KANSAS, FIRST IN THE NATION...

[W. Gray]

I think the history student might have been thinking about John Brown and the Pottawatomie Massacre that took place in 1856 in direct response to the 1856 sacking of Lawrence.

Give him or her an A for effort.

[Wilma]

Actually, I said Quantrill and "she" being a good daughter didn't correct her momma.  We can still say that the first shots of the Civil war were fired in Kansas, by John Brown, not Quantrill.  I didn't realize that.  The history books all say that the attack on Fort Sumter started the war.

[Wilma]

I don't think history recognizes the incident as a part of the Civil War, but it certainly was based on the same premise.  Besides, it gives Kansas a little more historical significance.

[W. Gray]

Blood ran deep in Kansas because the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 gutted the Missouri Compromise of 1820. If that political compromise had not been thrown out, Kansas would have been peaceful.

The Missouri Compromise specified that, except for Missouri, there would be no new slave states north of a line extended east to west across the United States along which the southern border of the new state of Missouri sat. (The Mason-Dixon line is something altogether different).

Wording in the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed the concept of Popular Sovereignty for any new state. That is, let the people decide. As a result both slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas viciously went against each other trying to mold the projected new state of Kansas to their liking.

[dnalexander]

I am going to have to start looking this up, but I believe that at some point during this time" Around the beginning of the civil war Kansas had two governments?).

David

[W. Gray]

I don't think I had heard of that, but anything could have happened.

Prior to becoming a state, a couple of the governors resigned or was forced out while in office. A few years ago, the Wichita Eagle maintained that the first governor, Andrew Reeder escaped Kansas dressed in a woman's clothing.

There were four state constitutions presented to voters from 1854 to 1859.

Free Kansas was admitted to the Union after the majority of the Southern states had seceded and around 75 days before the Civil War began.

Emporia received two votes in a popular election to be the state capital.

As part of the process for Kansas admission, the area of Colorado where I am located became Utah.

[W. Gray]

I was in North Dakota last month and, besides noting there was no one around, could not believe all the wheat fields I was seeing.

Now I see on several web sites that last year Kansas lost its number one title for producing wheat to North Dakota.

[Rudy Taylor]

Gosh, how did that get by me?  I've always touted us as No. 1 in wheat production.

But, I suppose No. 2 is almost as good.

[Tobina+1]

I think that Kansas has diversified into many different types of row crops in the last few years or so.  Depending on what the markets are.  I think with the advent of ethanol and ethanol plants, corn planting numbers has probably increased a lot over the last few years.

[W. Gray]

Kansas being number two in wheat production may or may not be temporary.

North Dakota surpassed Kansas for wheat production during one year in the mid nineties, but the Wheat State was able to come back and rule until last year.

Last I saw, a Kansas farmer was able to produce sufficient food products to feed himself and 128 other people. Have not seen any updates to that figure for a number of years.