Burlingame Explorations
Learn more about Burlingame by following the links below:
Santa Fe Trail
Address:
Across
Burlingame,
KS
66413
Website:
About this Exploration:
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Remnants of the Santa Fe Trail |
McGee-Harris Stage Station |
The McGee-Harris Stage Station is about 1 mile south of U.S. 56 on the east bank of 110 Mile Creek, east of
Burlingame
. The stage station was started in the 1850s by Fry McGee, who also erected a toll bridge over 110 Mile Creek here. Harris, McGee's son-in-law, operated the station, following McGee's death, from 1861 to 1866, when this segment of the trail closed. Crumbling building remains are all that are left today. |
Switzler Creek Crossing |
The Switzler Creek Crossing is at the eastern edge of
Burlingame,
very near the present day U.S.56 bridge. A toll bridge was operated here from 1847 to the 1860s. It was at
Burlingame that the
Atchison,
Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway first made its first contact with the
Santa Fe Trail in 1869. The trail went down the main street of
Burlingame. |
Dragoon Creek Crossing |
The Dragoon Creek Crossing, a natural rock crossing point on Dragoon Creek, is 3 miles northwest of
Burlingame and north of K-32. This natural crossing still appears as it did in the Trail days. The Dragoon soldiers patrolled the trail for robbers, thieves, or any unruly activity. Dragoon Creek was named for these soldiers. |
Havana Stage Station site
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The Havana Stage Station is about 1 mile west of Dragoon Creek and just south of K-31. Reportedly built in 1858, the station was complemented by a store and a hotel. Today, only the remains of the stage station are discernible. |
Samuel Hunt Grave 36K
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The Samuel Hunt Grave is located just north of K-31 and about 0.5 mile west of the Havana Stage Station site. Private Samuel Hunt, U.S. Army Dragoons, served with Colonel Henry Dodge's
Rocky
Mountain expedition in 1835, and died at this location on the return march to
Fort
Leavenworth. This is the earliest known gravesite of a soldier on the
Santa Fe Trail. |
Soldier Creek Crossing |
The Soldier Creek crossing is southwest of the Samuel Hunt grave, where visible
Santa Fe Trail ruts lead to the creek. There are unmarked gravesites at Soldier Creek Crossing. The creek is reportedly named after an army unit that suffered heavy losses to cholera at this location in 1851. This was perhaps the May-June expedition of Bvt. Col. Edwin V. Sumner and First Dragoons heading west to establish
Ft.
Union. At least 35 men were lost to cholera along the Trail on route between the Kansas River and the Santa Fe Trail crossing of the
Arkansas River. The exact locations of such gravesites simply have not been found. |
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