KANSAS! Kids - 2025

2025 kansasmag.com

Adventure

Awaits

Celebrate and Explore Our AMAZING State ... Kid-Style Also in this issue!

Blast off with a Kansas rocket scientist / Meet the Ghost of the Kansas Capitol / Get up to speed with a Kansas champion race car driver / Read about a world-famous pilot who was also a top fashion designer ... and more!

Y TAR EN M I R L FO MP CO ISSUE RENT R U RS BE RC OU SCRI B SU

2025 kansasmag.com

KANSAS TOURISM, A DIVISION OF THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Andrea Etzel

Adventure

PUBLISHER

Awaits

Celebrate and Explore Our AMAZING State ... Kid-Style

Laura Kelly

Also in this issue!

Blast off with a Kansas rocket scientist / Meet the Ghost of the Kansas Capitol / Get up to speed with a Kansas champion race car driver / Read about a world-famous pilot who was also a top fashion designer ... and more!

GOVERNOR

ON THE COVER

David Toland

LT. GOVERNOR & SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

Bridgette Jobe TOURISM DIRECTOR

SUNFLOWERPUB.COM | LAWRENCE, KANSAS KSMAGAZINE@SUNFLOWERPUB.COM

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Bill Uhler

Bob Cucciniello

Shelly Bryant

Gina DeBacker

Alex Tatro

Leslie Clugston Andres

Dr. Patricia E. Ackerman

Nathan Pettengill

PUBLISHER

DIRECTOR

DESIGNER/ART DIRECTOR

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MANAGING EDITOR

ADVERTISING DESIGNER

MANAGING EDITOR

KANSAS! KIDS

LANGUAGE-LEARNING CONSULTANT

MANAGING EDITOR

Joanne Morgan

MARKETING / JMORGAN@SUNFLOWERPUB.COM

WWW.SHERIDAN.COM

PRINTER

Susan Roberts ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Dan Lautner

ACCOUNT MANAGER

KANSAS! (ISSN 0022-8435) is published five (5) times per year

by Kansas Tourism 1000 SW Jackson St., Suite 100 Topeka, KS 66612; 785.296.3479; TTY Hearing Impaired: 785.296.3487.

Periodical postage paid at Topeka, KS, and at additional mailing offices.

Newsstand price $5 per issue; subscription price $20 per year; $36 for two years.

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Please mail all editorial inquiries to: KANSAS!, 1000 SW Jackson St., Suite 100 Topeka, KS 66612 email: kansas.mag@ks.gov The articles and photographs that appear in KANSAS! magazine may not be broadcast, published or otherwise reproduced without the express written consent of Kansas Tourism or the appropriate copyright owner.

Unauthorized use is prohibited. Additional restrictions may apply.

Programs director Allie Little proudly presents Ivan the Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita. Ivan is one of the most complete T. Rex fossils on display in the world.

Photograph by Justin Lister.

Hey, Kansas Kids!

David C. Toland

Lt. Governor & Secretary of Commerce

Like what you see?

Take a minute to subscribe to KANSAS! It brings the best of our people, places and wide-open spaces to your home. A subscription includes the beautiful KANSAS! calendar delivered with your winter issue.

Subscribe here

A KANSAS HELLO

3 KANSAS KIDS

When I was your age, my grandparents gave me a subscription to KANSAS TOO!, which was a magazine all about what makes Kansas special that was just for kids.

I learned about helium being discovered in Kansas … and dinosaur fossils, Kansas astronauts, presidents who have visited here, cars and planes invented by Kansans, how Kansas used to be under an ocean, and how a Kansas farm kid discovered the planet Pluto!

That magazine sparked my interest in visiting different towns in our state with my family when I was a kid. And now, I get to serve Kansas as our lieutenant governor, and I’m still visiting and appreciating many of the same places. And it’s still fun!

Kansas kids are the best in the world. You’re smart, tough, curious, creative, hardworking and kind. You can do anything when you’re a Kansan.

Young Kansans like you are tomorrow’s business owners. Inventors. Explorers.

Even lieutenant governors!

That’s why we’ve created KANSAS! KIDS—to inspire you to do the next big thing.

Learn about great things that are happening here in our state—and even your town!— both in the past and right now.

I hope this will inspire you to read, learn and explore more of the Sunflower State and that it will encourage you to follow your curiosity and—just like I did—find YOUR reasons to love Kansas and to build your life here.

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Where in

Kansas?

MADE IN KANSAS 1

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Wichita has several disc golf parks. Some favorites include Oak Park, L.W. Clapp Memorial Park, and West Millbrook.

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The High Banks Hall of Fame and National Midget Auto Racing Museum in Belleville has rare racing items. See the first NASCAR trophy and historic racing uniforms.

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Dodge City Raceway Park has a 3/8-mile dirt track that attracts thousands of racing fans to watch exciting events each season.

Kansas International Dragway in Maize has held races at its quarter-mile track for 61 years.

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SCIENCE IN KANSAS 1

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The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson tells about space exploration. It also displays real rockets, flight suits and more.

The Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita tells about military aviation, airlines, pioneer Black aviators and much more.

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Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal is one of America’s largest aviation museums.

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Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum and the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison teaches visitors about legendary pilot Amelia Earhart.

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WEIRD & WACKY 1

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Finney County Historical Museum in Garden City displays the world’s largest cow hairball. It was the size of a basketball when first found in the stomach of a cow. Is it disgusting? Amazing? Or both?

World’s Largest Easel in Goodland stands at an impressive 80 feet tall. The easel supports a colorful mural of Vincent van Gogh’s famous “Sunflowers” painting.

KANSAS OUTDOORS 3

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World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things in Lucas displays tiny versions of huge tourist sites by artist Erika Nelson.

Museum of World Treasures in Wichita features dinosaur fossils, two mummies, a shrunken head, military uniforms throughout history, and a Kansas flag from 1861.

A KANSAS MAP

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Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park is worth the visit for its awesome, almost unbelievable rock formations.

Prairie Dog State Park is known for its prairie dog community.

It’s also a great spot for hiking and archery.

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Emporia is home to Dynamic Discs and 14 amazing courses. Champions Landing, Jones Park Supreme, Peter Pan Park, and Hammond Park are all great courses in Emporia.

Kansas City has many popular courses. Be sure to visit Rosedale, Cedar Ridge, Black Hoof, or Heritage Park.

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Topeka, Manhattan, Ozawkie, Hays, and Lawrence also have great disc golf courses.

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Elk City State Park offers four miles of trails, a great swimming beach and a disc golf course.

Clinton State Park is great for camping, fishing and creating lasting family memories.

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Rabbits in Rice County Hunt down eight bronze rabbit statues. “Clarence” is named after an important army general.

Wild Dala Horses in Lindsborg Statues of this toy wood horse from Sweden can be found all over the city.

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A KANSAS MAP

Rhinos in Marion Find 80 5 colorful rhino statues around town. Our favorites include “Zippy Code” the mail carrier and “BeeUtiful” the bumblebee.

Black Squirrels in Marysville Find squirrel statues all over the city. We love “Choo-Choo,” who is waiting for a train, and “Copper,” who is perched near the bank.

Totos in Wamego Search for the 19 Toto statues hiding in the city. “Toto in Tulips” and “Emerald City Toto” are a couple of our favorites.

Kansas is the Disc Golf Capital of the World

6 KANSAS! KIDS

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Have fun with friends by going on a flying disc adventure through Kansas

Did you know one of the largest disc golf companies started in Kansas? Dynamic Discs started as a small company that sold a few discs on the internet. Now, it is one of the reasons Kansas is a top destination for disc golf. It started when Jeremy Rusco moved to Emporia in 2005. He began playing disc golf in 2002 at Fort Hays State University in Hays. His company began making and selling their own discs, baskets, and other disc golf gear. Some of the nation’s best disc golfers travel to Kansas from all over the country to compete in the Dynamic Discs Open disc golf tournament. For how-to videos and other fun videos about disc golf, use the QR code below.

Number of disc golf courses in the state

How to Play

... the nation’s best disc golfers travel to Kansas from all over the country to compete in the Dynamic Discs Open disc golf tournament.

Players can use many discs or only one disc.

Disc golf is a sport. It is played like golf, but with plastic discs.

Players throw their discs at baskets and count how many throws it takes to get a disc into the basket.

For fun how-to videos on disc golf from Dynamic Discs Story by Ethan Miles

MADE IN KANSAS

When players have thrown their discs into each basket, they add up how many throws it took for all baskets.

A game course usually has 18 baskets, which are also called holes.

The player with the lowest total score wins.

Most disc golf courses are free to play.

cool

Trevor Hastert is a professional disc golf player from Lecompton. He began playing in 2017 with friends. After only one year, he entered disc golf competitions. Trevor says disc golf tournaments make him feel nervous and excited, but he loves the thrill. His favorite Kansas tournaments are the Foxtail Farm Championship in Tonganoxie and the Longview Open in Ozawkie. He suggests that newcomers to disc golf should join a local league to compete in tournaments. He designs courses as well. Trevor designed and constructed a course at his hometown of Lecompton. The course has nine baskets (holes) and many trees as obstacles! His favorite disc golf course in Kansas is Mowery’s Meadows in Lawrence, and Longview in Ozawkie. However, Trevor’s favorite disc golf city in Kansas is Olathe. He says each Olathe course has unique challenges.

KS careers

Kansas Disc Golf History

PHOTO COURTESY Trevor Hastert

Emporia is home to Dynamic Discs and

14 amazing courses.

Champions Landing, Jones Park Supreme, Peter Pan Park and Hammond Park are all great courses in Emporia.

MADE IN KANSAS

7 KANSAS KIDS

Disc golf can trace its roots to ancient times, when people threw discus in Greece. While Kansans weren’t throwing discs that long ago, Kansas did play a role in making the sport popular. In 1957, Wichita hosted one of the first and most important flying disc tournaments. In 1973, the first disc golf course in Kansas opened in Topeka. This early course was called an “object golf course,” where players tried to hit targets like trees or poles. Another course opened in Lindsborg around the same time, featuring the basket targets we use today. This course was designed by Ed Headrick, who invented disc golf. Today, the state has 370 disc golf courses— that’s plenty of places to test your skills!

Race Across kids Kansas 8 KANSAS! KIDS

Meet 17-year-old derby racer Kyle Miller. He is from the Wichita area, where he is ranked No. 1 in the Junior Dragster Major category. He began racing when he was 8 years old. Now, Kyle races almost every weekend for 9 months of the year. He has raced in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, and—of course—Kansas. Kyle is also studying how to weld (to use a torch to shape metals). Learning to weld has helped Kyle repair his race car. His grandpa helps him clean and prepare his race car before races. “My grandpa is big on cleaning cars so they look nice,” Kyle says. “We look it over to make sure nothing’s broken.

We make sure it’s safe and ready to go.”

An exciting look at Kansas Speedway and some amazing race car drivers

50,000

in Kansas

Kansas Speedway, which held its first race on June 2, 2001, hosts many popular race car series every year, including the NASCAR Cup Series. Jeff Gordon, the famous race car driver, won Kansas Speedway’s first NASCAR Cup Series race on September 30, 2001.

Nearly 50,000 fans can fit into the seats at Kansas Speedway. In 2011, Kansas Speedway installed lights to hold races at night. Before a Kansas Speedway NASCAR event, you can buy a special ticket to sign your name on the start and finish line of the race track.

Fans that can fit into Kansas Speedway

Story by Kari Williams

SPORTS IN KANSAS

Racing R R I I R Q V J R G D Y G A E

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Find the words from the word list below in the puzzle. Words can go in any direction. Words can share letters as they cross over each other.

R I E O W D R A C E T R A C K

Driver Engine Finish Helmet Motorcycle NASCAR Pitcrew Racecar Racetrack Speedway Winner

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PHOTOS COURTESY Kyle Miller, Megan Meyer

careers

SPORTS IN KANSAS

9 KANSAS KIDS

Meet Megan Meyer, a recordbreaking drag racer from Spring Hill. Megan grew up watching her dad race cars. “Ever since I was born, I’ve been at the race track,” Megan says. When she was 10, she got her very own race car, a handeddown Junior Dragster. She won second and first place the weekend of her first race. “After that weekend, I thought to myself, ‘OK, I’m pretty good at this. Let’s keep going,’” she says.

Megan worked her way up to joining a Top Alcohol Dragster team. In drag racing, there are several classes of cars. A Top Alcohol Dragster engine runs on a mixture that uses alcohol with nitro. This fuel makes it run slower than a Top Fuel Dragster engine, which burns more nitro and alcohol with a supercharger.

During Megan’s professional debut, she won both Rookie of the Year and Driver of the Year, and broke records right away. Driving her Top Alcohol Dragster, Megan won back-to-back world championships in 2019 and 2020.

She was the first woman to win a championship in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. In 2020, Megan even broke the track record for quickest dragster with a 5.09 quarter-mile second pass. That’s really fast!

Nowadays, Megan is taking a break from racing cars professionally.

She is focusing on her family and on growing her new business, Motorsports Marketing Tips. At her business, Megan helps racers build their brand and secure sponsors. “I love the quote, ‘If you can see her, you can be her,’” Megan says. “There were quite a few women who set that stage for little girls like me.”

Kansas has played an important part in aviation history since the beginnings of flight

10 KANSAS! KIDS

In 1900, Carl Dryden Browne opened his own factory in Freedom to build airplanes. Although his flying machine never took to the skies, he is one of the first people to experiment with aviation in the state. Kansas has also been home to many trailblazing women in aviation. While Amelia Earhart is famous worldwide, Ola Mildred Rexroat is another important woman aviator from Kansas. Born in Argonia and part Oglala Lakota, Rexroat was the only Native American woman to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. In the following decades, Kansas continued to break barriers in aviation. Harold Miller, for example, became the state’s first Black air traffic controller. You can learn more about his work at the Kansas Aviation Museum.

Kansas’ Aviation Milestones

Way Back When Story by Leslie Clugston Andres

SCIENCE IN KANSAS

Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly entirely alone across the Atlantic Ocean. She was also known for her sense of style; she designed her own line of clothing for women pilots. And, fun fact—­she was born in Atchison!

Ed Dwight is another Kansan who made history. Dwight was the first Black pilot selected for NASA astronaut training. He made history again at the age of 90 when he became the oldest person to travel to space.

Kansas has been the birthplace of many aviation pioneers. In 1909, two railroad mechanics from Goodland, William Purvis and Charles Wilson, built and demonstrated the first rotary-winged aircraft (a machine similar to a helicopter).

PHOTO COURTESY Ed Dwight, Jr.

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Wings Planes Rockets oh my!

Wichita is known as the “Air Capital of the World” because it’s home to several companies that build airplanes and airplane parts. Wichita is also home to the Kansas Aviation Museum, which is said to be one of the most haunted museums in the state.

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Meet professor Ron Barrett, an aerospace engineer at the University of Kansas. That means he creates and studies things that can fly in the skies or in space. Ron got hooked on model rockets at age 8. When he was 10, a pilot invited him in the cockpit and let him turn an airplane filled with passengers! This experience sparked his dream to become an aerospace engineer.

Ron has won awards for his research and holds 21 patents.

(People use patents to protect their inventions.) He’s also coached more international award-winning designs than any other aerospace professor. He credits his teachers for encouraging creative thinking. They taught him how to calm his mind, think on problems, and brainstorm ideas. One of Ron’s favorite projects was designing the XQ-138. This is a type of aircraft that hovers like a helicopter but can dash faster than 500 miles per hour. He’s also invented fun games like “Flying Golden Snitch” (see picture at left) to inspire kids and make learning about flight exciting.

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PHOTO Jason Dailey

careers

Students and student teams from the KU Aerospace Design Program have won 104 aerospace vehicle design awards from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. That’s more than any other institution in the world.

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Aviation Cryptogram

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Answer: Adventure is worthwhile in itself. —Amelia Earhart

Each letter in the phrase has been replaced with a number.

Try to decode the message.

The letters A, I, and T have been done for you.

Answer: Adventure is worthwhile in itself. —Amelia Earhart

Aviation cryptogram

Each letter in the phrase has been replaced with a number. Try to decode

“the Amessage. The letters “A,T” “I,” and “T” have beenI done for you.

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SCIENCE IN KANSAS

Celebrate Kansas Day In 2025, Kansas will be 164 years old!

Here are some fun historical facts about our great state.

What is

Kansas Day?

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We celebrate our state’s birthday every January 29th. It is the day in 1861 when Kansas became the 34th state. A teacher from Paola came up with the idea for Kansas Day in 1877. A few years later, schools in Topeka, Lawrence, Emporia, Wichita and Fort Scott were also celebrating with lessons that taught about the Sunflower State. Today, we celebrate by discovering new places to explore in Kansas and finding out what makes our state unique and cool.

KANSAS! KIDS

Sing It! Instead of singing “Happy Birthday,” some people sing the state’s official song to celebrate. This song is “Home on the Range.” Dr. Brewster Higley wrote it as a poem. He called it “My Western Home” and shared it with people in 1873. Dr. Higley’s words talk about the beauty of the land around his cabin home. If you have ever sung the song, you know it is about buffalo, deer, antelope and skies. Even though Dr. Higley wrote the words when he lived near West Beaver Creek, he did not include any beavers in his poem.

Susanna Salter Story by Kansas State Historical Society

HISTORY OF KANSAS

What Makes Kansas So Cool?

Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park

Kansas Day

You can take a virtual Kansas Day field trip across the state! Wichita Public Schools hosts an “Edventure” program every Kansas Day. This January 29 virtual tour features zookeepers, historians, scientists, environmentalists and more. Other Edventures are set for 2025.

Celebrate Kansas Day with us!

Follow this link for more information

Dr. Higley’s Word Match Below are two lists of words and phrases from Dr. Higley’s poem “My Western Home.” Can you match each thing on the left with its action on the right?

We’ve given you one answer! The wild curlew is a bird with a long beak ... and Dr. Higley wrote that he could hear it scream near his cabin home.

Buffalo Deer Antelope Discouraging word Sky Poisonous herbage

seldom if ever doth grow throws its light screams play seldom is heard not clouded all day

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roam

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play

Wild curlew

HISTORY OF KANSAS

glideth along

15 KANSAS KIDS

Edventure Program

The first battle of the Civil War Kansas elected started in Kansas … five years the first woman before the Civil War began! mayor in the How is this possible? In 1856, entire United a group of Kansans against enslavement beat back a States! Susanna group of fighters who were for Salter became enslavement. This fight was mayor of later known as the Battle of Argonia in 1887.

Black Jack. Even though it was fought before the war officially She received started, it was fought for the letters of same reasons as other Civil congratulations War battles. from France, Kansas was the center of a Italy, Germany very important Supreme Court case. The Brown v. Board of and Austria.

Education of Topeka ruling said that public schools could no longer separate Black and white students. This decision in 1952 was an important victory in the civil rights movement.

(Mostly)

Peaceful Debates

A Ghost in the Capitol?

16 KANSAS! KIDS

Sometimes, strange footsteps and tapping noises ring out in the capitol. Some believe this is a ghost of a man who helped build it.

Constructing the Kansas capitol was hard and dangerous. Legend has it, a man working high in the dome lost his balance and fell to his death. Because he died before he was paid, his spirit is said to roam the building looking for the money he earned. Other times, people say, the ghost returns to finish his work. Tap … tap … tap!

The state capitol is a public monument.

It is also a building where men and women from every region in Kansas meet to make laws for the state.

Sometimes the lawmakers agree, and sometimes they disagree. Once, in 1893, there were huge arguments.

Tempers flared. Some lawmakers blocked themselves inside the House chamber (where the lawmakers gather to vote on laws). The other group took a sledgehammer and smashed through the doors. Soon, soldiers were called to the capitol, and a Gatling gun—an early machine gun—was placed outside the building. The fight lasted two days.

Nobody died, but the event was not forgotten. If you tour the capitol, guides show you where the fighting took place!

HISTORY OF KANSAS

Building the State Capitol The governor and legislature wanted to build one of the best capitols in the United States.

They thought our capitol should be as good as or better than the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. It took 37 years to build the capitol; a grand opening was held in 1903. The outside is made from Kansas limestone, and the inside has 17 kinds of marble. It’s the tallest building in Topeka.

B S

BISON STATS 1

In 2016, the American bison was declared the national mammal of the United States, but it had already been Kansas’ state animal since 1955.

Bison are the largest land mammals in the United States!

Some males can grow to 6 feet tall and weigh 2,000 pounds.

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Bison are heavy but fast when they need to be. They can run up to 35 miles per hour and jump 6 feet in the air!

Both male and female bison have horns. Males, called bulls, have larger horns than the females, called cows.

Do you like eating greens?

Bison love foraging on grasses, weeds and plants. They spend up to 11 hours a day eating.

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and the State Seal

The state motto of Kansas is Ad Astra per Aspera, Latin for “to the stars through difficulties.” One place you can see our motto is on our state seal. The seal has many symbols of Kansas. There is a log cabin, a steamboat, Native Americans, and 34 stars at the top because Kansas is the 34th state.

Wait, Wait!

Bison or Buffalo?

The correct term is “American bison,” but many people know these shaggy mammals as buffalo. The word buffalo came from the French “les boeufs,” which means oxen or beef. In the late 1700s, some 30 to 60 million bison roamed the Great Plains.

These animals were, and still are, hugely important to Indigenous people. Bison were used for food, clothing, tools, shelter and many other essential items. But European settlers hunted bison, often just to kill them. By the 1880s, there were only a few hundred bison in the entire United States. Through conservation and recovery efforts, there are now hundreds of thousands of bison.

Bison are migratory herd animals, meaning they stay close to each other and move from place to place.

HISTORY OF KANSAS

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Ad Astra Per Aspera

Are You Serious?

Wow! Can you believe these wild and wacky facts about our state?

18 KANSAS! KIDS Story by Gina DeBacker

Kansas may be most well-known for its beautiful landscape, but there are some things that are a little strange. For example, the town of Geneseo calls itself “the UFO capital of Kansas.” It holds a parade each year to celebrate aliens and flying saucers. Another weird fact is that about 10 percent of the meteorites found in the United States have come from Kansas.

Greensburg is home to the Brenham Meteorite, a 1,000-pound rare version of a stony-iron meteorite nicknamed “The Space Wanderer.”

In Hutchinson, you can go down 650 feet to visit Strataca, Kansas’ Underground Salt Museum. These salt mines formed 275 million years ago and feature tunnels that stretch for miles.

You can also attend some weird and wacky events across the state. Help make the world’s largest spinach salad at the Lenexa Historical Society’s annual Spinach Festival.

Lenexa was the world’s spinach capital in the 1930s. Or you can add to one of the world’s largest balls of twine in Cawker City during the city’s annual TwineA-Thon.

WEIRD & WACKY

Did You Know?

Kansas holds some interesting and strange world records.

World’s largest cow hairball (Garden City) World’s largest ball of twine (Cawker City) World’s longest yellow brick road (Sedan) World’s heaviest hailstone on display (Coffeyville) World’s largest belt buckle (Abilene)

World’s largest painting on an easel (Goodland)

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Kansas has its own legendary hero of epic size.

He is a 50-foot wheat farmer who invented the sunflower and carved out the Kansas River with his bare hands. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was squeezing rain water out of clouds.

Of course, Johnny Kaw is a legend. George Filinger invented Johnny Kaw in 1955, when his city of Manhattan was celebrating its 100th birthday. In 1966, the city created a 25-foot statue of Johnny Kaw. The statue became a legend as well after it survived a devastating tornado. You can see the Johnny Kaw statue in Manhattan’s City Park.

careers

Allie Little is the programs director for the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita.

That means she is in charge of school tours, the exhibits staff, education programs and more at the museum.

Taking care of the more than 9,000 items for display is a big job. Allie says each day of work at the museum is different. One day she is helping prepare an exhibit about World War II clothing, and the next day she is piecing together the fossil of a dinosaur tail. At the museum you can also find shrunken heads, mummies and sea creatures.

Allie says one of the favorite parts of her job is watching visitors look up at the dinosaurs on display. One of the museum dinosaurs is a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil named Ivan.

He is one of the most complete T. rex skeletons in the world.

Logan is another popular dinosaur fossil at the museum.

He is a Tylosaurus, an ancient sea creature that swam in Kansas when the state was covered by water. Logan was found in Logan County and is more than 26 feet long.

Allie says to become a great museum worker, you should want to share great stories about people who aren’t always heard. “You don’t necessarily need to have the most prestigious background or the most prestigious education. You just need good intentions and the willingness to listen,” she says.

PHOTO Justin Lister

Who is Johnny Kaw?

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9,000 Number of items on display at Museum of World Treasures in Wichita

WEIRD & WACKY

Explore our Kansas Outdoors Who knew that you could turn a love for nature into a career?

Are You Serious?

Ah! The great outdoors! The magnificent and cute forest animals! Right? Well, yes, but sometimes wild animals can be a challenge. Clinton State Park Ranger, Christopher Orton, tells about three memorable animal encounters.

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The chubby, clever raccoon. One time, a raccoon discovered one of the lake’s large trash dumpsters, full of discarded hot dogs, sandwiches and more. It decided this dumpster would make the perfect home. But a dumpster isn’t healthy for a wild animal, so Christopher and another ranger set out to capture the raccoon. Well, the raccoon might have been chubby, but it was able to outsmart and outrun a ranger, at least for a little while.

Christopher said it took much longer than expected to get the raccoon into a cage and take it back into the forest, far away. “It had good agility! It made us look like fools running after it,” he says with a smile.

KANSAS! KIDS

A false eagle in real distress. One night, Christopher got a call to rescue an injured bald eagle. He arrived and found the bird. It was injured, but it was actually a red-tailed hawk. Christopher threw a blanket over the bird, hoping to keep it from injuring itself, and the hawk screeched at him all the way to his house, where he had to keep the bird until an animal-rescue center opened in the morning.

A real eagle in false distress. Campers told Christopher about a different bald eagle. This one seemed young and perhaps injured because it wasn’t flying. Instead, it was hopping around the boat ramps. Christopher went to rescue the bird.

When he found it, he realized the bird wasn’t hurt.

It simply hadn’t bothered flying because groups of fishermen were feeding it. “I had to tell people not to feed it anymore because if that eagle was going to survive, it had to learn to fly away and start its life in the wild,” he explains.

Story by Nathan Pettengill

Park Rangers

Park rangers keep Kansas state parks open and safe for visitors. Being a park ranger demands many skills, including teaching lessons about the outdoors, capturing clever raccoons, building campsites and sometimes even cleaning toilets!

“I had to tell people not to feed it [the eagle] anymore because if that eagle was going to survive, it had to learn to fly away and start its life in the wild.”

–Christopher Orton

KANSAS OUTDOORS

Trade Tools of the

A park ranger or manager relies on tools to do their job. Park ranger Christopher Orton says these items help him succeed.

A pitchfork or rake. This is the perfect tool for picking up snakes and removing them from campsites (without harming them or yourself).

A toilet brush. That’s right, a toilet brush! “It’s kind of a joke that this is a ranger’s tool, but it’s also serious because one of the things campers expect and want the most are clean camp toilets—and someone has to do the job!”

Christopher says.

Hand sanitizer. See above! Also, Christopher shakes hands with a lot of people who have just been fishing or cleaning fish.

Stickers. Christopher keeps state park stickers with him at all times so he can hand them to young campers.

Water bottle. Christopher carries a half-gallon water thermos with him. Working outside in the summer can be dangerous if you don’t hydrate!

Muck boots. Park rangers always have to be prepared to walk into a lagoon, a muddy trail, a flooded campsite and more. These boots keep rangers safe and their regular boots or shoes clean.

Bug spray. Christopher works outdoors and has to protect himself from ticks and mosquitoes.

KS careers

KANSAS OUTDOORS

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Flashlight. Emergencies can happen at night, especially during the summer when many people are camping.

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Meet Christopher Orton, a park ranger and manager of Clinton State Park. What’s cool about Christopher’s job is that he gets to work in the same area where he grew up camping and fishing with his dad. He loves being outdoors, and his favorite outdoor sport is ice fishing. Christopher cleared trails and cut back honeysuckle vines at Kaw River State Park, his first job in a state park.

To become a park ranger in Kansas, you must graduate from an intense training program at the Kansas Law Enforcement Academy. As a park manager, Christopher must solve any problem in the park, whether a tree falls on the road, a boat gets stuck on the lake, or a beehive needs to be bundled up for winter. It’s a tough job, but he loves it.

If you’re interested in learning more about park rangers, Christopher recommends visiting a Kansas state park on O.K. Kids Day, a day of free events and activities for kids. Check with your local park for the date.

Black Squirrels in Marysville

Squirrels are the official mascot of Marysville. Some people think the town’s first black squirrels escaped from a circus in 1912, and many generations of these wild black squirrels have made Marysville their home since then. City laws protect the animals, saying the squirrels can go anywhere and eat any black walnut they find. The city has more than 50 squirrel statues that are five feet tall. One of our favorite statues, “Choo-Choo,” stands outside the train depot.

Rabbits in Rice County

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Animals on Parade Stop by these five cities to see some of our favorite animal sculptures

Rhinos in Marion

Marion has 80 rhinos around town, only these rhinos are two feet tall and made of concrete. Each rhino is decorated differently. One rhino is painted as “Zippy Code” the mail carrier, and another rhino is painted as the Easter bunny. A real baby rhino is called a “calf,” but the rhinos in Marion are called “Petes.” Pete was the name of a man who helped make one of the city’s most popular festivals and loved rhinoceroses.

Story by Debbie Leckron Miller

Each of the eight towns in Rice County have a rabbit statue. Artist Toby Flores made the eight bronze statues. They are nearly the same size as real rabbits— even their floppy ears look life-sized! A second artist, Valerie Rynoso, drew pictures and wrote a children’s book about the rabbit statues. Each statue has a different name, and each name is connected to their town. The people in Bushton named their rabbit “Clarence” to honor Clarence Huebner, a World War II army general from the town.

Totos in Wamego

The statues in Wamego honor Toto, the brave dog from the Wizard of Oz movie and books. There are 19 Toto statues in Wamego, including “Wizard Toto” and “The Lollipop Guild Toto.” Artist Lorinda Sultzer painted three of the statues, including one with sunflowers because sunflowers are a beautiful symbol of Kansas. Sultzer’s statue “Toto in Tulips” stands in a city park where tulips bloom in spring. Sultzer’s “Tired Toto” stands outside a hotel, ready for bed with green pajamas and a yellow suitcase.

Swedish Horses in Lindsborg A Dala (pronounced “daw-la”) is a toy wood horse from Sweden. Lindsborg is filled with Dala statues because Swedish families founded the city. The traditional Dala color is black with orange-red decorations, but the 42 Dala statues in Lindsborg are all different colors. “Yankee Doodle Dala” is painted red, white and blue. (Can you guess why?)

A R T S & C U LT U R E

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KS careers

April Spicer works as an artist in Marysville, where she painted 12 of Marysville’s 51 squirrel statues. She taught art at the Marysville Junior-Senior High School. April and her students helped design the squirrel statue. A trailer truck delivered the original squirrel statues. “What a sight it must have been to see a trailer loaded with five-foot-tall squirrels driving down the highway,” she laughs.

A R T S & C U LT U R E

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In 2016, Marysville honored the first 21 painted squirrel statues with a large parade. April says visitors to Marysville should get an official map showing all the statue locations. Finding all the squirrel statues is a fun family activity. “Snap photos with the squirrels!” she says. Don’t worry: You will meet some live black squirrels, too. They are all over town, but especially in the city park.

“You’ll spot them gathering acorns and chasing each other up trees,” she says.

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Did you know?

Amelia Earhart grew up in Kansas and became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kansas was once filled with dinosaurs. See their fossils at the Sternberg Museum in Hays.

The tow truck that inspired “Tow Mater” in Pixar’s Cars is in Galena on Route 66.