Kansas: Photos, Posters, and Prints

Kansas is a rolling prairie land that is remarkably homogeneous. The elevation of the state gains nearly 3,000 feet from east to west. A few miles from the Colorado border is the high point of the state, Mt. Sunflower, which reaches 4,039 feet. This area of the state is known as the high plains and was once covered by shortgrass prairie. Today most of the region is cultivated with only small parcels of native prairie lands. The northwestern area is carved by many streams and rivers. Interstate 70 is the major thorofare through this region. Monument Rocks National Landmark preserves a portion of the chalk stone formations that resemble pillars reaching up from the prairie. This region contains the largest production of sunflowers in Kansas. The southern portion of western Kansas contains Cimarron National Grasslands, which preserves a small portion of the natural grasslands that once covered the area. Flowing through this region is the Arkansas River on its way to the Mississippi River.

The amount of small historic sites and museums is remarkable in this state. (Every exit on Interstate 70 has one.) Fishing, hiking, swimming facilities are available at most state parks and reservoirs that pervade the state.

The geographical centre of North America, Kansas is a major agricultural area, with vast areas of farmland. As highway signs remind travellers, ‘Every Kansas farmer feeds 75 people – and you.’ It was through Kansas that families on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails drove their wagons westwards in search of new homesteads, while cowboys on the Chisholm Trail drove vast herds of longhorns north in search of the railroads. To cater for the new population, cowtowns like Abilene and Dodge City were born, and as whites forced Native Americans to move westwards, fierce battles over land erupted. Later, feuds over Kansas’s maintenance of slavery gave rise to the term ‘Bleeding Kansas’. Today, the State boasts many monuments to its Old West past, as well as numerous recreation centres, reservoirs and rivers offering all kinds of outdoor pursuits. Attractions include the restored cattle town of Dodge City. Here, it is worth visiting the Boot Hill Museum which recreates the Boot Hill Cemetery and Front Street as they looked in the 1870s.