30 University of Kansas Geological Survey. 
at Scott City. As we move east this difference is still more notice- 
able. The elevation of the river valley at Dodge City is about 2440 
teet, while the high bluffs to the north are 2600 feet high. Imme- 
diately north, at Ness City, the elevation is only a little more than 
2200 feet, making the river valley at Dodge City more than 200 feet 
above the Walnut valley at Ness City, fifty miles to the north. The 
elevation of the Buckner a little west of Jetmore is about 2300, show- 
ing the decline from Dodge to Ness is gradual. It would therefore 
seem that the Arkansas river from Garden City to Dodge at least 
is occupying much higher ground than that which lies to the north. 
South of the river, however, the general elevation is about the same, 
or a little greater, than the river until the central part of Haskell 
and the southern part of Gray and Ford counties is reached, from 
which line the surface drops rapidly towards the southeast. Below 
Dodge City there is not so much difference in elevation between 
ihe river and the adjacent country. 
These conditions can be tolerably well determined by an examina- 
tion of the ordinary map of the state. It will be seen that from 
Coolidge to near Garden City the general drainage of the country 
is towards the Arkansas river from both sides, although but few of 
these lesser tributaries actually enter the river, as the most of them 
simply spread out in the broad valleys. Below Garden City almost 
no drainage from the south enters the river, while from the north 
the upper tributaries of the Sawlog and the Buckner rise within a 
few miles of the bluffs of the Arkansas. By an examination of the 
country itself one will be surprised to find that many of these lesser 
arroyas have their source within less than a mile of the brink of 
the bluffs on the north side of the river from Dodge City towards 
Garden City. Below the bend in eastern Ford county the drainage 
again becomes more natural, and the Arkansas has tributaries 
entering it from both sides, showing that it no longer flows along a 
ridge. 
One of the most noticeable features in connection with the Arkan- 
sas river is the great and unusual bend it makes in passing from 
eastern Ford county so far to the north to Great Bend, and back 
so far to the south. By an examination of the geologic map it will 
be seen that in eastern Ford county the Dakota is exposed at the 
