The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-04-28
KANsAs, IuRILEE.

HNA-~---~@e
If the man who made the biographies
that were studied by the boys and girls
of two generations back, could have had
a prophetic vision when he printed,
Great American Desert across a GER
tain spot on the map of North America,
he would probably have added in paren-
theses, Subject to amendment and re-
vision" If he had been told that within
comparatively short time the locality
so marked would be dotted with thriy
ing cities and towns; that it would yield
subsistence to millions of people; that
one of the greatest railway systems of
the world would center there; that
schools and colleges and churches would
abound everywhere; that a network of
wires would be strung in every direction
for the convenience of a busy people
if the map maker had been told all
these things he might have left his
desert off the map altogether.
The revision has been made, and the
map maker of today labels the former
desert region, wheat" cattle" "eorn,' -
and words of similar import. Prosperous
cities and towns are scattered over the
quondam desert, and school houses dot
the prairies.
The Anglo-Saxon has conquered the
Great American Desert. He has not
only made it to blossom as the rose
and yield subsistence to himself and
his family, but he has also compelled it
to furnish food for myriads of other
human beings as we'll He has not only
made homes for himself. but he has
built railroads, and cities, and churches,
and colleges.
They are a progressive people-these
,.7sa fo1I ivif Of
gress that brought them to conquer the
desert. They were originally Green
Mountain boys. or sturdy sons of Massa-
chusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois. They represented
the energy and activity of those states.
The spirit of conquest was strong with
in them, and as there was no foe for
them to face in their native states, their
only chance for battle was to conquer
the wilderness. They pushed westward
and wiped the Great American desert
from the map. They have builded cities
and formed states, opening a new en-
pire to the world
All this has been accomplished within
a comparatively few years. A half cen
fury ago the buffalo and the Indian
owned Kansas. At that time the white
man sometimes crossed the plains, but
he scarcely ever ventured to make his
habitation on them. Since then the
Kansas prairfes have been redeemed
from their natural wild state, and Kan
sas has taken her place among the
greatest states of the nation.
Kansas will celebrate her jubilee in
1904. On the fifth day OF next June, at
the call of Governor Stanley, a state
convention will be held in Topeka to de-
wise ways and means to properly cele-
brate this jubilee. Governor Stanley has
requested each county and city to send
a delegate to that convention.
No other state has ever made so great
| advancement as Kansas. 1t now re-
| mains for Kansas to set before the
world the resources that are hers. She
must invite the world to come and see
! her, and she must entertain them with
the best she possesses. Her history and
| her achievements in the past have led
the nation to expect great things from
her. It is to be hoped that the conven-
| ton which will consider this matter viii
| be composed of the most progressive
men of the state; and when they assem-
BILE that they will not adjourn until they
have formulated a plan to show to the
world what Kansas can do when she
really tries.