Anchoring the eastern end of THE AMAZING 100 MILES is Rolling Hills Zoo for rare and endangered animals located on 145 acres of pristine Kansas prairie near Hedville. The Zoo is home to more than 80 species of animals, housed in spacious, naturalistic habitat settings. Among the Zoo residents are many animals that are rare or endangered in the wild, including chimpanzees, leopards, orangutans, white tigers, snow leopards, and two species of rhinos. It is the future home of one of the world's largest mounted animal collections.

Located between the two anchors are well-known places such as the Plaza Walking Tour, the Hodgden House Museum and Drovers Mercantile in Ellsworth. Many visitors are attracted to the Garden of Eden and the Grassroots Musem in Lucas. Famous buildings include the Lincoln County Court House, the Czech Opera House and the Midland Hotel in Wilson. Kanopolis sports the Fort Harker Museum and the Kanopolis Drive-In Theater. There is something within this area for everyone, even the most seasoned traveler. Anyone wanting to relax and enjoy the wild beauty of Kansas, attend a special event, or explore to see what they can discover, will find this area of Central Kansas can provide a memorable rainbow of experiences that are educational and full of fun.

100 Miles in Kansas
Discover a stretch of the Sunflower State away from the interstate:

By ALLEN HOLDER

The Kansas City Star

SALINA, Kan. — Two shaggy male lions lie next to each other on the rocks, sunning themselves on a cool late-summer afternoon. They're a star attraction at the Rolling Hills Zoo just outside Salina.

They have no idea that early next year they are likely to be usurped by a pride just waking up nearby. That's when the 5-year-old zoo's new wildlife museum opens. And the lion kings — along with the giraffes and giant anteaters and white rhinos and orangutans — will have to compete for attention with a collection of mounted counterparts whose last roar occurred perhaps decades ago.

Just another reason for drivers to ease up on the gas pedal as they zoom along Interstate 70 through central Kansas' Amazing 100 Miles.

We can hear you snickering, Kansas naysayers, but this is no joke. The folks behind the Amazing 100 Miles Tourism Coalition, a loose alliance of 25 towns in the region that stretches from Salina to Hays, have plenty to crow about, from the new zoo and wildlife museum to a collection of otherworldly boulders to a meticulously restored railroad hotel. Give them a chance, and they'll tell you about the grassroots art in Lucas, the cowboy heritage of Ellsworth, the Swedish influence of Lindsborg.

"We're trying to stop the traffic between those two points, between Salina and Hays, to get people off the interstate and to explore the small communities," says Marilyn Helmer, a member of the Amazing 100 Miles board. "Those communities are depending on that."

One trip west isn't nearly enough to see all of the area's attractions. Wildlife — dead or alive — is just the beginning.

To reach Allen Holder, travel editor, call (816) 234-4397 or send e-mail to aholder@kcstar.com.

The lions sleep (tonight)

SALINA, Kan. — "We always knew we wanted to do a small museum — at the time we thought small — for Salina and the state," says Bob Brown, director of the Rolling Hills Zoo and Wildlife Museum, as he wanders through a silent menagerie of stuffed zebras and bighorn sheep, monkeys and ostriches.

But in 1999, the burgeoning zoo got the opportunity to do a lot more when the World Wildlife Museum in Stockton, Calif., lost its lease and ran into financial trouble. Its 1,500-specimen collection was soon on its way to the Midwest.

In the five years since, the museum staff has been in overdrive, working on imaginative ways to exhibit the collection. The show begins early next year, featuring 600 or so animals and 400 species spread across a 64,000-square-foot space.

This promises to be no ordinary wildlife museum with dusty creatures posed behind floor-to-ceiling windows. Visitors will be able to get so close to the animals — inches away in some cases — that they may feel as if they're part of the action.

"What we've done is we've eliminated the glass box," says Brown. "We will totally immerse our visitors in a journey around the world."

Just inside the museum is an African river diorama, which Brown thinks is the world's largest. Visitors will hear a lion's growl, then turn to see a pride waking up about 8:30 in the evening. A few feet away two lions wrestle with a cape buffalo.

"These are actual moments in history," Brown says. "The dioramas actually happen. This actually happens in Africa."

Each exhibit tells a specific story. In one, two Eskimo figures are shown teaching each other how to hunt. Behind them a family of polar bears will be on the prowl as well. But visitors will notice something else, too, as the air grows noticeably cooler.

"We'll chill the air and you'll find yourself in the far, far north," Brown says.

"You follow the storyline, move from adventure to adventure around the world. This is the storyline, the relationship between human beings and animals and how we can sustain each other."

Between now and opening day, plenty of work remains. A few weeks ago painters were rolling whites, sky blues and greens onto freshly Sheetrocked walls in anticipation of elaborately painted murals.

"We think we have around 2 million leaves to install, on 3,200 dozen branches," Brown says. "We think we'll have between 600,000 and 800,000 blades of grass."

Along the way the zoo staff hopes to double its annual attendance of about 90,000 — pretty good for the middle of Kansas.

"We kind of feel like we're in the middle of everywhere," Brown says, "as opposed to in the middle of nowhere."

• Details: The Rolling Hills Zoo is at 625 N. Hedville Road, west of Salina. From Interstate 70, take Exit 244 and go south about two miles.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (And 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day.) The zoo is closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Zoo admission is $9 for adults, $8 for adults 65 and older, $5 for children ages 2 to 12, free for children younger than 2.

The wildlife museum is to open early next year, with a grand opening in May. Ticket prices, separate for the zoo and museum, are expected to increase, but a combination ticket will be available. Call (785) 827-9488 or see www.rollinghillszoo.com.

Rock on

MINNEAPOLIS, Kan. — Imagine 200 bowling balls — some as large as small houses — dropped from the heavens and spread across an area the size of two football fields.

Don't buy it? Well, thank goodness there's a scientific explanation for the otherworldly collection known as Rock City that is plopped in the middle of farm country near Minneapolis, about 20 miles north of Salina.

Millions of years ago, this part of Kansas was covered by an inland sea. As the sea disappeared, ground waters containing dissolved calcium carbonate seeped through once-submerged porous sandstone and cemented grains of sand together. Over time more and more sand was cemented together, creating giant sandstone concretions that eventually emerged above ground as the land eroded.

Voilα! Rock City

The folks who promote this you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it geological wonder say no other place in the world has so many concretions in such a small place.

Most of the rocks are spherical, but not all. In fact, each rock is so distinct that many of them have been named. The "Kissing Rocks" are planted right next to each other. "Crescent" is vaguely shaped like a new moon (or maybe a chicken leg). And "Lips?" If you use your imagination, you can see this behemoth of a boulder ready to start a conversation.

"Kids love these. They absolutely love these," says Janel Kirn of Minneapolis. No wonder. Most of the rocks practically scream "Climb me!" (Keep an eye on the little ones, Mom and Dad.)

Kirn is president of the Rock City Board of Directors, a group of 26 area people who work to keep up the grounds, build and maintain picnic areas, nearby trails and such. This spring they added a gazebo.

"We probably get 10,000 people a year here," Kirn says. "We have between 6,000 and 7,000 people sign our book from May to October ... The rocks are here all year round. We don't take them in in the wintertime."

• Details: Rock City is about 20 miles north of the intersection of Interstates 70 and 135. Follow U.S. 81 north, then west on Kansas 106 through Minneapolis to Ivy Road. Signs will direct you from there. Rock City is about 3 1/2 miles south of Minneapolis.

Admission is $3 for adults, 50 cents for children. A small gift shop sells rocks (of course), postcards, jewelry, handcrafted items by area artisans and the like. Call (785) 392-2577.

Also in Minneapolis: Check out the Ottawa County Historical Museum, whose extensive collection celebrates, among other things, George Washington Carver, the noted scientist who lived in Minneapolis for much of his youth in the 1880s. The museum is at 110 S. Concord. Hours are 10 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. There is no admission charge but donations are accepted. Call (785) 392-3621 or see www.minneapolisks.org/museum.asp.

Checking in

WILSON, Kan. — "In the 1920s," says Ally Britton, general manager of the Midland Hotel, "this was known to be the hotel stop between Kansas City and Denver."

In those days passenger trains stopped almost in front of the Midland Hotel in Wilson, halfway between Salina and Hays. Traveling salesmen, known as drummers, would market their wares for visiting merchants in the hotel basement.

Freight trains still rumble by, but these days guests are more likely to arrive from the interstate, about two miles north. Still, when they check into the Midland, they may feel almost as if they've stepped back in time.

After a three-year, $3.5 million painstaking restoration, the hotel reopened last year, re-creating the look of a 1920s oasis for travelers to central Kansas.

The ornately carved newel posts from the original oak staircase remain in the lobby. The louvered doors on each of the 28 small guest rooms are original, too, as are the stained glass windows in the restaurant and lobby. Even the planks in the hardwood floors are authentic, after being removed and re-planed.

"They tried to keep the interior and the feel of the 1920s," says Larry Ptacek, a Wilson plumber and electrician who grew up around the corner from the hotel. Heavy oak mission-style furniture decorates the restaurant, lobby and guest rooms.

A few years ago the hotel's future looked anything but bright. "It was closed, in shambles," says Britton, who also is the hotel's executive chef. "There wasn't much but the shell, which was in bad shape."

In 1999 the building was acquired by the Wilson Community Foundation, a nonprofit group whose mission is to preserve the town's rich heritage. Ptacek is a member of its board of directors.

The foundation secured federal and state grant money before beginning the detailed restoration. Because the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ptacek says, the group had to go to great lengths to retain its historic appearance. Still, some modernizations were inevitable, such as making sure there were bathrooms in each guest room and making the hotel handicapped-accessible.

"The building turned out better than anyone expected," Ptacek says.

This year the Kansas Preservation Alliance honored the hotel with one of five Awards of Excellence.

Now comes the task of making the hotel a financial success, which may not be easy in a town of 800 or so people.

To that end, Britton is working to promote the hotel with area businesses and organizations such as the Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina.

"All of the things we have around here are what make the hotel a wonderful place, because the hotel can't make it by itself," she says. "People have to know us, experience us, know that we're not a motel-type place, and we have to give them value for their dollar."

Wilson's not done yet either. Next up: Restoration work is already under way at the 1916 former school building nearby, also owned by the Wilson Community Foundation. Its former classrooms are being converted into 17 assisted-living apartments.

• Details: The Midland Hotel is at 414 26th St. in Wilson, about 50 miles west of Salina. From I-70, take Exit 206 and travel about two miles south on Kansas 232. Rooms start at $71 a night. The hotel restaurant serves "country classics," such as chicken and country-fried steak, plus pasta, steaks, seafood and sandwiches. Call (866) 744-7439 or see www.midland-hotel.com.

By the way: Hollywood came to Wilson in the early 1970s when some scenes from the 1972 movie "Paper Moon," starring Ryan O'Neal and his daughter Tatum O'Neal, were filmed at the Midland Hotel.

Also in Wilson: Check out the Czech Opera House, built in 1881-83 by the town's Czech immigrants. The former meeting hall, gymnasium and movie theater now is used mostly for special events such as concerts, plays and wedding receptions. Call (785) 658-3501.

A cathedral by any other name …

VICTORIA, Kan. — Signs on the highway beckon travelers to the Historic Cathedral of the Plains. It's not quite true. But St. Fidelis Catholic Church, a twin-spired historic beauty in tiny Victoria, about 10 miles east of Hays, has a story to tell that almost any true cathedral would envy.

In 1876, 23 German families who had been living in the Volga River region of Russia migrated to west-central Kansas and founded a village called Herzog, right next to a fledgling British settlement called Victoria.

A couple of years later Capuchin-Franciscan friars arrived to work with the immigrants. The church and the Volga German community grew. A church was built in 1878 and then a larger one two years later.

By the turn of the century, the parish had 1,600 communicants, or church members who were entitled to receive communion, says Francis Schippers of Victoria, a farmer, historian and "general entrepreneur" who leads group tours of St. Fidelis and other churches in the area.

The decision to build yet another, larger church couldn't have been easy for the members. In 1905, when construction began, each communicant was made responsible for providing the necessary building materials — six loads of limestone and three loads of sand per person. For large families that must have seemed all but impossible.

The result, finished in 1911, is a Romanesque Bold beauty that seems all the more remarkable given the sacrifice. Its two spires rise 141 feet above Victoria, whose population now numbers about 1,200 — about the same size as the current parish.

But you have to remember the community

"At one point the community was 98 percent Catholic," Schippers says. "There still are no other churches in town."

Schippers is eager to point out the church's rich history — columns made of Vermont granite with sandstone capitals from Bedford, Ind.; stained-glass windows from Munich; a primary altar that came from Pittsburgh; and a painting from Innsbruck, Austria, that tells the story of the church's namesake, St. Fidelis, a 16th-century Franciscan martyr.

Between May and October, Schippers greets two busloads of visitors a week on average. "We've done five busloads this week," he says on a late August morning. "We had 148 people yesterday."

Besides St. Fidelis, Schippers leads tours of about a dozen other area churches — some no longer open — but it's clear that by now he knows the ins — as well as the outs — of this church.

"It's a long aisleway, isn't it?" he says, standing in front of the altar. "We get a lot of weddings here, and the bride has 265 steps to think, 'Do I or don't I?' And then she can walk right out the door here."

• Details: St. Fidelis Church is at 900 Cathedral Ave. in Victoria. From Interstate 70, take Exit 168 and follow Kansas 255, also known as Cathedral Avenue, south into Victoria. Self-guided tours are available. There is no charge for tours, but donations are accepted. For Mass times or information about group tours call (785) 735-2777 or see www.dailynews.net/org/stfidelis.

A fish tale

HAYS, Kan. — It's pretty easy to guess what happened to the smaller fish. But how did the larger fish die?

That's the mystery of the fish-within-a-fish at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, on the western end of the Amazing 100 Miles.

The smaller Gillicus fish — 6 feet long itself — was eaten by the larger, 14-foot Xiphactinus just before it mysteriously died 83 million years ago in what is now Gove County, less than 50 miles west of Hays. That's where George Sternberg, a noted fossil hunter, the museum's longtime curator and its namesake, found the skeletons in 1952.

These days the fish fossils are the most popular exhibit among the 50,000 annual visitors to the Sternberg, part of Fort Hays State University, says museum director Jerry Choate. They're more popular than the animatronic dinosaurs, the historic gun collection, even the shrunken head from South America. Pretty good in a museum with 100,000 square feet of floor space.

If you're into fossils, the Sternberg Museum has a lot of them, including the third-largest collection anywhere of flying reptiles and cretaceous birds. (Only the British Museum in London and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., have more, Choate says, and much of their collections came from central Kansas.)

If you need a little more action, check out the animatronic dinosaur exhibit, filled with growling, moving duck-billed dinosaurs, T-rexes and pteranodons.

"We wanted to take our strength, which is our fossils, and make an attraction that would pull people off the interstate," Choate says.

But don't discount the science. These creatures are authentic to the area. "We know they occurred in the area because we have fossils of them. The plants and animals are all authentic."

• Details: The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is at 3000 Sternberg Drive in Hays. From I-70, take Exit 159 (U.S. 183) and turn south to 27th Street. Turn east and continue to Sternberg Drive. The museum's giant dome is visible from the interstate.

Hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-7 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for senior adults 60 and older and children 4-12, $3 for students of Fort Hays State University, free for museum members and children younger than 4. Call (877) 332-1165 or see www.fhsu.edu /sternberg.

To reach Allen Holder, travel editor, call (816) 234-4397 or send e-mail to aholder@kcstar.com.

To learn more

For details about attractions in Kansas' Amazing 100 Miles, see the Web site at www.amazing100miles.com or call (785) 524-5133.

Posted in the Kansas City Star on Sun, Sep. 26, 2004

The Ellsworth Plaza Walking Tour

Ellsworth occupies a unique position in the history of the Old West. It is one of only a few Kansas towns that became known as the end of the trail for the Texas cowboys and their wild Texas Longhorn cattle.

The era occupied a short span of history from 1867 until 1885, just under 20 years. Ellsworth served as a cattle depot or railhead for seven of those years from 1868 until 1875. The largest amount of trade occurred during the years of 1872 to 1874.

Ellsworth s original cattle town business district was burned in several fires during the mid to late 1870 s. Despite these tragedies, several of the buildings of that era have survived and the area remains largely undisturbed by development.

Ellsworth was typical of the frontier towns built along the tracks of the Kansas Pacific Railway as it inched its way across Kansas. The plaza was a common area on either side of the tracks which accommodated freight hauling teams, family buggies and foot traffic. As folks met on their way to shop and frequent the saloons, the plaza soon became the social and business gathering place for people within the community. The setting is one familiar to western movie viewers.

Photo by Peg Britton

The railroad track and a wide expanse of right-of-way were bound by city streets known even to this day as North Main and South Main. Gambling houses and drinking parlors, as well as all the businesses required for the survival of a frontier town. lined these two streets. This area was witness to hundreds of thousands of cattle driven to the stockyards Gunfights were commonly associated with activity on the Plaza. At one time there was a stampede of buffalo through the plaza. Most of the wild west cattle town history of Ellsworth is contained within these few blocks.

Unlike many other towns that once contained railroad plazas, Ellsworth s plaza is largely undisturbed and has remained an open area for over 120 years. Little remains of the original buildings but the sites they were located on can still be pinpointed with accuracy.

Photo by Peg Britton

In the past it has been difficult for the casual visitor to discern much early Ellsworth history without a personal guide to explain where buildings were located and the sequence of events that took place. To remedy this situation, a Plaza Walking Tour was dedicated on August 3, 2002 which consists of 17 interpretive signs providing an overview of daily life on the plaza. Each sign is easily recognized from a distance by an accompanying steel silhouette. This allows the visitor an opportunity to experience specific events and locations in early Ellsworth history at his own pace.

It also offers those within our community who are not well-versed in its history, an opportunity to learn more about the place where they choose to live.



Ellsworth Hodgden House Museum Complex
104 W. Main
785.472.3059
Hodgden House Museum web site

The Hodgden House Museum Complex is located at the south end of the Ellsworth business district just across the railroad tracks.

The Hodgden house was built in 1877 by Perry Hodgden, a very influential resident in the development of Ellsworth. His was the first private home to be built of stone after the fires of 1874 and 1876 consumed most of the buildings and residences on north and south Main Streets comprising the heart of the town.

Photo by Peg Britton

In 1961 the house was once again restored to its original elegance. The Ellsworth Historical Society established a museum on the site in 1963 and has continued to make acquisitions and enlarge their exhibits since that time. The house is filled with artifacts from those early days. You can tour the livery stable ca. 1877 and a 1912 one-room school house. There is an 1880 church and a small log cabin. A modern building houses the general store exhibit and farm equipment. There is a 1911 caboose, turn of the century wooden windmill, and a 160 year old Dominion piano. They also have books on Ellsworth history and other noteworthy items of interest. The Terra Cotta Depot stands across the street and is in the process of being restored.

Ellworth's Old Jail
A half block east of North Main Street on Court St., close to the fire station

Photo by Peg Britton

This is the oldest building in Ellsworth. The early jails in Ellsworth were temporary structures like cages or prisoners were housed in private homes.

This jail was authorized on April 2 1872 for $12,000 with the lower floor designated as the jail and the upper floor to be used as court rooms. The structure was of limestone construction, 36 by 50 feet. Efforts have been made to restore this structure, but money has just not been forthcoming for such a major project. It has been in a derelict state for many years.

An effort was made by an investor in Harrisburg PA to buy it and move it stone by stone and restore it. It is now in the hands of the Ellsworth Historical Society and their hope is to restore to its original state sometime in the future. It is part of our heritage and very much a part of the history of Ellsworth.

The 1873 Ellsworth County Jail is now on the Kansas Historical Register.

October 11, 2003:

The Ellsworth County Jail of 1873 is associated with events that made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Ellsworth County history. Though now a ruin, it symbolizes the coming of law and order to the Old West. Ellsworth has one of the great histories of a rough and tumble cattle town and this Jail of 1873 is an authentic Old West relic. Its preservation is an important reminder of the few tumultuous years that Ellsworth served as the terminus for the Texas cattle trade. In addition, the colorful, violent time of the mid-19th Century cattle town was a reflection of the political and social atmosphere of the state of Kansas and was an important part of the story of the western expansion of the nation.

From the founding of Ellsworth in 1867, the City was filled with a heterogeneous collection of teamsters, railroad workers, army scouts and soldiers from Fort Harker and the usual disreputable hangers-on-itinerant liquor dealers, gamblers and prostitutes. Gun battles were common and hangings were frequent.

It was as lurid as any early western town. In fact, Ellsworth had the reputation of being the rip-roaringest toughest settlement on the entire frontier. During the early years, cattle town people tended to be lenient toward perpetrators of violence. The motive for the leniency came from a need to retain the good will and trade of the cattle town visitors. At the same time, farmers (who were in the minority) wanted to put out crops and build fences neither favorable to the cattle trade. There was a rather fierce battle between these two groups.

By the summer of 1873, the town leaders realized they had more problems that could be handled as they had been. Ellsworth had growing numbers of prostitutes and twenty saloons and gambling houses. There were growing problems between cattlemen and farmers of the county. The County Commission had been discussing the possibility of a jail but just did not get around to acting on it.

In August of 1873, the town s sheriff, C. B. Whitney, was gunned down. This incident became the catalyst for people of Ellsworth County to decide that law and order had to be maintained. Col. Henry Inman designed a new jail and Kinear and Kendall built it at a price of $4,600. A dance was held for the dedication on March 5, 1874.

By 1874, the cattle trade moved on to Wichita and Dodge City, the Herd Law was passed to prevent cattle from coming into the county and immigrants began turning to farming and building of fences. The taming of one of the wildest towns in the west had begun.

The 130th Anniversary and Rededication Ceremony program for the 1873 Jail held October 11, 2003, Ellsworth.



Bartizan or Oriel Building
Downtown Ellsworth. You can't miss it.

Take your pick as what to call it.

Bartizan: a small structure (as a turret) projecting from a building and serving esp. for lookout or defense

Oriel: a large bay window projecting from a wall and supported by a corbel or bracket.

Photo by Peg Britton

There are far more technical definitions of this architectural protuberance to be found on the web and in architectural history books. Most everyone in town calls it the Oriel Building. I'm the only who thinks it is a bartizan and should be called the Bartizan Building.

Years ago a woman who worked for the Kansas State Historical Society and with whom I had corresponded long before she relocated from Tennessee to Kansas told me it was a bartizan and that there were only a couple of them remaining in Kansas. I'll stick by her statement until someone can convince me otherwise. If someone really knows, please let me know.

Those of us who really care enormously about this building and the role it plays in our history want to see it restored. It is our historical identification, our landmark and we need it to pass on to our descendants. New buildings have no way of making this tie. The historic buildings from early Ellsworth on North Main were torn down to make a Senior Center. So much was lost in that one act of destruction. What many of us would like to see happen is to have this building restored and tied in architecturally to the buildings north of it and turned into a museum of early drover history.

Fort Harker Guardhouse Museum
Located at the east edge of Kanopolis on the low road from Ellsworth
785.472.5733
Fort Harker Guardhouse Museum web site

Established as Fort Ellsworth in the summer of 1864 by Lt. Allen Ellsworth and the 7th Cavalry, this fort provided protection to the Kansas Stage Line and military wagon trains traveling the Fort Riley Road and Smoky Hill Trail. In November 1866 the name was changed to Fort Harker. A three-day peace council at the fort failed, with the Cheyenne vowing to drive the soldiers off the Plains. In January1867, it was relocated to its present site where Kanopolis now stands.

The famous Butterfield Overland Dispatch began operation in 1865 along the Smoky Hill route to Denver and the fort was established to guard the stage line against attack from Indians. In 1866 young Bill Cody took his first scouting job at the fort. The next year, while hunting buffalo for the railroads, he became known as Buffalo Bill.

Because of the hostilities, various forts, now known as the Kansas Forts Network, were established on the Kansas frontier. Fort Harker's unique position at the division of the Smoky Hill Trail and the Fort Riley Road made the fort important. Fort Harker was one of three forts established to protect travelers, railroad workers, local settlements and the Santa Fe Trail.

Photo by Peg Britton

For a time Fort Harker was the headquarters of the district of the Upper Arkansas and the supply depot for all military forts west, including Colorado, New Mexico, and portions of Arizona. Fort Harker served as a supply depot and distribution point for all the forts in Colorado, A cholera epidemic swept through Fort Harker and the newly established town of Ellsworth in July 1867 where it claimed more than 200 lives. This established Brevet Major George Sternburg as an authority on epidemic diseases. The epidemic took the life of his wife.

It was Fort Harker in the fall of 1868 that General Phil Sheridan planned his winter campaign of 1868-1869 which finally subdued the southern Indians.

In 1873 the military abandoned the fort as the railroad had put an end to its usefulness. The military reservation was opened to settlement and the buildings were sold in June 15, 1880. Fort Harker was then given the new name of Kanopolis.

The original guardhouse contains military and Indian artifacts from the 1860's discovered during the summer of 1996 at an archaeological site organized by the Kansas State Historical Society and the Kansas Archaeological Association. Three barracks buildings of the early Fort Harker remain standing in the same area and one junior officer's quarters is in the process of being restored. The senior officer's and commandant's house was recently purchased from a private owner by the Ellsworth Historical Society which manages all the Ft. Harker property.

Kanopolis Drive-In Theater
785.472.4786
Kanopolis Drive-In Theater web site

You don't know what to do on a hot summer night? The kids are restless? Since 1952 this nationally recognized drive-in has been playing movies on their big outdoor screen for people of all ages. Here in this open prairie land at the north edge of Kanopolis, the price of admission is relatively low and the family atmosphere is high. There is a genuine feeling of hospitality about this family owned business. They show first run movies, have a good refreshment stand and plenty of play area for the kids "down in front" so you can keep an eye on them. Bring a lawn chair for yourself. This nostalgic drive-in is one of three remaining in Kansas.

Mushroom Rocks State Park
Mushroom Rock State Park is located two miles south and two and a half miles west of the intersection of Kansas highways 140 and 141.
Mushroom Rocks State Park web site

Photo by Peg Britton

The strangely shaped rocks at Mushroom Rock State Park in Ellsworth County are made of sandstone from the Dakota Formation, deposited along the edge of a Cretaceous sea about 100 million years ago. Over time, circulating water deposited a limey cement between the sand grains, creating harder bodies of sandstone called concretions.

Concretions, such as the cap of the rock shown here, are often spherical (the top half of the concretion pictured here has eroded away). The softer sandstone of the stem has eroded more rapidly, creating the mushroom-shaped rock.

This is probably the state's smallest state park. It's a pretty cool thing to see these rocks out in the middle of the prairie.

Photo by Peg Britton

Faris Caves

Settlers into Kansas were imaginative people. Because trees were generally very scare at that time, other resources had to be used to construct homes and outbuildings where timber wasn't available. People are generally aware of sod houses on the open prairies of Kansas but many don't know that people also used dugouts in hillsides and along river banks as shelters, including those at Fort Ellsworth. One such dugout into a sandstone bluff southeast of Kanopolis was used for a home, school house, blacksmith shop and refrigerator.

Photo by Jesse Manning

Charles Griffee came to his area of Ellsworth County in 1884. After buying the land from a man named Atwood, Griffee used his old mining tools to create three rooms. Each room is approximately 12 feet square with a 10 foot arched ceiling. A door way connects the middle and right rooms. The caves served as a home with the room on the left acting as a cooler. A natural spring in the cave allowed the inhabitants to keep items fresh in the cool water.

The caves are not easily accessed. It might be best to have someone familiar with the area to take you there.



JL Canyon Ranch Outfitters
Jack Lill, owner
Brookville Kansas
785.225.6782
JL Canyon Ranch Outfitters web site

Jack offers canyon rides, sunset rides, stabling, hayrack rides, guided trail rides, horse shoe art. Several times a year Jack rounds up cattle and you can join him if you want to. It's a very unique experience if you've never been exposed to it. Bring your horse and saddle or he can provide them for you. His roundups have received a lot of publicity and the "city folk" are takin' a hankering to them, so get on the list early for a round up.

To do it up right for your friend, family or partner, make arrangements to stay at the Castle Rock Bed and Breakfast, which is close by. They'll have a hot tub waiting for you and after a full day in the saddle movin' those doggies, you'll probably need it.

Post Rock Scenic Byway

Photo by Peg Britton

There is a beautiful 18 mile stretch of highway just north of Wilson on highway K- 232, which extends from I - 70 north to Lucas, Kansas. This is the official Post Rock Scenic Byway which passes through the Smoky Hills of north central Kansas recalling the brave people who came to settle our western frontier.

The highway is named because of a very unique layer of limestone that is found in this area just several inches below the surface of the earth. It is found no where else in the world, so I ve been told. Since there were few trees back in our early history, early pioneers used this limestone to build their houses, barns, farm enclosures and stone post fences.

The byway offers scenic, recreational, geological and agricultural viewing opportunities. The vista along the route capture the natural qualities that are prevalent in north central Kansas. Grass prairies are the dominant feature, stretching across a vast, bumpy horizon of small rolling hills.

Photo by Peg Britton

A six-mile segment of the byway is adjacent to the Wilson Lake recreational area, with scenic turnouts that overlook the dam and offers expansive views of the lake and the valley below the dam.

The byway connects I-70 on the south and K-18 on the north and links the communities of Wilson (Ellsworth County) and Lucas (Russell County). You can zoom through the trip in 30 minutes, but to fully appreciate the experience, take the time to dwell a little on what you are witnessing.



Garden of Eden
Lucas Kansas, just north of Wilson
Garden of Eden web site

It's a given for anyone who comes to see me that they will also see the Garden of Eden. If you are looking for "the crθme de la crθme in irrationality", check out this unbelievable place that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Samuel Perry Dinsmoor, born 1843, was a retired school teacher, Civil War Veteran, farmer and Populist politician. He began the construction of his Cabin Home and Garden of Eden in 1907, at age 64. Then, for 22 years he constructed his unique "log cabin" out of a bazillion tons of limestone and fashioned bazaar sculptures, that surround the house, out of concrete while using over 113 tons of cement. This place is an endless source of amusement.

Photo by Peg Britton

They'll tell you all about the place when you take the tour and share endless details about his life and eccentricities, all worth going miles out of your way to see. But, what they don't tell you, and I don't know why, is that this is a classic example of Dadaism, a nihilistic movement in the arts that flourished chiefly in France, Switzerland and Germany from about 1916 to 1920 or so, and was based on the principles of deliberate irrationality, anarchy and cynicism and the rejection of laws of beauty and social organization. Who knows what SP was thinking or what kind of grin he was concealing when he built this, but he left a great example of the senseless and useless for us all to ponder.

He claimed to be the only one in town to have a spring with natural water in his front yard so he built a decorative pond with running water. Many years later the city discovered he'd tapped into the city's water supply and had been enjoying an endless stream of free water.

Dinsmoor was 81 when he married his second wife, in the spring of '24, who was 20 years old at the time, a very attractive woman from Czechoslovakia. They had a son and, yep, the town's people who knew them both swear by it. The pictures of him look just like SP.

Take some time out to stop in Lucas, see the Grassroots Art Gallery down town. There was even a Smithsonian exhibit that selected this gallery above many others across the nation. Stop by Brant's Grocery. Doug Brant makes great pepper sausage to munch on down the road and he's a storehouse of information on what the volunteers in Lucas have done to jump start the town and make it flourish. Check out their restored theater too.

Other Points of Interest Around Ellsworth

Other points of interest around Ellsworth: The Terra Cotta Depot, Citizens State Bank and Trust bank vault door, buffalo wallows, Performing Arts Center, swimming pool and water slide in Mildred Holt Park; playground equipment, picnic shelters, walking track, and lighted tennis courts in Krizek Park; band shell, play area and playground equipment in Preisker Park; golf driving range; golf course, bowling lanes; softball and baseball diamonds; rodeo grounds; city recreation building with exercise equipment; basketball courts at City Hall and on the grade school playground.

Photo by Peg Britton        Previous Page          Home          Top of Page          Next Page