Page:Kansas A Cyclopedia of State History vol 1.djvu/14

 he may have a history and philosophy of the building of a state. The value of this may be enhanced by reading the brief biographies of the people who have been most in the limelight as leaders in the building of Kansas. In the preparation of these brief biographies one cannot help but reflect upon the fact that after all the rank and file of the people, each one performing his duty in his proper place, made Kansas. Those men and women who endured the hardships of pioneer days (and Kansas has always had her pioneer days in the progress of civilization from the Missouri border to the Colorado line), subdued the soil, mastered the resources of the country, developed her industries, built her schools, churches and railroads, made a large part of the real history of Kansas which cannot be recorded except in a general way. History seldom portrays the real life of the commonwealth. It is the sociology of the state after all that represents its true greatness.

Indeed the political history of the state represents a small part of what Kansas has wrought and hence a small part of its life. The Kansas Cyclopedia assumes to present every factor in the political, social, and economic development and relate every important event which has had to do with the building of a great commonwealth. And when we pause to think of it, what a great history it is, extending back nearly four hundred years, with its active progress crowded into a little more than half a century! And yet it falls naturally into various periods:

It comprises prehistoric Kansas and the occupation of the native races; the early expeditions of Coronado and other Spanish explorers; the early trappers and traders, followed by the explorations of Pike and Long; the military organization for the protection of the frontier; the history of early trading and transportation trails leading to Santa Fe, Utah, Oregon and California; the period of settlement and the disposal of public land; the struggle that organized Kansas a free state; the organization and development of counties and towns; the mustering of its armies for the preservation of the Union; the expansion of government and the making of internal public improvements; the exploitation of the geology of Kansas and the development of its material resources; development of agriculture, manufacturing and transportation; and through it all the development of schools, colleges and the university, the founding and progress of charitable institutions, the building of churches and the enactment of special laws to enforce the moral conduct of society. Add to this the hundreds of instances of real life told of men and affairs and you have an outline of the real history of Kansas.

The editor of this history, and his able assistants have sought with painstaking exactness to ascertain the truth of Kansas history. They have had at their command the writings of many authorities, the experiences of men and a magnificent body of historical material from the Kansas Historical Society. If the book is entirely free from error it is different from any other history ever written of any country. And while small errors may have crept in even after the most careful scrutiny,