Bo's Journal 27 More Kansas

Then it was onward to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. This preserve was “…established by the National Park Service on November 12, 1996 to preserve, protect and interpret for the public an example of a Tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the historic and cultural values represented by the Spring Hill Ranch.” Kae’s nephew Scott had told us about this preserve way back in early 2006 and that was one reason we decided to come this way in Kansas. You might remember we visited that Tallgrass Preserve in Oklahoma but it was not part of the Park Service plus it was closed, so this was a site we had really looked forward to seeing. It is a unique public/private partnership between the NPS, The Nature Conservancy, and the Kansas Park Trust.




I stood sleepily on-guard in the Pod while the Gals took a Ranger guided bus tour out on the prairie. The things they learned were fascinating about the more than 180 species of grass native to Kansas and the prairie. Bluestem and Indian Grass are among the most common, growing to heights of 3’-6’ and 4’-7’ respectively. Now I know where the term Tallgrass comes from! Root systems can be even deeper; more than two-thirds of all the living tissue of the prairie is below ground and growth is dependent in large part on grazing and fire. The abundance of birds and other wildlife is astonishing; but I would’t know because there are these rules about dogs, leashes and no wandering around.










Touring the impressive Spring Hill Ranch was the next tour on the following day. Again I sniffed things out for everybody and then restored myself in the Pod while the Ladies did the photo and fact thing. “The grand four-level ranch house forms the centerpiece of the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. Completed in1881, it stands as a beautiful example of French Second Empire architecture, a style popular in the late 19th century. This large stately home is also an example of great change in the American West, the transition from small ranches on the vast open range to large enclosed ranching businesses, laying the foundations for the present-day American cattle industry.”




The use of native black walnut is evident throughout the house in the doors, window frames and particularly the elegant staircase. The baseboards, mantel pieces and most of the plaster crown moldings are original.





Stephan F. Jones and his wife Louisa came to Kansas in 1878 settling in the Flint Hills region where they purchased over 7,000 acres of land with the intention of grazing cattle on the fine prairie grasses. The name of the ranch came from the cool springs found on the hillside near the house. Mr. Jones had over 30 miles of stone fences built and constructed elegant outbuildings from the local Cottonwood limestone. They nestled the buildings into hillsides to take advantage of the natural insulation and ease of access as evidenced by the massive 60 x 110 foot, three-story limestone barn. Even the chicken coop, with its arched and sod covered roof and enclosed scratching yard, followed this plan.





Elegant and impressive as all these buildings and man-made impositions are, they pale in comparison to the enormity of the open prairie. As you step out from the shade and shelter of the trees into the exposed openness of this vast ‘sea of grass’ you are struck by your own relative insignificance. Perhaps you are mirroring the experience of the settlers 150 years ago as they stepped from the darkness of the eastern forests into the sky and grass filled openness.

Whew! We do get poetic sometimes, don’t we? Our next stop was Council Grove, KS.