Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1883-06-30
Letter from Kansas.
Correspondence of the Start


you a few lines for publication in the
STAR, will at this time try to do so.
| have now been in Kansas more than
year. and although | have seen but
few faces l could recognize since l left
your quiet little town on rainy, mud
dy, mirky day in March, 1882, still |
am not at all tired of the West, and
contemplate remaining another year
if not longer.
If those of your readers who have
a railroad and county map will look in
the center of Southern Kansas, they
will find tract of land lying in one
of the great bends of the Arkansas
river, between that stream and the
Indian Territory. In this bend lie
the counties of which | shall speak
Sedgewick, Kingman, Reno, Sumner
and Harper, but more especially of
the two latter, as l am better acquaint-
ed in these counties.
The land in these five counties is
generally level prairie, but in some
places it may be called billy, although
not in the sense of our Virginia hills,
for they are not so abrupt In ascent
as those Of mountainous district.
The soil is deep, rich, sandy loan,
well adapted to agriculture, in good
seasons producing from 30 to 80 bush
els of corn to the acre, and from 20 to
40 of wheat. The unbroken land has
fine grass which serves for pasture and
hay of the finest quality. There is
plenty of good water to be had at a
depth of from II to 60 feet, and there
ere also numerous streams of running
water which have an abundance of fish
such as sunfsh, catfish and the small
black bass.
There is no timber here except what
has been planted, but this does well if
properly cared for, and anyone may
have fine grove of cottonwood or
poplar in five or six years. Walnut,
box alder, catalpa and many other
kinds, although of slower growth, do
well in most places in this country
The climate in temperature is similar
to that in Virginia, but the heat is less
sensibly felt in summer and the cold
more in winter on account of the wind.
There have been no cyclones since |
came here, and no one knows of any
ever having been here, but as this
country has only been settled for a
short time we cannot say there have
never been any. There are, however,
some very hard winds, sometimes from
the North but most of the time from
the South. The rssnfah also is not
so we'll distributed most of it falling
in Spring and Autumn, often leaving
the Summer very dry.
Sedgwick, and perhaps some of the
other counties, were settled fifteen or
sixteen years ago, or perhaps less, and
of course have more improvements
than others. In Sedgewick is situated
the largest and finest city in Southern
Central Wichita, the beauti-
full Woodland City of the West. I
am told that on the site where the city
now stands only thirteen years ago
the red man hunted the wild bison,
and all that was known Of civilization
was here and there a settlers cabin
all Of vegetation was the wild pro-
ducts of the prairie and few cotton.
woods which skirted the Arkansas
river To-day there stands beauti-
full city of over six thousand inhabi-
tants, surrounded by groves which
make it look as if it were really city
in forest. The A., T. & S. F. R. R.
passes through it. Several other roads,
the names of which | do not remem-
Der, either pass through or near the
city, and give it excellent facilities for
trade. Then its street cars, water
works, hotels, stores, schools, churches,
its creamery, its greenhouses, &C., are
a credit to it, and would be to a much
older place. Pass through one of its
streets of residences on a fine summer
morning and you will see beautiful
frame and brick houses, pretty flowers
and ornamental trees, with one or two
fountains playing in the yards, she'd
ding freshness and verdure all around.
| do not know a more pleasant and
beautiful city than Wichita.
In Sumner is Wellington, a city of
1000 inhabitants, or perhaps more.
Here the A., T. & S. F. R. R. forms a
junction with the L. L. & G. R. R., and
makes Wellington lively place. AS
to Hutchinson, in Reno, and Kingman
City, in Kingman, | will only say they
n ra thriuinu littlo touno