In order to see the Rocky Mountains loom against a Kansas skyline, you'd have to travel back prior to 1861. Prior to 1861 much of Northern Colorado, including what is now Rocky Mountain National Park, the Collegiate Peaks, and the Arkansas River drainage, was part of the Kansas Territory. Most people who settled in Kansas at that time did so purposely, not because they made it work. Kansas is misunderstood by a lot of people. People came to Kansas to farm because the land and soil is ideal for the kind of crops they grew in whatever country they came from, mostly hard red winter wheat. At the time of statehood, many people, abolitionists, came to Kansas for the purpose of having Kansas enter the union as a free state, thus tipping the balance and forcing the issue of slavery. It worked.
Really beautiful shot by the way. It captures the essence of the American West. Well done.
