Trego County rock formations

Limestone rock formations may be found all along the Smoky Hill River in Kansas. They are so plentiful that many, like this one in Trego County, remain unnamed. This one is near our bed and breakfast.

Hubby is examining the rocks. The shovel is protection against snakes. Donna said she hadn’t seen snakes, but if any were present, they’d be in these rocks.

Trees and flowers grew in this very unpromising terrain. Don’t get too near the edge; these rocks are anything but solid.

I’ve often heard that the blue stratum contains fossils such as this one, but I’d never seen one before this one. We left this one intact, but took home another that had fallen on the ground. I just love little surprises like that, like a little present from God.

Kansas alligator

Some years ago, golfers in Ulysses, Kan., discovered an alligator in a water hazard. Someone apparently had gotten a baby gator as a pet. When it got too big, its owners dumped it on the golf course. Leaving aside the dubious morality of abandoning a dangerous predator, what sort of fools would want one as a pet? Cue up the Jaws theme! (This particular gator is sunning itself in a Louisiana swamp.)

Fortunately, this Kansas “alligator” is not a predatory reptile.

It’s just a log with a “head and eyes.” Amazing what a little imagination can conjure up from an innocent object.

Garden of God

Garden of God is one of Kansas’ unknown treasures. It’s not even listed on the state’s official tourism site. Many of these strange rock formations along the Smoky Hill River are unnamed, but the docent at Butterfield Trail Museum said it was called Garden of God. The wind- and water-carved formations are a bit south of Russell Springs in a pasture right beside Kansas Highway 25.

Hubby was surprised when we arrived. He hadn’t expected something quite this interesting. He didn’t walk into the formations with me, but stayed on the ridge above them. He’s just visible above the rounded formation to the right. He called those bumps “glorified cow pies.” I think the gunmetal rocks are a kind of shale. Fossils are often found in that strata of rock.

The yellow limestone cracks and spalls easily, as does the shale. Explorers in this terrain need to be careful of their footing. When I walked in the narrow valleys between the formations, I hoped no downpour had been unleashed upstream. A flash flood would be hard to escape.

Erosional forces had carved crevices and small caves into the rocks, but I did not investigate them closely. Those would be prime places for rattlesnake nests. I have no desire to meet a viper. To reach Garden of God from Interstate 70, take Highway 25 south out of Colby (Exit 53) or Highway 40 west out of Oakley (Exit 76). West of Oakley, Highways 25 and 40 run together for awhile until 25 turns south toward Leoti.

Fallen on hard times

Not all Ness City’s buildings are as well preserved as the bank and courthouse. This pair of buildings across the street from the court house is sadly deteriorating.

This lion on the roof of the building on the right has decayed so much that it is hardly possible to discern what it once was. How sad.

The building features beautiful decorations in its native limestone masonry. Most of it is in good condition.

These beautiful wrought iron embellishments surround the entrance.

The iron was wrought by Capitol Iron Works of Topeka, which is still in business today. This building is a pretty good advertisement for their workmanship. I hope someone has taken an interest in preserving at least the building on the right. If it is too far gone for preservation, I hope someone will be allowed to salvage the beautiful stonework and ironwork. Note: I have since learned that the Lion Block Building is on Kansas Preservation Alliance’s 2009 list of Endangered Historic Places.

Ness County Courthouse

Ness County Courthouse’s architecture is far simpler in design than its near neighbor Ness County Bank Building. (One of its turrets is visible to the right of the courthouse.)

Building began in 1917 and was finished in 1918. I am not conversant enough in architectural history to tell what style this is and the Internet is frustratingly silent. Understandably, the Ness County web pages focus more on the bank building than the courthouse, but their silence on their courthouse is aggravating. I can find only that the decorative wall around the courthouse was a Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) project and that J.C. Holland was the architect.

Courthouse has one unusual feature, little paintings on each side of the building.

The Kansas state seal is depicted above the main entrance.

Windmills, as in this painting, dot the plains. They were the main way to bring water to the parched land. Thank God for the Ogallala Aquifer!

The western meadowlark and the wild sunflower are the Kansas state bird and flower.

The American buffalo is the state animal. Since we now have a state insect (honeybee), a state reptile (ornate box turtle), as well as a state bird, perhaps the buffalo should be reclassified as the state mammal. The Legislature has plenty to do these days, so I hope they don’t bother which such a triviality.

The courthouse has other interesting details also. This is on the railing for one of the stairways.

This is the roof line. I like these. Not every interesting building in Ness City is as well preserved as the two I’ve already discussed, but that topic belongs to my next post.

Cpl. Noah Van Buren Ness

Ness County, Kan., is named for Cpl. Noah Van Buren Ness, the only corporal to be so honored. His statue was unveiled in 2000, the first Civil War statue in Kansas for 60 years. Ness, who served with the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, died in 1864 of battle wounds received in Mississippi.

I could find no actual photograph or other contemporary image of Cpl. Ness in my Google image search, so have no way of comparing his sculpted face to his actual face. I often wonder how artists determine someone’s face with no evidence. I’d love to see any contemporary image of him if anyone has one.

Ness County Courthouse’s signature architectural feature is shown through the statue’s sword handle. More about that tomorrow.

Decoration Day

My grandmother always called Memorial Day “Decoration Day”, the original name for the holiday. Decorating graves was always our family tradition. We cut flowers, put them in water-filled buckets and spent the morning in various cemeteries.

My brother and I always wondered off and looked at the old tombstones. We were especially interested in the veterans’ stones, what wars they had served in, what rank they had obtained. What combat had they seen? What terrible memories did they carry?

What sacrifices had they and their families made for our current freedoms? What would they think of what we had done with those freedoms?

That is not something I can answer, but I hope they would feel that the sacrifice was worth it.

May God bless and keep every veteran and comfort those who have lost the ones they loved for our protection.

Photo is of a cemetery in Parsons, Kan., and comes from Flickr.

Moorish attorney's office

This hand-carved door is beautiful in its own right, but looking at it through the wrought iron adds to its charm.

An attorney’s office is immediately adjacent to Ness County Bank Building. Even though the architectural styles differ, they complement each other.

Here is the sunburst in greater detail.

The bottom of the door features panels showing six of the 12 zodiac signs. The libra panel is very appropriate for an attorney’s office.

This tile fountain was on the west side of the entrance. Unfortunately, it was not running at the time of our visit. It must sound very refreshing in the scorching dry heat of a High Plains summer.

A narrow courtyard separates the attorney from the bank building. It looked so inviting, but we didn’t enter.

Here is a slightly different view. I’d love to have an oasis like this next to my office, wouldn’t you?

Ness City Bank

I love architecture, especially architectural detail. We had read about Ness County Bank Building, a/k/a “The Skyscraper of the Plains”. Since we were just a few miles away this weekend, we decided to look at it. It is beautiful and looks as pristine as a 120-year-old building can be.

Since we were there on Sunday, the building was closed to the public. Someone was hosting a graduation reception there, which this lady was apparently attending.

The carvings are incredible. These are acanthus leaves on the front entrance. Note the gorgeous rounded corner detail just above the main entrance column.

The beautiful front door reflects the entrance and some of the Ness City business district. The balloon is inside.

All those years of use have rubbed the front door latch to a beautiful finish.

This carving is on the front of the stairway to the main entrance.

This carving is on the landing.

Merrill Trust Company’s logo is above the south — or Chamber of Commerce — entrance.

This supports a column at the Chamber entrance.

This is the back door handle.

This is detail from the Chamber entrance’s archway.

This is the corner of the building above the Chamber entrance. I highly commend this community for rescuing and preserving their great treasure.

Butterfield Trail Bunkhouse

For our 15th anniversary getaway, we stayed at the Butterfield Trail Bunkhouse. It’s quite a rustic place. This is the bunkhouse.

These are the his and hers outhouses. I’m just kidding. I don’t do outhouses. Yuck! I like a break from civilization, but not that much of one! The box on the left is actually a place for newborn calves to be kept out of the cold.

This is where we stayed, a three-room concrete block home that was a very comfortable getaway location. It stands in a valley in the middle of a pasture surrounded by trees in three directions. Neighbors are far enough away that their lights cannot be seen. The stars overhead were incredible.

Donna, our hostess, brought us this pretty bouquet for our anniversary. At first I thought it was made of lilacs, to which I am very allergic. I was relieved to see otherwise. She also gave us slices of a lemon poppy seed layer cake with strawberry slices between the layers. Delicious!

Bunkhouse’s previous owner was a lifelong bachelor, so the house was definitely devoid of frou-frou touches. In honor of her husband’s uncle, Donna has kept the dècor simple. The curtain rods, kitchen drawer and door pulls are all made of branches.

The hooks holding up the kitchen curtain rod are old spoons. Even with the simplicity, she said the dècor would probably be too much for Uncle. I was amused to find that the bathroom had no power outlets. That definitely shows a bachelor inhabited the house. A woman would have wanted to plug in her blow dryer or curling iron. When Donna and William wanted to put in a new kitchen at their house, they had to tear out their porch. They rented a jackhammer, thinking that the concrete would be fairly simple to remove. Instead, they discovered that it was full of rebar. Rather than get rid of the rebar, she used it for curtain rods in their house. Now that’s creativity! The breakfasts were great as well. We recommend this bed and breakfast highly.