07/28/2026
Partner Spotlight: Baker University Wetlands & Discovery Center
Find them at 1365 N 1250 Rd, Lawrence, KS 66046
From Baker University: This area was historically used by American Indians of the Kanza tribe and then later by various eastern tribes that were moved to this area by soldiers of the European white settlers. Several archaeological sites in the region have been investigated. The closest known site is to the west of US Highway 59 just south of the current movie theater. Also several sites were investigated before Clinton Lake was filled. In spite of extensive searches and decades of plowing, no archaeological sites or artifacts have been located within the area of the original Baker Wetlands.
Earlier pioneer accounts indicate that before settlement, the wagons along the Oregon/California Trail either crossed the Wakarusa at Blue Jacket, five to six miles to the east, or about 300 yards downstream from the later bridge. According to pioneer accounts, this crossing was managed by using the wagon’s own oxen to lower the wagons down the south (or possibly east) bank, and then the wagons were pulled up the opposite bank by a team of mules that were owned by an American Indian that lived on the bank. Several cuts in the bank have been located on private land that suggest that many of the wagons were brought up those cut slopes.
