The morning before The Longest Tornado Chase Ever, we stopped in downtown Wichita to visit this monument.
I had been through Wichita a few times before, but never had the time to visit any of the local landmarks or attractions. Today was expected to be a down day without much ado in the way of severe weather.
This monument was unknown to me until I noticed it on my USA Wall map, created by (Imus??). This is the best USA map you will ever find, by the way.
This is *the* Keeper of The Plains…
Educational Plaques
There were several educational displays at this monument. For instance, we read that horses were not found in North America until the arrival of the Europeans.
Native Americans referred to them as “Big Dogs”…because they acted like dogs to humans in their eyes.
Keeper of the Plains Bridge
Totem Pole
In the photograph below, you can see fire rings on the rocks protruding from the river.
The fires are manually lit in the evening around sunset.
Downtown Wichita from the Keeper of the Plains Bridge
Interestingly enough, I found on Wikipedia that the city of Wichita donated a miniature version of The Keeper of The Plains Statue to Tlalnepantla, Mexico….an outlying area in the the Mexico City area.
In the last photo, you get a glimpse of one of the better angles of the small Wichita skyline that I have found.
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