34 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
Pawnee Rock was named from the Indian tribe which roamed over 
the neighboring plains, menacing the life and property of almost 
every passer-by on the trail, as they had menaced the Spaniards for 
two centuries. The name Pawnee is supposed to signify horn and to 
have been applied to the tribe on account of a curious custom of 
plucking out beard and eyebrows and shaving the head, except a 
narrow ridge of hair from forehead to scalp lock; this remnant was 
stiffened with fat and paint so that it stood erect and curved like 
a horn. 
Half a mile beyond milepost 287, or 44 miles southwest of Pawnee 
Rock, there may be seen west of the track a granite monument, which 
is one of the numerous markers of the line of the Santa Fe Trail. 
Larned is at the mouth of Pawnee River, which enters the Arkansas 
on the southern edge of the town. On the north bank of the Pawnee, 
west of the railway, there are several quarries in the 
Larned. Dakota sandstone which are plainly visible from the 
"Elevation 1,995 feet. vicinity of milepost 292 and beyond. The rock is of 
Geese Ch ds a a light-brownish color and occurs in massive beds, 
about 40 feet in all, exposed in several quarries. It 
has been used to some extent as a building stone and when fresh is 
easily sawed or chiseled. 
The railway bridge crosses Pawnee River at the old ford of the 
Santa Fe Trail. Owing to a twist in the course of the stream the cross- 
ing was difficult. Many a thrilling skirmish or frightful massacre has 
occurred here, and in 1870 a great battle was fought at this place 
between Cheyennes and Arapahoes. This locality should not be con- 
founded with Fort Larned, which lies 64 miles due west of it. 
On the old trail there was not a bridge from end to end and all 
the stream crossings were fords, which at times of high water became 
impassable. When the Army of the West crossed Pawnee River on 
its long march to take Santa Fe in 1848 that stream was in flood and 
could not be forded. However, trunks of trees were thrown across 
and over these the men clambered, carrying their baggage, tents, and 
supplies, while the horses swam across and the empty wagon boxes 
were pulled over with ropes. 
In the vicinity of Larned the conditions on the two sides of the 
Arkansas present a striking contrast. On the southeast side there is 
a wide belt of sand hills composed of sand blown out of the river bed 
by the prevailing strong northwest winds. These hills are too rough 
and bare for agriculture. On the northwest side of the river, where 
the railway is built, there are bottom lands with rich, deep soil, usually 
yielding large crops of grain. 
Not far northeast of Garfield a ledge of Dakota sandstone rises 
above the river flat and is cut by the railway for a short distance. 
