Council Grove

Council Grove: Madonna of the Trail Monument

Council Grove, city, seat (1871) of Morris county, east-central Kansas, U.S., on the Neosho River. The settlement started as an Indian campground in a grove of oaks near the river, where a treaty was concluded (1825) between the federal government and the Kansa and Osage Indians to permit the surveying of the Santa Fe Trail (from the Missouri River to Santa Fe, then in Mexican territory). The following year the first of many wagon trains rested at Council Grove, the last supply point before Santa Fe. After the arrival of the railroad in 1883, Council Grove became a shipping point for livestock and farm produce. The city remains an agricultural processing and shipping centre dealing primarily in grain, poultry, and livestock. Frontier landmarks include the Pioneer Jail (1849; the only one on the Santa Fe Trail), the Madonna of the Trail Monument (1928), honouring pioneer women, and Hays Tavern (1847). The Kaw Indian Mission (1851) is now a museum. Custer Elm, 100 feet (30 metres) tall and 16 feet (5 metres) in circumference, supposedly sheltered Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s troops in 1867 during an expedition against the Indians; only the stump now remains, marked by a memorial plaque. Council Grove Lake, created by the impoundment of the Neosho, is just northwest of the city. Inc. 1858. Pop. (2000) 2,321; (2010) 2,182.