Located in the center of the US, Kansas is the leading producer of wheat and second largest producer of beef. Even though the state is known mainly for its vast farmland, its bigger cities like Overland Park and Topeka contain some of the nation's largest companies, such as Sprint Nextel and Hallmark Cards.
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The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 unleashed a flurry of exploration in the area now known as Kansas. In 1804, Lewis and Clark touched the corner of the state and Zebulon Pike crossed it in 1806. By the 1840s traders and immigrants opened their own routes across the region. Historic trails like the Santa Fe and Pony Express route blazed the way for settlers to follow.
The terms of the Missouri Compromise made Kansas free soil, however the Kansas-Nebraska act, which created the Kansas Territory, nullified the it and left the question of slavery up to the people of the territory. This resulted in chaos as the North and South jostled for control. Frequent clashes culminated in the murder of five men by John Brown and his sons in 1856. When Federal Troops entering in 1859, the majority Kansas government was anti-slavery.
After the Civil War, Native Americans were removed to reservations, ranges were opened to grazing all year and the extension of the railroads ushered in the most romanticized period in Kansas’ history.
Kansas has always been a leader in progressive legislation. It instituted the recall, referendum, direct primary and women’s rights. It passed the Blue Sky law in 1991 preventing companies from floating worthless securities while investing.
Farming has been and still is the number one economic industry in the state. It produces 20 percent of the nation’s wheat crop, amounting to more than 400 million bushels each year. Many of the state’s manufacturing businesses are directly related to the processing of its agricultural products. Kansas is also a center for aircraft building, soap making and automobile assembly.
Although the main mineral deposit in Kansas is petroleum, it has another reserve that ranks with the world’s largest. Hutchinson sits on a salt reserve that measures 325 feet thick covering almost 4,000 square miles.
The statewide sales tax in Kansas is 4.9 percent, with local options for an additional increment of 2 percent. Cities and counties may levy a tax on lodgings which can range from 1 to 5 percent.
Watersports abound in the many reservoirs in the state. Boating, fishing, swimming and water skiing draw large summer crowds. Since Kansas lies on the central flyway from north to south, it attracts many migrating waterfowls. Mallards, pintails and teals nest in the marshes of Cheyenne Bottoms near Grand Bend.
