{"id":1384,"date":"2018-12-26T04:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T04:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=1384"},"modified":"2018-09-28T01:13:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T01:13:01","slug":"kansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/kansas\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas – The Sunflower State"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Kansas<\/a> is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States.<\/p>\n

\"Kansas
Kansas in the United States<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Its capital is Topeka<\/a> and its largest city is Wichita<\/a>. \u00a0Kansas is named after the Kansa Native American tribe<\/a>, which inhabited the area.\u00a0 The tribe’s name is often said to mean “people of the (south) wind” although this was probably not the term’s original meaning.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

For a millennium, the land that is currently Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans.<\/p>\n

\"Kansa
Kansa Lodge in 1819<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was the Spanish conquistador Francisco V\u00e1zquez de Coronado<\/a>, who explored the area in 1541. \u00a0In 1803, most of modern Kansas was acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase<\/a>. \u00a0Southwest Kansas, however, was still a part of Spain<\/a>, Mexico<\/a>, and the Republic of Texas<\/a> until the conclusion of the Mexican\u2013American War<\/a> in 1848, when these lands were ceded to the United States. \u00a0From 1812 to 1821, Kansas was part of the Missouri Territory<\/a>. \u00a0The Santa Fe Trail<\/a> traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, New Mexico<\/a>. \u00a0Wagon ruts from the trail are still visible in the prairie today.<\/p>\n

\"Santa
Santa Fe Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1827, Fort Leavenworth<\/a> became the first permanent settlement of white Americans in the future state. \u00a0The Kansas\u2013Nebraska Act<\/a> became law on May 30, 1854, establishing Nebraska Territory<\/a> and Kansas Territory<\/a>, and opening the area to broader settlement by whites. \u00a0Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide<\/a> and included the sites of present-day Denver<\/a>, Colorado Springs<\/a>, and Pueblo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Kansas
Kansas Territory 1854 – 1861<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Missouri<\/a> and Arkansas<\/a> sent settlers into Kansas all along its eastern border. \u00a0These settlers attempted to sway votes in favor of slavery. \u00a0The second wave of Americans to settle in Kansas Territory were abolitionists from Massachusetts<\/a> and other Free-Staters<\/a>, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. \u00a0Directly presaging the American Civil War<\/a>, these forces collided, entering into skirmishes that earned the territory the name of Bleeding Kansas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to join the United States. \u00a0By that time the violence in Kansas had largely subsided, but during the Civil War, on August 21, 1863, William Quantrill<\/a> led several hundred men on a raid into Lawrence<\/a>, destroying much of the city and killing nearly 200 people. \u00a0He was roundly condemned by both the conventional Confederate military and the partisan rangers commissioned by the Missouri legislature. \u00a0His application to that body for a commission was flatly rejected due to his pre-war criminal record.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Quantrill’s Raid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the Civil War, many veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas. \u00a0Many African Americans also looked to Kansas as the land of “John Brown<\/a>” and, led by freedmen like Benjamin “Pap” Singleton<\/a>, began establishing black colonies in the state. \u00a0Leaving southern states in the late 1870s because of increasing discrimination, they became known as Exodusters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Chisholm Trail<\/a> was opened and the Wild West-era commenced in Kansas. \u00a0Wild Bill Hickok<\/a> was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley<\/a> and a marshal at Hays<\/a> and Abilene<\/a>. \u00a0Dodge City<\/a> was another wild cowboy town, and both Bat Masterson<\/a> and Wyatt Earp<\/a> worked as lawmen in the town. \u00a0In one year alone, eight million head of cattle from Texas boarded trains in Dodge City bound for the East, earning Dodge the nickname “Queen of the Cowtowns.”<\/p>\n

\"Chisholm
Chisholm Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In response to demands of Methodists<\/a> and other evangelical Protestants, in 1881 Kansas became the first U.S. state to adopt a constitutional amendment prohibiting all alcoholic beverages, which was only repealed in 1948.<\/p>\n

Known as rural flight, the last few decades have been marked by a migratory pattern out of the countryside into cities. \u00a0Out of all the cities in these Midwestern states, 89% have fewer than 3,000 people, and hundreds of those have fewer than 1,000. \u00a0In Kansas alone, there are more than 6,000 ghost towns and dwindling communities, according to one Kansas historian, Daniel C. Fitzgerald. \u00a0At the same time, some of the communities in Johnson County (metropolitan Kansas City)<\/a> are among the fastest-growing in the country.<\/p>\n

\"Kansas
Kansas City, KS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Geography:<\/h2>\n

Kansas is bordered by Nebraska<\/a> on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma<\/a> on the south; and Colorado<\/a> on the west. \u00a0The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities, and is located equidistant from the Pacific<\/a> and Atlantic<\/a> oceans. \u00a0The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is in Smith County<\/a> near Lebanon<\/a>. \u00a0Until 1989, the Meades Ranch Triangulation Station<\/a> in Osborne County<\/a> was the geodetic center of North America: the central reference point for all maps of North America. \u00a0The geographic center of Kansas is in Barton County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks. \u00a0A sequence of Mississippian<\/a>, Pennsylvanian<\/a> and Permian<\/a> rocks outcrop in the eastern and southern part of the state. \u00a0The state’s western half has exposures of Cretaceous<\/a> through Tertiary<\/a> sediments, the latter derived from the erosion of the uplifted Rocky Mountains<\/a> to the west. \u00a0These are underlain by older Paleozoic<\/a> and Mesozoic<\/a> sediments which correlate well with the outcrops to the east. \u00a0The state’s northeastern corner was subjected to glaciation in the Pleistocene<\/a> and is covered by glacial drift and loess<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Great Plains of Kansas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The western two-thirds of the state, lying in the great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface, while the eastern third has many hills and forests. \u00a0The land gradually rises from east to west.\u00a0 The highest point, 4,039 feet is Mount Sunflower<\/a>, 0.5 miles from the Colorado border. \u00a0It is a common misconception that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation.\u00a0 In fact, Kansas has a maximum topographic relief of 3,360 feet making it the 23rd flattest U.S. state measured by maximum relief.<\/p>\n

In south-central Kansas, the Wichita metropolitan area is home to over 600,000 people.<\/p>\n

\"Wichita\"
Wichita<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wichita is the largest city in the state in terms of both land area and population. \u00a0‘The Air Capital’ is a major manufacturing center for the aircraft industry and the home of Wichita State University<\/a>. \u00a0With a number of nationally registered historic places, museums, and other entertainment destinations, it has a desire to become a cultural mecca in the Midwest. \u00a0Wichita’s population growth has grown by double digits and the surrounding suburbs are among the fastest growing cities in the state.<\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

Nearly 90% of Kansas’ land is devoted to agriculture.\u00a0 The state’s agricultural outputs are cattle, sheep, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, cotton, hogs, corn, and salt. \u00a0As of 2018, there were 59,600 farms in Kansas, 86 (0.14%) of which are certified organic farms.\u00a0 The average farm in the state is about 770 acres (more than a square mile), and in 2016, the average cost of running the farm was $300,000.<\/p>\n

By far, the most significant agricultural crop in the state is wheat. \u00a0Eastern Kansas is part of the Grain Belt, an area of major grain production in the central United States. \u00a0Approximately 40% of all winter wheat<\/a> grown in the US is grown in Kansas.\u00a0 Roughly 95% of the wheat grown in the state is hard red winter wheat.<\/p>\n

\"Kansas
Kansas Wheat Corn and Storm Front<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The industrial outputs are transportation equipment, commercial and private aircraft, food processing, publishing, chemical products, machinery, apparel, petroleum, and mining.<\/p>\n

The largest private employers in Kansas as of 2016 are:<\/p>\n