The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-27
SEEN WITH AN ARTISTS EYE.
A Glowing Pen Picture of a Western
Kansas Ranch.

Hill City Kan, Aug. 25.-That tract of
land known as the Baker ranch" sit
uated on the dividing line between Nor
ton and Graham counties, is perfect
little garden, and to the man of, pas
toral taste, a thing of exquisite beau
ty. Bow creek, a stream fed by count
less springs, meanders through the
ranch and provides in the four miles of
its length which wind about in the linn
its of the ranch watering place for
numberless herds of cattle and horses.
The banks are fringed with timber
which seems alive with feathered song
sters, and underneath the spreading
boughs lie fat slick contented cattle.
Along the bottoms which border on
the stream, are fields of blooming al
falfa which fill the air with fragrance.
and further back on the rising grounds,
thousands of acres of luxuriant blue
stem and gramma grasses wave and af-
ford pasture of the most Succulent type
to the hundreds of rotund steers which
Craze at will.
Down in q little sheltered nook are
the buildings. always referred to +h hs
house a big modern dwelling, the
various barns and sheds, the elevator
and mill with it's powerful engine, the
shops wherein things of wood and iron
are fashioned, the corrals, the big dip
ping vat, wherein a thousand cattle
have been dipped in a single day. e--..d
the scales and weaving pens. hundreds
of swine run in the sweet scented alfal-
down in the shade. A few Angora goats
caper about, and from the orchard
comes the quavering howl of a chained
coyote as he sticks his nose up toward
the sky and laments his captivity. Hun
dredS of turkeys fit about in the al
falfa fields and gobble down the I'M
wary grasshopper while, nearer the
house. the tanner chickens lofter about
and in the distance is heard the strident
call of the guinea fowl as the swiftly
passing shadow warns him of the ap-
proach of his mortal foe, the hawk.
Out in the fields the prairie hen, with
her half grown flock, creep through the
grass or flush and futter at some I'M
expected sound while from the denser
cover comes the CHEEKY whistle OF the
quail. To the sportsman it is paradise,
to the weary town tired mortal it is
haven of rest.
Edmond on the Central branch, con-
sists of a little more than 10000 acres
of choice lands lying along Bow Creek
and is owned by the Baker estate. A.
E. Kerns, of Hill City, is resident man
ager while Bert Harnett is the foreman
on the place. About two thousand head
of cattle are usually kept on the ranch
and hogs are counted by the hundred.
Over one thousand acres of alfalfa is
growing and hundreds of acres of corn
wave in the sunny breeze. The up
lands, rich in natural pasture, stretch
away in undulating curves and the
tall blue-stem grasses hide the smaller
calves that frolic and gambol about
while their sedate mothers recline and
chew the cud of well fed contentment.
Mr. Baker bought these lands several
years ago and the ranch was his espe-
cial pride during the years preceding
his death. Here he would come when
tired in mind and body, weary of the
strife of conmercialism, and find rest
and rejuvenation in the peaceful scene
and invigorating air. M.