Monument Rocks Chalk Pyramids

Monument Rocks Chalk Pyramids. . First National Natural Landmark in Kansas designated by the U.S. Department of Interior, October 31, 1968., Western Interior Seaway , These fifty-foot high majestic chalk spines are eroded remains from sedimentary deposits of the Western Interior Seaway that extended from the present-day Gulf of Mexico through Canada (late Cretaceous period, 80 million years ago). This placid, semitropical sea averaged 500 feet deep and its silty bottom proved ideal for fossilization. It was teeming with life, including large swimming reptiles, huge carnivorous fish, sharks, turtles and numerous fish of various sizes and shapes. Flying reptiles and toothed beds flew overhead., The Laramide Revolution that gave rise to the Rocky Mountains also drained the inland sea. During the Ice Age, glacial melt from the mountains and torrential rainfall flowed east, where it carved out softer sediments and left chalk spires and badlands. Mineral content colored the chalk into various hues. The sides of Monument Rocks show layers of iron, gypsum, bentonite, and giant clams., Smoky Hill Trail 1858-1865 , The Smoky Hill Trail was established after gold was discovered at Cherry Creek, near Denver in Kansas Territory. This route shortened the distance to the gold fields by 116 miles compared to the Oregon Trail or Santa Fe Trail. Monument Rocks became one of the more famous and highly visible landmarks along this route., Trail markings along the Smoky Hill Trail were almost nonexistent, and there was little water, food, or firewood in many places. Gold seekers walked, drove wagons, pushed two-wheeled carts, and lugged wheelbarrows across the plains west along the desolate prairie route. The Rocky Mountain News reported that men were arriving every day, and most were half starved. Between 1860 and 1865, the trail became unpopular because of frequent attacks as travelers traversed prime American Indian hunting grounds. Immense buffalo herds 20 to 30 miles wide roamed the prairie during this time period., Butterfield’s Overland Despatch , David A. Butterfield had the Smoky Hill Trail re-surveyed in 1865 and requested government troop protection for his freight and stage company, Butterfield’s Overland Despatch (B.O.D.). On September 11, 1865, the first stagecoach on the new B.O.D. left Atchison, Kansas, and arrived in Denver twelve days later. The fare of $175.00 didn’t include meals, which cost an additional dollar in the West., B.O.D. trail marker is just south of the cattle guard on this main county road. Howard Raynesford from Ellis, Kansas, began placing markers engraved with "B.O.D." in 1963. Markers were placed at every graded road that crossed the trail from Fort Ellsworth to the Colorado state line, Monument Station Fort Monument , Bayard Taylor from the New York Tribune made the trip along the B.O.D. and wrote in June of 1866 “Monument Station is so called from a collection of quadrangular chalk towers, which rise directly from the plain. At first sight, they resemble a deserted city, with huge bastioned walls, but upon a nearer approach they separated into detached masses, some of which resemble colossal sitting statues.”, The station house was built of large blocks, cut out with a hatchet and cemented with raw clay. Lumber was in short supply and carried along the route. Despite the nickname “Fort Monument,” Monument Station was never designated a fort, but served as a military post, home and eating station for the B.O.D., Historical panel courtesy of Pyramid Ranch and Keystone Gallery