The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1916-09-21
OVER THE SANTA FE
TRAIL FROM CANON CITY
TO MARION, KANSAS

| the trail leading out of Pueblo.
More road" replied the chauffer
land an auto" came the quick re-
| joinder
Evidently others were of the same
| opinion. only the bulk of the travel
was westward. A car a mile was
| about the average. most of them
| tourists out for glimpse of mountain
scenery and to escape the extreme
heat of the lower levels during the
month of August. Suitcases, tent
poles and the ubiquitous pennant
were a give away, though the letter
ing on the latter was scarcely dis
cernible as the string of sightseers
sped past at such frequent intervals.
| The sunfiower emblem meant Kan
sas we very well knew, and anything
commencing with o was attributed
| to Oklahoma, as a matter of course;
and among the latter could be de-
tected an occasional load of respect
able looking Indians. There was a
| sprinkling of tourists from other
| states, more especially Texas, but
! Kansas and Oklahoma cars predomi-
| mated.
While still they passed, sometimes
singly, but more often several in line,
| it could not be surmised that the ma
| jority of them were prosperous farm
| er families or other hard working
people taking well earned vacation.
AS usual two thirds of the cars
were Fords. and as ours was a Ford,
We wisely concluded in passing that
if Ford was all poor man could
afford he certainly ought by good
| right, to have Ford if he could af-
ford it.
As the procession of autos claim
ed the right-of-way. everything else
proved to be of secondary Importance
for the time. to the inhabitants. and
every stray cattle, horse. hogs and
dogs stepped discreetly to the right
of the trail at the honk of the auto
from the rear.
Passing thru eastern Colorado we
were attracted by large stock and
| farming ranches, which looked pros
porous wherever they were under the
ditch. The sugar beet industry with
| large brick factories. at Las Animas
and Lamar have had wonderful in
| fiuence in developing its resources
| and the towns are growing.
| But crossing the line into western
Kansas early the next day. desola-
tion reigned supreme. The Arkansas
river was dry. wide land bed, and
any past attempt to divert it's waters
into irrigation channels had seemed
to be futile.
Still, there was always the trail. Of
ten straight as an arrow, visible for
miles ahead, sometimes white and
glistening or sandy yellow or brown.
according to soil conditions of the
country: or at other times over un-
dulating stretches, then again where
| broad, treeless areas spread out in
every direction as level as barn
floor. There was no need of missing
it, for it was well marked--the South
ern California Auto Co, had looked
out for that, and, in addition. the
beautiful. granite reminders set by
the Daughters of the Revolution at
strategic points were all along the
way. And to make our own goings
doubly sure the front seat passenger
guarded against all mistakes with an
| open Trail Book" that anticipated
every crook and turn. Notwithstand-
ing all these precautions We careless
ly Slipped a cog at the little town
of Kendall, and for miles the wagon
road lay over a land not inhabited
up and down over numerous sand
hills, along the course of dry river
bed. past numerous old cattle corrals
and dilapidated looking wiDdmills;
the buzz of the Ford accompanying
the old resurrected song of -"Oh
Kansas Land. Sweet Kansas Land, as
on thy burning sands | stand. l look
away across the plain, and wonder
why it doesn't rain"-until the wei
come marker. and wider stretches of
fertile prairie lands hove in sight
| again.
At Garden City the Kansas Land
Company" have undertaken the cult
walton of sugar beets on a large scale.
with its rows of tenement houses for
the workers. However, Just now,
wheat production is being substituted
to bring the soil back to primitive
| conditions.
But Dodge City is where Kansas
really begins, .and there we put up
| for the second night. Dodge City
i, with its paved streets and elaborate
electric lighting system, is quite like
any modern city. with its wide
stretching areas of dry stubble fields
and generous stacks of unthreshed
wheat, the traction engine or six
horse teams turning up the soil for
| the new crop, shows the real spirit
of the sunflower state.
Before noon Great Bend was sight
| ed and we were on historic ground.
| The little old court house in the heart
of the city spoke of pioneer days and
called forth memories of the first
normal institute held in the county.
From there on to the old home in
central Kansas every point brought
up vivid "reminiscences.
We spent the week end with old
nelghbors, attending services Sunday
morning at the little country chapel
| where boys and girls of other years