28 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
a shaft 1,465 feet deep, which exposes more than 400 feet of salt, 
-of which 275 feet (from 793 to 1,068 feet) is mostly in solid beds. 
There it is mined principally for the production of rock salt. The 
total annual ‘production of salt in Kansas averages about 375,000 
tons, valued at more than $800,000. 
Hutchinson is in the center of the Kansas wheat belt and her 
flour mills have a daily product of 3,000 barrels. Electric power is 
extensively used in many mills and factories. 
In the early days of settlement and travel the Hutchinson region 
contained many Indians, notably the Kiowas, who had come in 
from the north, and thesit allies, the PGnianthes: who controlled a 
large country south of Arkansas River. These Indians committed 
many massacres along the Santa Fe Trail, which crossed the country 
about 6 miles north of Hutchinson. This locality is believed to 
have been the scene of a decisive battle in 1778 between the resident 
Comanches and a band of Spaniards and Pueblo Indians ‘under 
Gov. Anza, in which the Comanches were routed and their chief, 
Greenhorn, killed. 
Most of the fast trains to the West take the cut-off which goes 
from Hutchinson almost due west to Kinsley, a distance of 84 miles, 
or about 15 miles less than the distance by the old main line along 
the river. On this cut-off the railway crosses to the south side of 
Arkansas River in the southwestern part of Hutchinson. Not far 
southeast of the bridge will be noted the tall stack of the largest 
salt works in the world. 
Beyond the river the route goes nearly due southwest for a few 
miles to Partridge, rising by an almost imperceptible grade from 
the valley flat to a low plateau covered by sand and 
Partridge. gravel which continues far to the west. This upland 
Elevation 1 tages is covered by deposits laid down by Arkansas River 
Population 2 ‘ Fe = “ . 
Karnes City pe miles, OF its predecessor in Tertiary time. It is a great 
plain, most of which is occupied by broad fields of 
grain, for it is one of the most extensive wheat districts in the country. 
The soil is particularly favorable in composition, and in most years 
. the rainfall is sufficient to give large crops, but occasionally there 
is a year too dry to yield satisfactory returns. 
West of Abbyville is a region of sand hills. The dunes are mostly 
low and covered with soil, which bears crops of wheat or other 
grains. They are old dunes and, except for a small 
Abbyville. amount of sand that blows during the windy season, 
‘levation 1,651 feet. they are not advancing materially. The railway 
Kansss City Omi cats are shallow and show either the loose dune sand 
or the rowiiali compact oene of Tertiary age, which forms the 
surface of the =. 
