Abo River, Abo Canyon, New Mexico
Date: Between 1905 and 1908
View of the Abo River in Abo Canyon, New Mexico. Construction of the AT&SF Railway bridges, tunnels, and tracks in Abo Canyon was begun in 1905 and completed in 1908.

A family outing to Indian Cave, Greeley County, Kansas
Date: 1908
A family visits Indian Cave on the Beaver Creek, Greeley County, Kansas. A boy sits on a horse, a man stands with a bicycle, a woman and a girl sit in the grass, and a man stands with an animal near the entrance to the cave.

A Geomorphological Site in Hodgeman County, 14HO301
Date: 1994
Shown is a cutbank terrace fill in Hodgeman County that contains deposits of soil from the early- to mid-Holocene era: 8,000 to 7,900 BCE. Archeologists use geomorphology to study the surface of the earth and find out the history of a particular landscape and the processes that worked to form that landscape.

A glimpse of the Southwest; New Mexico, the Santa Fe Route
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1884
This brochure advertises the "Fertile Rio Grande Valley" of New Mexico. Rich in gold, silver, copper, lead, iron and coal along with forests, farms, orchards, vineyards, meadows and flocks and herds. The brochure describes the history of territory and the State of New Mexico; describes the land; tells of the natural resources that are being mined; and, of the agricultural crops being raised. The climate, the towns and educational opportunities are described. Two maps show the route of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail Road System in the United States and Mexico; and, the whole State of New Mexico.

A handbook of useful information for immigrants and settlers
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1880-1889
Published by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, this pamphlet encouraged agricultural settlement on railroad lands in Kansas by glorifying the state's natural resources including water, soil, mineral deposits and plant life. Printed by the Kansas Farmer in Topeka, Kansas.

A New Home in an Old Settlement: Come and see the "New Land in an Old Country"
Date: May 1, 1876
This paper advertises for sale land, formerly owned by the Pottawatomie Nation, from 1837 to 1868, and then purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail Road Company. On the reverse side of the paper is a sectional map showing the area and identifying those lands that were still for sale by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Company. The text gives brief descriptions of the cities and towns in the area; the railroads available; fuel and lumber that are native to the area; and, descriptions and prices of the land.

August 1888
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1885-1889 : Martin)
Date: August 1888
These letters, dated August 1888, are from various individuals to Kansas Governor John Martin. The letters cover many topics including publications/newspapers, salaries, bills/No Man's Land laws, livestock issues, geological matters, schools, political matters, railroads, companies, and resignations. Kansas Governor John Martin succeeded G. W. Glick in 1885. By 1889, conditions gave way to severe drought and an economic recession.

Basalt Expanding Stem Dart Point from the Ade Site, 14MP311
Date: 1000-1800 CE
Though this dart point was collected from a multicomponent site in McPherson County with occupations in the Middle and Late Ceramic periods, this artifact may have come from an earlier time period. The point was donated in 2004 and is made of basalt, a dark-colored fine-grained igneous rock. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Benjamin Franklin Mudge
Creator: DaLee, A.G.
Date: 1879
A carte de visite of Benjamin Franklin Mudge, 1817-1879, who was the first State Geologist of Kansas. Mudge was elected professor of geology and associated sciences at the Kansas State Agricultural College. He published the first "Geology of Kansas" a sixty-five page report issued in 1866, and the first geological map of the state in 1875. He was also a founding member of the Kansas Natural History Society which became the Kansas Academy of Science. Mudge, who gathered the nucleus of the college's mineral collection, was later remembered as one of the foremost pioneer scientists of Kansas.

Benjamin Franklin Mudge
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
Tintype portrait of Benjamin Franklin Mudge, 1817-1879, who was the first State Geologist of Kansas. In 1862, geologist Mudge was invited to deliver a series of lectures before the Kansas legislature. The body passed legislation to organize a state geological survey and decided to make Mudge the state geologist, "an honor," he said, "entirely unsought, yet thoroughly enjoyed." Mudge was elected professor of geology and associated sciences at the Kansas State Agricultural College. He published the first "Geology of Kansas," a 65-page report issued in 1866, and the first geological map of the state in 1875. Born in Maine in 1817, Mudge grew up in Massachusetts, attending academies there and graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1840. Mudge studied natural science and history, but also completed the classical course and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and embarked on a political and legal career, but Mudge always maintained his interest in geology and natural history. During the summer of 1861, in order to demonstrate his antislavery convictions, Mudge moved his family to Quindaro, Wyandotte County, Kansas, a bustling river town with a reputation as an important point on the Underground Railroad and as a stronghold of the free-state movement during the preceding years. After leaving the agricultural college in 1873, Mudge collected specimens for Yale University and was named geologist under the State Board of Agriculture. Mudge also was a founding member of the Kansas Natural History Society, which became the Kansas Academy of Science. Mudge, who gathered the nucleus of the college's mineral collection, was later remembered as a one of the foremost pioneer scientists of Kansas. A biographer said he was "outstanding not only as a great explorer and collector of geological and paleontological specimens," he was also "recognized as an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher and was highly esteemed by the people of the State."

Biface from 14HV302
Date: Unknown
This biface was recovered from the surface of an archeological site in Harvey County by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. It is made of local Florence chert from the Flint Hills.

Biface from 14SD333
Date: Unknown
This biface was collected from the surface of small lithic workshop in Sheridan County. The site was discovered by Kansas Historical Society Archeologists in 1990. The biface was made of a type of chert called Smoky Hill silicified chert, which outcrops in western Kansas. The two fragments refit.

California calls you
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1920s
This Union Pacific Railroad Company promotional advertisement describes the beauty and tourism features of California.

Carte du chemin de fer Atchison, Topeka et Santa Fe, aves ses ramifications
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1874
This advertising circular and map published by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad is written in French. It promotes immigration and land development in the Arkansas River Valley in the State of Kansas. One side of the brochure describes the territory and the advantages of further development of three million acres of land. The reverse side has a map of the central portion of the United States, from New York City on the East coast to Colorado and New Mexico. An itinerary describes how to travel, by railroad, to the Arkansas River Valley, from twenty-seven cities in the East and Midwest. Etchings of the Cow Creek valley in Rice County, Kansas, and the Arkansas River valley at Great Bend, Kansas, accompany the map.

Castle Bluffs in Gove County, Kansas
Date: Between 1908 and 1910
This is a photograph of Castle Bluffs in Gove County. Edwin Boyer and his Buick are on the far right. A couple of men are standing on some of the bluffs.

Castle rock in Gove County, Kansas
Creator: Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882
Date: 1867
This photograph shows Castle Rock in Gove County, Kansas. It is part of Alexander Gardner's photographic series Across the Continent on the Union Pacific Railway.

Castle Rock, Kansas, on the Smoky Hill
Creator: Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882
Date: 1867
This is a photograph of Castle Rock located near the Smoky Hill River in Gove County, Kansas. Castle Rock was a landmark on the Butterfield Overland Dispatch route. The chalk was deposited in the area by an ancient inland sea. The formation was formed by the weathering of the chalk by wind and water. It received its name because it is said to look like a castle rising above the prairie. Alexander Gardner photographed the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, as it was being built across Kansas. Along the route, he documented towns, forts, rivers, wildlife, plants, and landscape. This image is from a series Across the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad.

Cattle in Flint Hills
Creator: Richards, Donald P.
Date: Between 1960 and 1970
Cattle in Flint Hills.

Cave on Bull Foot Creek, Lincoln, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
A view of a cave on Bull Foot Creek from Bull Foot Valley. From l to r : Mr. Odgen Green, Mrs. J.A. Stanley, Mr J.A. Stanley., superintendent and historian, Mr. Ferdinand Erhardt, Mr. George W. Martin, Miss Clarmda Green, and Mrs. Charles Stiles.

Cave on Bull Foot Creek, Lincoln, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
A view of a cave on Bull Foot Creek taken from the south overlooking the Bull Foot Valley. Five men and two women are seen near the entrance of the cave and are identified (in no particular order) as: Mr. Odgen Green, Mrs. J.A. Stanley, Mr J.A. Stanley., superintendent and historian, Mr. Ferdinand Erhardt, Mr. George W. Martin, Miss Clarmda Green, and Mrs. Charles Stiles.

C-D Ranch, Beaver County, Oklahoma
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This photograph shows a view of the C-D Ranch, C. E. Dudley proprietor, in Beaver County, Oklahoma. Livestock, outbuildings, fences, and several people are also visible.

Chimney Rock, near Waynoka, Oklahoma
Date: Between 1880 and 1890
This photograph shows a horse-drawn wagon that may be the photographer's wagon. Along the rock formation an individual is seated along the upper portion of the rocks. Information provided by a patron suggests this is a photograph of Chimney Rock near Waynoka, Oklahoma. The original donor identified the photo as near Medicine Lodge, Kansas. An article in the Enid News and Eagle, March 7, 2009, notes the formation collapsed in 1973 and nothing remains.

Colorado for the tourist
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1920s
This Union Pacific Railroad Company promotional advertisement describes the beautiful scenery provided to the tourist in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Connie's Cache from 14DP431
Date: Unknown
This cache of three bifaces represents nearly half of the cache that was exposed during the plowing of a field in Doniphan County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2002. A cache is a group of items stored hidden for future use. All of the bifaces were made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk, a chert that outcrops in western Kansas and Nebraska.

Cyclone Cave, Woodson County, Kansas
Date: 1900
This is a photograph of the cyclone cave located in Woodson County, Kansas. It was built around 1900 by James Davidson on his farm, at a cost of $4,000. The photograph appeared in the Kings and Queens of the Range magazine, February 15, 1900, p. 1.