John Peter’s Reviews > PrairyErth > Status Update

The chapter I'm on now, "Wonsevu," is about the Kaw First People, the indigenous people of what became Kansas. The author starts with quotes and passages from sources that tell of how the Kaw were perceived, what they did, and what others did to them. Sad. Yet I'm glad to know there are some survivors, even though the language is dead.

Just finished Elmdale, Chapter VIII of the book. This chapter comprises sections on quotes setting up the chapter, a little history of the community of Elmdale, a conversation with students about their lives and dreams,a whole section devoted to the cottonwood tree, and some history of Osage Hill. In this last section of the chapter, there's an interesting biography on F.W. Hockaday, who did a road number system.

What most impresses me recently in reading this is the chapter titled "Underneath the Overburden," where the author writes about the layers of ancient limestone and fossils, and the quarrying of the stone. He even interviews an old quarryman to learn about the techniques for extracting the stone, and what was it like to be a quarryman. Now in the section titled
Elmdale, students at a high school tell their hopes.

What most impresses me recently in reading this is the chapter titled "Underneath the Overburden," where the author writes about the layers of ancient limestone and fossils, and the quarrying of the stone. He even interviews an old quarryman to learn about the techniques for extracting the stone, and what was it like to be a quarryman. Now in the section titled
Elmdale, students at a high school tell their hopes.

What most impresses me recently in reading this is the chapter titled "Underneath the Overburden," where the author writes about the layers of ancient limestone and fossils, and the quarrying of the stone. He even interviews an old quarryman to learn about the techniques for extracting the stone, and what was it like to be a quarryman. Now in the section titled
Elmdale, students at a high school tell their hopes.

What most impresses me recently in reading this is the chapter titled "Underneath the Overburden," where the author writes about the layers of ancient limestone and fossils, and the quarrying of the stone. He even interviews an old quarryman to learn about the techniques for extracting the stone, and what was it like to be a quarryman. Now in the section titled
Elmdale, students at a high school tell their hopes.

What most impresses me recently in reading this is the chapter titled "Underneath the Overburden," where the author writes about the layers of ancient limestone and fossils, and the quarrying of the stone. He even interviews an old quarryman to learn about the techniques for extracting the stone, and what was it like to be a quarryman. Now in the section titled
Elmdale, students at a high school tell their hopes.

I read about Least Heat-Moon's journey by foot in the Matfield Green sector of Chase County. He was looking for the railroad bed of a mythical Orient line, a way to the West Coast so businessmen could go to China. Also read about the shanties the Mexicans lived in. They worked on the railroad, and got housing which was quite primitive but afforded them a foothold in the US. Also about plants of the prairie. Read it!

William Least Heat-Moon calls his book PrairyErth (a deep map) because it is about the soil and the prairie, but also about the rock beneath it, the people who traverse it, and how they interact. He also delves into the history of Chase County and the Kansas Flint Hills, by quoting those who have written about the prairie in Kansas. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a map of that sector of the county. Read!

By now, I've been through several sectors of the county, this parcel of prairie and rivers, hills and valleys. The author makes the land and its people come alive, right out of the book.