Photo 1 shows the sod house built in 1868 on Boyd's ranch, the first settlement between Strong City, Kansas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was located on the Santa Fe Trail, near Larned, Kansas. Several people (adults and children) are in the picture. Photo 2 is a more distant view of Boyd's Ranch, including outbuildings, machinery, and windmill. According to the inscription included with the original photo, it was the first ranch in the Arkansas Valley outside of the military reservation. "No one made the trip over the Santa Fe Trail with out stopping over nite at Boyds Ranche." The inscription also notes that five tribes of Indians were centered around the ranch: Pawnee, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa. A copy of a letter donated with the pictures, dated January 30, 1928, relates how the sod house was built and used, and a few details about Al Boyd's life. This information was written down by Louise Seiple in her diary and was told to her by Mr. Charles Bond.