Spanish
explorer Francisco de Coronado, in 1541, is considered the first European
to have traveled this region. Sieur de la Salle's extensive land claims for France
(1682) included present-day Kansas. Ceded to Spain by France in 1763, the territory
reverted to France in 1800 and was sold to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803.
Lewis
and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and Stephen H. Long explored the region between 1803
and 1819. The first permanent white settlements in Kansas were outposts—Fort
Leavenworth (1827), Fort Scott (1842), and Fort Riley (1853)—established
to protect travelers along the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails.
Just
before the Civil War, the conflict between the pro- and anti-slavery forces earned
the region the grim title of Bleeding Kansas.
Today,
wheat fields, oil-well derricks, herds of cattle, and grain-storage elevators
are chief features of the Kansas landscape. A leading wheat-growing state, Kansas
also raises corn, sorghum, oats, barley, soybeans, and potatoes. Kansas stands
high in petroleum production and mines zinc, coal, salt, and lead. It is also
the nation's leading producer of helium.
Wichita
is one of the nation's leading aircraft-manufacturing centers, ranking first in
production of private aircraft. Kansas City is an important transportation, milling,
and meat-packing center.
Points
of interest include the Kansas History Center at Topeka, the Eisenhower boyhood
home and the Eisenhower Memorial Museum and Presidential Library at Abilene, John
Brown's cabin at Osawatomie, re-created Front Street in Dodge City, Fort Larned
(an important military post on the Santa Fe Trail), Fort Leavenworth, and Fort
Riley.
Comig Soon!
See
more on Kansas:
Encyclopedia:
Kansas Encyclopedia: Geography Encyclopedia: Economy Encyclopedia: Government Encyclopedia:
History Monthly Temperature Extremes
Accredited
Colleges and Universities
Selected
famous natives and residents:
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle actor;
Clarence D. Batchelor political cartoonist; Gwendolyn Brooks poet; Walter
P. Chrysler auto manufacturer; Clark M. Clifford secretary of defense; John
Steuart Curry painter; Charles Curtis vice president; Robert Dole senator;
Amelia Earhart aviator; Dwight D. Eisenhower general and president; Milton
S. Eisenhower educator; Gary Hart politician; William Inge playwright;
Walter Johnson baseball pitcher; Osa L. Johnson documentary film producer;
Buster Keaton comedian; Emmett Kelly clown; Stan Kenton jazz musician;
James Lehrer broadcast journalist; Edgar Lee Masters poet; Hattie
McDaniel actress; Karl Menninger psychiatrist; Carry A. Nation temperance
leader; Gordon Parks film director; ZaSu Pitts actress; Samuel Ramey
opera singer; Charles Robinson statesman and first governor; Charles (Buddy)
Rogers actor; Damon Runyon journalist; Gale Sayers football player; Eugene
W. Smith photojournalist; Milburn Stone actor; John Cameron Swayze news
commentator; William Allen White journalist; Charles E. Whittaker jurist;
Jess Willard boxer.
Capital:
Topeka
State
abbreviation/Postal code: Kans./KS
Governor:
Kathleen Sebelius, D (to Jan. 2007)
Lieut.
Governor: John E. Moore, D (to Jan. 2007)
Senators:
Sam Brownback, R (to Jan. 2011); Pat Roberts, R (to Jan. 2009)
U.S.
Representatives: 4
Secy.
of State: Ron Thornburgh, R (to Jan. 2007)
Treasurer:
Lynn Jenkins, R (to Jan. 2007)
Atty.
General: Phill Kline, R (to Jan. 2007)
Organized
as territory: May 30, 1854
Entered
Union (rank): Jan. 29, 1861 (34)
Present
constitution adopted: 1859
Motto:
Ad astra per aspera (To the stars through difficulties)
State
symbols: flower sunflower (1903) tree cottonwood (1937) bird western meadowlark
(1937) animal buffalo (1955) song “Home on the Range” (1947)
Nicknames:
Sunflower State; Jayhawk State
Origin
of name: From a Sioux word meaning “people of the south wind”
10
largest cities (2003 est.): Wichita, 354,617; Overland Park, 160,368; Kansas
City, 145,757; Topeka, 122,008; Olathe, 105,274; Lawrence, 82,120; Shawnee, 54,093;
Salina, 45,833; Manhattan, 44,733; Lenexa, 41,995
Land
area: 81,815 sq mi. (211,901 sq km)
Geographic
center: In Barton Co., 15 mi. NE of Great Bend
Number
of counties: 105
Largest
county by population and area: Johnson, 496,691 (2004); Butler, 1,428 sq mi.
State
parks: 24
Residents:
Kansan
2004
resident population est.: 2,735,502
2000
resident census population (rank): 2,688,418 (32). Male: 1,328,474 (49.4%);
Female: 1,359,944 (50.6%). White: 2,313,944 (86.1%); Black: 154,198 (5.7%); American
Indian: 24,936 (0.9%); Asian: 46,806 (1.7%); Other race: 90,725 (3.4%); Two or
more races: 56,496 (2.1%); Hispanic/Latino: 188,252 (7.0%). 2000 percent population
18 and over: 73.5; 65 and over: 13.3; median age: 35.2.
