Big Creek is probably not worthy to be called a body of water; more often than not it is just a steady small stream of water meandering towards the Smokey Hill River in Russell County. Occasionally it rises above its banks after a torrential downpour.  Mostly it is dusty and dry.  But Big Creek runs high with history.  On their ceaseless  migrations the great herds of bison drank from its meager offerings, bathed in its muddy waters and pastured on the prairie through which it coursed.  Within its very banks newly arrived Volga German immigrants excavated caves to provide a safe haven for their families in a strange and dangerous country.  Beyond its banks military forts were established to tame a wilderness, churches reached skyward to beckon the tired pilgrim, farms established to feed a hungry family and nation,   and villages organized to gather the strength and hopes of a hardy people.  It is to Big Creek and Beyond that its children look for a legacy of faith, a heritage of undaunted labor and the warm embrace of family and neighbors.