Maxwell Wildlife Refuge

Location:  From Exit #72 on I-135 (South Lindsborg Exit) take the county road East 10 miles to Roxbury, then South 5 miles to the entrance.

Nearest Towns:  Lindsborg, McPherson, Canton, Roxbury

Contact:  Ph.   316/628-4455

Tucked away in the Smoky Hills Region of Kansas is a true treasure.  The refuge came into being through the generous forward thinking of Henry Maxwell and family, a McPherson business man of the early 1900's.  It was with funds from his estate that the land which is now the refuge was bought for the purpose of preserving Bison and Elk for the enjoyment and education of future generations.

At one time, Bison blanketed the plains of what is now Kansas and the rest of the Great Plains numbering 75 million.  The coming of the White settlement meant the end of the Bison's dominion over the plains.  In an incredibly short period of years, the huge herds where hunted to near oblivion.  Elk were only left in the more wild country of the Rocky Mountains.  It was only after the great herds were gone that some men began to realize what a terrible thing had been done here--truly a theft from their children and their children's children. 

It was with this in mind the the Maxwell Estate set out to buy a fraction of the Smoky Hills with the so that here, at least, we could see these great creatures and appreciate what was lost.  Beginning in the 1940's, land was purchased, and by 1951 Bison and Elk were brought in from the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma to form the beginnings of today's herd.  By this time, too, the land had been deeded to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks with the condition that it be managed as a preserve for these vestigial herds of plains grazers.

Bison numbers on the refuge are kept at around 200 and the Elk herd number about 60 animals.  Each Fall, the bison are rounded up and the excess sold.  Many private Bison herds in this state and around the country can trace there start to Maxwell.

Maxwell operated for many years before there was much public access to the area.  Today, with the help of the volunteer organization, The Friends of Maxwell, the public can tour and experience this wonderful area.  For many this is their only chance to see Bison in a nearly wild state.  Here, too, Elk can be viewed and enjoyed, though they are harder to spot than the Bison.  Tours are conducted weekends in the summer, and special tours can also be arranged at the contact listed above.

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