Stone Posts and St. Patrick

 March 15, 2021

By Seth McFarland

Stone posts are unique to Kansas, and we pass by them every day.   These posts are quarried out of the bed of limestone just inches beneath the surface.   As the pioneers began settling into western Kansas, the lack of wood forced them to find a substitute which can be quarried from the bed of limestone. The limestone was used not only for fence posts, but also for construction of buildings such as the cooling house at the Santa Fe Trail Center.    However, unlike wooden fence posts, limestone has an additional unique element, and that is the fossils that are embedded in the limestone.  

Kansas limestone, also known as fence post limestone, Post Rock limestone and Stone Post is the topmost layer of the Greenhorn Limestone Formation which covers most of north central Kansas.  It stretches from the Nebraska border to near Dodge City, Kansas.  The stone was first scientifically mentioned in 1896 by F.W. Craigin, and in 2018, the Kansas Legislature named the Greenhorn Limestone as the official state rock of Kansas.    

The Greenhorn Formation was named for the Greenhorn Station on the Greenhorn Creek in Colorado, and is the namesake for the Greenhorn Marine Cycle of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway.  The Greenhorn layer stretches from Minnesota to New Mexico. 

The geological history of this region of Kansas is interpreted in two local museums – the Sternberg Museum in Fort Hays, and the Natural History Museum in Rozel.   Stan Bryant of the Natural History Museum in Rozel will be presenting new geological evidence on Saturday, March 27 at 2:00 here at the Santa Fe Trail Center to talk about the Flood, the Ice Age, and the Bible.

This Wednesday is Saint Patrick’s Day.    In the library collection of the Trail Center is a century old copy of the Twentieth Century Cookbook published by the Geographical Publishing Company in 1921.  Included a copy of the recipe for Irish Stew and Dumplings.   The ingredients are as follows: two pounds of forequarter lamb, one onion, two quarts of boiling water, one carrot, two teaspoons of salt, one small white turnip, one eight teaspoon of pepper, four potatoes, and four tablespoons of flour.    Cut the meat in small pieces, and trim off most of the fat; cover with boiling water, and simmer for one hour; add salt and pepper, onion, carrot, and turnip cut into small cubes, and cook for one hour; pare and slice potatoes, add to stew and cook for twenty minutes.  Thicken with flour mixed to a paste with cold water; add dumplings, cover and cook twelve minutes.

For the dumpling recipe, mix one cup of flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, one quarter teaspoon of salt, and half a cup of milk or water.   Sift the flower salt and baking powder, and mix to a soft dough with milk.  Drop by spoonfuls upon the boiling stew, cover, and cook for twelve minutes.