History:

Spanish explorer Francisco de Coronado is believed to have been the first European to explore what is now Kansas in 1541.

Sieur de la Salle's extensive land claims for France (1682) included present-day Kansas, and between then and 1739, a number of explorers from Spain and France came to this area in search of gold and to trade with the Indians. Ceded to Spain by France in 1763, the territory reverted to France in 1800 and then was sold to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and Stephen H. Long explored the region between 1803 and 1819. The first permanent white settlements in Kansas were outposts—Fort Leavenworth (1827), Fort Scott (1842), and Fort Riley (1853)—established to protect travelers along the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike declared the land unsuitable for farming, which discouraged white settlers. Instead, in 1830 the government passed the Indian Removal Act which designated Kansas as part of “Indian Territory” and relocated native people to the area from their home lands further east.

Kansas became a United States Territory in 1854 with the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, at a time which the country was bitterly divided by slavery. When the state was admitted as a territory, the U.S. government determined that the people who lived there should vote on whether slavery should be permitted. People who didn’t want slavery quickly moved to Kansas hoping they could outnumber those moving from Missouri, who did want it. At stake was both the status of slaves in the state, and the political leanings of any legislators to be elected once the Territory became a state. There were many fights among these people, but eventually those against slavery won, and Kansas became a “free state” in 1861. Because of the great violence during this time, Kansas became known as “Bleeding Kansas.”

After the Civil War expansion of the rail system to Kansas and the increasing number of immigrants lured to the state by offers of cheap land, Native Americans were forced into smaller and smaller reservations. Ultimately their removal to Indian Territory forced the final confrontation in the late 1870's that ended the independent life of the Native Americans. The army established military posts along the railroads and the trails used by those traveling west. Such towns as Dodge City, Abilene, and Wichita became known as “cow towns” because of their prominence along the routes used by ranchers to move cattle for sale.