THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 37 
Just across the river from Dodge was, until 1835, the northeast 
corner of Mexico, and between 1835 and 1845 the corner of the 
Republic of Texas, the boundary of which extended from that point 
along the south side of Arkansas River to the Rocky Mountains. 
An account of the famous frontier characters formerly known around 
Dodge is out of place here, but they figure in many narratives and 
romances of earlier days, when it was widely known as the “ wickedest 
town in the country.” Now it is a model of peacefulness and tran- 
quillity. 
Change i is made here from Central time to Mountain time, one hour 
earlier. 
A short distance northwest of the station at Dodge are low cliffs of 
coarse sandstone and conglomerate of an older river channel of 
Tertiary age, lying on fine buff loam which extends down to the valley 
level. The formations underlying Dodge have been explored by a 
boring 1,100 feet deep which yielded nothing of value except some 
water fron the Dakota ——— that did not have pressure sufficient 
to flow. 
From Dodge westward to La Siena Colo., the Santa Fe Railway 
follows the Arkansas Valley, continuing along the north side of the 
river, in most places within a mile of it. A branch line crosses the 
river there and goes southwestward to Elkhart, near the Oklahoma 
State line. The Arkansas Valley in this vicinity is from 2 to 3 miles 
wide in greater part and is bordered by moderately steep slopes or 
bluffs on the north side of the river and by a wide zone of sand hills 
herd had passed. Their slaughter by the 
was a cause of bitter dissatisfac- 
tion to the Indians and occasioned many 
conflicts. Their practical extermination 
was effected in about 20 years. Many 
amounts in the shaggy coats of the buf- 
faloes, who delight to wade or roll in a 
water hole. For years during the decline 
of the buffaloes, and after they had gone, 
their bones were a source of revenue for 
many persons, who collected them on the 
prairie and shipped them east to manu- 
facturers of fertilizers. At some stations 
near Dodge the shipments averaged a 
carload a day in 1875. Gen. Sheridan 
estimated that originally the buffaloes 
between Fort Dodge and Camp Supply, 
in northwestern Oklahoma, aggregated 
000,000 head, and in many of the 
great hunts some parties killed as many 
After the Santa Fe Railway 
buffalo tongues were shipped the first | 
winter. ffaloes were so numerous 
even after the railway had been built, 
that when they were crossing the track 
ins had to wait many hours until the 
were shot wantonly by passengers on the 
trains, and thousands were hunted for the 
sake of boasting of a great kill. Usually 
the white hunter took only the hide or a 
small part of the meat (hump or tongue), 
while the Indian utilized every part, in- 
cluding the intestines. The Indians de- 
ised the white man’s methods, for the 
Indians killed by hunting on horseback 
arrows or long spears, so that the 
number slain was small and probably 
never in excess of the natural increase. 
The Indians knew that when the buffa- 
sas is said to have been sold at Kingman 
in 1888. 
