276 CEMENT MATERIALS AND INDUSTRY. [bull. 243 
broad shallow valley. At Hutchinson or Wichita, Kans., for example, there are 
bluffs, and the valley is from 10 to 20 miles wide. Near Geuda Springs, Kans., t 
river begins to narrow rapidly. The first ledge of limestone is crossed at the d; 
5 miles west of Arkansas City. Near the mouth of the Walnut, just north of t 
Kansas-Oklahoma line, the heavy bluffs of limestone appear, and from this point 
the southeast corner of the Osage Nation the river flows in a series of ox-bow bend 
seeking its tortuous way in and out among the Flint Hills. As the crow flies th 
distance does not exceed 80 miles, but the water of the river flows at least twice th 
distance. In one place two bends of the river approach within a mile and a half 
each other, while to follow the channel a person would have to travel more th 
9 miles. Throughout the greater part of this course the bluffs are high and precipii 
tous. The valley is perhaps 2 miles wide on an average, nearly half of this beini 
occupied by the sandy channel of the stream. In places, however, the distanc 
from bluff to bluff is not more than a mile. 
The smaller streams tributary to the Arkansas in this region have usually carve 
deep channels through the limestone ledges. These ledges follow the sinuous courgi 
of the streams, outcropping along the bluffs and forming in many places conspicuou 
outlines. It is from these ledges, which, as stated above, form the southern exter 
sion of the Flint Hills, that the limestone is obtained. Half a dozen or more ledgt 
outcrop between the bed of the river and the top of the hills to the west. In th 
hills in the Osage and Kaw reservations east of the river there are perhaps as man 
more, each from 5 to 25 feet thick. 
The stone is, in general, a rather fine-grained, gray, or nearly white, massive limi 
stone. For building purposes it is easily the equal of the best stone from the Wl 
field or Cottonwood Falls quarries. Indeed, it will be a matter of surprise if tin 
shall not demonstrate that the Oklahoma stone will outlast most of that obtaine 
from Kansas. The supply is inexhaustible. Kay County alone can supply Okl 
homa with building material for hundreds of years and scarcely know where it canii 
from. 
Business blocks in Newkirk, Ponca City, and Pawnee are built of stone obtain* 
from the local quarries. These buildings rival in appearance the finest blocks buk 
from Kansas stone. Throughout the region dressed-stone farmhouses are rapid : 
springing up. The stone house built by Governor William M. Jenkins while 1 1 
was yet a Kay County farmer stands on his claim, 2 miles southeast of Newkir>: 
This is one of the first two-story stone houses ever built in " the Strip." 
Dimension stone of all shapes and sizes, flagging, and rubble are obtained f ro i 
the various quarries. Not long ago a block of 12 feet square and 30 inches thi 
was shipped. One of the most practical purposes to which the stone is being pH 
however, is the manufacture of stone posts. The rock splits readily into almost a] 
required size. Advantage is taken of this fact to secure a long, slender block suitat 
for a fence post. Posts from 5 to 7 feet long are split down to 6 by 8 inches, a 
posts 15 feet long are often secured. These posts sell in the quarry for from 20 to 
cents each, according to the size, and are rapidly replacing the wooden posts f< 
merly used. They are very similar to the limestone posts from the Benton Cretacec 
in central Kansas,- and seem destined to serve as important a part in the devekl 
ment of the country as do the latter. 
Standing upon almost any one of the high hills east of Kildare, or New irk,. 
Kay County, a person may see not only the white stone houses nestled away m t 
valleys or crowning the knolls, but also the lines of white posts stretching for miii 
across the country. It seems but a question of a few years till the greater part of 1 1 
farmhouses of the county will be built of stone, and stone posts will replace the 1 
of the wooden posts throughout the region. 
The limestone of the second locality, while more restricted in area than that of 1 : 
Flint Hills, is still more than sufficient to supply the southwestern part of Oklaho. 
