Volume 7, Number 4,
May 1961:
The F.B. and Rena G. Ross
Natural History Reservation

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ABOUT THIS ISSUE

IN THIS ISSUE
- Introduction
- History of the Area
- Description of the Area
- Aerial Photograph
- Accumulation of Field Data
- Weather
- Conservation Practices
- Animals of the Reservation
- Nature Trail
- Cover Picture
- Ross Message

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This page was last modified:
February 24, 2008

This page was originally posted:
June 14, 2005

The F.B. and Rena G. Ross Natural History Reservation
by John Breukelman, Thomas A. Eddy and Emily L. Hartman

History of the Area

The original field notes made in 1856 and 1857 described a rolling prairie with considerable amount of good farming land. Some sections were said to be too uneven and stony for cultivation. The brief notations on the sections included within the Reservation were "land rolling or land broken; soil third rate."

Early descriptions and attitudes shed some light upon what was to be the eventual fate of the land; emphasis was on timber and potential productivity. "Scientific farming" was beginning to change "a desert or open prairie" into a potentially wealthy region, according to the Emporia Daily Republican, 1884. This statement clearly indicated that the natural value of the native grass cover was totally incomprehensible at this time. Streams and springs were numerous and furnished adequate water supplies. Wells averaged from 15 to 40 feet deep, indicating a generally high level of ground water than now exists. The timber belts, consisting of cottonwood, hackberry, walnut, burr oak, hickory, mulberry, Kentucky coffee-tree, elm, locust, and sycamore, were located along the water courses. Orchards were reportedly established and flourishing; these included peaches, apples, pears, cherries, and other small fruits.

Americus, approximately four miles east of the Reservation, was at first the center of settlement in Lyon county. The chief occupation of the settlers were reported in 1881 as farming, stock-raising, and cheese-making. A saw mill and several quarries were also located in the vicinity. One of these quarries is found on the major west-facing outcrop of the Reservation. It supplied building stone for several buildings, including Welch Stadium on the campus of the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia.

The first available information on landowners in the sections included in the Reservation was published in 1878. The average holdings were 80 acres with two 160-acre plots and several 40's. The most influential settler, a Quaker missionary to the Shawnee and Kaw Indians, T.H. Stanley, established in the northeastern portion of the area now in the Reservation, an orchard of over 1,200 peach trees and 300 apple trees. Because of these impressive orchards, the community became known as Fruitland.

In order to account for the present condition of land on the Reservation, one must consider some of the trends in agricultural practices in the Flint Hills region. The choice farmsites were located on the rich bottomlands. The upland sites were less desirable because of sloping terrain and decreased water supplies. Nevertheless, some of the sod was broken and planted to corn, millet, wheat, oats, and potatoes. Such crops drew heavily upon the subsurface moisture and nutrients that the native grasses had built up. During the seventies, a combination of drought, dust storms, chinch bugs, and grasshoppers brought hardship and poverty to many. The greatest subdivision of farms into small units occurred during this period of depression. The 1880's saw a return of prosperous times. Farms were consolidated into larger holdings and large acreages of Flint Hills pasture were purchased and stock raising established. Then the true value of the prairie was realized. The sequence of events which followed this realization is one common in American history. The exploitation and abuse of the prairie continued until its destruction seemed almost inevitable. Today, the future of this natural resource depends upon wise management, conservation and general public education.