Nature is monumental in Gove County
By MIKE CORN
Hays Daily News
MONUMENT ROCKS -- The chalk outcroppings of Gove County are numerous, but none so well known as Castle Rock or Monument Rocks.
Both are combined entries in the 8 Wonders of Kansas campaign being orchestrated by the Kansas Sampler Foundation.
Votes for the top eight choices can be made at 8wonders.org.
Located at opposite ends of the county, Castle Rock is about 20 miles southeast of Quinter -- the gateway to Castle Rock. It is a single monolith, but the area is well known for the rock outcroppings to the south of Castle Rock.
Monument Rocks, a series of stately monoliths, is located about 22 miles southeast of Oakley.
While on private land, the area is part of the Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark, a designation bestowed by the U.S. Department of Interior.
Currently, there are 587 such sites, but only five of those are in Kansas.
Monument Rocks received its designation in October 1968 -- the first in Kansas.
It was also the subject of a photograph that won second place this year in the annual National Natural Landmarks Photo Contest, which also is sponsored by the Interior Department.
That photograph was taken by Rob Graham, Great Bend, who captured a storm cloud passing over the collection of rocks that is best known for what is often called the keyhole -- an eroded opening in the rocks that has been photographed frequently.
"I know there is a lot of interest in Monument Rocks," said Barbara Shelton, who along with Chuck Bonner, operates the nearby Keystone Gallery.
But Shelton has her own interest, the result of the historical aspects, the nearby Butterfield Overland Despatch and the geology of the area.
In addition to his art, Bonner is a frequent fossil collector, hailing from a family of well-known collectors. His father, Marion, collected and donated fossils to museums throughout the country, including Sternberg Museum of Natural History. His brother, Orville, was a fossil preparator for the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History.
For Shelton, photographic opportunities abound.
Monument Rocks, as well as Castle Rock, was a landmark for travelers on the BOD, also known as the Smoky Hill Trail, the shortest route to Denver in its time.
The history surrounding Monument Rocks also includes Fort Monument, so-named even though it was never designated as a fort.
Instead, the only forts along the trail were Fort Hays and Fort Wallace, but garrisons were placed along the trail to help protect against Indians.
"Like I told someone, it's cool," Shelton said of the rocks.
Monument Rocks has been a popular topic of late, specifically as a result of the new National Geographic movie, "Sea Monsters."
That movie, utilizing Sternberg adjunct curator Mike Everhart as the adviser, follows the life of a plesiosaur.
While much of the 40-minute, 3-D IMAX film is animated, part of the movie was filmed in northwest Kansas, at Monument and Castle rocks, at Goblin Hollow near Russell Springs, at Lake Wilson and at Wild Horse Canyon in Trego County.
Shelton and Bonner actually saw the film in Seattle, where they were traveling at the time.
Monument Rocks, she said, was also highlighted in a recent film about a cowboy traveling to Lane County to visit the graves of his family.
That film, "Trail End" followed Barry Corbin as Hank Crow as he completed a personal mission of riding every state with his loyal companion, Chip, an old Appaloosa horse. Hank saved his home state of Kansas for his last ride, from the Gypsum Hills to Monument Rocks, finally ending in Hank's childhood town of Dighton.
For Shelton, the greatest interest in the finalists has been with landmarks that get a lot of attention.
Shelton herself was giving out cards that had the 8wonders.org Web site so that people could vote.
"My expierence has been, in the gallery, is the people are voting for the natural ones," she said.
Of the write-in ballots that she mailed along to the Sampler Foundation also included the ones that she voted for.
"It seems to me that the ones I've run into are voting for Monument Rocks or Castle Rock," she said.
The campaign has had some of its desired effect, she said, of getting people out on the road and visiting each of the sites.
"It's been a real positive experience," she said.
Bottom line, Shelton said, people need to get online or download a ballot and vote.
"I'm the representative for Monument Rocks," she said, "but Monument Rocks can speak for itself.
"If you like Monument Rocks, you really need to get on there to vote for Monument Rocks."
And with enough votes, it might be one of the eight wonders.
"Hopefully, we will be in Topeka on Kansas Day," Shelton said of when the winners will be announced. "I hope Monument Rocks gets it."
* To vote, go to www.8wonders.org.
Special-projects coordinator Mike Corn can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 129, or by e-mail at mcorn@dailynews.net.
Subscribe | E-mail this article
Webmaster
|
|
|
View today's
PDFedition
(click
the image for access to the Digital PDF Edition)
| Kansas News |
|
|
|
|
| National News |
|
|
| International News |
|
|
| Sports News |
|
|
|
