Next Location westbound eastbound
On the vast grassland on the edge of the Great American Desert at a longitude of 99˚, we seek a speck halfway between Protection, Kansas and Freedom, Oklahoma. Only four persons per square mile occupy this region, and they’re mostly in tiny towns that have been shrinking for years– 20% of houses in Comanche County, Kansas (on the right side of the fence, above) are empty. Knowing that the surveyor’s monument we sought was accessible only through private property, we wondered about securing permission to find the marker. No one responded when we called out at the ranch nearest the monument, but we saw a pickup kicking up dust half a mile away and chased it down. The driver obligingly stopped and listened to a brief description of the project and our destination. The rancher, Kevin Ware, introduced himself and immediately volunteered to lead us to the border at the back of his ranch.
We followed Kevin on a farm track for half a mile and then directly across a pasture, stopping at a fence on the border. I told the story of the monument, placed in 1934 and named for the land owner on the Kansas side–Alameda King. The USGS Survey had mentioned that the tenant farmer working the land in 1934 was her nephew, Horace Parker. “My great uncle,” said Kevin. Even with the gradual loss of population, those who hang on evince attachment to the land and family traditions that brought them here. And our visit coincided with a prosperous year for ranchers– cattle prices were up and plentiful rain resulted in bumper hay crops.
We headed east for half a mile or so, following a cattle path along the border fence through prairie filled with soapweed yucca, dotted blazing star, and staghorn sumac. The King monument appeared on the Oklahoma side of the fence.
