Leavenworth, founded in 1854, was the first city incorporated in the territory of Kansas. The city developed south of Fort Leavenworth, which was established as Cantonment Leavenworth in 1827 by Colonel Henry Leavenworth.

Wichita began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s and was incorporated as a city in 1870. It became a destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to Kansas railroads, earning it the nickname "Cowtown".

Calling it "the pioneer of the prairie", the Kansas state legislature designated the cottonwood (Populus deltoides) the official state tree of Kansas in 1937.

Susanna M. Salter served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas from 1887-1888, becoming the first woman elected as mayor and one of the first women to serve any political office in the United States.

Walt Disney got the inspiration for Mickey Mouse from a tame mouse at his desk at Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri.

There are about 60,000 farmers in Kansas, 20,000 of whom are wheat farmers. The wheat produced in Kansas accounts for at least half of the country's total production.

Hutchinson is nicknamed the "Salt City" because it was built above some of the richest salt deposits in the world. Salt is still actively mined, processed and shipped from Hutchinson.

Barton County is named in honor of Clara Barton, responsible for the founding of the American Red Cross.

Kansas is bordered by four states: Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west.

In 1925 the Kansas Audubon Society conducted a statewide election involving schoolchildren to choose a state bird. The western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) won the election with nearly 125,000 votes. The bobwhite and the northern cardinal took second and third place, respectively.