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
6 KANSAS The state of Kansas was born out of a fierce struggle In the years leading up to the American Civil War Kansas was at the center of the nation’s bitter conflict over slavery In 1854 an act allowed the settlers of the Kansas territory to decide for themselves whether to permit people to own slaves there Groups both for and against slavery flooded the territory with new settlers who often clashed violently Bleeding Kansas became a battleground for the next few years Kansas joined the Union as a non-slaveholding state in 1861 Much of the history and culture of Kansas is linked to its early settlers In the 1800s Kansas was a center of Western frontier life and was populated by homesteaders and outlaws While settlers were farming and raising cattle outlaws with names such as Hurricane Bill were stealing Horses were very important to the early Kansas settlers They were used for transportation industry and recreation The Pony Express a system of mail delivery by carriers on horseback passed through Kansas Kansas official state motto is Ad Astra per Aspera which is Latin for To the Stars Through Difficulties Helium was discovered in 1903 in Dexter The honeybee is the state insect of Kansas The state mammal is the American bison which often is called the buffalo horses and robbing banks Lawmen such as Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok tried to keep the peace There were also often clashes between Native Americans and settlers over territory and land resources In more recent times Kansas has become for many a place of peace and good fortune with rolling fields of wheat and giant sunflowers stretching toward the sun The state is blessed with ample farmland good mineral resources plenty of water and a central location Sunflowers are numerous in Kansas Their seeds are harvested for food and for the oil they contain They are called sunflowers because they twist on their stems to follow the sun throughout the day
INTRODUCTION 7 Many talented people have come from or lived in Kansas Silent-film actor Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle basketball player Wilt Chamberlain U S President Dwight D Eisenhower and jazz musician Charlie Yardbird Parker all have called Kansas home The state has played an important role in aviation history Kansas-born Amelia Earhart is known throughout the world as the first woman to fly a plane solo across the Atlantic Ocean Other prominent Kansas pilots include William Purvis Charles Wilson and Clyde Cessna who were among the early innovators of manned flight Today several major manufacturers produce aircraft in Wichita The city is a world leader in the production of aircraft for general aviation and military aircraft also are built there The city’s Kansas Aviation Museum has many exhibits showcasing the state’s history in designing and building airplanes The city of Wichita’s role in aviation has earned it the nickname Air Capital of the World Amelia Earhart was born in 1897 in Atchison In 1932 she became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean Kansas state flag has a dark blue background with the state seal in the middle Above the seal is the state crest which consists of a sunflower over a bar of blue and gold The word Kansas appears underneath the state seal at the bottom of the flag The cottonwood is the Kansas state tree The Kansas State Fair is generally held in the month of September
