Flint Hills
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The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas, extending from Marshall County in the north, to Cowley and Chautauqua counties in the south. They were named by explorer Zebulon Pike in 1806 for the cobbles of flint-like chert that glinted through the tall prairie grasses. Sparsely populated, the Flint Hills contain most of the remaining tallgrass prairie in North America and has some of the largest cattle ranches in Kansas.
The Flint Hills were created approximately 250 million years ago during the Permian Period. During this time much of the Midwest, including Kansas, was covered with shallow seas. As a result, much of the Flint Hills are composed of limestone and chert—shells of prehistoric sea creatures. The honey-colored limestone was used for building blocks and fence posts by settlers. Beginning in the mid-1800s homesteaders displaced the American Indians and vast herds of grazing buffalo with large cattle ranches. The largest town in the Flint Hills region is Manhattan, Kansas. The Flint Hills Scenic Byway passes through the Flint Hills.
William Least Heat-Moon wrote an eloquent paean to the Flint Hills and the Kansans who live there in his book PrairyErth.
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