Seirer_170526_4435.jpgTouches of Color Blooming spiderwort plants, glistening from overnight rain, brighten the Horsethief Canyon area at the north end of Kanopolis Reservoir in Ellsworth County. The plants are common in the prairie, and their flowers are at their best in the morning. The spiderwort once was thought to be a treatment for spider bites.

Blooming spiderwort plants, glistening from overnight rain, brighten Horsethief Canyon at the north end of Kanopolis Reservoir in Ellsworth County. The plants are common in the prairie, and their flowers are at their best in the morning. The spiderwort once was thought to be a treatment for spider bites.

Seirer_170522_4240.jpgDay's End The sun sinks over the placid waters of a cove at the upper end of Kanopolis Reservoir west of Salina.

The sun sinks over the placid waters of a cove at the upper end of Kanopolis Reservoir west of Salina.

Seirer_170522_4164.jpgIn A Spotlight A tree sparkles as it is hit by late-evening sun that otherwise is casting deep shadows in the deep recesses of the Horsethief Canyon area at Kanopolis Reservoir in Ellsworth County. The lake is the oldest state recreation area and includes more than 27 miles of hiking trails.

A tree sparkles as it is hit by late-evening sun that otherwise is casting deep shadows in the deep recesses of the Horsethief Canyon area of Kanopolis Reservoir in Ellsworth County. The lake is the oldest state recreation area and includes more than 27 miles of hiking trails.

Seirer_170424_3992.jpgGraceful, Historic Spangg This gracefully designed limestone bridge over the Cottonwood River, with a span of about 175 feet, is the largest stone arch bridge in Kansas. Built in 1886 at a cost of about $12,000, it is also one of the oldest. The Clements Stone Arch Bridge carried traffic for more than a century before a new bridge was built on Chase County’s rerouted G Road, just to the east. Local folks say it wasn’t concern over the strength and integrity of the stone arch bridge that prompted its replacement; rather, the historic bridge, at just 16 feet wide, was deemed too narrow for modern vehicles and farm equipment. The new bridge, utilitarian but pedestrian-looking, has left the stone arch bridge to serve only pedestrians. The road to the historic bridge is but a lane, and vehicles are barred from the span by, appropriately, huge blocks of limestone. Upon arriving, visitors seem to walk the bridge deck first, but the more interesting view is 40 feet below, on the banks of the Cottonwood, where the stonework and craftsmanship applied by the builder, the L.P. Santy & Co., of Clements, can be admired. Among the builder’s touches was the insertion of a large block, carved in relieve, that identifies the Santy Company, its owners, the commissioners and the date of construction. The bridge is just south of Clements, less than a mile from busy U.S. 50 Highway. A highway sign calls attention to the bridge, which since 1976 has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Local fundraising efforts have helped secure the structure and prepare it for visitors, and the hope is that more can be done to restore and develop the site as a local tourist attraction.

This gracefully designed limestone bridge over the Cottonwood River, with a span of about 175 feet, is the largest stone arch bridge in Kansas. Built in 1886 at a cost of about $12,000, it is also one of the oldest. The Clements Stone Arch Bridge carried traffic for more than a century before a new bridge was built on Chase County’s rerouted G Road, just to the east. Local folks say it wasn’t concern over the strength and integrity of the stone arch bridge that prompted its replacement; rather, the historic bridge, at just 16 feet wide, was deemed too narrow for modern vehicles and farm equipment.

The new bridge, utilitarian but pedestrian-looking, has left the stone arch bridge to serve only pedestrians. The road to the historic bridge is but a lane, and vehicles are barred from the span by, appropriately, huge blocks of limestone. Upon arriving, visitors seem to walk the bridge deck first, but the more interesting view is from 40 feet below, on the banks of the Cottonwood, where the stonework and craftsmanship applied by the builder, L.P. Santy & Co., of Clements, can be admired. Among the builder’s touches was the insertion of a large block, carved in relieve, that identifies the Santy Company, its owners, the commissioners and the date of construction.

The bridge is just south of Clements, less than a mile from busy U.S. 50 Highway. A highway sign calls attention to the bridge, which since 1976 has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Local fundraising efforts have helped secure the structure and prepare it for visitors, and the hope is that more can be done to restore and develop the site as a local tourist attraction.

Seirer_170403_3843.jpgWeathering, But Graciously A formerly imposing two-story limestone building has become a ruins in Morris County, just south of Diamond Springs and just up the hill from Diamond Creek.

A formerly imposing two-story limestone building has become a ruins in Morris County, just south of Diamond Springs and just up the hill from Diamond Creek.

Seirer_170506_1000590.jpgEye On Downtown A sculpture titled "Amber Eye" keeps watch on downtown Salina as part of the annual SculptureTour Salina, which opened in early May. The show includes 22 pieces that will be on display for nearly a year. Participants of the walking tour will vote on a "People's Choice" winner at year's end, and that piece will be purchased for permanent public display by the City of Salina. "Amber Eye," priced at $12,000, was created by Glenn Zweygardt, who works at Alfred Station, NY. A former university art professor in New York, he was born in 1943 in far northwest Kansas, at St. Francis, and earned a bachelor's degree in art at Wichita State University and a master's degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore.

A sculpture titled "Amber Eye" keeps watch on downtown Salina as part of the annual SculptureTour Salina, which opened in early May. The show includes 22 pieces that will be on display for nearly a year. Participants of the walking tour will vote on a "People's Choice" winner at year's end, and that piece will be purchased for permanent public display by the City of Salina. "Amber Eye," priced at $12,000, was created by Glenn Zweygardt, who works at Alfred Station, NY. A former university art professor in New York, he was born in 1943 in far northwest Kansas, at St. Francis, and earned a bachelor's degree in art at Wichita State University and a master's degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore.

Seirer_170507_1000596.jpgWoodsman, Teacher Dressed for the part in clothes of his own making, Jimmie Lewis tells of the life of a Northeast woodsman in the early 1700s during the Discover Salina Naturally event in Lakewood Park. Lewis is part of the Salina-based Prairie Longrifles group that, through study and re-enactment, keeps alive the frontier lifestyle of woodsman, sometimes referred to as mountain men. The club had an exhibit at Discover Salina Naturally, which was focused on nature, the environment and natural lifestyle choices. Lewis, 85, Salina, long has been studying history, the resourcefulness of mountain men, the development of the Plains, and historic Indian culture that made wise use of natural resources. He is a well-known storyteller and in 2014 was honored with the Kansas Museum Association's Distinguished Service Award for his work in teaching and demonstrating history as a volunteer for the Smoky Hill Museum, Salina.

Dressed for the part in clothes of his own making, Jimmie Lewis tells of the life of a Northeast woodsman in the early 1700s during the Discover Salina Naturally event in Lakewood Park. Lewis is part of the Salina-based Prairie Longrifles group that, through study and re-enactment, keeps alive the frontier lifestyle of woodsman, sometimes referred to as mountain men. The club had an exhibit at Discover Salina Naturally, which was focused on nature, the environment and natural lifestyle choices. Lewis, 85, Salina, long has been studying history, the resourcefulness of mountain men, the development of the Plains, and historic Indian culture that made wise use of natural resources. He is a well-known storyteller and in 2014 was honored with the Kansas Museum Association's Distinguished Service Award for his work in teaching and demonstrating history as a volunteer for the Smoky Hill Museum, Salina.

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“Harley,” a metal sculpture of considerable size that resembles a rhinoceros, keeps a careful watch on downtown Salina traffic. The artwork is one of 22 street sculptures installed on Santa Fe Avenue as part of the SculptureTour Salina public art walk and competition. The pieces will be displayed for nearly a year, and voting by the public will name a People’s Choice award winner that will be purchased by the City of Salina. “Harley’s” creator, Dale Lewis of Hastings, Minn., won that award last year with a metal sculpture of an elephant named “Slim.” That piece has moved to permanent display; "Slim" looks out over the chain link fence of the former city swimming pool in Kenwood Park. Also on permanent display throughout the city are five previous People’s Choice winners and more than a dozen sculptures purchased for public display by donors. “Harley,” made of scrap metal that includes tailpipes and mufflers from Harley-Davidson motorcycles, carries a price tag: $18,000.

Seirer_170424_3929.jpgNew Grazing Season Cattle look for fresh spring growth in the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills west of Matfield Green.

Cattle look for fresh spring growth in the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills west of Matfield Green.

Seirer_170407_3921.jpgNew Dream For Old Mill Even with cracks in the walls, mud in the basement and deteriorating timbers, a 142-year-old gristmill at Cedar Point, out of service for years, stands as a monument to ingenuity, frontier architecture and pluck. Little wonder it’s the target of a restoration project, estimated to cost some $3 million. The Drinkwater and Shriver Mill was built on the south bank of the Cottonwood River at Cedar Point, beginning in 1871. That was just before the railroad arrived so the builders, O.H. Drinkwater and P.P. Schriver, needed to draw on creativity to get building materials and equipment to the remote Chase County site. When the mill was finished in 1875, the river’s current provided the power to drive the pulleys and belts that carried wheat harvested in the surrounding river bottomland to the top of the building, where the seed was separated, diverted to wooden chutes and allowed to flow, by gravity, back to ground level for milling, with a stone grinder, into flour. The flour was bagged and sold to the growing population in the valley. Dan Clothier, a Kansas City property developer who has ties to central Kansas, is leading the restoration effort, driven by a love of history, architecture and the Flint Hills. He notes that the mill was one of the first built in Kansas; within a quarter of a century more than 500 mills were counted in the state. His dream is to preserve the limestone building so it can house a museum to showcase its charms and tell the story of Kansas frontier development and early-day milling. Some work has been done. The site has been cleaned, and a 1903 wood-and-tin addition to the mill has been removed, revealing a handsome limestone façade that surprised all of the Cedar Point residents — only a couple of dozen or so at last count. That façade fronts and is a key element of the town’s remaining business district. In the 1920s, the mill and river team could grind about 250 bushels of wheat in 12 hours. In the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s, the river went dry for a while. In the 1940s, the mill’s work was to mill feed for cattle, and after the war the mill relied on electricity instead of the river for its power. All operations ceased in the 1960s and the mill languished until Clothier began work to bring it back to life in an educational role. He formed a nonprofit organization, the Drinkwater and Schriver Mill Inc., and serves as its president. That organization has bought the property. Since then, the mill has been added to the National Register of Historic Places and a team of architectural students at Kansas State University has come up with a concept for restoration, though that work won’t begin until funds are raised. This is a long-term project, Clothier said. But so be it. The building is stable for now and he’s long been known for optimism. Regional publications have been attracted to the story and the mill, with Cedar Point being less than a mile south of busy U.S. Highway 50, draws a steady stream of visitors. A large sign at the mill explains the project and directs people to the nonprofit organization’s web site, www.cedarpointmill.com, and to Clothier, who fields calls from his Leawood home, (816) 808-1610.

Even with cracks in the walls, mud in the basement and deteriorating timbers, a 142-year-old gristmill at Cedar Point, out of service for years, stands as a monument to ingenuity, frontier architecture and pluck. Little wonder it’s the target of a restoration project, estimated to cost some $3 million.

The Drinkwater and Shriver Mill was built on the south bank of the Cottonwood River at Cedar Point, beginning in 1871. That was just before the railroad arrived so the builders, O.H. Drinkwater and P.P. Schriver, needed to draw on creativity to get building materials and equipment to the remote Chase County site. When the mill was finished in 1875, the river’s current provided the power to drive the pulleys and belts that carried wheat harvested in the surrounding river bottomland to the top of the building, where the seed was separated, diverted to wooden chutes and allowed to flow, by gravity, back to ground level for milling, with a stone grinder, into flour. The flour was bagged and sold to the growing population in the valley.

Dan Clothier, a Kansas City property developer who has ties to central Kansas, is leading the restoration effort, driven by a love of history, architecture and the Flint Hills. He notes that the mill was one of the first built in Kansas; within a quarter of a century more than 500 mills were counted in the state. His dream is to preserve the limestone building so it can house a museum to showcase its charms and tell the story of Kansas frontier development and early-day milling.

Some work has been done. The site has been cleaned, and a 1903 wood-and-tin addition to the mill has been removed, revealing a handsome limestone façade that surprised all of the Cedar Point residents — only a couple of dozen or so at last count. That façade fronts and is a key element of the town’s remaining business district.

In the 1920s, the mill and river team could grind about 250 bushels of wheat in 12 hours. In the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s, the river went dry for a while. In the 1940s, the mill’s work was to mill feed for cattle, and after the war the mill relied on electricity instead of the river for its power. All operations ceased in the 1960s and the mill languished until Clothier began work to bring it back to life in an educational role. He formed a nonprofit organization, the Drinkwater and Schriver Mill Inc., and serves as its president. That organization has bought the property. Since then, the mill has been added to the National Register of Historic Places and a team of architectural students at Kansas State University has come up with a concept for restoration, though that work won’t begin until funds are raised.

This is a long-term project, Clothier said. But so be it. The building is stable for now and he’s long been known for optimism. Regional publications have been attracted to the story and the mill, with Cedar Point being less than a mile south of busy U.S. Highway 50, draws a steady stream of visitors. A large sign at the mill explains the project and directs people to the nonprofit organization’s web site, www.cedarpointmill.com, and to Clothier, who fields calls from his Leawood home, (816) 808-1610.