Coronado's Cross

DR took me to a new Kansas spot that I didn't know existed. 

Coronado's Cross

You'll find it just east of Dodge City, Kansas in Fort Dodge. The site of the original military fort. 

At the base of the cross is this inscription; 

February 22, 1540. Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado started into mid-America looking for Cibola, the seven cities of Gold. June 29, 1541. He and his men crossed the Arkansas River to the south, naming it St. Peter and St. Paul because they crossed on that holy day. 

Father Juan de Padilla, a Franciscan friar, led in a mass of thanksgiving. It is this Christian service, the first in the area that we commemorate. 

Erected in 1975

The cross is large but simple. 

I'm sure at one time I had learned that Coronado made it into the interior of the future United States but of course I'd forgotten. 

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

Coronado made it all the way to Salina! 

I think it's a very interesting monument. It isn't a monument to Coronado or the expedition but a monument to the earliest Christian fellowship in the area. 

The cross is literally in the middle of nowhere and seems oddly out of place but at the same time it seems very  appropriate. 

(I don't know why I can't get this photo to turn but I liked it so well I thought I'd throw it in anyway. Don't hurt your neck!)