The Kansas Daughters of the American Revolution have owned the small tract of land containing the pueblo ruins known as El Cuartelejo since 1922. Situated in Scott County, the site is surrounded by Kansas’ first state park, Lake Scott, owned and managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. In 1964, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark. The Kansas State Historical Society has maintained the property for the Kansas DAR since 1970. The Kansas DAR takes pride in its eighty-year commitment to protecting and preserving the El Cuartelejo pueblo ruins. Now the three organizations are partnering to build an enclosed interpretive center over the ruins. The planned center is being funded by private donations and matching grants.

El Cuartelejo is a hidden oasis and a natural fortification on the High Plains. It is located in the canyon created by a small tributary of the Smoky Hill River Valley called Ladder Creek. The history of El Cuartelejo predates the settlement of Europeans in Kansas. The Spanish name means “distant quarters.” Two Indian tribes from the Southwest fled onto the Kansas High Plains to escape Spanish rule in New Mexico. The Taos Indians settled with a band of the Plains Apaches about 1664 and lived in the canyon until the 1680s. The Picurie Indians arrived in 1696. All were “pueblo” dwellers and built El Cuartelejo to resemble dwellings in New Mexico, making it the northernmost site of pueblo culture in North America. They constructed pueblos and cultivated crops using a system of irrigation ditches from a nearby stream. The French, the first European settlers in Kansas, probably occupied El Cuartelejo in the early 1700s and used it as a trading post. After 1727, El Cuartelejo was abandoned. The site remained unoccupied and fell to ruin.

In the 1890s, Scott County pioneer, Herbert L. Steele, had discovered and was using the irrigation ditches, when he noticed other artifacts. In 1899 University of Kansas Professors Martin and Williams investigated the site. Their archeological excavations revealed stone walls of a pueblo, stone and bone tools, ornaments, and pottery shards characteristic of Plains Apaches. Herbert and his wife, Eliza J. Landon Steele, knowing the historical significance of the site, wanted it preserved by the Kansas DAR. On September 18, 1922, the Steeles deeded the site of El Quartelejo to the Kansas Daughters. They wanted the rest of their property to become a public park and recreation area. In 1928, it was acquired by the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission, the forerunner of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, making it the first state park.

Kansas Daughters raised funds to place a monument marking the site and for its upkeep. A 12’ gray granite obelisk, engraved with the DAR insignia and EL QUARTELEJO, was placed on the 60’ x 500’ tract. Four granite corner stones engraved with DAR mark the property lines. In the spring of 1964, the Department of Interior recommended the classification of El Cuartelejo as exceptional in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States, making it eligible to be registered as a National Historic Landmark. On Columbus Day 1964, the Kansas DAR sent a letter to the National Park Service making formal application designating this historic property as a National Historic Landmark. The formal dedication took place on October 25, 1964, with a gala pageant revealing the history of the site.

In 1970, the Kansas DAR granted an easement to the Kansas State Historical Society for the construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of the El Cuartelejo Pueblo, as long as the area was maintained as an historical site. In 1971, the KSHS reconstructed the ruins of the pueblo, surrounded the ruins with a wooden rail fence and placed interpretive signs. The DAR El Quartelejo monument was relocated south and west of the ruins, facing north; today, it is surrounded by cottonwoods. Time and weather have taken its toll on the 1971 reconstruction and interpretive signs. In 2005, plans were designed for an interpretive center to protect the site and to furnish an interpretive experience for visitors at El Cuartelejo.

Written by Shirley Coupal

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