Preserving History
Promoting Education
Protecting an International Treasure

“The Peoples Heartland Foundation, a public charity, owns the Home on the Range Site and is committed to the perpetual care and maintenance of the Historic Home on the Range Cabin on its original location. The Foundation is also committed to improving and developing the Site for education and benefit of the public and as a memorial to Dr. Brewster Higley VI who built the Cabin and to Pete and Ellen Rust who saved the Cabin.”
— Mission Statement of Home on the Range Cabin - Peoples Heartland Foundation

What We've Accomplished

  • 1947 Sen. I.E. Nickell, Smith Center, introduced a bill to adopt “Home on the Range” as the State Song of Kansas

  • 1954 Governor Arn dedicated the old/new Cabin renovated under the leadership of Melvin Collier and fellow Smith Center Rotarians

  • 1973 Home on the Range Cabin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

  • December, 2008 The Ellen Rust Living Trust assumed management of The Home on the Range Site after the death of donor Ellen M. Rust 

  • 2010 Home on the Range named finalist in the Eight Wonders of Kansas Contest

  • 2012 Ellen Rust Living Trust receives key grant from the Kansas State Historical Society for restoration project

  • More than $100,000 in total funding raised to restore the Home on the Range Cabin and save it from collapse

  • 2012 the Kansas Legislature and Governor Brownback recognized the 140th anniversary of the construction of the Cabin

  • July 4, 2012 - 140th Anniversary Celebration

  • 2013 Schamber Historic Preservation, LLC completes restoration and places time capsule in Cabin

  • October, 2014 Re-dedication Celebration for restored Cabin

  • 2015 Senator Elaine Bowers introduced Senate Bill 43 in the Kansas Senate and Representative Troy Waymaster introduced a like bill in the Kansas House of Representatives to name 16 miles of K-8 as THE HOME ON THE RANGE HIGHWAY

  • September, 2015 Governor Sam Brownback dedication of The Home on the Range Highway naming signs

  • 2016 Ellen Rust Living Trust transferred to Peoples Heartland Foundation 501(c)3 

  • 2016 Tourism Division Of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks selects Home on the Range for their Kansas Bucket List campaign

  • 2016 Home on the Range receives Kansas Preservation Alliance Award for Excellence 

  • 2016 El Dean Holthus, HOR Advisory Board Member, receives Kansas! Magazine's 2016 Kansas' Finest Award for his work on Home on the Range 

  • January, 2017 Director Ken Spurgeon, Lone Chimney Films in association with Sperra Studios debuts the movie "Home on the Range"

  • Home on the Range movie receives Best Documentary at the 2017 Wild Bunch Film Festival in Willcox, AZ and the 2018 Western Heritage Award (Wrangler) as the best Docudrama by the National Cowboy and Western Museum in Oklahoma City, OK