Chouteau’s Island, Kansas

Chouteau’s Island, in Kearny County, Kansas, was an island in the Arkansas River and a landmark of the old Santa Fe Trail. Today, the site is lost, having long since been eroded by the river. All that remains to mark this conflict is a small historical marker in a golf course parking lot.

For many years, this tree-filled island near the former town of Hartland served as a strategic spot for military camps, a turning point for the dangerous Cimarron Cutoff, and is historically significant as the site of several skirmishes, one of which earned the island its name.

Though in the grand scheme of things, the Battle of Chouteau’s Island was a minor, inconsequential conflict between Native Americans and settlers advancing westward following the Louisiana Purchase. However, it set a precedent for subsequent years of conflict and bloodshed.

In 1825, increased travel on the Santa Fe Trail prompted a government survey. Chouteau’s Island was listed as a turning-off point for the shorter, but more dangerous, Cimarron Cutoff, due south to the Wagon Bed Spring of the Cimarron River near Ulysses, Kansas. This route was sometimes called the “Aubry Cutoff” since Francois X. Aubry was known to have partially followed it on at least one of his famous rides between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Independence, Missouri. It was a much better-watered route than the one via Cimarron Crossing.

In 1828, more than $10,000 of silver was buried at Chouteau’s Island by a group of traders known as the Milton Bryan Party. The group was on the return trip from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and among the party was William Young Hitt, who kept a diary of the journey. One morning after arriving at the Upper Cimarron Springs, Bryan’s party was awakened just before dawn by a large band of Indians riding within rifle-shot of the wagon. A continuous battle raged for several hours.

After successfully stampeding all the horses and mules, the Indians retreated. Hitt was wounded six times. The next morning, some of the men took off in hopes of finding the lost stock. Hitt was on his way back to camp when Indians overtook him, but some of his traveling companions arrived in time to save him. Unable to secure any of their stock, the entourage left by foot in the morning with each man shouldering a rifle and a proportion of provisions. After eight days of travel, they had less than 100 pounds of flour left and had been unsuccessful in finding any game. Adding to their futility was a scarcity of water. In desperation, the troupe was once compelled to suck the moist clay from a buffalo wallow.

Along the way home, they were carrying the silver they had earned from their trip, which had become a greater burden than they could bear. They decided to bury it at the first good place they came upon. When they arrived at Chouteau’s Island, they dug a hole and deposited their treasure between two large trees.

Between 1865 and 1870, a caravan of traders was attacked by Indians in the valley between Chouteau’s Island and Indian Mound. Word of the attack reached Fort Garland, Colorado, and soldiers were dispatched to the scene. By the time they reached the area, the Indians had fled, and the traders were dead. The soldiers buried them and returned to Fort Garland.

The memory of Chouteau’s Island endures at the nearby Indian Mound, a significant landmark on the Santa Fe Trail that overlooks the former island’s location. There is also a historical marker commemorating the site west of modern-day Lakin, Kansas.