30 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
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West of Stafford, notably at milepost 261, the railway crosses a 
small belt of sand dunes, and near milepost 262 there are bare areas 
from which the sand is being blown by the wind. 
St. John (see sheet 5, p. 36) is on the great smooth 
St. John. lain, in the midst of grain fields. It was named for 
antes orga John P. St. John, governor of Kansas from 1879 to 
Kansas City 282 miles. 1883 and a famous advocate of prohibition. 
The region about Macksville is a gently rolling plain 
Macksville. with very low sand hills, which continue to Belpre and 
— 3,005 leek beyond Lewis. Macksville was named for George 
Kansas City 293 miles, Mack, the first postmaster in Stafford County. 
A large sign south of Belpre (bel-pray’) station con- 
Belpre. tains the statement that $1,250,000 worth of farm 
Elevation 2,082 feet. products were shipped from that place in 1913. Bel- 
+ cecamumaaaert miles, Pre is the center of a prosperous region in which wheat 
and other grains are raised. The name is French for 
beautiful prairie. 
Lewis is near the eastern edge of a pronounced belt of sand hills, 
which extends along the east side of Arkansas River for many miles. 
These dunes become prominent a short distance west 
Lewis. of Omar siding, where the railway passes through 
Elevation 2,142 feet. 20-foot cuts in the loose, cross-bedded dune sand. 
Kuwas City 300mites, Here the dune surface is too rugged for much farm- 
ing, but there are scattered wheat fields in some of 
the depressions between the dunes. About 3 miles west of Omar 
Arkansas River is crossed, and a short distance beyond is Kinsley. 
Here the Hutchinson branch or cut-off joins the old main line from 
Hutchinson by way of Great Bend. 
[The itinerary west of Kinsley is continued on p. 35.] 
HUTCHINSON TO KINSLEY BY WAY OF GREAT BEND. 
From Hutchinson (see sheet 4, p. 30) to Kinsley the old main line 
of the Santa Fe Railway follows the north bank of Arkansas River, 
but at most places the tracks are a mile or two from the stream. 
For the entire distance the route lies along the wide flat or alluvial 
bottom land, which ranges from 5 to 8 miles in width. From Hutch- 
inson to Great Bend the course is northwest, but from Great Bend to 
Kinsley the course is southwest, owing to a remarkable bend in the 
valley. 
The flat consists of smooth bottom lands elevated but slightly . 
above the river, and in their lower parts subject to overflow during 
the occasional freshets. These lands are formed by a thick body of 
sand and gravel deposited by the river and lying in a wide, shallow 
