Last updated: May 20, 2026
Place
The Big Bend of the Arkansas River
NPS Image
Quick Facts
Location:
Intersection of South Fritz Ave and West A Street in Ellinwood, Kansas.
Significance:
A short-lived ranch on the Santa Fe Trail.
Designation:
Historic site on the Santa Fe NHT.
MANAGED BY:
Private
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
The north bank of the Arkansas River at the west side of present-day Ellinwood was a popular stop on the Trail because there was water and fuel. In 1820, there was an island, heavily timbered with cottonwood. The main channel then ran along the north bank and on the south side of the river in the river bends, there was quite a forest with some hardwood trees.
In 1862, William Mathewson, a trader, set up a trading post at the Great (Big) Bend of the Arkansas (Ellinwood). He was a plainsman and former mountain man. The 1879 biographical sketch of his life says the year was 1862 and his own statement in 1864, confirms that he "built the ranche and corral, dug and walled the well, and owned the trading post himself..."
In 1863, after operating it only one year, Mathewson sold his ranch at the Great Bend to Theodore R. (Dick) Curtis and H. F. (Frank) Cole. These partners had obtained a license from Indian agent Samuel G. Colley to trade with the Cheyennes, Kiowas, Comanches, Arapahoes, and Plains Apaches. Curtis, however, was employed as an interpreter at Fort Larned (some 35 miles west) and it was Frank Cole who stayed at the ranch.
The ranch at the Great Bend of the Arkansas existed less than two and a half years.
Site Information
Location (Intersection of South Fritz Ave and West A Street in Ellinwood, Kansas.)