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Show 446 WESTERN WILDS. the ridges will not be settled and fenced in for a century ; they will remain common herding ground for many years. West of the Arkansas, and in the north- west part of the State, the hunter and herdsman will have free range for generations. Part of the country is completely barren, but most of it produces the nutri-tious bunch- grass, gama- grass, and buffalo- grass. The topography is the result of the two geologic processes erosion and drift. The first great upheaval evidently created mountain heights twice or three times as high as any now on the globe. These have worn down to the present Rocky Mountains; and from that wearing came the material constituting the " plains." Near the center of Eastern Colorado a great spur of the mountains puts out eastward, known as the " Divide," and continues, gradually lessening in height, far down into Kansas. This, and all the adjoining slopes, are composed of rounded stones, pebbles, and sand, the washings of ages ; and over and among them there is just soil enough to produce hardy grass, but not enough for good farming land, unless upon the lower slopes and valleys. Kansas is not paradise ; but it presents many advantages. There is no section of the West where " Grain and flour and fruit Gush from the earth until the land runs o'er." But there is abundant room in this State for half a million families, in localities where one has room to grow, where the laws are pecu-liarly favorable to beginners, where society is well organized, where labor will surely result in a competence, and all who will be virtuous may be happy. |