Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History/Kansas

Kansas.—The greater portion of the territory that now forms the State of Kansas was formerly included in the province of Louisiana, which was acquired by the United States from France by the treaty of Paris. A small tract in the southwest corner was acquired from Texas in 1850. The state extends from 37° to 40° north latitude, and from 94° 40′ to 102° west longitude, being 208 miles wide and 406 miles long and containing 82,080 square miles. It derives its name from the principal tribe of Indians that inhabited the region at the time the territory was organized in 1854, but the origin, meaning and orthography of the word "Kansas" is somewhat uncertain. One authority says the Indian word Kansa has a dual meaning—"wind and swift"—and that the word Kansas may be interpreted as meaning "swift wind." F. W. Hodge says that the word refers to winds, but the full definition is not known. The name of the Indian tribe has been spelled in many different ways. La Salle referred to them as the Akansea, but later the French adopted the form Cansez. Long and Catlin spelled the word Konza; Lewis and Clark, Kansus; Lieut. Pike, Kans; and Gregg, in his Commerce of the Prairie, refers to these Indians as the Kaws, and the name is spelled in many other ways.

The first mention of the Kansas Indians in the white man's history was about the beginning of the 17th century, when Juan de Onate gave them the name of Escansaques. It will be noticed that the second and third syllables of this word form the name "Cansa," which is one of the numerous forms later used. George P. Morehouse of Topeka, who has made a rather exhaustive study of Indian lore and tradition, says "The famous historic word Cansa or Kansa is neither of French or Indian origin. The word is plain Spanish, and as such has a well-defined and expressive meaning when applied to an Indian tribe. Cansa or Kansa means 'a troublesome people, those who continually disturb or harass others.' It comes from the Spanish verb cansar, which means 'to molest, to stir up, to harass,' and from the Spanish noun cansado, 'a troublesome fellow, a disturber.'"

Following is a summary of the principle events in connection with the state's history:

1541—Francisco Vasquez de Coronado leads an expedition from Mexico in search of the province of Quivira, and reaches a point near Junction City, Kan.

1601—Juan de Onate's expedition to Quivira.

1662—Don Diego de Penalosa said to have visited Quivira, but the authenticity of his report has been questioned by historians.

1682—Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle on April 9 reaches the mouth of the Mississippi river and claims all the territory drained by that river and its tributaries in the name of France, giving to it the name of Louisiana.

1719—M. Dutisne, a French explorer, visits the country of the Osage Indians. He may have touched the southeast corner of the present State of Kansas.

1724—Bourgmont, another Frenchman, conducts an expedition up the valley of the Kansas river to the country of the Padoucahs or Comanches.

1762—France cedes the province of Louisiana to Spain by the treaty of Fontainebleau, Nov. 3.

1800—Louisiana ceded back to France by the secret treaty of St. Ildefonso Oct. 1.

1803—A treaty concluded at Paris on April 30, by which the province of Louisiana was ceded to the United States, which government took formal possession on Dec. 20 following.

1804—Lewis and Clark start up the Missouri river on an expedition to the Pacific coast. They return to St. Louis in the fall of 1806.

1806—Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike leads an expedition through Kansas and on Sept. 29 raised, for the first time in Kansas, the United States flag at the Pawnee village in what is now Republic county.

1819—Maj. Stephen H. Long's expedition.

1821—Col. Hugh Glenn conducts an expedition up the Arkansas river through Kansas on his way to the Rocky mountains.

1824—Thomas H. Benton introduces a bill in Congress for the establishment of a road from Independence, Mo., to Santa Fe, New Mex. The road was afterward established and became known as the Santa Fe trail.

1825—First treaties between the United States and the Osage and Kansas Indians.

1827—Col. Henry Leavenworth founds Fort Leavenworth.

1828—Napoleon Boone, son of Daniel Morgan Boone, born on Aug. 22 at the Indian agency farm 7 miles up the Kansas river from Lawrence. This was the first white child born in Kansas.

1829—A Methodist mission established among the Shawnee Indians in what is now Johnson county by Rev. Thomas Johnson.

1830—Congress established a vast Indian territory west of the Mississippi river. Kansas was included in this territory.

1833—The first printing press brought to Kansas by Rev. Jotham Meeker and put in operation at the Shawnee mission.

1835—Col. Henry Dodge leads an expedition up the Arkansas river on the way to the Rocky mountains.

1840—Joseph and Ahcan Papan establish a ferry across the Kansas river where Topeka now stands.

1842-43—Gen. John C. Fremont's exploring expeditions pass through Kansas bound for the far west.

1854—President Pierce signs the Kansas-Nebraska bill on May 30, making Kansas an organized territory of the United States. On Sept. 15 the first newspaper—The Leavenworth Herald—was published, and on Oct. 7 Andrew H. Reeder, the first territorial governor, arrives at Fort Leavenworth.

1855—First election for members of the legislative assembly held on March 30. The legislature met at Pawnee on July 2.

1859—Wyandotte constitution adopted in convention on July 29 and ratified by the people at an election held on Oct. 4.

1860—The first iron rail laid on Kansas soil at Elwood—the beginning of the Elwood & Marysville railroad. A severe drought this year.

1861—Last session of the territorial legislature begins on Jan. 7. President Buchanan signs the bill admitting Kansas into the Union as a state on Jan. 29; the state government inaugurated on Feb. 9, with Charles Robinson as governor, and the first state legislature convened on March 26. First Kansas regiment for the Civil war mustered in at Fort Leavenworth on June 4.

1863—Quantrill massacre at Lawrence Aug. 21, and the Baxter Springs massacre Oct. 6. Work began on the Union Pacific railroad in Kansas this year.

1864—Gen. Price's raid through Missouri and southeastern Kansas causes considerable alarm among the citizens of the state.

1868—Indian troubles in the west; battle of Arickaree Sept. 17.

1874—The great Grasshopper invasion. Some 1,500 Mennonites settled in Marion, Harvey and Reno counties.

1876—Kansas made an exhibit at the Centennial exposition at Philadelphia that attracted wide and favorable comment, with the result that during the next three years a large number of people settled in the state.

1878—The last Indian raid in Kansas.

1880—An amendment to the constitution ratified at the election in November prohibiting the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors in the state.

1887—Women given the right to vote at municipal elections and for school officers.

1890—The People's or Populist party organized in Kansas by a convention at Topeka on June 12.

1893—Columbian exposition at Chicago. Kansas makes a fine exhibit and wins a number of awards.

1894—Oil and natural gas discovered.

1898—Kansas furnished three white regiments and one colored regiment for the Spanish-American war.

1901—Mrs. Carrie Nation starts a crusade against the saloons that results in better enforcement of the prohibitory law.

1903—State house at Topeka completed; begun in 1870. This year was marked by destructive floods in the Kansas and Missouri rivers, as well as some of the smaller streams of the state.

1904—Louisiana Purchase exposition at St. Louis. Kansas again makes a notable exhibit of her products and wins several first prizes.

1905—Kansas battleship launched on Aug. 12.

1906—Monuments marking the line of the Santa Fe trail placed in position by the state and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

1908—First nomination of state officers under the primary election law on Aug. 4.

1911—President Taft visits Kansas and lays the corner-stone of the Memorial Building at Topeka on Sept. 27.

Note.—In the state are a number of institutions, etc., the official names of which begin with the word "Kansas," as Kansas States Agricultural College, Kansas State Historical Society, etc. In a number of such cases in this work the official title has been dropped and the subject treated under its popular name, as Agricultural College, Historical Society.

Source: Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History 2. (1912) Chicago: Standard Publishing Company. 46-50.