High Plains

There is an interesting attraction hidden on the high plains of Northwest Kansas. During Reconstruction, many southern blacks were "sold" by land promoters on the idea of relocating to Kansas. Of course, they also sold them land, but leaving out details such as the short growing season, the wind, the lack of trees (they had to build sod houses), and the severe winters. I left the freeway at Hays and headed north to check it out. And trust me, you have got to WANT to go there. It is on the way to nowhere. It is a small town called Nicodemus (Nicodemus NHS), the only survivor of many like it - all-black towns that started with this "relocation" over 100 years ago. Question: Why did I not see any black Park Service employees at either Brown or Nicodemus? Just wondering. Is that social commentary?

There were few trees in this part of the plains, so the homesteaders used limestone for their fence posts. Some of them can still be seen.

I saw this limestone structure many miles away. I wondered what it was - it is the cathedral in the small Kansas town of Damar. The church was built in the late 1800's, shortly after the town was settled by French Canadians.


I was surprised by the level of oil and gas exploration activity in this part of Kansas.

I crossed into Nebraska in the afternoon and gassed up in McCook, then cut due west into the very northeast corner of Colorado. Flat and treeless. Oil rigs. The first signs of sagebrush.


Stop for the night: Sterling, Colorado.