Kansas, the central state of the American Union, and the eighth in area, is bounded N. by Nebraska, E. by Missouri, S. by Indian Territory, and W. by Colorado. It is about 400 miles from east to west, and 200 from north to south, and contains an area of 82,080 sq. m. The surface is for the most part a rolling prairie, rising in the north-west to between 3000 and 4000 feet. Along the eastern boundary the average elevation is 800 feet, and the rise is so gradual as to be imperceptible; there are no mountains in the state. The bottoms along the larger streams are commonly called valleys, and vary from mile to 5 miles in width; in eastern Kansas they are deeply depressed, and are skirted by bold bluffs rising to 300 feet, but in the west the line between valley and upland can hardly be distinguished. Kansas has no navigable river except the Missouri, which forms a portion of its eastern boundary. The Kansas or Kaw drains nearly half the state, and the Arkansas drains another large portion; the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes furnish the water system of south-eastern Kansas. The larger streams, as the Kansas and Arkansas, are rivers of the plains, with light banks and sandy bottoms; but many of the smaller rivers have rock bottoms, and supply abundant water-power. The timber of the state is found in a narrow belt along the watercourses, principally in the east.
Kansas has a climate subject to extremes of temperature, but neither excessive cold nor heat prevails for long periods. There is a great proportion of bright, clear weather in all seasons of the year. While a record of 106° F. above zero has been observed, cases of fatal sunstroke are unknown, and men pursue their ordinary outdoor avocations with scarcely an interruption throughout the year. The mercury rarely falls below zero, and in many seasons the farmers plough during every month of winter. The mean annual rainfall is 37.10 inches; but in the west the supply is much more scanty, and in the upper Arkansas valley irrigation by means of ditches has been introduced. The average annual temperature is 53° F.
The minerals of Kansas include lead and zinc in abundance in the south-east; coal of excellent quality, the coalfield occupying all the eastern portion of the state; lignite in the west; immense beds of rock-salt; and mineral paint, gypsum, good building-stones, brick-clay, and material for hydraulic cement. The output of coal in the year 1890 was 24 million tons, of lead 5000 tons, and of zinc 20,000 tons.
Kansas is an agricultural and pastoral state. The soil throughout is uniformly fertile, but there is a considerable difference in actual productiveness owing to the difference in the rainfall. The area under wheat, maize, and oats is over 10,000,000 acres (1895). The annual produce of wheat may be set down as upwards of 70,000,000 bushels, of maize nearly 150,000 bushels, of oats 45,000,000 bushels, besides rye, barley, buckwheat, flax, potatoes, beans, peas, sorghum (forsugar), and tobacco. Great quantities of prairie hay are cut on the still uncultivated prairie lands. The state is especially suitable for cattle raising, large stocks of cattle and swine (as well as horses, sheep, &c.) are kept, and meat-packing is a great industry in Kansas City. Creameries are numerous, and more and more attention is given to the raising of blooded stock. Forestry also has engaged the attention of the farmers, and thousands of acres of planted timber now break the surface of the prairie.
The manufacturing industries are chiefly those connected with agriculture and stock-raising. Of these the most important is beef and pork packing, the principal establishments being at Kansas City. The flouring-mills are next in importance, and then the foundries, and the manufacture of stoves and agricultural implements. The building of railways began in Kansas in 1860; in 1890 every county in the state save five had one or more lines, their total length exceeding 8800 miles.
Kansas is divided into 106 counties, and sends two senators and seven representatives to congress. State officers and members of the legislature are elected every two years. The marked features of the constitution are the liberal Homestead (q.v.) exemption; the privileges of married women, who may carry on business and hold property as if single; the suffrage provisions, which allow women to vote at school and municipal elections; and the prohibitory statute which forbids the manufacture or sale in Kansas of intoxicating liquors for other than medicinal or mechanical purposes. There are insane asylums at Topeka and Osawatomie, a boys' reformatory at Topeka, an asylum for the blind at Kansas City, a Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Atchison, an institution for the education of the deaf and dumb at Olathe, and an asylum for idiotic and imbecile youths at Winfield; and the state in 1889 adopted also the industrial school for girls at Beloit. In each township two sections (1280 acres) have been given to the common schools, and the sale of these lands forms the basis of the permanent school fund, which amounts to about 5,000,000. The annual expenditure is also about 5,000,000. In 1890 there were 12,152 teachers, instructing 389,570 children in the elementary schools, besides 218 teachers in 16 secondary schools, with 3950 pupils. The state also maintains a university at Lawrence, which had 542 students in 1890; an agricultural college at Manhattan (514 students); and a normal school at Emporia (1120 students). There are also a number of denominational and other colleges in the state. Co-education prevails, with hardly an exception.
History.—Kansas when first known to white explorers was occupied by several tribes of Indians, from one of which, the Kaw or Kansas Indians, the river and the state derive their names. The state, save a small fraction, was acquired in the Louisiana purchase, and was organised as a territory by the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The act provided that the question of the existence of slavery as a permanent institution in the territory should be decided by its people. Kansas at once became the battle-ground between the partisans of slavery and freedom. Large parties from the bordering slave-state of Missouri repeatedly invaded the territory; and armed colonists from South Carolina and other southern states came to take possession. These were met by immigrants from the northern states. Both parties started towns and settlements. Elections were attempted, but resulted in the seizure of the polls by the pro-slavery party and the refusal of the Free State party to abide by the declared results. Collisions became numerous, and robberies and murders were committed. The Federal administration sided with the pro-slavery party, and used the government of the territory and the United States troops against the Free State party. John Brown (q.v.) took part in the civil war which prevailed, and many fights that were almost battles took place. The Free State party was steadily reinforced from the north, and by the year 1857 seemed everywhere in the ascendant; but as late as May 1858 occurred what is known in Kansas history as the 'Marais des Cygnes massacre,' in which six Free State settlers were killed and four badly wounded by a party from Missouri. After several futile endeavours to organise, however, the Wyandotte constitution was finally adopted in 1859, and on the 29th of January 1861 Kansas was admitted as a state of the Union. The civil war immediately followed. Out of a population of 100,000 Kansas sent 20,000 soldiers to the field. Kansas suffered greatly throughout the war, but the building of railroads, begun during its continuance, was pushed with energy at its close; immigration poured in on a scale before unknown in America, and the career of the state has since been one of almost uninterrupted prosperity. The population of Kansas in 1860 was 107,206; in 1890 it was 1,427,096. The population of the principal cities in 1890 was: Kansas City, 38,316; Topeka, the capital, 31,007; Wichita, 23,853 (as compared with 4911 in 1880); with Leavenworth, Atchison, and Fort Scott below 20,000 and above 10,000.