Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez De Coronado explores region, searching in vain for the "City of gold".
1803
Kansas comes under US control with the Louisiana Purchase from France
1854
Kansas-Nebraska Act adjusts borders of the two new territories
1855
"Border Ruffians" from Missouri try to admit Kansas as a slave state
1930- 1941
Dust Bowl sparks drought in western Kansas
Present Day
Wichita, the state’s largest city and major port on the Arkansas river, is one of the nation’s leading aircraft-manufacturing centers, ranking first in production of private aircraft
Kansas - Facts
Fort Leavenworth, north of the city of Leavenworth, Kansas was the state’s first permenent settlement
Kansas is located at the heart of the Frontier Strip, the name given to the six contigious states from North Dakota in the north to Texas in the south
Kansas City, located at the junction of Kansas and Missouri rivers, is an important meat-packing and agricultural center
Western Kansas’s farmers use water from the Ogallala Aquifer, a large underground deposit of water trapped between rocks. But too much use of water could lead to a reduction in the amount of water in the aquifer and significantly lead to the creation of massive irrigation projects
The geographical center of the 48 contigious states of the US is located in Smith County, four miles nothwest of Lebanon, Kansas
Dodge City and Abilene were important stops for cowboys who transported sheep to the eastern lands through the Chisholm Trail