The central State of the American Union; lies in the basin of the Kansas and Arkansas Rivers, between Nebraska on the N. and Oklahoma on the S., with Colorado on the W. and Missouri on the E. It is a rolling prairie, with a fine climate subject to occasional extremes, and a rainfall, except in some districts, sufficient; raises crops of grain and sugar, and affords excellent grazing ground. Pork and beef packing, flour-milling, and iron-founding industries are carried on. The State University is at Lawrence, an agricultural college at Manhattan, and good schools in every town. Previous to its admission to the Union in 1859 Kansas was the scene of violent conflicts between pro- and anti-slavery parties for five years. In the Civil War it joined the North. The capital is Topeka, and the largest other towns Kansas City and Wichita.