If you say the word "Kansas", most Americans will smile. That's because they think of the stereotype of this state: it's completely flat and not very interesting. They imagine the very large state filled with wheat and sunflowers. Boring, boring, boring.
    But of course the whole truth gives you a much more interesting picture. The southwest part of this state is almost a desert. It even has cactus. But travel to the eastern side of Kansas, and you will be in green, rolling woodlands packed with a wide variety of wildlife.
    In the middle of Kansas lies The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. That's 11,000 acres of land almost like a jungle of thick grasses, many as tall as you are, and gorgeous (nádherný), colorful flowers. Kansas is also home to the Konza Prairie, with 8,000 acres of protected, unbroken land.
     But many industries are hard at work here, too. Many people work in automobile and aircraft manufacturing. Kansas is also rich in oil, natural gas, and helium.
    The Arkansas River is the longest river in the state. The famous Ogallala Aquifer lies in the western part of the state, providing irrigation for vast wheat fields and drinking water for a large population. There are also more than 20 reservoirs in Kansas. Kansas suffered terribly during the most famous drought years of the 1920s and 1930s, when this part of the USA was known as the "Dust Bowl".
    The earliest people here were the Native Americans who lived in Kansas around 12,000 B.C. Many different tribes followed, for centuries after.
    Starting around 1541 the first European explorers from France and Spain traveled here, looking for gold and lost cities. During the American Civil War Kansas was sharply divided between pro and anti-slavery forces. But the territory joined the United States as a free state, in 1861.
    After the Civil War the face of Kansas changed very much. Railroads, and immigrants, especially from Russia and Eastern European countries, flooded the land. They brought with them the seeds for world-famous Kansas wheat.
     By 1870 several "cow towns" were established along the trails criss-crossing the state. These were small, popular cities where cowboys stopped to rest during long cattle drives, when cattle were collected and moved from western ranches to city stockyards in Kansas City or Chicago. You may have heard the names of such cities - Abilene, Dodge City - in cowboy movies. Today, you can even watch a cowboy gunfight in Dodge City, and visit the graves of outlaws (banditů) in the local cemetery.
    Kansas is known for its dangerous weather. Almost without warning a sudden storm can drop ice and snow, or hail and floods of rainwater on the fields, and killer winds, tornadoes, can send people running to their basements for protection.

 

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