Ad Astra per Aspera and happy Kansas Day to all Kansans.

While we celebrate today as our state’s birthday, this land has existed long before it was called “Kansas.” It was home to Native Americans including the Wichita, Pawnee, Osage, and Kansa peoples, among others, long before European colonization. Before being purchased by President Jefferson, it had been part of France, Spain, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas.

Early explorers dubbed this place the “great American desert.” The federal government paid people to plant trees here. When it was opened to settlement by the U.S., people moved here not for opportunity but belief in a cause – freedom – and with a conviction to live their values.