Viewing page 6 of 13

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-3-

Two panels are at the left of the East Corridor Entrance:

The Plagues

(1) Like ancient Egypt, Kansas is at times beset by plagues.

In this panel is depicted drought and grasshoppers. In the foreground on the parched ground stand the stalks of stripped and withered corn; before the blazing sun floats the cloud of hoppers.

(2) Soil Erosion and Dust.

Sheet erosion and the shoestring gully are two of the great calamities of our nation, and in the midwestern plains can be added wind erosion. In the foreground of this panel is the clutching hand of erosion directed toward the abandoned farm home. Beyond is the threatening cloud of dust. This panel is designed as a significant warning and voices the concern of government and educational forces interested in preserving the nation's resources.

Two panels are at the right of the West Corridor Entrance:

Corn and Wheat

In these two panels are two basic products of our fruitful land: wheat and corn.

Two panels are at the left of the West Corridor Entrance:

(1)Commemorating the sacrifice of life of those who forged westward on the old Santa Fe trail. This depicts the burial of a child. Before the rising sun the pioneer minister with raised hand pronounces the last benediction. Surrounding him the fellow travelers, back of them the wagons hitched and ready to proceed westward.

(2) The Great Cattle Drives. This panel depicts the great herds that for thirty years were driven from Texas to the roaring rail points of central and western Kansas.