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    Santa Fe Trail Museum

    4.5 (2 reviews)

    Santa Fe Trail Museum Photos

    Recommended Reviews - Santa Fe Trail Museum

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    6 years ago

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    11 years ago

    What a fantastic museum. So many historical artifacts there. Its like stepping back in time. WELL worth a visit.

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    Fort Dodge Kansas Soldiers' Home

    Fort Dodge Kansas Soldiers' Home

    5.0(3 reviews)
    29.1 mi

    We were here today and it's a neat little place to walk around. You can't enter any of the…read morebuildings, but there are markers explaining the area. You will spend about thirty minutes total and I highly recommend it.

    Must see for history buffs. You know why, the general population will think you crazy…read more.. The firt itself is gone. I was hoping to see a wooden structure with all its glory and warscars... But no wood was used so the fort was trenches and mudhuts... This town/village houses 160 people and some government military institutions as the name changed to the Kansas Soldierss' Home back in 1890!!! The fort was built in 1865 to protect pioneers traversing the santa fe trail heading to the southwest (new mexico territories). All skirmishes westward would besed in fort dodge since 900 miles north or south would get you close to canada and mejico. Plus this is 1300 miles from disneyland! Basically the "Plain" Indian campaigns were based from here. Needless to say it took five or so years to handle the Comanche and Kiowa tribes (im not trivializing genocide). The fort left all indian skirmishes to small raids rather than battles. General Custer was based here and his home is a museum now. Although the fort had a short life span, this spot was super important with manifest destiny post civil war. And yes, western kansas was confederate but so far out, western kansas had little influence for the civil war. Forts started popping up in surrounding areas, thanks to railroad expansion thus leading to firt dodge's limited lifespan. Fyi. Everything closed on sunday. I missed the museum :/

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    Fort Dodge Kansas Soldiers' Home
    Fort Dodge Kansas Soldiers' Home
    Fort Dodge Kansas Soldiers' Home

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    The Big Well - Bits of the past recovered from a landfill!

    The Big Well

    4.7(13 reviews)
    65.3 mi

    The Big Well Museum puts Greensburg, KS on the map. Not only does it feature the obvious, it also…read morechronicles the town's near-obliteration by a tornado and remarkable recovery since (with massive federal help). I wish there were a way to find out how the eco-friendly rebuild is actually working out. Is the solar power reliable? Did the money spent on extra insulation eventually pay for itself? There's no way to know; it's presented as a panacea. If I could change just one thing about the exhibits, it would be to introduce a 3 letter word: "sic". "Sic" would would show that the exhibit's creators knew about and were accurately reproducing the errors in quoted newspaper articles. "The supply of water found to inexhaustible." [sic] "There are about 4,000 gallons of water to the inch in the well" [sic]. (The well's diameter of 32 feet gives 500 gallons per inch, not 4,000.) Without "sic", most of the errors just look like typos.

    This is a very interesting place for a couple of reasons. First, to walk down into the largest…read morehand dug well is pretty cool by itself and the museum, while small, has a lot of detailed information about this unique well. The impact of the well, and the water is a great read. But the well is only part of what is fascinating about this museum. For me, the tornado is the kicker. In May of 2007, the city of Greensburg was wiped almost completely out by a devastating EF5 tornado. Standing on the viewing deck of this museum and realizing that what we are seeing is a totally rebuilt community is just amazing to see. Within just a year, much of the town was rallied around and reconstructed. The history of the well, combined with the history of the town is a testament to our true American culture of ingenuity and resilience and shows in tangible form what great people can accomplish regardless of the challenges.

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    The Big Well - It's a long way down!

    It's a long way down!

    The Big Well
    The Big Well - We all puzzled over this sign for quite a while before understanding the story.

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    We all puzzled over this sign for quite a while before understanding the story.

    Santa Fe Trail Museum - museums - Updated May 2026

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