Santa Fe Trail Marker; Gardner Ks.

This monument was placed by the Gardner Chapter of the Johnson County Old Settlers Association on August 21^st, 1907, to mark the crossing of the Santa Fe Trail through Gardner, Kansas. This marker was created at the same time that a series of 96 granite markers were placed to mark the route of the Santa Fe Trail through the State of Kansas. Those 96 markers were funded and dedicated by the Kansas Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, but this marker in Gardner was a standalone monument created separately from that project. Its location at the northeast corner of Elm and E. Shawnee St. in front of the Gardner School marks where the Santa Fe Trail crossed through the original town of Gardner. 

As the news spread in early 1906 that the Daughters of the American Revolution planned on placing granite markers to trace the route of the Santa Fe Trail through the State of Kansas, the Gardner Chapter of the Johnson County Old Settlers Association proposed that they raise money to create their own marker to place where the trail crossed in Gardner. The Johnson County Board of Commissioners appropriated $150 towards the project, provided that the people of Gardner raised an equal amount. The Settlers organization decided to place the marker at the northeast corner of Elm and E. Shawnee St., on the grounds of the public school in Gardner. The Santa Fe Trail originally crossed at this point.

The marker they commissioned was of the best quality granite imported from Vermont. It stands 9 feet tall and is headed by a carved capstone with the inscription “Erected by the Old Settlers of Gardner 1906.” On the face of the monument is attached a copy of the bronze plaque originally placed on the trail marker in Penn Valley Park in Kansas City, Mo. The plaque was designed by Mrs. Maud Miles, an art teacher at Kansas City’s Manual High School. Copies of this plaque were also placed on several DAR markers in Kansas City, Missouri, as well as the Old Settlers Santa Fe Trail marker in Olathe and one of the DAR markers in Baldwin, Ks.

The monument was dedicated on Aug. 21, 1907. More than 500 people gathered for the festivities which included picnic lunches, a band, and addresses by some of the “Old Settlers,” who told tales of working on the Santa Fe Trail. The keynote address was given by former Kansas State Senator J.W. Parker, who traced the political history of the trail. After his address, the American flag covering the monument was lifted to great applause.

Today the monument sits in the same location where it was placed in 1906. The Gardner School has been torn down and rebuilt several times. 

"Old Settlers at Gardner." Olathe Register (Olathe, Ks.) August 29th, 1907. .1.

"To Mark the Trail." Olathe News (Olathe, Ks.) August 23rd, 1906. .12.

Codry, Mrs. T.A. . The Story of the Marking of the Santa Fe Trail By The Daughters of the American Revolution in Kansas and the State of Kansas.. Topeka, Ks. Crane and Company Printers , 1915.