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- Week Kansas Airmail Arrows Ride

Jay547

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Friday, October 15, 2022, I had to be in Wichita, Kansas for a class. I decided to take my bike, stay overnight, and ride in a new area on Saturday. I chose to do an airmail arrow ride. If you’re not familiar with airmail arrows, they are large concrete, directional arrows used to guide pilots before radios and radar. They were built between 1926 and 1932. We only have a few left in Oklahoma but I knew of four near Wichita that were still in existence. I plotted a loop of about 250 miles linking the arrows and several small towns, hoping to find some interesting sights along the way.

First, the arrows.

Arrow #1: this one was so overgrown that it wasn’t very visible.

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Arrow #2: this one was on the other side of the fence, and I couldn’t hardly see it from the road. I rode right by it a couple times.

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Arrow #3: I had plotted this about a quarter mile off. I was able to find it after looking at an aerial online. This one was on the grounds of a quarry. There was an open gate, so I went in.

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Arrow #4: This one was at an airport. It still had the beacon over it.

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The rest of the ride.

This area is covered with grain elevators, you can see them from miles away. About half of them are abandoned. This one is at Clearwater.

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A wooden oil tank.

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A pipe bridge near the oil tank.

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Abandoned grain elevator at Millerton.

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In 1910, the population was 60. Not so much now.

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Cotton fields. I took a cotton ball to Lisa (Mrs. 547).

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A windmill pumping water to a stock tank.

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A beautiful church at Danville.

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1917 bank building and another elevator in Danville.

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Another abandoned elevator. This one is at Freeport.

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It seems surprised that someone is taking a picture.

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A closed bridge. Well, it wasn’t closed to me.

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I like tree tunnels.

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The little town of Milan.

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A lone silo.

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The Chisholm Trail.

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I was running really late and still had a three-hour drive home, so I cut the ride short here and headed back. It turned out to be a surprisingly good ride. Kansas truly does have some interesting local history.

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Nice report. I really enjoy riding Kansas. Lots of stuff to see once you get off the 4 lane roads and look around.

Is there a resource that has the airmail arrows located?
 
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