This Cross is erected to the memory of Father Padilla, Franciscan Missionary, who stood with Coronado at the erection of the first Christian Cross on these prairies. Father Padilla devoted his life to the service of the Cross and to the Indians of Quivira and suffered a martyr's death in that service in the year of our Lord 1542.

The symbol on the Cross is inscribed, Jesus Christ, Victor, and expresses the victory of faith and sacrifice. The square, quartered by the Cross, denotes the four corners of the World brought into Christian unity when Father Padilla carried the Cross of Christianity to the center of the New World.

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This cross rededicated by the

Knights of Columbus of Kansas

in celebration of their Centennial in the

Jubilee Year.

September 17, 2000

Marker is on Avenue M (U.S. 56) near 12th Road, on the left when traveling west.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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