Geological Survey Bulletin 613 Guidebook of the Western United States: Part C. The Santa Fe Route

HUTCHINSON TO KINSLEY BY WAY OF GREAT BEND.

From Hutchinson (see sheet 4, p. 30) to Kinsley the old main line of the Santa Fe Railway follows the north bank of Arkansas River, but at most places the tracks are a mile or two from the stream. For the entire distance the route lies along the wide flat or alluvial bottom land, which ranges from 5 to 8 miles in width. From Hutchinson to Great Bend the course is northwest, but from Great Bend to Kinsley the course is southwest, owing to a remarkable bend in the valley.

SHEET No. 4 (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

The flat consists of smooth bottom lands elevated but slightly above the river, and in their lower parts subject to overflow during the occasional freshets. These lands are formed by a thick body of sand and gravel deposited by the river and lying in a wide, shallow trough which this stream cut in the underlying shales and sandstones at an earlier stage in its development. The river belongs to the class of large streams in the west which have excavated wide, shallow valleys across the country and now, owing to their heavily loaded condition at times of freshets, are gradually filling them again. The result is a wide level plain, floored with river-borne materials, through which the stream meanders with irregular course and very slight declivity. In the Arkansas Valley from Kinsley, where the altitude is 2,160 feet, to the bridge at Hutchinson, where the altitude is 1,500 feet, the fall is 660 feet. As the distance between these points is somewhat less than 100 miles the rate of fall is only about 6.6 feet to the mile, which is normal for a river of moderate size.

From Hutchinson to Sterling the level alluvial flat is an almost continuous wheat field. A large amount of broom corn is also raised. About 5 miles northeast the railway is paralleled by the low ridge of sand dunes mentioned on page 27.

Nickerson, named for Thomas Nickerson, an official of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., is on the broad flat about a mile from the river bank. Sterling, the next station, is about 2 miles north of the river. In the eastern part of Sterling, north of the railway, a large salt refinery is obtaining salt by forcing water down a pipe sunk deep into the salt-bearing strata and pumping out the saturated solution, as in the plants at Hutchinson. Here a line of the Missouri Pacific Railway, which runs parallel to the Santa Fe from Hutchinson, crosses it and goes northward to Lyons and beyond.

In the vicinity of Alden the valley flat is nearly 15 miles wide, extending north almost to Lyons. Near Raymond, however, a ridge of the upland approaches the river from the north and narrows the valley greatly. At the base of this ridge appear brown ledges of the Dakota sandstone which extend along the foot of the hills not far north of the track to a point some distance beyond Raymond. This sandstone is a very porous rock and wherever it occurs underground is an important water bearer that yields valuable supplies in thousands of wells in the Middle West. The sandstone is near the surface in a wide area along the Arkansas Valley from the vicinity of Sterling to Ford, but owing to the covering of sand and gravel outcrops of the sandstone are rare. Some of those which occur have fantastic forms such as that shown in Plate III, A (p. 19).

In this region the beds lie nearly level, for the gentle westward dips which exist in the region east of Hutchinson gradually give place in this portion of central Kansas to equally low eastward dips, which prevail throughout the western part of the State and beyond to the Rocky Mountain uplift. The shallow trough resulting from this change of dip crosses central Kansas in the vicinity of Great Bend, and it is not improbable that this structural condition was the cause of the very notable deflection of the Arkansas Valley to the northward in the region between Dodge and Great Bend.

From Raymond to Ellinwood the Valley of the Arkansas widens again, especially the portion which lies south of the river, where, however, there is a broad bordering zone of low hills built of sand blown from the river bed.

Ellinwood is in the center of a wide area of fields of wheat and other grains and a large amount of these products are shipped from its station. The town was built many years before the coming of the railway in 1871, for here the Santa Fe Trail reached the Arkansas Valley.

Great Bend (see sheet 5, p. 36) is the seat of Barton County, the junction with a branch of the Santa Fe running to Scott City, and the terminus of a branch of the Missouri Pacific Railway from Hosington. It takes its name from its situation on the long curve in the river from northeast to east and finally to the southeast at Ellinwood. The town was begun in 1870 and is built on the smooth river flat, which is very wide here owing to the confluence of the Walnut Creek valley with that of the Arkansas. Water power from Walnut Creek is utilized in Great Bend for extensive flour mills, grain elevators, factories, and salt works.

SHEET No. 5 (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

Great Bend is in the country formerly occupied by the Wichita Indians. Near by was the mythical city of Quivira (kee-vee'ra), to which Coronado journeyed in 1541, expecting to obtain a great store of treasures. He was disappointed in finding instead of a "city" scattered Indian villages consisting of small groups of conical huts of poles thatched with grass and containing no valuables whatever. To the north of Quivira was the land of the Pawnees, who had permanent villages. They made frequent attacks upon individuals and caravans and treated their captives with appalling cruelty.

The old Santa Fe Trail passes through the courthouse square of Great Bend, and a short distance east of the city the railway crosses Walnut Creek at the place of the old ford. Here was Fort Zarah, the ruins of which are visible a short distance north of the tracks. The place is marked by a stone cannon. This fort, established by Gen. S. R. Curtis in 1864 and named for his son, was one of the line of military posts placed at intervals along the Santa Fe Trail to protect the traveler. It was garrisoned with soldiers who escorted wagon trains through the district west of Great Bend, where the Indians were especially dangerous. Long before the fort was established the place was noted for massacres and Indian wars, mainly because of a grove which afforded the Indians concealment. Moreover, it was on one of the lines of travel always taken by the buffaloes in their annual migration and therefore was visited by the Indians on their summer hunting trips.

The area from Great Bend westward for a hundred miles or so was a famous hunting ground for all the plains tribes, as its excellent pasturage made it the home of vast herds of buffaloes, besides plenty of antelopes and deer. For this reason it was the scene of innumerable conflicts between the tribes, none of which could maintain permanent control of it. The big game has been gone for many years, and now only occasional jack rabbits, squirrels, and nocturnal animals remain.

Arkansas River from Great Bend to Pueblo, Colo., was followed by Lieut. Zebulon Pike on the trip during which he saw for the first time the peak of the Rocky Mountains that bears his name.

In the slopes north of Great Bend and in the stream banks at intervals up Walnut Creek there are exposures of the brown ledges of Dakota sandstone, a formation in which are excavated the valleys of this general region. In 1887 a boring was made 3 miles north of Great Bend, in which the great salt bed already mentioned was penetrated for 163 feet, proving its extension in this direction from Hutchinson and Lyons. At a depth of 744 feet a flow of water was found which ran out of the casing to a height of 30 feet above the ground.

Near milepost 281, which is about 10 miles southwest of Great Bend, Pawnee Rock is discernible in the distance, and at milepost 282 it is plainly in view, rising on the north side of the valley a short distance north of Pawnee Rock station. The rock is a high southward-facing cliff of Dakota sandstone, projecting as a rocky promontory from the broad ridge that forms the north side of the valley. Its present appearance is shown in Plate III, B (p. 19). The elements and the hand of man have made great changes in its size and appearance since the days when the Santa Fe Trail passed along its base. Here were many encounters between the savages and the whites, and also between hostile bands of Indians, for the place is noted not only in pioneer history but in Indian traditions as well. Names and initials of many travelers, from the early trappers and the "forty-niners" to the later Army detachments, have been scratched on the smooth faces of the ledges.

PLATE III.—A (top), PULPIT ROCK, NEAR ALUM CREEK, SOUTH OF CARNEIRO, KANS. A hard mass of Dakota sandstone which has resisted erosion better than the underlying softer bed that forms its pedestal. B (bottom), PAWNEE ROCK, SOUTHWEST OF GREAT BEND, KANS. A cliff of Dakota sandstone.

Pawnee Rock was named from the Indian tribe which roamed over the neighboring plains, menacing the life and property of almost every passer-by on the trail, as they had menaced the Spaniards for two centuries. The name Pawnee is supposed to signify horn and to have been applied to the tribe on account of a curious custom of plucking out beard and eyebrows and shaving the head, except a narrow ridge of hair from forehead to scalp lock; this remnant was stiffened with fat and paint so that it stood erect and curved like a horn.

Half a mile beyond milepost 287, or 4-1/2 miles southwest of Pawnee Rock, there may be seen west of the track a granite monument, which is one of the numerous markers of the line of the Santa Fe Trail.

Larned is at the mouth of Pawnee River, which enters the Arkansas on the southern edge of the town. On the north bank of the Pawnee, west of the railway, there are several quarries in the Dakota sandstone which are plainly visible from the vicinity of milepost 292 and beyond. The rock is of a light-brownish color and occurs in massive beds, about 40 feet in all, exposed in several quarries. It has been used to some extent as a building stone and when fresh is easily sawed or chiseled.

The railway bridge crosses Pawnee River at the old ford of the Santa Fe Trail. Owing to a twist in the course of the stream the crossing was difficult. Many a thrilling skirmish or frightful massacre has occurred here, and in 1870 a great battle was fought at this place, between Cheyennes and Arapahoes. This locality should not be confounded with Fort Larned, which lies 6-1/2 miles due west of it.

On the old trail there was not a bridge from end to end and all the stream crossings were fords, which at times of high water became impassable. When the Army of the West crossed Pawnee River on its long march to take Santa Fe in 1848 that stream was in flood and could not be forded. However, trunks of trees were thrown across and over these the men clambered, carrying their baggage, tents, and supplies, while the horses swam across and the empty wagon boxes were pulled over with ropes.

In the vicinity of Larned the conditions on the two sides of the Arkansas present a striking contrast. On the southeast side there is a wide belt of sand hills composed of sand blown out of the river bed by the prevailing strong northwest winds. These hills are too rough and bare for agriculture. On the northwest side of the river, where the railway is built, there are bottom lands with rich, deep soil, usually yielding large crops of grain.

Not far northeast of Garfield a ledge of Dakota sandstone rises above the river flat and is cut by the railway for a short distance.

Near Garfield the Arkansas Valley is much narrower than at most other places, for a ridge of the upland encroaches from the northwest and the sand dunes on the southeast side of the river rise rapidly to the broad plain which borders the valley on that side. Near Kinsley the ridge on the north side of the valley trends somewhat northward and the flat widens to about 4 miles.