Last updated: January 10, 2023
Place
Cow Creek Crossing - Buffalo Bill's Well
Photo/NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
3 miles west of Lyons, Kansas on Highway 56 and 1 mile south on 12th Avenue
Significance:
A ranch where Santa Fe Trail travelers could obtain resources for the trip
MANAGED BY:
Private
Cow Creek Crossing was adjacent to the south side of the present bridge one mile south of the Father Padilla Cross. There was a toll bridge about 150 yards upstream during the 1860s. About 150 yards above the post, the creek was spanned by a bridge 8 feet wide and 30 feet long. Dr. Asahel Beach and his son, Abijah, established a supply ranche (trading post) here in the 1850s. This area was also known as Beach Valley.
William Mathewson -- the original "Buffalo Bill" -- was at Cow Creek (Beach Valley) ranch from its beginning days up to 1862. In 1860, he hunted buffalo to supply meat to settlers of Eastern Kansas whose cattle herds had been reduced by droughts in 1859 and 1860. Mathewson along with two other men, survived an disputewith American Indians which lasted three days, July 20, 21, and 22, 1864. Five hundred American Indians attempted to advance, but Mathewson, along with the other men, kept them at bay.
One month later, in August 1864, William Mathewson married Elizabeth Inman, a native of Yorkshire, England. It is said that Mathewson did not bring his bride to Cow Creek ranch until she had become expert with rifle and revolver. By all accounts she was a courageous woman, operating the ranche while Mathewson was away serving as guide for Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt's expedition against the Plains Indians.
Perhaps the best-known surviving feature of the Cow Creek Crossing area is Buffalo Bill's hand-dug well. The well, with a Daughters of the American Revolution marker to the north of it, is still there.
Site Information
Location (3 miles west of Lyons, Kansas on Highway 56 and 1 mile south on 12th Avenue)
Safety Considerations
Read more: Cow Creek Crossing (Beach Valley) brochure by the Santa Fe Trail Association