HaAwortu. | Physiography of Western Kansas. 25 
line of Kearney county, twenty miles away. From here it travels 
east southeast about eighty miles to near the eastern line of Ford 
county. At this point it is within forty five miles of the south line 
of the state. Here it bends decidedly to the north and travels in a 
northeasterly course to Great Bend, about forty miles east and 
forty miles north. Making a bold curve at Great Bend it bears to 
the southeast and finally more to the south, passing out of the state 
at Arkansas City about one hundred and twenty five miles west of 
the southeast corner of the state. 
Throughout its course from Coolidge to the eastern side of Ford 
county the river has a valley or flood plain which will average 
about three miles in width. See plate If. The valley is limited on 
the north by a tolerably abrupt bluff line, which is very pronounced 
throughout this whole distance, excepting for a few miles in the 
vicinity of Garden City. From Coolidge to near Hartland the north 
bluff is composed of Benton limestones and shales. Below Hart- 
land it is compesed of Tertiary materials. The “mortar beds” are 
so pronounced throughout the greater part of this distance that 
they oifer a strong resistance to erosion, and result in the produc- 
tion of unusually abrupt bluffs. See plate IV. Frequently the 
“mortar beds” are most prominent near the top of the bluffs, but it 
is not unusual to find them well cemented throughout almost the 
entire hight of the bluff. In such cases they do not constitute the 
whole of the bluff, but two or three or four strata of coarse sand or 
gravel exist with clay partings between varying from 5 to 20 feet 
in thickness. The coarse sand and gravel is almost invariably 
cemented by calcium carbonate so that a tolerably firm rock mass 
is produced which resists decay and helps to produce the abrupt 
character of the bluffs. 
In the vicinity of Garden City there seems to be an old drainage 
channel entering from the north, a channel which is popularly be- 
lieved to connect with the White Woman area in the vicinity of 
Scott City. As this part of the country north of the Dodge sheet 
area has not yet been covered by the U. 8S. G. 8S. topographic survey 
we are in doubt regarding the exact conditions of elevation. It can 
be seen, however, by riding across the country that there is at least 
an approach to an old valley, and in certain parts of the distance it 
