By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
People are gathered for church in the swales of the Santa Fe Trail. A circuit-riding preacher rides up on his horse, dismounts, and prepares to deliver his sermon.
Is this a scene from 200 years ago? No, it is happening in 2025, as part of a remarkable symposium about the history of the Santa Fe Trail. The symposium includes tours, historical presentations, Native American activities, food, entertainment, special events and more.
Mark Brooks is site administrator and curator of the Kaw Mission and Last Chance Store state historic site in Council Grove. He and his sister Sharmon Richardson are co-chairs of the 2025 Santa Fe Trail Symposium that will take place in Council Grove beginning in mid-September.
“We are fourth-generation Council Groveians,” Brooks said. “Our great-grandfather came here on a covered wagon. In fact, we had ancestors in Kansas before it became a territory.”
“Our dad was a lover of history,” Brooks said, noting that his father gave historical tours to local schoolchildren.
Their community pride and deep interest in history led them to successfully propose that the Heart of the Flint Hills chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association host the association’s biannual symposium in 2025. “We’ve been planning this for nearly four years,” Richardson said.
The mission of the Santa Fe Trail Association is to protect and preserve the Santa Fe Trail and to promote awareness of its historical legacy. In the 1800s, the trail was a crucial international trade route along which Council Grove was founded.
From Sept. 19-27, Council Grove will host the Santa Fe Trail Association symposium. The theme is “Marking a Road to Santa Fe: Set Your Sights on Sibley.” Sibley refers to the Sibley Expedition, led by George Sibley who was chosen to survey the trail and make peace with Native Americans enroute.
“2025 is 200 years since John Quincy Adams signed the law directing that the survey take place,” Brooks said. The symposium will include multiple historical presentations as well as tours of Santa Fe Trail-related sites.
Activities begin with a nine-day vintage covered wagon show featuring wagons from as far away as Virginia and Texas. The annual “Voices of the Wind People” pageant will take place Sept. 19-20. There are other activities each day, including a gravel bicycle ride and a geocaching event.
A Sunday church service will take place along the trail near the rural community of Wilsey, population 139 people. Now, that’s rural.
The Kaw Nation will have activities at Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park, site of the huge historic red stone that was recently relocated from Lawrence. A movie about this story, titled “Return of the Sacred Red Rock,” will be shown on Sept. 23 at the high school auditorium.
A scavenger hunt of downtown Council Grove locations will include prizes for the winners. New trail signs will be dedicated. Awards will be presented.
On different days, guided bus tours of various stops will occur. One goes east toward Burlingame, a second up to Fort Riley, and the third will visit multiple locations in Council Grove itself.
Annie Wilson’s music group Tallgrass Express will perform one night. The groups Weda Skirts and the Church Ladies will perform on different nights at the Neosho River Old Riverbed Amphitheater.
Some of the events described above are separate or free. Symposium registration includes meals and admission to speakers and guided tours. Complete information and registration can be found at www.santafetrail.org or www.councilgrove.com/symposium.
“Local women’s clubs have volunteered to help and we’re very grateful,” Richardson said.
This set of activities is much more extensive than a typical three-day conference. “This model has never been done before,” Brooks said. “There’s so much to offer here that a standard symposium schedule couldn’t cover it all.”
The circuit-riding preacher rides in on his horse and delivers his sermon along the Santa Fe Trail. It’s a modern day representation of the legacy of this transformational historic trail.
We salute Mark Brooks, Sharmon Richardson, and all those involved who are making a difference by hosting this remarkable event. It’s a lot to say grace over.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at https://www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
