ENCYCLOPÆDIA Britannica DISCOVER AMERICA Kansas The Sunflower State CHICAGO LONDON NEW DELHI PARIS SEOUL SYDNEY TAIPEI TOKYO
4 KANSAS With prime farmland Kansas is one of the leading agricultural states The capital of Kansas is Topeka which was chosen by popular vote in 1861 Kansas official nickname is the Sunflower State Kansas is named after the Kansa a group of Native Americans who lived in what is now central Kansas The word Kansa means People of the South Wind INTRODUCTION When in the movie The Wizard of Oz the character Dorothy said Toto I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore she was noticing how different her home state of Kansas was from the mythical land of Oz She was missing the friendly comforts of Kansas In addition to its charming people the state boasts productive farms and businesses varied geography with some striking scenery and many reminders of its pioneer history Kansas has a colorful past shaped by outlaws radicals settlers and gold prospectors Native Americans had been living in what is now Kansas for centuries before the white settlers arrived The settlers came in search of new opportunities along the frontier and undertook long journeys to claim and settle the land as their own Once they arrived in the territory they had to withstand many hardships to survive including crop failures dust storms and droughts But many of the farms eventually thrived Today Kansas still represents a land of possibilities for many from its quaint farming communities to its lively urban centers A historical reenactment shows how settlers in the 1800s traveled across the western United States They journeyed together in groups of covered wagons called wagon trains with a few settlers on horseback Two major wagon-train routes crossed Kansas the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail
INTRODUCTION 5 Roughly rectangular in shape Kansas is surrounded by four states Oklahoma lies to the south Colorado to the west Nebraska to the north and Missouri to the east Kansas is often referred to as America’s Heartland or Midway U S A because it lies in the geographic center of the United States mainland It is located halfway between the East and West coasts and about midway between Canada to the north and Mexico to the south Kansas is also used as the center point for all land surveys of North America Kansas is served by a large network of roads and railroads Interstate 70 crosses Kansas in an east-west route Interstates 335 35 and 135 also run through the state The Kansas Turnpike a tollway stretches for more than 200 miles along some of these roads The state also has many airports Kansas Location Map Capital Topeka Interstate highways 0 0 35 56 70 Mi 112 Km Scale Population 2,688,418 Size 82,282 square miles Highest peak Mount Sunflower 4,039 feet Route 66 passed through three time zones and eight states including the southeastern corner of Kansas It was officially taken out of use as a federal highway in 1985 though many parts of the historic road are still driveable The state song is Home on the Range Its lyrics by Dr Brewster Higley were set to music by Dan Kelly The official state amphibian is the barred tiger salamander Kansas entered the Union on Jan 29 1861 It was the 34th state to join Kansas is the 15th largest state in the nation
