Following the Cimarron Trail

After our sojourn in Dodge City without a single bar room brawl or gun fight, we decided to continue along the Santa Fe Trail on the Cimarron Cut Back to Kansas City -- well, actually, to Independence Missouri.  We kept trying to imagine what the journey was like for folks making this journey in wagons or on horseback and herding cattle.  In a covered wagon our ancestors could cover 10-15 miles in one day.  We traveled more than 335 miles in 5+ hours.  It would have taken the wagon train 22-34 days!

We were imagining how endless the prairie would have seemed to them.  There were many miles of acres of farmland that now take the place of wild meadows.  When we reached I-70 about halfway through our journey, the terrain became hilly and green.  It was a big contrast to the prairie.  Here there were rivers and ponds and wetlands.  Cattle drivers would have known that they were nearing their destination by the change in the vegetation and the softening of the land. I admire the courage and fortitude of those tough settlers who made the original journey of discovery. 

Through the prairie land.

We turned our attention to the location of the towns and to their products.  The Cimarron Trail follows the railroad - or actually, the railroad was built along the trail.  There are tiny towns strung along the rails like beads made of grain silos.  We didn't see most of the towns.  We only saw the numerous grain silos that could load semi trucks or train cars full of grain for transport.  These grain cooperatives seem to be the life blood of our nation's "bread basket."  We marveled at the un-countable acres of fertile farm land.  I know that agribusiness has promoted some land unfriendly practices and has resulted in narrowing our food sources and crop diversity to a dangerous level.  But I have also observed the growth of sustainable farming practices and the renewed interest in heritage crops and "artisinal" foods.  It has given me a lot to think about --it will certainly inform my grocery buying habits.

The other huge farming trend we spotted was wind farming.  We saw one enormous wind farm; one small one; and one solo windmill in a farmer's field.  The windmills look like huge, ungainly sentinels marching across the landscape in rows - each seems to turn to it's own rhythm.  They were not all in sync.  We even saw three windmills that were under construction.  I wanted to see the cranes put them together, but we didn't have time.  One town, Spearville, took great pride in the wind farm.  At the entrance to the town they had a large sign that proclaimed "Spearville, KS -- Home of windmills and the Royal Lancers."  I'm guessing the Royal Lancers are their high school football team, but it somehow fit together:  Spearville -- windmills -- lancers.

Wind farm in Spearville KS

 After our peaceful trek across Kansas, we arrived in Kansas City, Kansas: Siamese twin to Kansas City, Missouri.  What a change of pace that was as far as traffic and driving - yikes!  Everything is, indeed, up to date in Kansas City!  It is a strange feeling to enter another state while driving through one large city. We continued on for a few more miles and arrived at our destination for the evening, Independence, Missouri.

Another state welcomes us.