CHOUTEAU'S ISLAND

Chouteau'S Island is a Kansas historical marker in Kearny County.

Kearny County · US-50, one mile west of Lakin · location approximate

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IN THE SPRING OF 1816 AUGUSTE P. CHOUTEAU'S HUNTING PARTY TRAVELING EAST WITH A WINTER'S CATCH OF FURS WAS ATTACKED NEAR THE ARKANSAS RIVER BY 200 PAWNEES. RETREATING TO AN ISLAND FIVE MILES SOUTHWEST OF THIS MARKER THE HUNTERS BEAT THEM OFF WITH THE LOSS OF ONLY ONE MAN. IN 1825 INCREASED TRAVEL ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL BROUGHT A GOVERNMENT SURVEY AND CHOUTEAU'S ISLAND WAS LISTED AS A TURNING OFF PLACE FOR THE DANGEROUS "JORNADA" TO THE CIMARRON. FOR A TIME THE RIVER HERE WAS THE MEXICAN BOUNDARY. WHEN MAJ. BENNETT RILEY AND FOUR COMPANIES OF INFANTRY, SERVING AS THE FIRST MILITARY ESCORT ON THE TRAIL, ARRIVED IN 1829 WITH A WEST-BOUND WAGON TRAIN THE TROOPS WENT INTO CAMP NEAR THE ISLAND. THEY SPENT THE SUMMER FIGHTING OFF INDIANS, LOSING SEVERAL MEN AND PART OF THEIR OXEN. THE RETURN FROM SANTA FE OF THE CARAVAN WITH A MEXICAN ESCORT WAS CELEBRATED IN A COLORFUL EXCHANGE OF MILITARY INSPECTIONS.

Verbatim 1941 text, presented as a historical record, not current interpretation. Kansas rewrote many of these signs in 2011-2012 and retired others, and the current texts use different language about Native people.

The Kansas Historical Society maintains the marker program and its current texts. Current marker program ↗

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Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: Kirke Mechem, "Kansas Historical Markers", Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. X no. 4 (November 1941), published by the Kansas State Historical Society

CHOUTEAU'S ISLAND

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