The Samson of the Cimarron is a majestically named railroad bridge that stands tall over the Cimarron River crossing in southwestern Kansas along U.S. Highway 54. When it was completed in 1939, it solved more than a half-century of headaches, including bridge collapses, train wrecks, and the disappearance of an American city. The Rock Island Railroad came to Seward County in 1888, connecting southwest Kansas to the rest of the country. Towns sprang up all around the state, from Liberal in the west to the town of Arkalon, built by…
