The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1873-12-04

THE ARKANSAS VALLEY.
The Land Of Sunshine, 6txeams-and
Natural Meadows.

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i Natural Meadows.
Its Settlements, Towns and People.
A Fertile Soil and Genial Climate.
The land Of green meadows, clear
streams, fertile soil. hcalthfdl climate,
and almost continual sunshine, South
western Kansas, properly speaking,
consists Of about fifteen counties, whose
territory is watered and drained by the
Great Arkansas River and its tributa-
ries, the Little Arkansas. the two Wal
nuts, Pawnee, Minnesota, Medicine LODI
&c, Cimarron and their, hundreds of tri-
butaries. tits country 100 miles north
and south by $50 east aud west. Being
but recently opened to settlements to
the pre-emptor and hoIncsteadcr, the
settlement of portion of ii. especially
of Sedgwick. Harvey. Reno, Barbour,
Sumner, Cowley and Butler counties
has been wonderfully rapid. To this
country thousands Of longing eyes are
turned, not only from the older states,
but from some portions of Europe.
These people who contemplate coming
to the west, and to this, the choicest
portion of it, are anxious to know
more of the particulars, more of the
striking characteristics Of the great
river, its tributaries, and valleys, that
have for decades past been set down
by the geographer and writer as unin-
habitable. To newspapers of this val
ley, and to the letters of friends alone,
can these people, who desire to come
among us, look for information. To
this end is this article compiled.
1t is q fact well known to the gov
crnment, as TO all observing western
men, that the really valuable lands be-
longing to- the general government are
now limited and that the remaining
lands are rapidly being transferred to
private hands-the homesteadcr, pre-
emptor and settler of the west. Out
side Of the Indian territory there re-
mains but limited supply of really
good agricultural lands in all the west,
the choicest Of which, for climate, soil.
and health, are to be found in the great
valley of the Arkansas, in the counties
named above.
| THE ARKANSAS RIVER
is little less than 1000 miles in length,
being one of the longest and swiftest
running streams upon the continent.
Rising in Colorado territory, latitude
one hundred and six and onc-half de-
grees west of Greenwich, and longitude
ihirty-nine and one-half degrees north,
receiving its waters from rivulets and
springs that are fed by the melting of
the eternal SHOWS of the snowy range
which rcars its rugged, lofty and snow
crowned peaks $50 miles west of and
5000 feet above the base Of the Rocky
mountains, il flows completely around
the south peak, surges and sparkles at
the base of Mount Lincoln and rushcs
out through a canyon in Pixies Peak
range into the valley Of estern COlora-
do and on eastward. 1t enters Kansas
scvcnty-fivc miles north of the south
line Of the state, runs due east 1 40 miles,
DIVORCES scventy-five miles northeast,
then angles to the Southeast, forming
what is known as the Great Bend,
thence little south of east through
Kansas, the Indian territory and the
state of Arkansas, emptying into the
Mississippi midway between Memphis
and Vicksburg. The Arkansas is q
broad and shallow stream, with many
islands, low but well defined banks,
varying from four to ten feet in height.
The most remarkable features are that
although draining a country, before
reaching Kansas, larger than all New
England, and although it carries til.
| melting SHOWS in June. july and Au-
gust Of many thousand square miles, it
never overfOws its banks. but its wa
tiers are curiously kept within the bed
of the stream, working great benefit
to the soil of the valley for miles upon
each side. The fact is the bed of the
stream throughout its source in Kan
sas is composed of sand and gravel, as
also the subsoil of the adjacent lands.
The supcrabundant water spreads it.
self through his subsoil, instead of
overlooking the country, as would be
the case if the subsoil Of the wide val
leys was clay. So completely does the
porus subsoil drink up this water that
most of the year it is easily fordable
! with teams, and there has been times
when, in the western portion of the
state, the river bed would go dry, al
though water could be obtained three
or four inches below the surface, whore
in reality the river was flowing In the
gravel. The river at Wichita Is about
$500 feet wide, at Hutchinson, forty
miles further up, il - 1000 feet wide.
THE VALLEY AND SOIL.
The richest and most desirable por-
ton of the valley lies between the
Great Bend and the point where the
river enters in the Indian territory, in
which area arc the counties of Reno,
Harvey, Sedgwick, Sumner, C0Wley
and Butler. To describe perfectly the
lands, streams, towns aud productions
of these counties would require more
facile and forcible pen than we WELD.
The valley proper or bottom is from
ten 10 twenty miles in width. The
higher lands upon either side are a kind
of second bottom, or low rolling prai-
ries, with just enough undulatiOn or
swell TO carry off the extra rain falls.
The soil of the valley proper, which is
also marked by gentle swclls, il chief
ly sandy loan, made up of such min
eral elements as have been washed
from the Rocky mountains by the attri-
ton of ages. 1t Is marked feature of
this soil that ii contains much larger
proportion of mineral matter than the
prairie soils of Illinois and Iowa, which
are chiefly vegetable mould. For this
reason our valley will improve BY eul-
tivation. To those accustomed to q
murky soil. there appears to be in
places i'll this valley too much sand, but
the experience Of our farmers is direct
ly the opposite. Read what the editor
of the american AgricaltMrist, who vi
sited this valley in April of this wear.
has to say:
"The soil is deep black loan, rest.
ing on lighter colored subsoil con-
e;st;,,,r of loac, L. - -r =,