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Wagon Bed Springs


category : Pioneer History
Wagon Bed Springs Wagon Bed Springs, sometimes called Lower Cimarron Springs, on the Cimarron River in Southwest Kansas afforded the first water during the dry season on the 60 mile stretch of the desert or Cimarron Cut-off Route of the Santa Fe Trail, after crossing and leaving the Arkansas River. It was the objective and stopping place of all travelers over the desert route of the Trail.

Wagon Bed Springs was and oasis on the route followed by most travelers to Santa Fe prior to the Mexican War. The Springs were located on the worst and most dangerous stretch of the journey to Santa Fe. Not only were the Springs a welcome sight to thirsty travelers, but they were the Springs a welcome sight to thirsty travelers, but they also served as a watering spot for immense herds of buffalo and prairie animals, as well as for Indians. Its water has been described as "cool, sweet, and good."

The Springs were a favorite haunt for raiding war parties of Comanches. It was near here that one of their parties in 1831 killed the famous explorer and mountain man, Jedediah Smith, who was taking a caravan to Santa Fe.

The significance of the Spring was recognized in 1961, when the National Park Service designated it a National Historic Landmark.

LASR - Ulysses, Kansas - Wagon Bed Springs

A wagon box set in seeping water gave the Springs its modern name. It was sunk into the ground to allow fresh, clear water to bubble up through the boards of the bottom of the wagon, while filtering out the sand and soil. It went dry as crop irrigation began, and memory of the exact location is uncertain, but traces of a spring at this replica most nearly match the 1825 description by U.S. surveyor Joseph Brown.




Address: 10 miles South of Ulysses on Hwy 125

Come visit us in Ulysses, Kansas

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Old Edwards Hotel

Located in the Museum Complex, the Old Edwards Hotel was cut into three sections for moving in 1909

Ulysses, KS Historic Hotels

Bentwood Golf Course

Come to Frazier Park and play a round of golf on the nine-hole grass greens course.

Ulysses, KS Golf Courses

Grant County Museum

The Grant County Museum is housed in a handmade adobe structure built for a county shop in the 1930s as a WPA project. The museum is now on the State Register of Historic Places.

Ulysses, KS Museums

Swimming Pool Complex

Cool off during those hot, Kansas summer days at the Grant County Swimming Pool Complex. The Complex has an outdoor olympic-size pool with diving area, two kiddie and toddler pools, and an olympic-size, heated, indoor lap pool.

Ulysses, KS Recreation

Santa Fe Trail Ruts

Come and see the wheel ruts of the famous 60 mile "Jornada" Trail, a stretch of arid prairie between the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers referred to by early Spanish explorers as the "jornada de muerte" or journey of death

Ulysses, KS Landmarks

Things to do Pioneer History near Ulysses, KS

Aubey Route

The Aubrey Route, which left the Santa Fe Trail on the Arkansas River at Chouteau's Island and Indian Mound, west of Lakin, c...

Bluff Station

Bluff station was southeast of Indian Mound, on the east side of a sand creek which circles north and east of the Mound and f...

Bear Creek Pass

This pass is one of the most interesting histories in the state of Kansas. Kearny County was fortunate in the creation of the...