Camping along the Saline River without crowds one would experience at a traditional state camping site was in order this Labor Day weekend. Driving north of Hays, Kansas on U.S. Highway 183 take a left on the limestone road after crossing the Saline River. A few miles to the west, C2T Ranch sits off to the south. It is clearly marked with the address on the black mailbox. The mile limestone roads passed on our way to the ranch went off into the horizon, making one want to have their bike with them to ride off without the noise and traffic experienced in higher populated areas however a cow or two may greet you while enjoying their escape to the road. Things to do next time: bring bike!
Ellis County's landscape is littered with forgotten stone homes, barns where homesteaders began their prospects of farming the prairie. Kansas history runs deep in the limestone rocks surrounding the campsites. C2T Ranch has its bounty of such forgotten places, one being the barn that welcomes you when you arrive to the bow where the Saline River changes course at the ranch. The barn spoke silently its journey (taisteal) while we drove past.
C2T Ranch offers just over a dozen camping sites, both for RV and primitive camping. C2T offers the following amenities:
Primitive sites with firepits and picnic tables (most are also RV accessible), all along the river
RV sites sites include 50 amp hookups, firepits, picnic tables, and water, all along the river
Fully Furnished Glamping Tents featuring a deluxe doubled height air mattress, area rug, bedding and seating for 2. Extra mattress available for 2 additional guest.
Restrooms
We choose to "glamp camp" so not to worry about setting up our tent. Our trip this weekend included travels to historically significant locations for my Smith and Alexander family lines so time was crunched. I will blog about those experiences later. Our first stop was with Chad & Cynthia Tuttle, owners of C2T Ranch. We followed them to our campsite. Chad & Cynthia gave a quick description of the ranch and asked if we needed anything. They were just a text or phone call away if a need was identified. I'm sure they would have been quick to resolve it. Their customer service was impressive. Two "Glamp Tents" awaited us.
Sunflower "Glamp"
Lavender "Glamp"
The "glamping tents" were close enough to make it feel we were together but far enough apart for privacy. The prairie was mowed within the campsites but left alone in-between to give us privacy with the use of the large sage brush left in place. Our campsite lack a nice trail to the Saline River. If a path was cleared going down to the river this site would have been perfection as in early September the prairie is hot in the afternoon and a cool spot would have been with our chairs in the river, sitting in the shade and enjoying a cool beverage. A hike down the Saline River cooled us down from the demanding September Kansas sun.
Our evenings included a visit from a curious and well fed raccoon. The first evening it was dusk and this little guy was up in the tree just a few feet from the tent. He had been working on attempting to take off the eye on an aluminum frog feature. When we arrived earlier that day we placed the cooler with provisions on the picnic table underneath this tree to keep it out of direct sun. We moved the cooler to one of our vehicles that evening. Later our visitor came back and hid behind the garbage can. We used our flashlight to spotlight him and he slowly sulked away, head down as if he was grounded to his bedroom with no Xbox for the night. The next evening he was outside our tent talking to us as to let us know he found the chips dropped earlier in the day but he would have preferred spicy over the barbecue flavor.
At night the coyotes spoke to each other off and on and when we didn't hear them the owl let us know he kept watch. Cattle were above on the ridge, their faint mooing heard. The sky was clear each night and with the darkness of the remote area and the fact our planet sits in the suburbs of our galaxy the milky way's beauty shined. The extraordinary clear view of what is going on in the heart of the galaxy we reside in shows its milky appearance with the light glowing behind, giving it the milky appearance along with darker hues of off-white almost yellow along with shades of purple and blue. It was easy to remember we are just a small portion of something larger and I can see how those who reside in larger populated areas have no foundation of this concept due to never seeing this beauty, religion's foundation.
The campsite just north of us was in the trees and had a clear path to the river. Campsite 40 was the next campsite to the north and sat high, off the banks of the Saline River providing the best view of the 150' limestone cliff. This would have been my chosen site if not "glamping."
Campsite 40 at evening time with the sun hitting the limestone cliff.
Monday morning we hiked the limestone cliff to get an overall view of the prairie and campsites. Using Google Maps and the trail system provided by C2T Ranch on their website we ventured up. The trail is not marked but the area is small enough you can't get lost. It was clear not many ventured up the path and the hike gave me a feel for those who traveled here to homestead. Scattered limestone rocks, grasshoppers jumping up with each step taken by the hiker, their hind legs running against their wings making their distinctive chirping sound and the wind gently flowing through prairie grass cooled us off as the clear sky gave way to a heat up around noon. I watched where I stepped so not to run into a wandering snake or a prairie cactus. We experienced about a fourth of the trails at the ranch and were not able to take the tour provided by Chad & Cynthia but will come back this fall for this.
Prairie Winds - Winds that swirrel, moan and leap, Winds that o'er the prairies sweep. And drive the clouds like harried sheep. Surely some part of my spirit keep. They ripple my mind like waters deep. They make me happy or make me weep. Or sometimes lull me off to sleep. Vernon A. Spain
The Battle of the Saline River, August 1867
Chad & Cynthia remarked that their tour we were not able to complete would engaged us in some of this history of the ranch. Chad ranched the land for several years and their family recently inherited the land. Many ruins of forgotten farms are on the ranch. In November 2021 the Tuttle's plan to have an event showcasing part of the history of the land. A bit of research prior to our trip I noticed the Battle on the Saline River in 1867 wasn't too far off from our campsite. In late August 1867 one of the first recorded combats of the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers occurred 25 miles northwest of Fort Hays. Earlier in August 1867, Cheyenne warriors under Tall Wolf, so of Medicine Arrows, attacked and killed a party of railroad workers in Ellis County. The railroad workers were a crew led by P.S. Ashley who were surveying the route for the Union Pacific Railway. They were attacked by about 30 Cheyenne warriors, who did not want the iron rails on their homeland. All the railroad workers died, however one, William Gould survived long enough to be brought back to Fort Hays were he gave his account of the attack before succumbing to his wounds. This led to the Battle of the Saline River. Fort Hays gave protection for the railroad workers. Captain George Armes, Company F, Tenth Cavalry was ordered to pursue the Cheyenne.
"Armes and his men then began to follow the trail and were soon sent back to the fort for reinforcements. However, after waiting for four hours, the anxious men continued the pursuit before the reinforcements arrived. Some 25 men of the Thirty-eighth Infantry, under the command of Sergeant Pittman of Company C, were sent out to reinforce the Tenth Cavalry. Following the trail up the North Fork of Big Creek northeast of Fort Hays, they encountered a small band of 50 Cheyenne warriors and, with three shells from a howitzer, succeeded in scattering the Indians but doing little damage. When they found no signs of Captain Armes and his men, the Thirty-eighth Infantry returned to Fort Hays.
In the meantime, Armes had followed the trail up the Saline River and about 25 miles northwest of Fort Hays, they were surrounded and attacked by some 400 Cheyenne warriors. Armes quickly ordered his men to dismount and fight on foot, and the soldiers soon found themselves surrounded. Outnumbered, Armes then ordered his men to form a compact defensive maneuver by forming a “hollow square” around the cavalry horses and began to march toward Fort Hays. The battle raged for six hours as the Buffalo Soldiers fought off their attackers. Amazingly, when the soldiers were about ten miles north of Fort Hays, the Cheyenne broke off the attack. During the 30 hours, the troops had been gone, they had marched 113 miles without rations, 15 of those miles while under attack. Although 2,000 rounds of ammunition had been fired during the battle, casualties were surprisingly light – with only six indians and one soldier, Sergeant William Christy, killed. Christy was the first combat death in the Tenth Cavalry. Armes would later say of the battle, “It is the greatest wonder in the world that my command escaped being massacred.”"
Source: Legends of America - ©Kathy Weiser-Alexander, updated December 2020
Genealogy note about the 10th Cavalry
I completed a bit of research regarding a great grandmother of a close friend whom I later learned her husband was a long lost cousin on my husband's New Mexican side. I say a friend but in my heart a sister. In the late 1800's long after this combat occurred a soldier enlisted with Company D, 10th Cavalry in Nebraska and later was stationed at Fort Sill. This soldier was forced to marry a prisoner of war at Fort Sill. She was one of the few Chiricahua Apache's captured when Geronimo surrender in September 1886. This marriage occurred due to his relations with a Chiricahua Apache woman who was a prisoner of war at Fort Sill Oklahoma. A book written on the Chiricahua Apache people who were POW's at Fort Sill provided little details about their relationship, noting the soldier passed away and his bride went back to Fort Sill, married again and had two more children. After release as a POW she and her family went to Mescalero where she died shortly afterwards. She gave birth to two sons with this soldier, one being the grandfather to my dear friend. While researching the soldier I located they were indeed married in Oklahoma, just west of Oklahoma City. The county still had the original letter provided by the U.S. Government giving her permission to marry and not reside Fort Sill. He however did not die. He left her with the boys and went back to Missouri and later up to Idaho where he died in the 1950's after having another family.
I wonder how many stories such as this are left on the prairie, fading away more with each generation. Each story important but yet small however significant.
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