28 University of Kansas Geological Survey. 
From this it would appear that the river sands were reached at 
the surprising depth of 311 feet. It is difficult to understand how 
such a great depth could exist here with so shallow a covering of 
sand in the valley at Coolidge less than seventy five miles above. 
Below Garden City no further evidence is available until Great 
Bend is reached. Some years ago a deep well was put down three 
or four miles to the northeast of town, but still within the river 
valley, in search for fuel. No absolutely accurate log of this well 
was kept, but it is tolerably certain the river sands at this place 
are no more than 80 or 90 feet thick. As the well was located 
some distance back from the present river channel it is quite 
possible they were shallower there than in the deepest part of the 
river valley. From Great Bend eastward nothing more is obtainable 
until the salt wells of Sterling, Nickerson, and Hutchinson are 
reached. The logs of various wells in these localities have been ex- 
amined, not one of which showed a thickness of sand more than 
100 feet, and the greater portion of them showed the sand to be 
from 70 to 90 feet in thickness. At the present time a deep well is 
in process of construction at Wichita. Samples of material from it 
have been preserved in glass bottles and are open for examination. 
They have been partially studied and seem to show that the strati- 
fied material was reached at the depth of about 150 feet. 
Taking all these facts into consideration, it makes it seem ex- 
ceedingly doubtful about the river channel ever having been as 
much as 300 feet deeper than it is now in the vicinity of Garden 
City, although one cannot positively dispute this record. We have 
ample evidence, however, for stating that the river valley at one 
time was from 50 to 100 feet deeper than it now is, and that at the 
present time a filling-in process is in operation. 
Within the fast fifteen years a very noticeable filling in of the 
river channel has occurred. The various bridges which are built 
across the river at different places when constructed from eight to 
twelve years ago were usually built high enough so that a man on 
horseback could easily ride under them while sitting erect. At 
every bridge along the river the sands have accumulated until the 
most of them are not more than from 3 to 6 feet above the top of 
