Last updated: January 23, 2023
Place
Ralph's Ruts
Linda Colle
Quick Facts
Location:
Ralph's Ruts are located 4 miles west of Chase, Kansas on Highway 56 and 3/4 mile north on 4th Avenue. At the site is a DAR Marker, a wayside exhibit, and a gate to walk into the field. Nearby are Plum Buttes and Gunsight Notch.
Significance:
Seven swales are preserved in an untilled field that the public is invited to explore. This is one of the best sets of swales trail-wide.
Designation:
Certified site; Private land
MANAGED BY:
Private
A map of Passport and Places to Go locations for National Historic Trails.
Known among trail buffs as “Ralph's Ruts,” after their owner, Ralph Hathaway, this site beckons you to walk through Santa Fe Trail ruts and you are welcomed into the pasture. Ralph’s grandparents, John L. and Mary E. Hathaway, filed a homestead claim in 1878 for this land. While breaking sod on the northeast forty acres of this quarter, John and his sons plowed up a pistol, a watch, pieces of hardware from burned out wagons, and bits of broken ironstone china—grim evidence of the notorious Plum Buttes Massacre.
Here at the Hathaway homestead are some of the most pronounced and fine Santa Fe Trail ruts to be found along the full length of the Santa Fe Trail. These have become known among trail buffs and historians as "Ralph's Ruts." These forty acres of rolling grass have been saved from the plow because Ralph's grandfather discovered it was to sandy to become satisfactory cropland. Having been left in the native sod the ruts have been well preserved. One unique feature of these ruts is that there are seven, instead of the four that you find at most rut sites. This is probably due to the sandy soil at this location. The ruts became so deep and the layer of loose sand offered so much rolling resistance to the wagon wheels that from time to time some of the drivers simply moved over to one side and made a new path parallel to the others. The trail ruts are still present for another one-half mile on the farm owned by Ed and Carolyn Hathaway Kern, across 4th Avenue.
Site Information
Location (Ralph's Ruts are located 4 miles west of Chase, Kansas on Highway 56 and 3/4 mile north on 4th Avenue. At the site is a DAR Marker, a wayside exhibit, and a gate to walk into the field. Nearby are Plum Buttes and Gunsight Notch.)