provided an economic boom for the county from 1873 to 1875. Because Texas herds brought disease to Kansas cattle, the state passed quarantine laws that impacted shipments to Barton County.

Timeline

1806 – Zebulon Pike reaches source of Arkansas River
1864 – Fort Zarah established on the Santa Fe Trail
1867 – February 26 – Barton County is established
1872 – May 16 – Barton County is organized
1872 – Santa Fe railroad arrives
1873-1875 – Cattle drives reach region
1882-1883 – Outbreak of smallpox in Great Bend
1899 – Pawnee Rock named state site
1942-1943 – Great Bend Army Airfield constructed
1945 – Great Bend Army Airfield deactivated

In 1874 the borders were changed and Barton County took on part of Stafford County. The original borders were eventually restored in 1879 after a court decision.

The population increased significantly with the arrival of the railroad, from 200 in 1870 to 10,319 in 1880. During the winter of 1882-1883, residents of Great Bend suffered from a smallpox outbreak. Of the 30 cases, half of the victims died.

Great Bend Army Air Field was built in 1942-1943. The airfield expanded in 1943 when the mission changed to train personnel for the new B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber. The base was a staging area for maintenance crews, mechanics, and pilots preparing for an assignment in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war the base was deeded to Great Bend for a municipal airport and is also used as rental space for small planes.

Cities & Towns

Albert
Claflin
Ellinwood
Galatia
Great Bend
Hoisington
Olmitz
Pawnee Rock
Susank

Today Pawnee Rock State Historic Site marks the popular vantage point along the trail. In addition to Pawnee Rock, Barton County properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places and Registers of Historic Kansas Places include two Lustron prefabricated houses that were part of the post-World War II era development in Great Bend.

Governor Jonathan Davis and Congressman David Lowe were both from Barton County.