First party leaves Missouri headed for Mexico on the Santa Fe Trail. This event was the official opening of the Santa Fe Trail. Overland trails helped the nation expand to new territories and initiate trade with neighboring countries.
The Potawatomi Trail of Death ends in Kansas. Under the Indian Removal Act, 859 Potawatomi people were forced to walk more than 600 miles to Kansas. As many as 90 different tribes were removed to Kansas in the mid-19th century, and hundreds of native people lost their lives during their..MORE
Kansas-Nebraska Act signed into law by U.S. President Franklin Pierce. This opened Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory for settlement and allowed voters to decide whether Kansas would be a free state or allow slavery, and led to a violent time period known as Bleeding Kansas.
Santa Fe Railway is chartered by Kansas Territorial Legislature. The railroads connected Kansas to the East and the West, bringing new settlers, and determining where cities and towns were built.
The Kansas Legislature formed the Kansas Agricultural Society. These organizations encouraged farmers to grow winter wheat, creating the “bread basket of the world.”
The first load of cattle to be shipped via rail from Kansas. Organized by Joseph McCoy, Abilene became the first of several cowtowns, emerged along the cattle trails and helped create the beef industry in Kansas.
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