BLUESTEM PASTURE REGION
BLUESTEM PASTURE REGION This is one of the largest parcels of native grassland in Kansas. It is known popularly as the Flint Hills or the Bluestem prairies. For many centuries it belonged to the American Indians. Millions of buffalo, elk, antelope, coyote, eagles, and other animals roamed these prairies.
After the Civil War, settlers converted much of this area into cropland. About 4.5 million acres escaped the plow because their grasses were so valuable for grazing. Cattlemen fattened their steers on these pastures just before reaching the Kansas City stockyards. Railroads routed their tracks through here to attract cattle-shipping traffic, and by the mid-20th century more than a half million head were turned loose here each summer.
In 1996 the federal government created the 11,000-acre Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, about 20 miles north of here.
Note: This sign was replaced in 2012.
I-35 (Kansas Turnpike), Butler County
Milepost 96, Matfield Green service area
Plaque via Kansas Historical Society, and is used with their permission. Full page