Kansas Info
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Capital
City: Topeka
Economy: Agriculture and manufacturing.
Population: 2,629,067
Time Zone: 6-7 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (-6 and
-7 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is observed from the first Sunday in April
to the last Sunday in October.
Kansas's Flag:
On a navy blue field is a sunflower, the state flower. Also, the state seal
and the words "Kansas". In the picture of the state seal are thirty-four
stars representing the order of statehood. Above the stars is the motto
"To the Stars Through Difficulties". On the seal a sunrise overshadows
a farmer plowing a field near his log cabin, a steamboat sailing the Kansas
River, a wagontrain heading west and Native Americans hunting bison.
History of Kansas:
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 back 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 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, sorghums,
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 Museum of History at Topeka, the Eisenhower
boyhood home and the new Eisenhower Memorial Museum and Presidential Library
at Abilene, John Brown's cabin at Osawatomie, recreated Front Street in
Dodge City, Fort Larned (once the most important military post on the Santa
Fe Trail), and Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley.
Other Kansas Links:
Blue Skyways
Kansas State Library
Kansas Communities
Kansas Counties
Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Kansas Department of Education
League of Kansas Municipalities
Wyandot Nation
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