Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
2.0 The Flint Hills Story
Drawing Sheet Number: 2.0.0–2.3.0
Exhibit Description:
Through the lobby portal visitors step into a grand gallery. A domed ceiling some 40 feet
above caps the circular space, evoking the grandeur of the Flint Hills and its undulating
grasslands and limestone textures.
Low exhibit forms rise like limestone ridges from the floor to the front, left, and right. Some
form bench seating; others create the structure for introductory graphics. Scenic painted wall
theming on the stairway suggests the limestone, shale, mudrock, and chert striations of the
Flint Hills. Visitors feel its tangible qualities and climb the stairway to examine it on multiple
levels. A graphic mural on back of the theater cuing shows a vast panoramic of the Flint
Hills.
Under the rotunda facing the visitor, is an oversized graphic intro panel that draws the
visitor into the space. Images and text introduce the gallery’s main themes: how people and
land have shaped and continue to shape one another. Quotes appear in the abstract chert
layers of the wall.
Area Theme Title:
Experience the Flint Hills
Gallery Introductory Panel:
Drawing Sheet Number: 2.2.1
The Flint Hills Story
The Last Stand of Tallgrass Prairie
People say that the prairie is a sea of grass—undulating waves that swell and recede as the
ever-present wind sweeps across the open plains, setting the tall grasses to whispering. The
sky too, so vast and unobstructed here, is like the sky over the ocean. There is no glow from
city lights or smog to obscure the sun—just stars and clouds and a horizon that stretches
into infinity.
The Flint Hills represents the last of the inland “sea” that once stretched across North
America from Texas to Canada, from Central Nebraska to Indiana. Here in the Flint Hills,
the land resisted the plow, refused to be transformed into what we thought it ought to be.
This land humbled us and retained its wildness. But humans, a keystone species of the
prairie, are also responsible for its preservation—by burning out trees and other invasive
species and by turning the land over to grazing cattle, just as buffalo once performed the
same function, we have kept this last bit of tallgrass prairie alive. This is the place where, for
millennia, the land and people have continually shaped one another.
Flint Hills Discovery Center
1
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
Chert Quote:
I felt motion in the landscape; in the fresh easy blowing wind, and in the earth itself, as if the shaggy grass
were a sort of loose hide, and underneath it herds of wild buffalo were galloping, galloping..."
—Willa Cather, My Antonia, 1918
Flint Hills Clearing Spring Storm Near Cassoday, in Butler County, Kansas
April 24, 2003 © John D. Morrison, Prairie Vistas Photography
http://prairievistas.com/cur/images.shtml
“I followed this spring storm east from Wichita to this Flint Hills ranch. In its wake, the muddy roads
were almost impassible, but as the storm receded toward the southeast and the low sun illuminated
the recently-burned hills, the view was worth the effort.” —John D. Morrison
Topic:
Life in the Flint Hills
Who are the Prairie People?
Humans have inhabited the Flint Hills region for many thousands of years. Following the
last Ice Age, Paleo-Indian people ventured into what is now Kansas to hunt large
Pleistocene-era animals such as mammoths, long-horned bison, and other large grazers.
Other ancient indigenous people replaced the Paleo-Indians and continued to hunt and
eventually farm this land.
In the 16th century, Native American tribes began to make their way onto the plains to hunt
the large bison populations. Some of them settled in the Flint Hills for a time, while other
tribes only passed through. In the 17th century Spanish explorers began to move north from
Mexico and passed through Kansas. In the early 1700s, French fur trappers move in and
began trading with the Indians in Kansas and the surrounding regions. In 1803 the U.S.
government purchased the Louisiana territory from the France, which included the area now
known as Kansas. During the succeeding years, several expeditions by Americans were
conducted of this territory including the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804–1806 and
Zebulon Pike’s Southwest expedition of 1806. The rest of the 19th century saw the
advancement of Euro-American settlers from the east, displacing the Native American tribes
and bringing with them their traditional methods of farming and land management that
would be quite ineffective here. But as in much of nature, humans found a way to not only
survive but flourish in the Flint Hills.
Flint Hills Discovery Center
2
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
Despite the difficulties in adapting to the land and its extreme weather, this land has long
sustained human life. Today, the Flint hills are home to scientists, scholars, ranchers,
teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, students, farmers, musicians, and philosophers—people
who are the ancestors of the native populations of this region, people who are the ancestors
of those first pioneers that ventured west to make a new life, people who represent the
future of this community, people who are the heartland of America.
Kaw Group Photograph, n. date
Kaw Mission State Historic Site
Dolph Duever farm near Bremen, Kansas
Date: March 27, 1929 Need Source Info
National Archives
Needs more information
Flint Hills Discovery Center
3
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
Rancher Jim Hess. Photo by Jim Brandenburg
National Geographic, Jan. 1980. p. 50
Joseph H. Williams in Grass. Photo by Harvey Payne
In Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass, p. 245
Topic:
Home on the Range
In addition to humans, the Flint Hills are home to hundreds of species of plants (grasses,
forbs, and other flora) and animals including mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
insects, particularly the grasshopper, of which there are over 40 species in the Flint Hills
alone.
The various species must work together to survive: grasses provide nutrients to grazing
animals and insects; their root systems cleanse the soil of nitrogen and add other nutrients to
the soil for microbes and other organisms living underground. Grasses and forbs also purify
the air, converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. Grazers in turn help the grasses by stimulating
growth and fertilizing the soil with their excrement. Insects aid in pollination and mammals
also contribute by transporting seed spurs in their fur. Grassland birds feed on seeds and
insects and use plant materials to make their nests. Carnivores (including humans) eat
grazers, birds, eggs, and even insects. Decaying plant matter and animal remains add
nutrients back into the soil. This is life’s typical cycle of which the tallgrass prairie is but one
example. The diversity of life in the grasslands is extremely important to its health.
Flint Hills Discovery Center
4
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
What do most people think of when the word prairie is mentioned? What are the iconic
images that come to mind? The bison grazing on the horizon. The grasshopper invisible
against the blade of grass on which it sits. The prairie chicken booming out its mating song.
These are still the inhabitants of the prairie, but there is much, much more—more to be
discovered in this gallery and more to be discovered out on the prairie itself.
Grasshopper on a stalk of big bluestem. Photo by Harvey Payne
In Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: A Journey into the Tall Grass, p. 41
Greater Prairie Chicken at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Photo by Frank Oberle in Tallgrass Prairie: A Nature Conservancy Book, p. 64
Bison grazing on new growth following a prescribed burn
Photo by Harvey Payne, in Big Bluestem: A Journey Into the Tallgrass, p. 262–3
Caption for Above Photos:
Diverse ecosystems are more stable, able to contend with any number of environmental
disturbances or events. Loss of biodiversity can have a domino effect on other populations
in an environment. For example, the Flint Hills are home to the Greater Prairie Chicken
whose diet is heavy in grasshoppers who, in turn, live off the grass. If the grasslands are
Flint Hills Discovery Center
5
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
diminished then there will be fewer grasshoppers to feed the Prairie chickens. Therefore the
Greater Prairie Chicken population may be reduced. Conversely, if there are fewer Prairie
Chickens then the grasshopper population may grow due to a loss of predators. When that
happens, it is possible that the grasshopper population could grow too large, larger than
what the grasses can support.
Possible Wall Quotes:
“In the blue sky a meadow lark's love song, and in the grass the boom of the prairie chicken's wings are the
only sounds that break the primeval silence, excepting the lisping of the wind which dimples the broad acres of
tall grass—thousand upon thousand of acres—that stretch northward for miles.”
—William Allen White, In the Heart of a Fool, 1
The Flint Hills do not take your breath away; they five you a chance to catch it...unlike towering mountains,
they do not startle the senses with Nature's grandeur. Rather, they inspire contemplative awe, and
appreciation of Nature's quiet goodness"
—Jim Hoy as quoted in Homage to the Flint Hills
Flint Hills Discovery Center
6
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
The Flint Hills Story
Drawing Sheet Number: 2.2.0
Exhibit Description:
On the right side of the rotunda, the story of the Flint Hills is continued through graphic
murals and text panels. Quotes appear in the abstract chert layers of the wall.
An interactive turntable map lets viewers focus in of the Flint Hills: Starting with the prairies
of the world, the visitor zooms in to the grasslands of North America, to the prairies of
Kansas, and finally to the Flint Hills.
Theme:
A “Rocky” Start
The Settlement of the Flint Hills
The Flint Hills region was not as easily settled by Euro-Americans as areas in the east were.
The first farmers found that the rocky soil of the Flint Hills was hard to plow and farming,
as they had known it, was nearly impossible. However, they noticed that the grasses were
very nutritious and quickly fattened the cattle. So the settlers realized that they had to work
with the land to sustain themselves.
Ironically, it was the “flinty” soil of the Flint Hills that became the single most important
factor in the preservation of this strip of tallgrass prairie in the U.S. The rest of America’s
tallgrass prairie has been converted to farmland with acres of corn and soybeans replacing
the big and little bluestem that used to wave its way up to Canada.
Waving Big Bluestem
© Kevin Sink, http://www.kevinsink.com/gallery/
Flint Hills Discovery Center
7
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
Tuttle Creek Fault (strata of the Flint Hills)
Photo by Grace Muilenburg, Kansas Geological Survey photo library
Konza Fall Color Radiance
© Kevin Sink, http://www.kevinsink.com/gallery/
Flint Hills Cloudburst Panorama, Near Cassoday in Butler County, Kansas. July 18, 2005.
© John D. Morrison, Prairie Vistas Photography, http://prairievistas.com/cur/images.shtml
“I was on this Flint Hills ranch for a day of roundup. Starting before dawn, the ranch hands gathered three
hundred head of calves and walked them overland about 3 miles to the ranch headquarters to be weighed and
put on trucks. I stayed behind on a hilltop as the low morning clouds got more and more interesting. Most of
the area stayed dry, but a small cloudburst a mile or two beyond gave an isolated soaking.” —John D. Morrison
Flint Hills Discovery Center
8
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
Topic:
What’s in a Name?
Zebulon Pike and the Flint Hills
In September of 1806, explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike passed through the Flint Hills on
his expedition of the American southwest, heading toward Spanish territory from St. Louis.
Pike initially described Kansas as a desert, inhospitable for settlement. However, Pike was
also the first to call this area the “Flint Hills.”
Zebulon Pike was born in Lamberton New Jersey on January 5, 1779, the son of an Army
soldier. Pike followed in the footsteps of his father and served under General Anthony
Wayne in the Legion of the United States. In 1799 Pike was made a lieutenant. In 1805
General James Wilkinson set Zebulon on his first exploration mission: to find the
headwaters of the Mississippi River. Pike never made it to the true headwaters of the
Mississippi (at Lake Itasca), instead he took a wrong turn to Leech Lake which he
misidentified as the Mississippi headwaters. In 1806, Zebulon was sent on his second
mission: The Southwest Expedition where he was to find the headwaters of the Arkansas
and Red Rivers (and spy on the Spanish if possible). It was during this mission that Pike
passed through Kansas and the Flint Hills. He never found the headwaters for these rivers
either.
Chert Quote:
“Commenced our march at seven o’clock. Passed very ruff [rough] flint hills. My feet blistered and very sore. I
stood on a hill, and in one view below me saw buffalo, elk, deer, cabrie, and panthers. Encamped on the
main [Cottonwood] branch of Grand river, which had very steep banks and was deep.
—Zebulon Pike, Journal of Zebulon Pike, 12 Sept 1806
Zebulon Pike, print/engraving, n.d.
Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-45726
Flint Hills Discovery Center
Route and Timeline of Zebulon Pike’s 1806
Expedition, in Grasslands of the United States:
An Environmental History by J. Sherow, p. 163
9
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
Interactive Prairie Orientation Map:
Drawing Sheet Number: 2.3.0
Performance Description:
A mechanical interactive map lets viewers focus in of the Flint Hills by turning a disc
mounted along the railing. Graphics appear in the "window" (much like a view finder) and
text explains the significance of the various views: World View Map, North American Map,
Kansas Map, Flint Hills Map.
The World View: The Flint Hills represent one of four biomes on earth: grasslands. In the
U.S., the Flint Hills are home to the largest remaining span of tallgrass prairie in North
America but other grasslands exists in America and around the world. Grassland typically
occur in the interior of large continental masses. The world’s grassland can be found in SubSaharan Africa, throughout South America, along the Eurasian Steppes and into China,
Australia, and the American Great Plains.
Grasslands Around the World, Drawings by Chris Mitchell
In Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: Journey into the tall Grass, p. 22
North America View: There are three types of grassland in the U.S.: shortgrass, mixed-grass,
and tallgrass (which is generally referred to as “true prairie”). Years ago, before European
and American settlers occupied the area, the grasslands stretched from Mexico to Canada
and from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River and beyond into Illinois and
Indiana. The shortgrass prairie, located directly east of the Rockies from Eastern Colorado
to Western Kansas, once grew from Texas through most of Montana. The mixed-grass
prairie borders the shortgrass prairie to the east and it too once swept across the nation from
Texas to North Dakota. The tallgrass prairie, most of which is gone now, occupied the rest
of the plains and lowlands between the mixed-grass prairie and the Mississippi River and
flowed north from Oklahoma to the border. Much of this nation’s vast grasslands have been
converted to agriculture.
Flint Hills Discovery Center
10
Design Development Worksheets
The Flint Hills Story
North American Grasslands, Drawings by Chris Mitchell
In Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: Journey into the tall Grass, p. 22
Kansas View: As part of both the Central Lowlands and the Great Plains, Kansas is home to
all three types of grasslands. The shortgrass prairie in western Kansas is characterized by a
drier climate that only supports short grown grasses like blue grama and buffalo grass. The
mixed-grass prairie in the center of the state received slightly more rain so the grasses tend to
be a mix of the drought tolerant shortgrasses and the taller cool- and warm-season grasses of
the east. Receiving nearly twice as much rainfall as the shortgrass prairie, the tallgrass species
can grow up to 8 and 10 feet in height such as big bluestem—the characteristic grass of the
Flint Hills. However, the additional rainfall in this region also makes the area more
susceptible to invasive forests. Kansas is also special because it contains the largest
remaining tract of tallgrass prairie in North America—the Flint Hills.
Grasslands of Kansas, Drawings by Chris Mitchell
In Annick Smith, Big Bluestem: Journey into the tall Grass, p. 22
The Flint Hills View: The Flint Hills extend in east central Kansas (north into Washington
County and south into northern Oklahoma) along the western edge of what is called the
Osage Plains. The Flint Hills include the following Kansas counties: Washington, Marshall,
Clay, Riley, Pottawatomie, Ottawa, Saline, Dickinson, Geary, Wabaunsee, Morris,
McPherson, Marrion, Chase, Harvey, Lyon, Sedgwick, Butler, Greenwood, and Crowley.
The Flint Hills represents the largest remaining tract of tallgrass prairie in North America.
The prairie has been dwindling ever since Euro-American settlers arrived with their plows.
Need an image/illustration for this…
Flint Hills Discovery Center
11