Travel in the 18 Northwest Kansas counties.
WaKeeney, Kansas, uses two marketing slogans, “The Christmas City of the High Plains” and “Gateway to Cedar Bluff State Park.” However, those titles don’t fully explain WaKeeney’s appeal. Three reasons explain WaKeeney’s appeal. The Trego County seat is a soothing place during the entire year because you can drive the Smoky Valley Scenic Byway for […]
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Lucas is the quirkiness capital of Kansas, and Samuel Perry Dinsmoor led the way after the Civil War. The self-taught artist explained his Populist philosophy with concrete as his medium in the early 1900s. Many Russell County residents thought his Garden of Eden was embarrassing. His commentary on modern civilization made them look bad, they
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Fewer than 900 people call Wilson home, but the small town full of Czech heritage in the heart of the Smoky Hills offers plenty to attract visitors. It’s only 15 minutes from Wilson State Park, home of the clearest lake in Kansas. The World’s Largest Czech Egg stands proudly in Wilson’s Ed & LaVange Shiroky
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Top 10 things to do in Northwest Kansas Northwest Kansas is a hidden gem, but don’t rely on the Interstate to show you the region’s treasures. Escape the dual concrete ribbons to see its marvels. For example, the region appears high and dry, but it was not always so. Instead, a prehistoric ocean buried the
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I visited some of these sites as part of hosted tours, but, as always, all opinions are my own. Kansas was born in blood and fire. While people like John Brown and William Quantrill violently pursued the conflict, others used quieter means. During the fighting, free-staters helped freedom seekers escape slavery through the Underground Railroad. After the raids ended,
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America’s First Patented Helicopter was a shattered dream William J. Purvis and Charles A. Wilson built America’s First Patented Helicopter in Goodland, KS, but Newton’s Third Law defeated them. Since every action has an equal and opposite reaction, any helicopter must compensate for the rotor’s twisting action. They never solved the torque problem, but they
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The story of “Home on the Range” In 1873, Dr. Brewster Higley VI sat outside his tiny cabin near Athol (pronounced AY-thole), Kansas, and looked out over the Beaver Creek Valley. His heart filled with joy as he wrote the lines of a poem “My Western Home.” The first line read, “Oh, give me a home
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Goodland shows the way for women’s voting rights The fight for women’s voting rights in Kansas was a slow process. The march to equal voting rights lasted from 1861 to 1920, with many halts along the way. Goodland helped show the way when its citizens — including women — voted for a library tax in
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“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” — Cool Hand Luke, who could have been discussing the Kidder Massacre We wear a computer called a telephone, and tend to panic when we lack a signal. We often can’t endure being out of touch. In the 1860s, electronic communication was limited to widely-separated telegraph
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Enjoy the 12 best places to visit in Kansas Kansas is full of numerous beautiful and often quirky small cities. I love Kansas City and Wichita, but the state’s smaller places are the heart of Kansas. After 30 years of traveling throughout Kansas, these are my 12 best places to visit in Kansas. Leavenworth, Cottonwood
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