Flint Hills
Encyclopedia
The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas
stretching into north-central Oklahoma
, extending from Marshall County, Kansas
and Washington County, Kansas
in the north to Cowley County, Kansas
and Osage County, Oklahoma
in the south. Oklahomans generally refer to the same geologic formation as the Osage Hills
. The Flint Hills are designated as a distinct ecoregion
because it has the most dense coverage of intact tallgrass prairie
in North America. Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers of European origin were unable to plow the area, resulting in the predominance of cattle ranches, which are in turn largely benefited by the tallgrass prairie. Highest point is Butler County High Point
, with an elevation of 1680 feet (512 meters).
Explorer Zebulon Pike
first coined the name the Flint Hills in 1806 when he entered into his journal, "passed very ruff flint
hills". The underlying bedrock of the hills is a flinty limestone. The largest town in the area is Manhattan, Kansas
and the hills can be accessed from the Flint Hills Scenic Byway which passes through in Kansas.
, including Kansas and Oklahoma, were covered with shallow seas. As a result, much of the Flint Hills are composed of limestone
and shale with plentiful fossils of prehistoric sea creatures. The most notable layer
of chert-bearing limestone is the Florence Limestone Member. It is approximately 45 feet thick; numerous roadcuts of the Florence Member are prominent along Interstate 70
in Riley County, Kansas
. Many of the honey-colored limestone
s have been used for building blocks. The non-chert-bearing limetones are best for this, since the chert is extremely hard to cut, yet it can fracture quite easily.
and the World Wildlife Fund have designated the Flint Hills as an ecoregion
, distinct from other grasslands of the Great Plains
.
Beginning in the mid-19th century, homesteaders replaced the American Indians in the Flint Hills. Due to shallow outcroppings of limestone and chert
corn and wheat farming were not practical over much of the area and cattle ranching became the main agricultural activity in the region. Therefore not having been ploughed over and still sparsely developed today, the Flint Hills represent the last expanse of intact tallgrass prairie
in the nation and the best opportunity for sustained preservation of this unique habitat that once covered the Great Plains. Most of the plains, such as the Central tall grasslands
to the north, have better soil than the Flint Hills and had a richer plant cover but have almost entirely been converted to farmland. Tallgrass prairie is regularly renewed by fire and grazing, which also keep back the growth of trees and shrubs. Prominent grass species are big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans
).
Animals of the grassland include the American bison
, which once grazed the area in their millions were almost entirely exterminated and have now been reintroduced. The elk
that also once roamed the area are now gone.
There are four tallgrass prairie preserves in the Flint Hills, the largest of which, the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
, (the former Barnard Ranch) in the Osage Hills near Pawhuska, Oklahoma
, also boasts a large population of bison and is an important refuge for other wildlife such as the Greater prairie chicken
(Tympanuchus cupido). The other preserves, all located in Kansas, are the 44 km2 Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
in northern Chase County, Kansas
near Strong City
, the Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie Preserve east of Cassoday, "the Prairie Chicken Capital of the World", and the Konza Prairie
which is managed as a tallgrass prairie biological research station by Kansas State University
.
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
stretching into north-central Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, extending from Marshall County, Kansas
Marshall County, Kansas
Marshall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 10,117. The largest city and county seat is Marysville.- History :...
and Washington County, Kansas
Washington County, Kansas
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 5,799...
in the north to Cowley County, Kansas
Cowley County, Kansas
Cowley County is a county located in south-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 36,311. Its county seat and most populous city is Winfield...
and Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
in the south. Oklahomans generally refer to the same geologic formation as the Osage Hills
Osage Hills
The Osage Hills are a small range of hills in Oklahoma, commonly known as The Osage, refers to the broad rolling hills and rolling tallgrass prairie and Cross Timbers encompassing Osage County and surrounding areas, including portions of Mayes, Tulsa and Washington Counties.-The Osage:The Osage...
. The Flint Hills are designated as a distinct ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
because it has the most dense coverage of intact tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with...
in North America. Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers of European origin were unable to plow the area, resulting in the predominance of cattle ranches, which are in turn largely benefited by the tallgrass prairie. Highest point is Butler County High Point
Butler County, Kansas
Butler County is a county located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 65,880. Its county seat and most populous city is El Dorado. The county is a part of the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area.-19th century:It was named in...
, with an elevation of 1680 feet (512 meters).
Description
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
first coined the name the Flint Hills in 1806 when he entered into his journal, "passed very ruff flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
hills". The underlying bedrock of the hills is a flinty limestone. The largest town in the area is Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
and the hills can be accessed from the Flint Hills Scenic Byway which passes through in Kansas.
Geology
The Flint Hills were created approximately 250 million years ago during the Permian Period. During this time much of the MidwestMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, including Kansas and Oklahoma, were covered with shallow seas. As a result, much of the Flint Hills are composed of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and shale with plentiful fossils of prehistoric sea creatures. The most notable layer
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
of chert-bearing limestone is the Florence Limestone Member. It is approximately 45 feet thick; numerous roadcuts of the Florence Member are prominent along Interstate 70
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...
in Riley County, Kansas
Riley County, Kansas
Riley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 71,115 for the 2010 census. The largest city and county seat is Manhattan. The county is part of the Manhattan, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area.Riley County is home to two of Kansas' largest...
. Many of the honey-colored limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
s have been used for building blocks. The non-chert-bearing limetones are best for this, since the chert is extremely hard to cut, yet it can fracture quite easily.
Environment
The EPAUnited States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
and the World Wildlife Fund have designated the Flint Hills as an ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, distinct from other grasslands of the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
.
Beginning in the mid-19th century, homesteaders replaced the American Indians in the Flint Hills. Due to shallow outcroppings of limestone and chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
corn and wheat farming were not practical over much of the area and cattle ranching became the main agricultural activity in the region. Therefore not having been ploughed over and still sparsely developed today, the Flint Hills represent the last expanse of intact tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with...
in the nation and the best opportunity for sustained preservation of this unique habitat that once covered the Great Plains. Most of the plains, such as the Central tall grasslands
Central tall grasslands
The Central tall grasslands are a prairie ecoregion of the Midwestern United States, part of the North American Great Plains.-Setting:This ecoeregion covers a large area of southern Minnesota, most of Iowa, a small part of eastern South Dakota and a narrow strip through eastern Nebraska and...
to the north, have better soil than the Flint Hills and had a richer plant cover but have almost entirely been converted to farmland. Tallgrass prairie is regularly renewed by fire and grazing, which also keep back the growth of trees and shrubs. Prominent grass species are big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans
Sorghastrum nutans
Sorghastrum nutans, commonly known as Yellow Indiangrass, is a North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains...
).
Animals of the grassland include the American bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
, which once grazed the area in their millions were almost entirely exterminated and have now been reintroduced. The elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
that also once roamed the area are now gone.
There are four tallgrass prairie preserves in the Flint Hills, the largest of which, the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, located in Osage County, Oklahoma near Foraker, Oklahoma, is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is protected as the largest tract of remaining tallgrass prairie in the world...
, (the former Barnard Ranch) in the Osage Hills near Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Pawhuska is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States, and the capital of the Osage Nation. The population was 3,589 at the 2010 census, a decline of 1.2 percent from 3,629 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Code for the city is 74056...
, also boasts a large population of bison and is an important refuge for other wildlife such as the Greater prairie chicken
Greater Prairie Chicken
The Greater Prairie Chicken or Pinnated Grouse, Tympanuchus cupido, is a large bird in the grouse family. This North American species was once abundant, but has become extremely rare or extinct over much of its range due to habitat loss. There are current efforts to help this species gain the...
(Tympanuchus cupido). The other preserves, all located in Kansas, are the 44 km2 Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City. The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem...
in northern Chase County, Kansas
Chase County, Kansas
Chase County is a county located in Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,790. Its county seat and most populous city is Cottonwood Falls. Chase County is part of the Emporia Micropolitan Statistical Area.The county has been the subject...
near Strong City
Strong City, Kansas
Strong City is a city in Chase County, Kansas, United States. It is named after William Barstow Strong, former president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 485.-19th century:...
, the Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie Preserve east of Cassoday, "the Prairie Chicken Capital of the World", and the Konza Prairie
Konza Prairie
The Konza Prairie Biological Station is a 3,487-hectare preserve of native tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. It is located south of Manhattan, Kansas and its southern boundary parallels Interstate 70...
which is managed as a tallgrass prairie biological research station by Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
.
Popular culture
- William Least Heat-MoonWilliam Least Heat-MoonWilliam Least Heat-Moon, the byname of William Lewis Trogdon is an American travel writer of English, Irish and Osage Nation ancestry. He is the author of a bestselling trilogy of topographical U.S. travel writing.-Biography:...
wrote a tribute to the Flint Hills and the Kansans who live there in his book PrairyErth.
See also
- Big Basin Prairie PreserveBig Basin Prairie PreserveThe Big Basin Prairie Preserve is a nature preserve owned and managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The preserve is in the Red Hills near Ashland in Clark County, Kansas. The main features are St. Jacob's Well, a water-filled sinkhole which lies in the Little Basin, and the Big...
- Konza PrairieKonza PrairieThe Konza Prairie Biological Station is a 3,487-hectare preserve of native tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. It is located south of Manhattan, Kansas and its southern boundary parallels Interstate 70...
- Tallgrass Prairie National PreserveTallgrass Prairie National PreserveTallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City. The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem...