Join us every first Wednesday at 1:30 PM for Senior Wednesday at the Museum of World Treasures!

Event Details

• Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2025 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM
• Time: 1:30 PM
• Location: Museum of World Treasures [Get Directions]

Cost

• Museum Members: Free
• Non-Members: $4 per person plus tax

Become a Museum Member

Attending Information

• Open to all ages
• No need to register; simply walk in!
• Light refreshments provided.

Talk Summary

Too often Kansas history seems to start with the Coronados’ trip through the state in 1541. For centuries before European arrival, Native people lived on the plains, and some left behind rock carvings on soft sandstone in the middle of the state. Based on the book Petroglyphs of the Kansas Smoky Hills, this presentation focuses on these carvings, the people who made them, and what the carvings tell us about those people and their relationship to the land. The presentation also discusses the challenges of dating and interpreting these carvings, the threats posed by erosion and vandalism, and the role of landowners whose property shelters these carvings.

Speaker Bio - Rex Buchanan

Rex grew up in Rice County, Kansas, on the edge of the Smoky Hills. He is the director emeritus of the Kansas Geological Survey and the co-author of Petroglyphs of the Kansas Smoky Hills (2019), Roadside Kansas: A Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks (rev. edition 2010), as well as editor of Kansas Geology: An Introduction to Landscapes, Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils. He has served as president of the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education and the Kansas Academy of Science.

special thanks

This program is brought to us by Humanities Kansas, an independent nonprofit leading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy.

Senior Wednesdays are informational and entertaining sessions, designed for active seniors and offered by a collaboration of Wichita institutions. To learn more, visit:

Senior Wednesdays Website