Keeper of the Plains, Wichita KS – October 2021 Flashback
I can’t believe I haven’t done a post about the Keeper of the Plains. In 2021 I came out to visit my cousin Meg in Wichita, KS. One of the first things we did was visit The Keeper of the Plains. This is a 44 foot tall steel sculpture that stands at the joining of the Big and Little Arkansas (pronounced ARE-Kansas) Rivers. This is right near downtown and is accessed by 2 suspension bridges that allow access to the rocky point on which the statue stands.
The land between the two rivers is sacred ground to the Native American Peoples, and is also home to the Mid-American All-Indian Museum. The sculpture was crafted by Blackbear Bosin in 1974 for the American Bicentennial. Now days, there are many smaller reproduction statues all over town, painted in different colors – kind of like the Trail of Painted Ponies. It’s kind of fun to spot them. It would make a great scavenger hunt.
At night, the pots around at the foot of the installation, known as the Ring of Fire, are manually lit each night for about 15 minutes. It’s a pretty amazing spot! On the rocky headland where the statue is installed, there are several permanent exhibits about the Indians of the area. When we were there, there were people playing native pipes which really added to the ambiance.
That same day, I walked across the bridges to the other side and up near Museum Row. There I round a place where they controlled the river flow through town. I was fascinated by it, and enjoyed exploring.
The other thing about Wichita is the charming bronze sculptures all around the sidewalks of downtown. Today we way two foxes, one carrying a kit! They are fun, and all are different!
Also during that 2021 trip, I learned about Wichita rain. It doesn’t rain like it does in the Pacific NW. Meg and I were out walking her dogs, and she was looking at the clouds saying ‘she hoped it didn’t rain’. I told her we wouldn’t melt. She looked at me and told me I didn’t understand. In about 15 minutes, I understood completely.
Rain gathers in the clouds as they sweep across the Midwest plains. There is usually some wind or breeze moving them along since the area is so open. And because there aren’t any mountains to stop them, the clouds just continue gathering moisture until they are so heavy and low that they just dump. And dump they did. I have never been so wet in my life. We were soaked as the deluge hit while we were walking on the Wichita State University Campus. But the time we were back at the car, we couldn’t get any wetter. The dogs loaded up, giving us the stink eye, and we headed home. It only rained about 20 minutes, but the urban flooding was unbelievable. I now have a much better understanding about Midwest weather!
When I was leaving on that trip, another storm was moving through the plains. It stretched from North Dakota clear down through Texas. The plane took off towards the East, into beautiful blue sky. Not far behind us were huge black clouds. Since there was no way to go above or below the storm, the pilot made at 180-degree turn, and immediately flew through the storm. It was 15 minutes of miserable turbulence, then a clear flight on home.
A last quick note – the Pizza Hut chain of restaurants started on the Wichita State University. I took a picture of the very first Pizza Hut on the campus!
More Keeper of the Plains:
