Artesian well, Geuda Springs, Kansas
Date: Between 1880 and 1900
View of an artesian well at Geuda Springs, Sumner County, Kansas.

Bath House at Geuda Springs
Date: Between 1880 and 1900
View of the bath house at Geuda Springs, a mineral springs resort in Sumner County, Kansas.

Emigrants' guide to the Kansas Pacific Railway lands
Creator: Kansas Pacific Railway Company
Date: April 1871
A railroad company advertisement to emigrants promising cheap, abundant and good land for agricultural purposes.

Geuda Springs
Date: Between 1880 and 1900
View of men and women at Geuda Springs, a mineral resort in Sumner County, Kansas.

Guide map of the great Texas cattle trail from Red River crossing to the old reliable Kansas Pacific Railway
Creator: Kansas Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1874
This railroad guide book was produced by the Kansas Pacific Railway to aid cattle ranchers in getting their herds to market.

Harper's Spring near Fredonia, Wilson County, Kansas
Date: 1965
This photograph shows W. T. Solaman standing under a limestone overhang by Harper's Spring, near Fredonia, Wilson County, Kansas. The spring is on the Guilford Farm, which was owned by Dr. H. J. Davis in 1965.

House Bill 602, Committee on Irrigation, Kansas Legislature
Creator: Kansas. Legislature
Date: 1891
An act providing for and regulating the diversion appropriation, storage and distribution of waters in Kansas for industrial purposes within prescribed limits and the construction, maintenance, and operation of creating and providing for water districts.

Kansas Film Commission site photographs, subject lakes and rivers
Creator: Kansas Film Commission
Date: 1980s-2000s
These are panoramic photographs of locations in Kansas created by the Kansas Film Commission to promote scenes to film companies. The panoramics were created by taking individual photos and taping them together. The photographs are arranged alphabetically by subject and then location. Lakes and rivers are the subject of this part of the collection, arranged by county.

Line etchings. A trip from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains via the Kansas Pacific Railway
Creator: Spec
Date: 1875
This Kansas Pacific Railroad promotional advertisement highlights all the geographic attractions and resorts located on its rail line leading through Kansas to the Rocky Mountains.

L. W. Halbe Collection
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: 1908-1912
The L. W. (Leslie Winfield) Halbe photo collection consists of 1500 glass plate negatives produced by Halbe during his teenage years. Halbe lived in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas, and began taking photographs of the region with an inexpensive Sears and Roebuck camera when he was fifteen years old.

Princess Waconda
Creator: Herschel C. Logan
Date: between 1965 and 1975
Salina artist Herschel Logan created this pen and ink drawing for a intended book about Waconda Springs. The drawing references a mythological character associated with the Waconda Springs in Mitchell County. According to legend, Waconda was the daughter of an Indian chief and fell in love with a warrior from an opposing tribe. Upon discovery of their relationship, the two jumped into the Springs and drowned. Their death imbued the springs with medicinal capabilities. Sometime after 1870 a sanitarium and water bottling company were constructed on the site and operated until 1964. That year, the Bureau of Reclamation began construction of the Waconda Lake reservoir, leading to the destruction of the springs and sanitarium. The artist, Herschel Logan worked as a graphic designer in Salina, Kansas, until his retirement in 1968. He was associated with the Prairie Print Makers, a group of Midwestern artists that produced art in the 1930s.

Romick camping grounds in Maple Hill, Kansas
Creator: M. L. Zercher Book and Stationery Company
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
A postcard photograph of the spring house on the public camping grounds of property owned by the Romick family in Maple Hill, Kansas.

Shield Nickel
Date: 1866
This shield nickel was recovered in 2015 from the Alcove Springs archeological site in Marshall County. This example carries the date of 1866 and was one of the first United States five-cent pieces to be made out of copper and nickel. The obverse side features a large shield and the wording "IN GOD WE TRUST." The reverse side features a prominent "5 CENTS" with rays and the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." The Alcove Springs site was located along the Oregon trail.

Summary forward, in The future of the Great Plains: Report of the Great Plains Committee
Creator: Great Plains Committee
Date: December 1936
This report was created by the Great Plains Committee, which had been called by the President to investigate the effects of drought and wind erosion in the southwestern United States. For the purposes of the committee, the Great Plains was defined as the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. The forward to the report, included here, states the purpose of the report and the steps that must be taken to solve this problem, both on the federal level and the state level. These steps include the development of water resources, government purchase of range lands, control of erosion, community organization, and legislation regarding tenancy, leasing, and delinquency.

Unidentified mountain stream
Creator: Palenske, Louis F., 1858-1943
Date: 1928-1938
Louis Palenske photographed this view of an unidentified small mountain stream while on his photographic excursions across the American West. This view was created by Palenske using his Korona Panoramic View Camera with a 17-inch negative. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Waconda Great Spirit Springs
Date: January 28, 1915
This pamphlet on Waconda Great Spirit Springs was read by Gladys Evarts Hill at the meeting of the Kansas State Chapter of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America, held at Topeka, Kansas, January 28, 1915. The pamphlet concerns the Waconda Springs near Cawker City, Kansas. In 1907 the site opened as the Waconda Springs Sanitarium.

Waconda Spring, Mitchell County
Date: July 15, 1921
This is a panoramic view of Waconda Spring, a unique artesian well in north central Kansas. Also visible are the well, surrounded by a wrought iron fence, a small group of people, and several buildings. The presence of the well gave rise to a resort, mining company, health spa, and bottling franchise. In 1968, with the completion of the Glen Elder Dam on the Solomon River near Glen Elder, Kansas, the buildings were leveled and the well was submerged beneath the waters of the Waconda Reservoir.

Waconda Springs as a Mitchell County Resort, Kansas
Date: Between 1930 and 1939
This postcard shows the Waconda Springs resort located in Mitchell County, Kansas. It was originally a gathering place for Native Americans but was later developed into a resort. Eventually, Waconda Springs was flooded as part of the Glen Elder Reservoir.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Creator: Greenwood, W. H.
Date: December 17, 1883
This is a stereograph showing people with their carriages at Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas. Once a gathering place for Native Americans, the springs were developed into a resort and later flooded when Glen Elder Reservoir was constructed.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Creator: Greenwood, W. H.
Date: Between 1880 and 1885
This stereograph shows people at Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas. Once a gathering place for Native Americans, the springs were developed into a resort and later flooded when Glen Elder Reservoir was constructed.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Creator: Greenwood, W. H.
Date: Between 1880 and 1885
This is a stereograph showing people at Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas. Once a gathering place for Native Americans, the springs were developed into a resort and later flooded when Glen Elder Reservoir was constructed.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Creator: Greenwood, W. H.
Date: Between 1880 and 1885
This stereograph shows Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas. Once a gathering place for Native Americans, the springs were developed into a resort and later flooded when Glen Elder Reservoir was constructed.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Creator: Unknown author
Date: Between 1840 and 1850
This is a copy of a sketch titled "Waconda Spring In Primitive State." It shows Indians gathered around Waconda Springs located in Mitchell County, Kansas.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Date: 1898
In these early photographs of Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, a hotel can be seen beyond the natural springs. The springs were about 200 feet in diameter. Unidentified people are shown resting on one of the rocky bluffs that surrounded the area. The springs were considered sacred by the Native Americans. In 1884, developers fenced the area around the springs and built a resort.

Waconda Springs in Mitchell County, Kansas
Date: January 9, 1908
In this postcard, Lillian from Cawker City, Kansas, sends regards to a friend, Mrs. H.L. Lomax in Lexington, Kentucky. The postcard shows the Waconda mineral spring in Cawker City, a natural spring waters recognized as healing waters by the people who visited.