ARKANSAS CITY, a city of Cowley county, Kan., U.S.A., 200m. S.W. of Kansas City, on the north bank of the Arkansas river, just above the mouth of the Walnut. It is served by the Santa Fe, the Frisco, the Missouri Pacific, and the Midland Valley railways. It has a municipal aviation field. The population in 1925 (State census) was 14,003 ; 1930 (Federal census) The valley of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers is a fertile agri cultural region, and within 5o miles of Arkansas City are many oil-fields and pools, and fields of natural gas. The city, a division headquarters of the Santa Fe, has a large wholesale and jobbing business, and several large oil refineries. It has flour-mills, foun dries, creameries, a sand and gravel plant, overall factories and oil field machine-shops. The Chillocco Indian school, established by the U.S. Government in 1884, is a few miles south of the city, in Oklahoma.
Arkansas City was settled as Creswell in 1870, and incorporated under its present name in 1872. In 188o the population was 1,012. When, following the Santa Fe, the Frisco (1885) and the Missouri Pacific (1886) built railway lines to the city, it had a "boom" which raised the population to 8,341 in 1890; but the opening to settlement of lands in Indian territory, just across the State line, drew away some of this increase, and the census of 1900 showed only 6,140. Since then the development has been more normal. In 1910 the population was 7,508; in 1920, 11,253.