112 KAN>SA8 ACADE2IT OF SCIENCE. 



numerous irrigating ditches were dug in western Kansas and in Colorado, 

 sufficient at the present time to divert the entire water of the river to the 

 thirsty plains. Thus for the past 10 or 15 years we have observed the evolu- 

 tion of a great river into a sandy waste or insignificant stream. Nature has 

 undertaken to accommodate itself to the changed conditions. The once mov- 

 ing sandbars become fixed, and are speedily covered with young cotton- 

 woods and willows from seed sown by the wind. They grow rapidly, bind- 

 ing the soil with their roots. When a freshet occurrs it is not of sufficient 

 duration to undermine and wash away the embryo island, but deposits sev- 

 eral inches of mud and sand among the young trees; these thrive and grow 

 rapidly. The wind blowing the sand from the dry river bed aids in building 

 up the island. By the time another freshet comes down the islands are 

 firmly established, soon become groves of timber, gaining in elevation and 

 solidity each year. In time the upper end of the islands become connected 

 with the shore, forming a lagoon, which soon fills with a slimy, slippery, blue 

 paste, deposited from the exceedingly muddy water coming down the river 

 in late years in time of flood. In drying, this mud becomes a tough, sticky 

 clay, known locally as hardpan or gumbo. This process explains the spots 

 and streaks of this substance found in the Arkansas valley. An illustration 

 of this formation can be seen at the mouth of the Little Arkansas river, 

 where formerly was a long, narrow lake of considerable depth and of pure, 

 clear water, the wintering place for huge cat, buffalo and other fish. By the 

 diversion of the water of the little river into Chisholm creek, for milling pur- 

 poses, this lake became a stagnant pool, into which the muddy water of the 

 big river backed each time it came down in a flood, where the sediment, set- 

 tling to the bottom, formed a mass of so little consistency that an oar or a 

 boat would pass through it almost as easily as through water; but after the 

 flood had subsided, leaving it to solidify and dry, it became almost as firm 

 as a rock and as tough as leather, not "adobe" soil, but "gumbo." Thus was 

 destroyed the wealth of molluscan life for which our river was noted. The 

 beautiful minnows, anodontas and margaritinas have disappeared from their 

 favorite home. 



During most of the year 1893 the Arkansas river above the junction of the 

 little river has been entirely dry; below that point it is an insignificant 

 stream which a school boy can roll up his pants and wade across. In a com- 

 paratively short time, in southern Kansas, timber will occupy the former site 

 of the Arkansas river, through which will flow a stream a few rods wide. 



This wonderful change has been brought about by our so-called civilization 

 within the last 15 years. Fortunate indeed are those who were permitted to 

 behold the beauties of this valley and river when it was the home of the 

 Indian and buffalo — just as God made it. 



