Lower Cimarron Springs was an oasis to thirsty travelers, and also served as a watering spot for immense herds of buffalo and prairie animals, as well as for Native American tribes of the area.
In 1831, noted western explorer and fur trader Jedediah Smith, leading a caravan of 74 men, teams, wagons and pack mules, met his demise near the springs. After three days without water, the situation had become desperate. Smith left the caravan to search for water and happened upon a hunting party of Comanche Indians waiting for buffalo to come to the springs. Both Smith and the Comanche chieftain lost their lives in the resulting battle.
In 1846, more than 500 men of the Mormon Batallion camped at the Lower Cimarron Springs. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, they had volunteered to fit in the war against Mexico, donating their army pay to the church and its members in Utah. The Mormon Batallion was not required to wear army uniforms, and were not furnished horses. They marched on foot from Leavenworth to Santa Fe over the Cimarron Cutoff, and then on to California.
As traffic increased on the Santa Fe Trail, the popular name for the watering place became Wagon Bed Springs, because a wagon box was set in the ground to collect water as it seeped from the springs. The site of the springs was recognized in 1961, when it was designated a National Historic Landmark. However, the marker, located 12 miles south of Ulysses in Grant County, sits on dry ground, as Wagon Bed Springs went dry when crop irrigation began in the area.
Click the Listen button above to hear the full story!
Thanks to the Historic Adobe Museum and to Lynn Boitano for contributing to this story.
Skip Mancini is a longtime contributor to High Plains Public Radio.
High Plains History is a production of High Plains Public Radio.
