As kids, in some areas of Kansas, you could find flint arrowheads in fields, and chunks of pottery from hundreds of years ago in your backyard, reminding you of who used to roam these lands before the Europeans took over. This Wichita State professor, with the help of some Ark City locals, is certain he’s found the lost city of Etzanoa right here in Kansas.

The lost city of Etzanoa is thought to be home to around 20,000 plains indians, originally “discovered” in 1602 by Spanish explorers, and was also the site of battles between the two groups.

YouTube/The Wichita Eagle Spaniards documented Etzanoa, saying it was a city on both sides of the river, holding around 2,000 houses that could hold up to 10 people each, and it could take 2-3 days to walk through it completely. Locals always knew there was a large Native American presence here, as they’ve found more than their fair share of artifacts like flint tools left behind from more than 400 years ago. Cannonballs from a war between the Escanxaques and the Spaniards were found near a ravine matching an ancient description of a battle.

Donald Blakeslee, a Wichita State anthropologist, believes he’s found the site of a long lost settlement of 20,000 Native Americans.

YouTube/The Wichita Eagle War, disease, and other terrible causes drove the local tribes to scatter, some going towards Oklahoma, leaving this huge settlement behind. Now, it’s almost all covered by modern structures and obscured by time. Pictured is what he believes to be a ritual stone, where pregnant members of the community would pour water into divots and drink from them as they pray for a safe pregnancy.

This could mean that south-central Kansas (around Ark City) could be put on the map as the second largest settlement of Native Americans that we know of, the largest being Cahokia in Illinois.

YouTube/The Wichita Eagle At this stone, we see man-made carvings into it’s face. Blakeslee believes this to be another of many ritual stones, where water could be poured into basins through stair-like steps, bringing the streams together, then apart again. Water is an important sacred element in Native cultures, and is often linked directly to life itself.

You can learn more about this discovery and read the full interview here, and watch the full video below.

For more ancient ruins right here in Kansas, there’s this list of trails that’ll lead you right to them!

YouTube/The Wichita Eagle

Spaniards documented Etzanoa, saying it was a city on both sides of the river, holding around 2,000 houses that could hold up to 10 people each, and it could take 2-3 days to walk through it completely. Locals always knew there was a large Native American presence here, as they’ve found more than their fair share of artifacts like flint tools left behind from more than 400 years ago. Cannonballs from a war between the Escanxaques and the Spaniards were found near a ravine matching an ancient description of a battle.

War, disease, and other terrible causes drove the local tribes to scatter, some going towards Oklahoma, leaving this huge settlement behind. Now, it’s almost all covered by modern structures and obscured by time. Pictured is what he believes to be a ritual stone, where pregnant members of the community would pour water into divots and drink from them as they pray for a safe pregnancy.

At this stone, we see man-made carvings into it’s face. Blakeslee believes this to be another of many ritual stones, where water could be poured into basins through stair-like steps, bringing the streams together, then apart again. Water is an important sacred element in Native cultures, and is often linked directly to life itself.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.