The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-07-19

court house of the finest modern style, the
material for which was quarricd at its base.
1t is of light, almost white color, variety
of limestone, of which there are incXhaustl-
BILE quantities in this region.
Cottonwood Falls is further worthy OF re-
mcmbcrancc as standing upon the western
verge of what may be termed the old Kansas,
That which has produced so many and pro
found impressions in the reading world ;
which has suffered so many vicissitudcs, ana
prospcred amazingly withal; the Kansas OF
Mr.. Greeley and A. d. Richardson and his
tory cnds,-hcrc. The task which is still be
fore us is to describe the neio Kansas, until
lately left out of mans calculations as being
a wilderness 1t has been opened by this rail
road; it is absolutely new: and yet it is wor'
thy of extended notice as likely to distance
all the rest in growth.
You pass Newton, celebrated in its brief
day as a "hard" border town. 1t is 81 miles
west from Cottonwood Falls, and 1S4 from
Atchson on the Missouri; and here begins
the Arkansas Valley. You can see the tall
cottonwoods which mark the stream, on the
horizon. The reader must understand that
we have not yet quite reached the great river
of the plains, born in the western mountains
and flowing south eastward to the Mississippi.
This is the Little Arkansas, -nicknamed here
"the little rivcr,'-whch forms a confluence
with the big river" at Wachita % miles
south. west OF the spot to which, moment
since, we directed the readers attention
Here, it will be noticed the valley begins
to widen into immense scope, like an Illinois
paririe 1t is dark, rich and somewhat sandy,
though not so much as to be perceptible TO
the casul observer Leaving Wichita, a town
of $500 people, and now the terminus of the
overland Texas cattle trade, 20 miles to the
south, on branch of the main road, we pass
almost directly westward, across the valley
of the Little Arkansas. After passing the
stream we cross stretch of country which
lies between the two rivers north of their
junction 1t is mainly level, and begins to
have some characteristics very different from
anything yet seen. In short, it is the begin
ming OF the great western plains, useless two
years ago, now discovered to be rich and in
demand 1t is the eastern verge of what, tor
these % years. have been known as the plains
very much in the world now, as this rail,
road closes up the immense gap, and brings
the western mountains into view.
Passing over the space between the Little
and Great Arkansas, in an hour or more you
reach hutchinson, where the railroad strikes
the great valley, situated at the southeastern
beginning of the much talked of great bend"
of the Arkansas. This is tie Arkansas and
plains without any doubt Yet here is a town
two years old, containing about 800 inhabt-
ants peaceabe, thrifty, and in the midst Of a
country marvellous in its growth and already
famous for beauty and richness Here as
some slight evidence of enterprise, the Arkan-
sas is spanned by bridge 1000 feet long.
But the prominent features are fine school
house and county buildings. Leaving Hutch
inson, you sucsesively arrive at the villages
of Peace, Great Bend Larned, Dodge City and
lastly at Sargent. There are other beginnings
intcISpcrsed between, and these all lie on the
northern bank of the Arkansas. Finally the
railway is turned Slightly southwark to the !
new town of Grenada, on the south side of the !
Arkansas, and this Grenada is the shipping
and receiving point of all the immense trade
which goes and comes by way of the thickly |
clustered settlements of the Rio Grandc Val !
ley, in New Mexico
We thus end with the towns only to say
finally what this great Arkansas region really |
is. Imagine valley 2SOmilcs long and from
four to twelve miles wide. This is really |
bottom land The soil is deep and black |
There is a peculiar ,nderl0W Of the stream,
caused by percolation of its waters through
subtrata of gravel and coarse sand 4 hole |
made almost anywhere in the first bottom
will become full of water In midsummer it !
is far enough southwark to be considered pref |
ty hot, but in winter stock live easily with
small quantity of hay, and thus far have
gone through fat enough upon the range.
For corn, all the cereals, tobacco and hemp, |
this valley is admirably adapted. There are
100000 acres here owned by the AtChison,
Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, and these only |
the alternate sections The government owns
the rest, open only to homestead and pre-emp.
ton
This is what rdS the plans-the great des- |
ert,-now traversed in railway car 1t is a
standing wonder The iron track has sup |
planted all that was characteristic of the re |
gion, and changed all that pertaincd to will |
derncss At Larned, 800 miles from the Mis-
souri,, this change is visible on every hand. |
The new roofs of small houses can be counted
in the sunshine. In this first year Of it. set |
Element, the Arkansas region is more than |
This is the new Kansas, and as you return |
from the wilderness, you wonder at the fact
that wildncss, solitude and silence have van.
ishcd in a season like the swallow, and reflect |
that in a single decade the great region of the |
plains will hold Il population and wealth !
which will almost CountcrbalanCc the great |
Valley