A gray, windy and cold day at Quivira, but still worth it. Deer. Raccoons. A weasel carrying her baby across a mud flat into the tall grass. Ruddy Turnstones. Wilson’s Phalaropes spinning like tops in the water. Semipalmated Sandpipers. And lots more.

Leaving Quivira, I was directed to turn right, turn left, and then “For 118 miles, go straight.” One road (96), straight across Kansas. Flat as a pancake, nothing but fields and the occasional tiny town.

In desperation, I searched for a radio station that was not trying to bring me to an ecstatic love-bond with Jesus, and found probably the only public radio station in the area—HPPR, the High Plains Public Radio. They were broadcasting Western swing, their usual Saturday programming, and today was a special dance edition.  Now, I am here to tell you, you have not lived until you have heard the Western swing version of “I Could Have Danced All Night.” Which led me to fantasize an entirely Western swing version of My Fair Lady, with an Midwestern rancher-type trying to ‘educate’ prim easterner Eliza. (Someone needs to work on that idea. Just sayin’.)  Kept me going right up to the shores of Historic Lake Scott State Park. 

They call it HISTORIC Lake Scott for a reason. Battle of Punished Woman’s Fork, site of the last Native American/Cavalry battle in Kansas. El Cuartelejo, the only known Pueblo ruins in Kansas. Early settlements. And that’s just the historic sites INSIDE the park.  The whole area is rich in history, with Indian forts, early stagecoach lines, museums, and more. 

And the scenery!! This is like nothing else in the state—they call it the badlands of Kansas. The dogs and I hiked the 6 mile trail around the lake.

After hiking the trail, I drove to the Punished Woman Fork battle site, where a band of northern Cheynne, fleeing from a reservation and trying to return to their home in the north, made a stand against U.S. Cavalry forces in 1878. They hid their women and children in the cave at the head of this canyon, while men took defensive positions along the canyon walls. They managed to fatally wound the Cavalry commander, but were forced to escape by night, leaving all of their horses and possessions behind. Some were captured quickly, while others managed to roam the Nebraska sandhills for a time.

You can walk down to the cave, and around the small canyon, where the barricades and rifle pits built by the Comanche can still be seen. I felt a great sadness, thinking of these people so desperate just to go home.