Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/102

91 'ptnAtxuBitA the iddasurAble aeiiMtioa. ' And then thi* man, Coronado, was ho foot, he lautw a fine coantr j, and for ilo other reason, he was sure it would make as rich an agricnltuTal country as l^ain, and he writes the King and Viceroy Mendoza. He knew from the calculations of the men whose reckoning was to step— step every foot of the way traveled, countin$<; each stride, so as to make a scientific report, that he was some place near the 37th degree North latitude; this line which is the boundary of Kansas will, if followed directly east, pass near the soutii line of Spain in Europe. He told of the rich soil, the beautiful climate, the streams skirted with timber. Mind you, he reached the Arkansas June 29th, that being St. Peter and Paul's Day. The river has that h!anie to commemorate the day. This period of the year is, without doubt, the finest for giving a favor- able impression of that country. ■• !Presto change! The Don traversed Oklahoma and Kansas in 1541, yet not untn 350 years afterward, 1889, did the astute Yankee discover that this land was valuable for homes; and just let us paint a picture of what took place in the year of our Lord, 1889, over the very ground which Coronado's army passed: It is April 22nd, at noon, 1889. All along the southern boundary of Kansas, soldiers keeping them from crossing the line, are arranged thousands of men and women who are waiting for a cannon to boom as the signal, which is the Government of the United States' word "Go," as if it was a rase for life. Some are on race horses, others are riding mules, others in wagons; some in buggies, many on foot;