=The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Completed in 1872.= In the meantime other lines had been chartered through Kansas, the principal one being the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. This railroad was begun at Topeka in 1868 and completed to the western boundary of the State in a little more than four years. The line between Topeka and Atchison was also completed within this period. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe has since been extended westward to the coast and eastward to Chicago, and many branches have been added. This railroad follows the general direction of the Santa Fe Trail across the eastern half of the State. Near Great Bend the track runs on the exact course of the old highway, and from this point on through the rest of the State they are never far apart and often coincide. When, in 1872, the “Santa Fe,” as it is generally called, was completed through Kansas, the last caravan of wagons had wound its way over the old Trail. The trains of cars rushing over the new iron trail marked another advance in the westward march of civilization. [Illustration: THE “IRON TRAIL” ACROSS THE PRAIRIES.] =Railroad Companies Receive Land Grants.= The immense cost of railroad construction, the sparsely settled country, and the limited amount of traffic, made the early building of railroads a risky undertaking. But railroads were needed in order to unite the West to the East as well as for the development of the new country, and in order to encourage their building Congress adopted the policy of making liberal land grants to railroad companies. The Union Pacific through Kansas was given land amounting to a strip ten miles wide on each side of its line. Several other companies, including the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, received grants amounting to five miles on each side. This policy brought about the rapid building of railroads, but when the State became fairly well supplied the land grants were discontinued. Much of the land was later forfeited by the companies through failure to meet the conditions of their grants. =Railroad Companies Interested in Settlement.= When the early railroads were first built across Kansas there were but few people living in the western part of the State. Since population was necessary to the prosperity of the railroad companies, these companies gave much attention to the matter of increasing the settlements along their lines. They sent land agents throughout the United States and Europe, they invited people of prominence to join excursions through Kansas, and they filled the newspapers with descriptions of the great West. Kansas was widely and favorably advertised. Interest was everywhere aroused and many people were attracted to the State.