A beautiful day to be on the backroads of Kansas.  It was a busy day, as farmers are harvesting their fall crops.  Please drive carefully and be sure to give the combines, grain carts and trucks plenty of room.

Corn

Sorghum also called Milo is a feed grain for cattle.  There are twenty-five species of sorghum.  Some species are grown for its grain other species are grown for fodder.

Sweet Sorghum/Cane grows 10′ tall and is harvested and chopped up or baled for feed.

Cane is made into ensilage and was stored in a silo.  Most silos are abandoned, now the ensilage is stored in a trench silo.

Milo is harvested for its grain.

Last cutting of alfalfa.

We’re in NORWAY!!

Norway, Kansas

Kackley, KS

When the railroad was built thru Kackley in 1887, it was a trade center, home to 200 people, now it has a population of 13.

Remains of the General Store

White Rock, KS

Settled in 1871 along the west bank of the Republican river.  The town at one time had 3 general stores, saw mill, corn mill and a hotel.  Only a couple of houses remain.

Pawnee Indian Village in the late 1700’s this was a site of a village.  There is a museum located on this land.  Here is a link to that information  Pawnee Indian Museum

August on the prairie is known for its sweltering heat and little to no rain. The grasslands are brown and dry, with the threat of large grass fires…….this year August has been cooler and with plentiful rain, the grassland is green and lush.

We have a dry creek in our back yard that handles the run off from the pasture, know by the locals (me) as Farmer Creek.  This past week it has rained daily. One twenty-four hour period we received over 5″ of rain.

Farmer Creek  was out of its banks.

Finally the sun came out and Wylie and I took off on an adventure.

Wells is a small unincorporated town in Ottawa County.

Main Street

Along the blacktop road between Wells and Miltonvale.

Silo Art

Since farmers are no longer using the silos you will see a lot of them with trees inside.

Windmills are becoming a thing of the past.  I’ve seen the blades of the windmills re-purposed as ceiling fans and wall decor.

Miltonvale, a city in Cloud County, KS, was founded in 1881.  Home to Miltonvale Wesleyan College 1909 – 1972.  Current population around 500.

Goats are keeping the grounds of the old college clear of weeds.

Aurora is located in Cloud County, KS  with a population of around 60.  The post office was established in 1886, it was called St. Peter for a couple of year.

Depot

Old Jail

Wild sunflowers along the ditch and a beautiful Kansas sky

Founded in 1880 Covert is now known as a Ghost Town.  Located in Osborne County, it was named after John Covert, who was on a buffalo hunt and was killed at his camp along the creek.   During its prosperous years the population was 150, supporting a high school, bank, two general stores, churches, blacksmith and a hotel.  Covert is know for having a winning high school coach,  John Locke, who when the school couldn’t afford a basketball coach, the senior asked if he could coach and play.  He took them to the state playoffs in 1926.  The School burnt in 1951 and never re-opened.   The Covert Meteorite was found in 1923.  The unsolved murders of the Kaser family in 1928 are also part of Covert’s past.

The Albert Kaser family is laid to rest in the Covert Cemetery.

Albert, his wife, Nellie and their six children were found in the ruins of their burnt home.  It was later determined that the family had been murdered, and the person who was the suspect, Albert Kaser’s brother Fred, killed himself.