Here on the western border of Kansas is the heart of yesterday's buffalo and Indian country. Until the 1870s millions of buffalo grazed these plains, and in this area were fought some of the last battles between Indians and whites. Troops stationed at Fort Wallace, 25 miles east, patrolled the frontier and participated in many skirmishes with hostile warriors. Following generally along the Smoky Hill river, the Butterfield Overland Despatch crossed near here as it linked the westward-building Union Pacific (then the Kansas Pacific) railroad with Denver. Beginning in 1865 this famous stage line carried hundreds of passengers, in addition to freight and mail. In 1866 Ben Holladay purchased the Despatch but the same year sold out to Wells, Fargo & Co., which operated the line until the railroad was completed in August, 1870. On Mount Sunflower, 11 1/2 miles north of this marker is the highest point in Kansas, 4,025.5 feet above sea level. Westward the Great Plains climb to merge into the foothills of the Rockies; in the opposite direction they descend gradually to the fertile river valleys and woodlands of eastern Kansas.
US-40, Roadside turnout, Kansas-Colorado state line Wallace County Kansas.
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Kansas 
