TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A frontier trail that snakes from Fort Leavenworth south through Kansas has been given a new name to reflect its historic significance.
State Transportation Secretary Deb Miller has signed off on renaming the 168-mile route as the Frontier Military Historic Byway, adding the word “historic” to the title.
The route begins at Fort Leavenworth and served as a supply trail south to the Oklahoma border. It was established in 1844 by Gen. Winfield Scott between the Kansas Territory forts and Fort Gibson in Oklahoma.
Officials with the local byway committee requested the new name to help describe the trail’s importance in supplying soldiers stationed on the frontier before the Civil War. It was also used for military travel as far north as Minnesota and south to Louisiana.
