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73-491: Kiowa County is the name of several counties in the United States: Kiowa County, Colorado Kiowa County, Kansas Kiowa County, Oklahoma [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

146-562: A Dhegiha Siouan -speaking people who settled in Arkansas around the 13th century. The stem - kansa is named after the Kaw people , also known as the Kansa , a federally recognized Native American tribe. The tribe 's name (natively kką:ze ) is often said to mean "people of the (south) wind" although this was probably not the term's original meaning. Before European colonization , Kansas

219-727: A bending course for nearly 500 mi (800 km) across the western and southern parts of the state. With its tributaries, (the Little Arkansas , Ninnescah , Walnut, Cow Creek , Cimarron , Verdigris, and the Neosho ), it forms the southern drainage system of the state. Kansas's other rivers are the Saline and Solomon Rivers, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; the Big Blue , Delaware , and Wakarusa , which flow into

292-421: A household in the county was $ 30,494, and the median income for a family was $ 35,536. Males had a median income of $ 26,136 versus $ 18,897 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 16,382. About 9.60% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line , including 11.50% of those under age 18 and 13.80% of those age 65 or over. Over six percent of the population were Quakers –one of

365-543: A life expectancy near the U.S. national average. In 2013, males in Kansas lived an average of 76.6 years compared to a male national average of 76.7 years and females lived an average of 81.0 years compared to a female national average of 81.5 years. Increases in life expectancy between 1980 and 2013 were below the national average for males and near the national average for females. Male life expectancy in Kansas between 1980 and 2014 increased by an average of 5.2 years, compared to

438-493: A male national average of a 6.7-year increase. Life expectancy for females in Kansas between 1980 and 2014 increased by 4.3 years, compared to a female national average of a 4.0 year increase. Using 2017–2019 data, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation calculated that life expectancy for Kansas counties ranged from 75.8 years for Wyandotte County to 81.7 years for Johnson County . Life expectancy for

511-432: A population of less than 25,000, and upon reaching a population of more than 15,000, they may be certified as a city of the first class. First and second class cities are independent of any township and are not included within the township's territory. Note: Births in table do not add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number. The residents of Kansas have

584-569: A total area of 1,786 square miles (4,630 km ), of which 1,768 square miles (4,580 km ) is land and 18 square miles (47 km ) (1.0%) is water. Significant drainage basins in the county are Adobe Creek and Mustang Creek which drain the county's western part, Rush Creek and Big Sandy Creek in the central part and Wildhorse, Buffalo, and White Woman creeks in the eastern part. The draws tend to be intermittent, however Adobe, Rush and Big Sandy creeks have small continuous flows during wetter years. Each of these creeks ultimately drains to

657-449: A young city incorporated in 1960, has the largest population and the largest land area in the county. It is home to Johnson County Community College . Olathe is the county seat and home to Johnson County Executive Airport . The cities of Olathe, Shawnee , De Soto and Gardner have some of the state's fastest growing populations. The cities of Overland Park, Lenexa , Olathe, De Soto, and Gardner are also notable because they lie along

730-603: Is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado . As of the 2020 census , the population was 1,446, making it the fifth-least populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Eads . The county was named for the Kiowa Nation of Native Americans . On November 29, 1864, more than a decade before Colorado became a state and long before Kiowa County was formed, a massacre of Native Americans —a group of old men, women, and children—occurred on Sand Creek that initially

803-712: Is also the home of Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center , Prairie Dunes Country Club and the Kansas State Fair . North of Wichita along Interstate 135 is the city of Newton , the former western terminal of the Santa Fe Railroad and trailhead for the famed Chisholm Trail . To the southeast of Wichita are the cities of Winfield and Arkansas City with historic architecture and the Cherokee Strip Museum (in Ark City). The city of Udall

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876-678: Is covered by glacial drift and loess . The western two-thirds of the state, lying in the great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface, while the eastern third has many hills and forests. The land gradually rises from east to west; its altitude ranges from 684 ft (208 m) along the Verdigris River at Coffeyville in Montgomery County , to 4,039 ft (1,231 m) at Mount Sunflower , 0.5 miles (0.80 kilometers) from

949-690: Is defined by the Missouri River . The Kansas River (locally known as the Kaw), formed by the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers at appropriately-named Junction City , joins the Missouri River at Kansas City , after a course of 170 mi (270 km) across the northeastern part of the state. The Arkansas River ( pronunciation varies ), rising in Colorado , flows with

1022-510: Is the 15th-largest state by area , the 36th most-populous of the 50 states, with a population of 2,940,865 according to the 2020 census, and the 10th least densely populated . Residents of Kansas are called Kansans . Mount Sunflower is Kansas's highest point at 4,039 feet (1,231 meters). The name Kansas derives from the Algonquian term, Akansa , for the Quapaw people. These were

1095-463: Is the largest city in central and north-central Kansas. South of Salina is the small city of Lindsborg with its numerous Dala horses . Much of the architecture and decor of this town has a distinctly Swedish style. To the east along Interstate 70 , the historic city of Abilene was formerly a trailhead for the Chisholm Trail and was the boyhood home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower , and

1168-559: Is the site of his Presidential Library and the tombs of the former president, First Lady and son who died in infancy. To the west is Lucas , the Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas. Westward along the Interstate, the city of Russell , traditionally the beginning of sparsely-populated northwest Kansas, was the base of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole and the boyhood home of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter . The city of Hays

1241-533: The American Civil War these forces collided, entering into skirmishes and guerrilla conflicts that earned the territory the nickname Bleeding Kansas . These included John Brown 's Pottawatomie massacre of 1856. Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to join the United States. By that time, the violence in Kansas had largely subsided, but during

1314-543: The Arkansas River . The Great Plains Reservoirs south of Eads and along both sides U.S. Highway 287 are a group of four larger reservoirs and several smaller ones that supply irrigation water to local farms and offer hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing in the Queens State Wildlife Area. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,622 people, 665 households, and 452 families residing in

1387-582: The Homestead Acts in 1862 accelerated settlement and agricultural development in the state. After the Civil War, many veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas. Many African Americans also looked to Kansas as the land of " John Brown " and, led by freedmen like Benjamin "Pap" Singleton , began establishing black colonies in the state. Leaving southern states in the late 1870s because of increasing discrimination, they became known as Exodusters . At

1460-502: The Köppen climate classification , Kansas has three climates: humid continental, semi-arid steppe, and humid subtropical. The eastern two-thirds of the state (especially the northeastern portion) has a humid continental climate , with cool to cold winters and hot, often humid summers. Most of the precipitation falls during both the summer and the spring. The USDA hardiness zones for Kansas range from Zone 5b (−15 °F to −10 °F) in

1533-637: The Mississippi River . The city of Atchison was an early commercial center in the state and is well known as the birthplace of Amelia Earhart . To the west, nearly a quarter million people reside in the Topeka metropolitan area. Topeka is the state capital and home to Washburn University and Washburn Institute of Technology . Built at a Kansas River crossing along the old Oregon Trail , this historic city has several nationally registered historic places. Further westward along Interstate 70 and

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1606-600: The Providence Medical Center Amphitheater , the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame , and the annual Kansas City Renaissance Festival . Further up the Missouri River , the city of Lansing is the home of the state's first maximum-security prison. Historic Leavenworth , founded in 1854, was the first incorporated city in Kansas. North of the city, Fort Leavenworth is the oldest active Army post west of

1679-520: The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site . Currently, the facilities include a small visitor center, two walking trails, signage, and monuments overlooking the massacre site. The massacre site itself is off-limits to visitors. In the late 1880s, eastern Colorado attracted a lot of attention by farming interests that did not yet know that long-term agriculture was unsustainable in this arid landscape, and

1752-700: The Union as a free state, hence the unofficial nickname "The Free State". Passage of the Homestead Acts in 1862 brought a further influx of settlers, and the booming cattle trade of the 1870s attracted some of the Wild West's most iconic figures to western Kansas. As of 2015, Kansas was among the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum , and soybeans . In addition to its traditional strength in agriculture, Kansas possesses an extensive aerospace industry. Kansas, which has an area of 82,278 square miles (213,100 square kilometers)

1825-632: The railroads were snaking west across the plains towards the gold fields of the Rocky Mountains during the Colorado Gold Rush . The Missouri Pacific Railroad crossed into what would soon become Kiowa County, Colorado, from Kansas in 1887. Several small camps for railroad workers were established just over the border from Kansas , and beginning after the town of Sheridan Lake , new towns and camps were sequentially named, alphabetically, starting with "A" and proceeding westward along

1898-458: The water rights , and the groundwater aquifers are drying up. Kiowa County faces ever-decreasing water supplies and further economic decline. It is conceivable that much of the county will eventually revert to its original sparse grassland and prairie conditions of the pre-1880s. Today Eads, along the old railroad line, is the largest town in the county. It is the Kiowa county seat, serves

1971-521: The 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery debate. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854 with the Kansas–Nebraska Act , conflict between abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri broke out over the question of whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state , in a period known as Bleeding Kansas . On January 29, 1861, Kansas entered

2044-491: The Civil War, on August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led several hundred of his supporters on a raid into Lawrence , destroying much of the city and killing nearly 200 people. He was roundly condemned by both the conventional Confederate military and the partisan rangers commissioned by the Missouri legislature . His application to that body for a commission was flatly rejected due to his pre-war criminal record. Passage of

2117-491: The Colorado border, in Wallace County . It is a common misconception that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation—in 2003, a tongue-in-cheek study famously declared the state "flatter than a pancake". In fact, Kansas has a maximum topographic relief of 3,360 ft (1,020 m), making it the 23rd flattest U.S. state measured by maximum relief. Around 74 mi (119 km) of the state's northeastern boundary

2190-576: The East, earning Dodge the nickname "Queen of the Cowtowns". In response to demands of Methodists and other evangelical Protestants , in 1881 Kansas became the first U.S. state to adopt a constitutional amendment prohibiting all alcoholic beverages , which was repealed in 1948. Anti-saloon activist Carrie Nation vandalized her first saloon in Kiowa in 1900. In 1922, suffragist Ella Uphay Mowry became

2263-540: The Kansas River is Junction City with its historic limestone and brick buildings and nearby Fort Riley , well known as the home to the U.S. Army 's 1st Infantry Division (nicknamed "the Big Red One"). A short distance away, the city of Manhattan is home to Kansas State University , the second-largest public university in the state and the nation's oldest land-grant university, dating back to 1863. South of

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2336-988: The Kansas River; and the Marais des Cygnes , a tributary of the Missouri River. Spring River is located between Riverton and Baxter Springs . Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include: In Kansas, there are currently 238 species of rare animals and 400 rare plants. Among those include: Smooth rockress , Virginia rail , Western Grotto Salamander , Royal Fern , Turkey-tangle , Bobolink , Cave salamander , Snowy Plover , Strecker's Chorus Frog , Peregrine falcon , and Black-footed ferret . Common animal species and grasses include: Crows , Deer , Lesser prairie chicken , Mice , Moles , Virginia Opossum , Prairie dogs , Raccoon , Eastern Gama Grass , Prairie Dropseed , Indian Grass , Little Bluestem , Switch grass , Northern Sea Oats , Tussock Sedge , Sideoats grama , and Big Bluestem . In

2409-523: The North to Zone 7a (0 °F to 5 °F) in the South. The western third of the state—from roughly the U.S. Route 83 corridor westward—has a semi-arid steppe climate. Summers are hot, often very hot, and generally less humid. Winters are highly changeable between warm and very cold. The western region receives an average of about 16 inches (410 millimeters) of precipitation per year. Chinook winds in

2482-858: The Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is in Smith County near Lebanon . Until 1989, the Meades Ranch Triangulation Station in Osborne County was the geodetic center of North America: the central reference point for all maps of North America. The geographic center of Kansas is in Barton County . Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks . A sequence of Mississippian , Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks outcrop in

2555-502: The U.S. forces, was castigated by the United States Congress , and the scandal followed him for the rest of his life. Evans would go on to make significant important contributions to the early Denver community, and while Chivington also made some, his reputation remained tainted, while Evans is still honored today. The location was not positively identified until 1999, and in 2005, the National Park Service established

2628-644: The all-time highest temperature recorded in Kansas is (121 °F or 49.4 °C) on July 24, 1936, near Alton in Osborne County , and the all-time low is −40 °F (−40 °C) on February 13, 1905, near Lebanon in Smith County . Alton and Lebanon are approximately 50 miles (80 km) apart. Kansas's record high of 121 °F (49.4 °C) ties with North Dakota for the fifth-highest record high in an American state, behind California (134 °F or 56.7 °C), Arizona (128 °F or 53.3 °C), Nevada (125 °F or 51.7 °C), and New Mexico (122 °F or 50 °C). Known as rural flight ,

2701-472: The campus, Aggieville dates back to 1889 and is the state's oldest shopping district of its kind. In south-central Kansas, the Wichita metropolitan area is home to more than 600,000 people. Wichita is the largest city in the state in terms of both land area and population. 'The Air Capital' is a major manufacturing center for the aircraft industry and the home of Wichita State University . Before Wichita

2774-651: The county seat of Kiowa County and was not at first a stop on the railroad line; only after local citizens built a railroad depot and turned it over to the Missouri Pacific did the railroad build a telegraph station and make Sheridan Lake a stop. The county seat moved to rival Eads in 1902. Agriculture in eastern Colorado collapsed in the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s; today mostly dry-land farms and some ranching interests survive. Colorado's Front Range cities and agriculture interests upstream have acquired most of

2847-541: The county's vote, and both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden barely reached ten percent. 38°26′N 102°44′W  /  38.43°N 102.74°W  / 38.43; -102.74 Kansas Kansas ( / ˈ k æ n z ə s / KAN -zəss ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States . It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to

2920-404: The county. The population density was 1 people per square mile (0.39 people/km ). There were 817 housing units at an average density of 0.457 units per square mile (0.176 units/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 96.12% White , 0.49% Black or African American , 1.11% Native American , 0.06% Pacific Islander , 1.42% from other races , and 0.80% from two or more races. 3.14% of

2993-453: The day. Precipitation ranges from about 47 inches (1,200 mm) annually in the state's southeast corner to about 16 inches (410 mm) in the southwest. Snowfall ranges from around 5 inches (130 mm) in the fringes of the south, to 35 inches (890 mm) in the far northwest. Frost-free days range from more than 200 days in the south, to 130 days in the northwest. Thus, Kansas is the country's ninth or tenth sunniest state, depending on

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3066-473: The eastern and southern part of the state. The state's western half has exposures of Cretaceous through Tertiary sediments, the latter derived from the erosion of the uplifted Rocky Mountains to the west. These are underlain by older Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments which correlate well with the outcrops to the east. The state's northeastern corner was subjected to glaciation in the Pleistocene and

3139-410: The fastest-growing in the country. Kansas has 627 incorporated cities . By state statute, cities are divided into three classes as determined by the population obtained "by any census of enumeration". A city of the third class has a population of less than 5,000, but cities reaching a population of more than 2,000 may be certified as a city of the second class. The second class is limited to cities with

3212-632: The first female gubernatorial candidate in the state when she ran as "Mrs. W.D. Mowry". She later stated that, "Someone had to be the pioneer. I firmly believe that some day a woman will sit in the governor's chair in Kansas." Kansas suffered severe and environmental damage in the 1930s due to the combined effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl , and large numbers of people left southwestern Kansas in particular for better opportunities elsewhere. The outbreak of World War II spurred rapid growth in aircraft manufacturing near Wichita in

3285-756: The former route of the Santa Fe Trail . Among cities with at least one thousand residents, Mission Hills has the highest median income in the state. Several institutions of higher education are located in Northeast Kansas including Baker University (the oldest university in the state, founded in 1858 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church ) in Baldwin City, Benedictine College (sponsored by St. Benedict's Abbey and Mount St. Scholastica Monastery and formed from

3358-621: The heat index in those three cities is usually lower than the actual air temperature. Although temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher are not as common in areas east of U.S. 81, higher humidity and the urban heat island effect lead most summer days to heat indices between 107 and 114 °F (42 and 46 °C) in Topeka , Lawrence , and the Kansas City metropolitan area . Also, combined with humidity between 85 and 95 percent, dangerous heat indices can be experienced at every hour of

3431-544: The highest percentages in the country. Kiowa is, like all of the High Plains, an overwhelmingly Republican county. The last Democrat to carry it was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and since 1980, only Michael Dukakis in 1988 –during a major farm crisis brought upon by drought – has topped 30% of the county's vote for the Democratic Party. The past six Democratic candidates for president have not surpassed 22% of

3504-528: The last few decades have been marked by a migratory pattern out of the countryside into cities. Out of all the cities in these Midwestern states, 89% have fewer than 3,000 people, and hundreds of those have fewer than 1,000. In Kansas alone, there are more than 6,000 ghost towns and dwindling communities, according to one Kansas historian, Daniel C. Fitzgerald. At the same time, some of the communities in Johnson County (metropolitan Kansas City) are among

3577-416: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiowa_County&oldid=1148617626 " Category : United States county name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Kiowa County, Colorado Kiowa County

3650-771: The merger of St. Benedict's College (1858) and Mount St. Scholastica College (1923)) in Atchison, MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Ottawa University in Ottawa and Overland Park, Kansas City Kansas Community College and KU Medical Center in Kansas City, and KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park. Less than an hour's drive to the west, Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas , the largest public university in

3723-439: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 665 households, out of which 28.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were married couples living together, 6.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.00% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

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3796-413: The railroad line. Arden, Brandon , Chivington , Diston, Eads , Fergus, Galatea, Haswell , Inman, Joliet, and Kilburn appeared one after another, some developing into towns, others being only a pipe dream in the eyes of developers. Chivington was intended as a major watering stop for the railroad (a 60-room, $ 10,000 "crown jewel" hotel was initially built there), but the water was too alkaline to use and

3869-736: The same time, the Chisholm Trail was opened and the Wild West era commenced in Kansas. Storied lawman Wild Bill Hickok was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley and a marshal at Hays and Abilene . Dodge City was home to both Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp , who worked as lawmen in the town. The Dalton Gang robbed trains and banks throughout Kansas and the Southwest and maintained a hideout in Meade . In one year alone , eight million head of cattle from Texas boarded trains in Dodge City bound for

3942-577: The sites of present-day Denver , Colorado Springs , and Pueblo . The first non-military settlement of Euro-Americans in Kansas Territory consisted of abolitionists from Massachusetts and other Free-Staters who founded the town of Lawrence and attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Missouri and Arkansas continually sent settlers into Kansas Territory along its eastern border to sway votes in favor of slavery prior to Kansas statehood elections. Directly presaging

4015-455: The so-called Battle of Kansas , and the aerospace sector remains a significant portion of the Kansan economy to this day. Kansas is bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities , with its largest county by area being Butler County . Kansas is located equidistant from

4088-750: The source. Western Kansas is as sunny as parts of California and Arizona . Kansas is prone to severe weather, especially in the spring and the early-summer. Despite the frequent sunshine throughout much of the state, due to its location at a climatic boundary prone to intrusions of multiple air masses, the state is vulnerable to strong and severe thunderstorms. Some of these storms become supercell thunderstorms; these can produce some tornadoes , occasionally those of EF3 strength or higher. Kansas averages more than 50 tornadoes annually. Severe thunderstorms sometimes drop some very large hail over Kansas as well. Furthermore, these storms can even bring in flash flooding and damaging straight line winds. According to NOAA,

4161-575: The south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River , in turn named after the Kansa people. Its capital is Topeka , and its most populous city is Wichita ; however, the largest urban area is the bi-state Kansas City, MO–KS metropolitan area . For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Indigenous tribes . The first settlement of non-indigenous people in Kansas occurred in 1827 at Fort Leavenworth . The pace of settlement accelerated in

4234-470: The state as a whole was 78.5 years. Life expectancy for the United States as a whole in 2019 was 78.8 years. The northeastern portion of the state, extending from the eastern border to Junction City and from the Nebraska border to south of Johnson County is home to more than 1.5 million people in the Kansas City (Kansas portion), Manhattan, Lawrence, and Topeka metropolitan areas . Overland Park ,

4307-522: The state, and Haskell Indian Nations University . To the north, Kansas City , with the second largest land area in the state, contains a number of diverse ethnic neighborhoods. Its attractions include the Kansas Speedway , Sporting Kansas City , Kansas City Monarchs , and The Legends at Village West retail and entertainment center. Nearby, Kansas's first settlement Bonner Springs is home to several national and regional attractions including

4380-405: The surviving farming and ranching interests, and hosts the county's largest high school. Sheridan Lake does have a combined junior-and-senior high, and still surviving in some form are the towns of Towner, Arlington, Brandon, Chivington, and Haswell. Eads is also the location of the county's chief hospital, Weisbrod Memorial County Hospital . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has

4453-467: The territory of Kansas was integrated into Spanish Louisiana . During that period, Governor Luis de Unzaga 'le Conciliateur' promoted expeditions and good relations with the Amerindians . Explorer Antoine de Marigny and others continued trading across the Kansas River , especially at its confluence with the Missouri River , tributaries of the Mississippi River . In 1803, most of modern Kansas

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4526-474: The trail are still visible in the prairie today. In 1827, Fort Leavenworth became the first permanent settlement of white Americans in the future state. The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854, establishing Nebraska Territory and Kansas Territory , and opening the area to broader settlement by whites. Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide and included

4599-521: The trains instead stopped in Kansas to tank up. The hotel was soon torn down, its materials shipped to other Colorado locations to use in constructing other facilities—a common occurrence in late 19th century Colorado, as boom towns went bust. Kiowa County was established in 1889, taking its name from the Kiowa Indians who lived in eastern Colorado before the Europeans arrived. Sheridan Lake was

4672-500: The winter can warm western Kansas all the way into the 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) range. The south-central and southeastern portions of the state, including the Wichita area, have a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers, milder winters, and more precipitation than elsewhere in Kansas. Some features of all three climates can be found in most of the state, with droughts and changeable weather between dry and humid not uncommon, and both warm and cold spells in

4745-492: The winter. Temperatures in areas between U.S. Routes 83 and 81 , as well as the southwestern portion of the state along and south of U.S. 50 , reach 90 °F (32 °C) or above on most days of June, July, and August. High humidity added to the high temperatures sends the heat index into life-threatening territory, especially in Wichita, Hutchinson , Salina , Russell , Hays , and Great Bend . Temperatures are often higher in Dodge City , Garden City , and Liberal , but

4818-509: Was acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase . Southwest Kansas, however, was still a part of Spain, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas until the conclusion of the Mexican–American War in 1848, when these lands were ceded to the United States . From 1812 to 1821, Kansas was part of the Missouri Territory . The Santa Fe Trail traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, New Mexico . Wagon ruts from

4891-516: Was 'The Air Capital' it was a Cowtown. With a number of nationally registered historic places, museums, and other entertainment destinations, it has a desire to become a cultural mecca in the Midwest. Wichita's population growth has grown by double digits and the surrounding suburbs are among the fastest growing cities in the state. The population of Goddard has grown by more than 11% per year since 2000. Other fast-growing cities include Andover , Maize , Park City , Derby , and Haysville . Wichita

4964-402: Was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.90% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 24.70% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 17.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.40 males. The median income for

5037-400: Was greeted as a victory in the Colorado War against hostile Indians; within months, Congressional inquiries revealed a different picture, and a national scandal erupted. It happened in what is now Kiowa County and is known as the Sand Creek Massacre . Territorial Governor John Evans eventually lost his job for his part in setting up the incident, and Colonel John Chivington , commander of

5110-435: Was occupied by the Caddoan Wichita and later the Siouan Kaw people . Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison . The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado , who explored the area in 1541. Between 1763 and 1803,

5183-409: Was one of the first cities to add the city commissioner and city manager in their form of government. Wichita is also home of the nationally recognized Sedgwick County Zoo. Up river (the Arkansas River ) from Wichita is the city of Hutchinson . The city was built on one of the world's largest salt deposits (of what would form Strataca ), and it has the world's largest and longest wheat elevator. It

5256-582: Was the site of the deadliest tornado in Kansas on May 25, 1955; it killed 80 people in and near the city. Southeast Kansas has a unique history with a number of nationally registered historic places in this coal-mining region. Located in Crawford County (dubbed the Fried Chicken Capital of Kansas), Pittsburg is the largest city in the region and the home of Pittsburg State University . The neighboring city of Frontenac in 1888

5329-479: Was the site of the worst mine disaster in the state in which an underground explosion killed 47 miners. " Big Brutus " is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) outside the city of West Mineral . Along with the restored fort, historic Fort Scott has a national cemetery designated by President Lincoln in 1862. The region also shares a Media market with Joplin, Missouri , a city in Southwest Missouri. Salina

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