Tobias Archeological Site
A community of thousands of people lived in central Kansas between 1400 and 1700 AD. They farmed and raised families on the rolling prairie. Their villages were located amid fertile plains, well suited to farming. Here they dug cache pits to store food supplies and grew maize, beans, and squash and gathered walnuts, hickory nuts, and grapes. The materials they left behind now give us clues about their lives.
We now know that these early people were ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. They lived in beehive-shaped grass lodges between 25 and 40 feet in diameter. Low mounds mark the oval-shaped footprints of 19 of these dwellings at the Tobias Archeological Site.
Because the dwellings were made of lightweight materials, little survives among the remains. Postholes indicate where structural poles were set. The poles were pulled together and lashed at the top.
Inside the grass lodges were open spaces that could accommodate large family groups. Special lodges were arbors for sleeping during hot summer months, for drying corn, or for sweat lodge rituals.
Their pottery was utilitarian only a few designs on the handles and lips. Limestone pieces were used for grinding and processing grains. Other everyday items included projectile points, stone and digging tools, and picks and awls of bone.
There is evidence that they traded with others far away. Items found were distinctive red, grey, and white chert from the panhandle of Texas; white chert from the Ozarks area; and items from the Southwest including pottery, obsidian, and pieces of turquoise.
The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes inhabited "a vast territory encompassing most of the present day state of Kansas, Oklahoma, and most of the northern half of Texas, including the panhandle" (Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 2026). In 1719 many Wichita people were living in what is now Oklahoma. In the latter part of the 18th century many Wichita people were living in what is Texas near the Red and Brazos rivers. They were forced into Kansas by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War and only 822 people returned to their reservation lands in Indian Territory in 1867 (Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 2026).
The Tobias site, named for landowner Cyrus Tobias, along with the adjacent C. F. and Paul Thompson site, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The site, acquired by the state of Kansas in 1980 and administered by the Kansas Historical Society, is not open to the public, so that it can continue to be preserved and protected for future generations.
Entry: Tobias Archeological Site
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: January 2010
Date Modified: October 2026
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
