The state of Kansas

U.S. Route 66(US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road. I learnt that Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west and was the first roat in the USA. The highway became one of the most famous roads in America, and ran from Chicago Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arisona before ending at Los Angeles, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles. 

Learn more about US Route 66 through this links:

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/

http://www.theroadwanderer.net/route66.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYDD3QBymA4

The state of Kansas

Kansas is one of the states which U.S. Route 66 ran through.

Capital: Topeka
Governor: Sam Brownback
Senators: Jerry Moran, R; Pat Roberts;
Organized as territory: May 30, 1854
Motto: To the stars through difficulties)
State symbols:
flower - sunflower (1903)
tree - cottonwood (1937)
bird - western meadowlark (1937)
animal - buffalo (1955)
song - “Home on the Range” (1947)
Nicknames: Sunflower State;

History of the state of Kansas:

To talk about Kansas I had to explore it's history. Now I know a lot about hisory of the state of Kansas. I learnt that Kansas was discovered by Spanish explorer Francisco de Coronado, in 1541. I also find information that Lewes and Clark explored the region between 1803 and 1819. One month ago, I learnt a lot about these explorers.

You can learn about their expedition on the one of pages on this blog.
http://mariakrupich.blogspot.com/p/lew.html

Also I discovered that just before the Civil War, the conflict between the pro- and anti-slavery forces earned the region the grim title of Bleeding Kansas. I was really impressed by this period of ths state's history. I learn that this war was when the Kansas territory was the site of much violence over whether the territory would be free or slave.I found that in the Civil War, Kansas fought with the North and suffered the highest rate of fatal casualties of any state in the Union. Kansas became a state in 1861, with the capital at Topeka. Charles Robinson was the first governor and James H. Lane, an active free-stater during the 1850s, one of the U.S. Senators.

The history of Kasas is much bigger, so you can explore it clicking this link:

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/beforethewar/g/bleedingkansas.htm

Geography:

What about geography, it is intresting that Kansas is famous for its seemingly endless fields of ripe golden wheat. The land rises more than 3,000 ft (914 m) from the eastern alluvial prairies of Kansas to its western semiarid high plains, which stretch toward the foothills of the Rocky Mts.

I was wondered that occasional dust storms plague farmers and ranchers in the west. Also I leanrt that the climate there is continental, with wide extremes—cold winters with blizzards and hot summers with tornadoes.

As for me it was interesting The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is one of the few large tracts of virgin prairie in the United States.

Learn more on this sites:

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/kansas-state-united-states-geography.html
http://www.kansas.gov/

Kansas and US Route 66

Historic Route 66 passes briefly through the State of Kansas on its was between Joplin, Missouri and Miami, Oklahoma. Although Kansas has the shortest stretch of the popular old route between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California, the 13 miles of Route 66 in Kansas are among the best preserved and have many attractions.

Approaching Kansas From Joplin on Missouri Highway 66, you will see the sign to the right, about a half mile before the county line. Staying on the 4 lane highway, you will be on the Route 66 from 1961 on, but turning off on Old Route 66 Boulevard, you will find the older route, paved and in use before its designation as part of the original Route 66 pm November 11, 1926.The first interesting site in Kansas is the Eagle-Picher plant, across the railroad tracks on the right. This smelter operated from around 1912 until the late 1970s. It processed the locally mined galena ore and produced lead, zinc and silver.

http://www.kansastravel.org/route66.htm
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/66-kansas.html

What about Great Depression?

I discovered that The Great Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country's banks had failed. Though the relief and reform measures put into place by President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped lessen the worst effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the economy would not fully turn around until after 1939, when World War II kicked American industry into high gear.

It's only a litle part of information I learnt, you can find more clicking these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4d8ngR56Gg
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/rails-timeline/
http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression