Dodge City, Kan. (named for old Fort Dodge) -- Alt. 2,479; pop. 10,000. County seat Ford County. Established with the coming of the Santa Fe Railway in 1872, Dodge City became the shipping center of the southwest. For 10 years this was the wildest town on the American frontier, notorious for vice and violence. Famous for restoring law and order to Dodge City were such "two gun marshals" as Bob Masterson, Wyatt Earp and Bill Tilghmann. Numberous outlaws were buried on Boot Hill which still is an interesting tourist attraction. In the early days Dodge City was a supply depot and base of operations against warring Plains Tribes. Custer, Sheridan, Miles, Hancock, "Wild Bill" Hickok, and "Buffalo Bill" Cody are figures in its history. Today, this is a thriving city with recent improvements including a new Federal Building, $250,000 Court House, 40-acre City Park containing a $30,000 Pavilion and $35,000 Stadium. Industries include: 3 large chicken hatcheries, largest cream and dressed poultry processing plant in Kansas, 2 nurseries, foundry tractor supplies exportes. Santa Fe division headquarters. C. T. C. System (Centralized Traffic Control) governs traffic on 34 miles of track between Dodge City and Kinsley. Change from central to mountain time, westbound travelers set them back one hour -- eastbound travelers set them up one hour. Junction point Santa Fe branch line to Boise City and Amarillo. Fred Harvey station hotel, El Vaquero, located here.
Cimarron, Kan. (means "wild and unruly") -- Alt. 2,615; pop. 1,003. County seat Gray County. Farming and stock raising section. Headgate of Soule irrigating ditch, first of big irrigation projects in western Kansas. Short distance west is Cimarron Crossing, a ford on old Santa Fe Trail short cut to Fort Union.
Ingalls, Kan. (named after U. S. Senator John J. Ingalls) -- Alt. 2,664; pop. 253. South of station many Santa Fe Trail freighters are buried, they having been killed by Indians.
Pierceville, Kan. (named for Charles W. and Carlos Pierce, officials of original Atchison, Topeka R. R.) -- Alt. 2,751; pop. of twp. 372. Point of Rocks, scene of several frontier Indian fights, is 2 1/2 miles west on north side of track.
Garden City, Kan. -- Alt. 2,830; pop. 6,325. County seat Finney County. Farm products in this area are: sugar beets, alfalfa, kaffir corn, milo maze, wheat, oats, and others. Important feed center, also location of beat sugar factory, alfalfa mills, and Swift & Co. packing plant. Site of first Kansas experiments in irrigation; many irrigation pumping plants power-generated at Garden City. Gas field near city. One of the few remaining herds of buffalo roam on preserve just south of city. Junction point Santa Fe branch to Scott City.
Deerfield, Kan. -- Alt. 2,948; pop. 364. Farming section producing: sugar beets, wheat, alfalfa, hay and alfalfa seed. U. S. irrigation project utilizing underflow by pumping from shallow wells; Lake McKinney (irrigation reservoir), near here.
Lakin, Kan. -- Alt. 2,990; pop. 960. County seat Kearny County. Lake McKinney is 3 miles northeast.
Heartland, Kan. -- Alt. 3,049; pop. to twp. 50. Chouteau Island, in Arkansas River, where French trader took refuge in 1817 and resisted Indian attack. Here Maj. Bennett Riley encamped in 1829 with first U. S. caravan escort. Troops of the Republic of Mexico, under Colonel Viscarra, protected trail caravans from Heartland to Santa Fe.
Syracuse, Kan. -- Alt. 3,220; pop. 1,254. County seat Hamilton County. Settled in 1872 by colony from Syracuse, N. Y. Old Fort Aubrey was located 4 1/2 miles east. Livestock, grain and broom corn market. Santa Fe has maintenance and operating facilities here.
Coolidge, Kan. (named for T. Jefferson Coolidge, former president Santa Fe Railway) -- Alt. 3,341; pop. 149. Located near eastern limit Arkansas Valley artesian area; eight artesian wells within radius of three miles. State line of Kansas and Colorado is crossed west of station.
Holly, Colo. -- Alt. 3,380; pop. 864. First station in Arkansas Valley, Colorado. Near station is Santa Fe Trail marker installed by D. A. R. South of depot is stone ranch house and barn, built in 1873, headquarters of old Holly cattle ranch. Colony of Amity, founded by Salvation Army in 1898, recently abandoned. Holly is eastern terminous Santa Fe Line on north side of river, which traverses rich agricultural section, supporting twelve alfalfa meal mills and producing heavy tonnage sugar beets. Headquarters large land company owning 50,000 acres in valley. Dairying, raising alfalfa, sugar beets and turkeys, principal farming industries. Alfalfa meal mill and cooling station.
Granda, Colo. -- Alt. 3,473; pop. 532. Stock raising and general farming in irrigated section and dry farming. Near old cattle town of Trail City. Santa Fe Trail follows track from Granada to Lamar; two miles west of Granada is large beet sugar ranch and 4 miles east is old Fred Harvey ranch.
Lamar, Colo. -- Alt. 3,603; pop. 4,500. County seat of Prowers County. Founded in 1887 and named for L. Q. C. Lamar, former U. S. Secretary of Interior. Fifteen miles below the $15,000,000 John Martin Dam, under construction. Lamar will benefit greatly from this irrigation project. Principal crops: alfalfa, sugar beets, wheat, corn, broom corn, and small grains. Lamar has eight-hundred barrel flour mill and is headquarters for two large alfalfa milling concerns. City prides itself in fine churches, quarter-million dollar county court house, Carnegie library, two hospitals, clinic. Two new and completely air-conditioned hotels, two city parks. Santa Fe branch connects to Rocky Ford. Lamar is home of Southeast Colorado Livestock and Poultry Show. Site of historic Indian village eight miles west. Site of old Fort Bent nine miles west of Lamar.
Caddoa, Colo. -- Alt. 3,877; pop. 4,000. Fort Lyon Naval Hospital, 10 miles south of Caddoa and 6 miles east of Las Animas, on north side of Arkansas River. Mear Caddoa the fenced Santa Fe right-of-way is 3/4 mile wide. Soil conservation practices were employed here to stabilize active sand dunes along the tracks, and it is necessary for Santa Fe to protect sand-binding grasses from fire and overgrazing. In order to establish the grasses in the raw drifting dunes, thousands of tons of straw were disked into the sand.
Los Animas, Colo. -- Alt. 3,877; pop. 4,000. County seat Bent County. Located at head of Caddoa reservoir which has capacity for storing 15,000,000 acre feet of water held by Caddoa Dam. Sheep feeding center and farming section producing sugar beets, alfalfa and corn. Veterans administration facility across river 5 miles northeast, on site of old Fort Lyon, which was built in 1867, and abandoned, as a fort, in 1878. Here Kit Carson once made his headquarters, and the building he occupied still stands. Elven miles west of Las Animas, and across the river from Hadley station, is the site of Bent Brothers old fort, built in 1829-32 and destroyed in 1852. It was early known as Fort William Bent, being now marked by a stone monument. First permanent settlement in Colorado was near Las Animas. The city derives its name from the Spanish, Rio de las Animas Perdidas ("River of the Lost Souls"). From this locality, in 1806, Lieut. Zebulon Pike is said to have first seen Pike's Peak. In 1874 Las Animas was noted for cattle round-ups from northern Texas, Indian Territory and Kansas, also for buffalo meat shipments. Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson made their headquarters here for several years. The Santa Fe came to Las Animas in 1875. Junction point for branch to Amarillo.
La Junta, Colo. -- Alt. 4,045; pop. 10,000. (Pronounced La Hoon-tah.) County seat of Otero County. Important terminal and division point for Santa Fe Railway. At this point the line from Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo connect with Santa Fe northern transcontinental mainline. Large railroad shops and general office of Santa Fe with 2,000 employed. Center of fertile farm section producing: onions, cantaloupes, sugar beets and many other crops under large irrigation systems. La Junta has a fine school system and a modern Junior College, and is location of Santa Fe and Mennonite Hospitals. The Old Santa Fe Trail passes through here. 5 miles east is original Fort Bent. Mountains, including Pike's Peak (14,109 ft.) 100 miles west, can easily be seen on clear days. Fred Harvey station hotel, El Otero, located here.