Draft Horses for Sale near Arkansas City, KS

About Arkansas City, KS

Present-day Arkansas City sits on the site of an ancestral Wichita city, Etzanoa, which flourished from 1450 to 1700 and had an estimated population of 20,000. In 1601, New Mexico Governor Juan de Oñate led an expedition across the Great Plains and found a large settlement of Indians he called Rayados. They lived along the Walnut River in the eastern part of Arkansas City. Extensive remains of Indian settlements have been found along six miles (9.7 km) of the Walnut River. The Rayados were the ancestors of the Indians later called Wichita.