LOCAL > HISTORY
history
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A LOOK BACK AT OUR
Wich ita fla gB yT ho
FUN FACT The Keeper of the Plains is the 12th tallest statue in the U.S.
By DRONE-TOGRAPHY
Archaeological evidence indicates human habitation near the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers, the site of present-day Wichita, as early as 3000 B.C. In 1541, a Spanish expedition led by explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado found the area populated by the Quivira, or Wichita, people. Conflict with the Osage in the 1750s drove the Wichita further south. Prior to European settlement of the region, the site was in the territory of the Kiowa. 20 BeLocal
Wichita began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s and was formerly incorporated as a city on July 21st, 1870. It became a destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to access railroads which led to markets in eastern U.S. cities. This earned the nickname “Cowtown.” The original stimulus to the City’s economic development was the extension of the Santa Fe Railway into Wichita in 1872. 2022
