The Flint Hills of Kansas are the last remnant of the great Tallgrass Prairie that once stretched from Texas to the Great Lakes, and their calcium rich soil is renowned for its capacity to quickly fatten cattle in the spring. In 1910, Beaumont had holding pens for 9,000 head of cattle that came and went by rail, before the days of feedlot grain fed cattle. At that time Beaumont was a typical old western town, with the Frisco running four eastbound and four westbound trains a day. The Beaumont Hotel, then known as the Summit Hotel because it was the highest point on the Frisco line from Ellsworth, Kansas to St. Louis, served cattle barons from Texas and Oklahoma as well as travelers on the Frisco Railroad, and it was used as headquarters for those who shipped cattle or brought cattle to fatten, while the cowboys camped outside.