The Modern Wild West: Kansas

A lot of people think of cows, cowboys and the Wild West when they think of the State of Kansas. Wyatt Earp was a marshal in Wichita in the 1870’s, and James Butler “Wild Bill“ Hickok was a lawman in eastern Kansas in the late 1850‘s. While this is a part of Kansas’ history, the 34th state has changed significantly since joining the Union in 1861.

The Sunflower State, nicknamed after the state flower, is now a world leader in the aviation industry. About 70% of the world’s aviation aircraft is manufactured in the city of Wichita by industry leaders Boeing Company, Cessna Aircraft Company, Bombardier Aerospace-Learjet and Raytheon Aircraft Company. They are among the largest employers in the city and Bombardier and Cessna are among the top 20 employers in the state.

Although Wichita is the largest city in Kansas with around 350,000 people, the Kansas City area on the Kansas side of the state line (a large portion of Kansas City area residents live in Kansas City, Missouri) has closer to half a million people. With 150,000 people, Kansas City, Kansas is the state’s third largest city, behind Wichita and the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. The state’s total population is about 2.8 million.

Kansas does not have any major league sports teams, but Kansas residents living in the Kansas City area enjoy Kansas City, Missouri’s major league baseball team, the Royals and major league football, the Chiefs. Kansas City, Kansas is home to the Northern League Baseball team, the T-Bones, and to the Kansas Speedway, which hosts NASCAR races.

The state has many college sports fans, as Kansas is home to a number of colleges and universities. The most well-known are probably the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence, home of the Jayhawks, and Kansas State University (K State) in Manhattan, home of the Wildcats. In fact, the rivalry between KU and MU (the University of Missouri) are known as the Border Wars.

The term Border Wars traces back to the history of the settling of Kansas and Missouri. The settlers of the Kansas Territory wanted Kansas to enter the Union a free state, which caused tension and eventually violence with the bordering state of pro-slavery Missouri.

Kansas has a diverse history and has come a long way since the days of the “Wild West.” However, the “Border Wars” continue, albeit in a friendlier context.