Scott State Park/El Cuartelejo Pueblo
Scott State Park/El Cuartelejo Pueblo
Location: From Scott City go 10 miles North on Hwy US 83 then 3 miles west on Hwy K-95.
Nearest Town: Scott City
Contact: Ph.
316/872-2061
The
100 acre Lake Scott is set like a gemstone amid the chalk canyons
of this part of Western Kansas. The lake was created in 1930 with the
construction of the dam and is an oasis for water loving plant and animal life
in this otherwise arid region.
The
Steele Monument is set on a high bluff overlooking the lake.
It honors Herbert and Eliza Steele who homesteaded this area in the late 1800's.
The Steele's loved to show off the area and hosted many outings in the spring
fed canyons during the 40 or so years they lived here. It was their wish
that the area be open to the public, and in 1928 the state of Kansas purchased
the area and built the lake creating the first state park in Kansas.
One
of the many unique and interesting things that Scott State Park
has to offer is the El Cuartelejo Pueblo. Named a National Historic
Landmark in 1964, the ruins are all that is left of the northern most pueblo in
the United States. It was constructed by a group of Taos Indians who
wanted to live free from Spanish rule in the 1600's. They lived here for
about 20 years, building irrigation canals to carry spring water to their crops.
Eventually they returned to their native area. The pueblo was next
occupied in 1701 by a group of Picurie Indians who only lived there for a couple
of years. In
1717 Juan Uribarri opened a trading post from the structure, making it one of
the first white settlements in Kansas, far from the eastern border of the state.
He operated the trading post here until the late 1720's when El Cuartelejo was
abandoned for the final time. Mr. Steele, who homesteaded the area, used
the old irrigation canals for his truck garden when he farmed this valley.
In the 1890's the site was excavated by archeologists from the University of
Kansas. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument on the
site in 1925 (small photo at right).
Photo at left shows what the pueblo would have looked like when inhabited by the Taos Indians in the 1600's. Evidence suggests that the structure had no doors in the walls. It was entered from the roof (note the ladder in drawing).
A
small spring flows from a canyon and creates a micro-climate for
water loving plants. The grapes (small photo lower left) are probably and
escape from the Steeles former homestead which was in the area.
Wildflowers
bloom throughout the area surrounding the lake adding to it's
beauty.
