Lewis & Clark in Kansas, Atchison Attractions

Atchison
Present-day travelers can experience the Lewis and Clark saga at the following sites:

Find a description of the Kansas Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Commission Legacy Projects in Atchison County.

• Atchison Welcome Center
Atchison's restored Santa Fe Depot houses a Welcome Center operated by the Chamber of Commerce, and the Atchison County Historical Society Museum. Here visitors can obtain tourist information about Atchison as well as brochures to help them follow the Lewis and Clark Trail. The Welcome Center is also the departure point for the Atchison Trolley, which operates several days a week from May through October, providing hour-long, narrated tours of the city. Atchison Welcome Center, 200 S. 10th Street, Atchison, Kansas 66002; telephone: 1-800-234-1854; email: tours@atchisonkansas.net.

• Fourth of July 1804 Creek
The Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) placed a commemorative marker on the banks of what is believed to be the remnants of Fourth of July 1804 Creek. Atchison was settled in 1854 and since its earliest days, this stream has been known as White Clay Creek. A covered footbridge over the creek was dedicated as "The Bridge Over Fourth of July 1804 Creek" on July 4, 1996. To find the marker, park in the visitor parking area off U.S. Highway 59 between 10th and 6th streets. Walk over the covered bridge toward the Santa Fe Depot and the marker is on the north bank of the creek.

• Atchison County Historical Society Museum
The Atchison County Historical Society Museum, which is in the restored Santa Fe Depot building, has several displays about the Lewis and Clark expedition, including one on the expedition's celebration of July 4, 1804, and another on the natural history aspects of the expedition created by biology students at Benedictine College. The museum also displays one of three resin models produced for the full-scale Lewis and Clark statue in Case Park in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Atchison County Historical Society Museum, 200 S. 10th Street, Atchison, Kansas 66002; telephone: 913-367-6238; email: GoWest@atchisonhistory.org; website: www.atchisonhistory.org.

• Lewis and Clark Commemorative Marker
The Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) placed a commemorative marker on the Missouri riverfront in downtown Atchison to commemorate the Lewis and Clark expedition's visit to the area. To find the marker, drive to the intersection of Commercial Street and River Road, which is at the east end of Commercial Street.

• Independence Park
Atchison's pleasant Independence Park, near the intersection of River Road and Atchison Street, offers a lovely spot for a picnic with a view of the Missouri River. Basic restrooms, grills and picnic tables are among the park's amenities. Adjacent to the park, a permanent ramp and docks (summer only) provide boaters with access to the river.

• Benedictine Bottoms
From Independence Park, you can drive north on River Road to the Benedictine Bottoms. This 2,110-acre tract is part of the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore wetland and riparian habitat destroyed by flood control projects between 1912 and 1980. The Bottoms is maintained by the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks, who allow limited access during hunting season. When fully developed, the area will provide excellent opportunities for hunting and wildlife viewing. It currently serves as a laboratory for biodiversity research by biology students at Benedictine College. To reach Benedictine Bottoms, follow River Road north past the city limits and along the banks of the Missouri River and Independence Creek. After you cross the bridge over Independence Creek, continue on the gravel road east for about a one half mile to the large parking area for Benedictine Bottoms.

• Benedictine College Overlook
You can obtain expansive views of the broad floodplain of the Missouri River from a couple of vantage points on the campus of Benedicine College, which sits on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. Follow North Second Street through Atchison to the campus entrance at 1020 N. 2nd St. website: www.benedictine.edu.

• Independence Creek
Due to shifts in the course of the Missouri River over the years, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location where the Lewis and Clark expedition camped on July 4, 1804. However, community leaders are developing a site along the banks of Independence Creek that is in the vicinity of where the creek probably flowed into the Missouri River two hundred years ago. When fully developed, this site about three miles north of Atchison will have a small nature park and interpretive signage about the expedition's observance of Independence Day in 1804.