Dear Bank of Prairie Village Community~
Going into November, it is always important to take stock and survey the many things one should be thankful for over Thanksgiving.
Many are obvious. Some blessings, however, may be underappreciated, undervalued, or simply overlooked.
Further, without careful appreciation one can set up or enable the circumstances in which underappreciated blessings are permanently lost.
Let’s take the case of the Kansas Rocky Mountains. Yes, those beautiful snowcapped peaks just to the east of the Continental Divide. These incredible Kansan blessings were simply given away for political expediency.
Confused yet? Let me explain.
One of the great ironies of driving west on I-70 to Denver, Colorado is the Road Sign just inside the Colorado line. It reads “Welcome to Colorful Colorado.”
I have yet to pass the “Colorado Welcome Sign” without seeing several tourists taking pictures in front.
The sign is ironic because Colorado’s sparse “High Prairie” landscape looks exactly the same as the Kansas “High Prairie” landscape through which you’ve been driving on I- 70 for the last four hours.
Furthermore, once crossing the Colorado line you’ll be further driving through the same “High Prairie” landscape for another two more hours on I-70, before reaching Denver’s outskirts.
Denver, in particular, and Colorado in general have recently enjoyed tremendous population growth. Colorado bills itself as the “Mountain State.” Everyone speaks of moving to Colorado “for the Mountains.”
I have always thought this “Mountain State” persona a bit odd, as about half of Colorado is as flat and perhaps more sparse than Western Kansas. It’s as if Colorado pretends half its state does not exist.
The great irony is at one time most of present-day Colorado belonged to Kansas.
I know – you might want to read the above sentence again. It is not a mistake.
Beginning in 1854 the Kansas Territory extended from its current Eastern Border to the “Rocky Mountains Continental Divide.” The Continental Divide is another 60 miles through the mountains on I-70 West of Denver. The map below shows how far West Kansas extended into the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
Close your eyes and just imagine Kansas including the snowcapped Rocky Mountain peaks within its Western Border.
The city of Denver was founded November 22, 1858, in Arapaho County – in Kansas Territory. Denver was named in honor of Kansas Territory Governor, James Denver – in the hopes he would make his name’s sake the county seat of Arapaho County – in Kansas Territory.
The story left from most Kansas history books, is how Kansas managed to “give away” its western mountain ranges, vast gold mines, and almost a third of its geographic territory.
The answer of course comes down to political expediency. Kansas wanted to become a state. Topeka businessmen, backed by some very powerful Eastern railroad interests, wanted Topeka to be the State Capitol (Think – Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad – founded in 1859 – and headquartered in Chicago).
Although brazen, not even the Topeka businessman and railroad interests could justify the Kansas Capital being located on the very Eastern edge of a state; with borders extending almost 650 miles from the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers all the way across the “Great Prairie” to the high Rocky Mountain peaks of the Continental Divide.
Topeka’s solution? – Simply roll back the Kansas western boundary to the East by hundreds of miles. Accordingly, Topeka’s lobbyists effectively convinced the Legislature to give up about a third of Western Kansas prior to gaining statehood. They viewed Topeka being the Kansas State Capital as more important than preserving the entire Kansas Territory – with its Great High Prairie and far Western Mountain ranges.
Giving up almost a third of our Western Territory effectively ended our claim to the “Kansas Rockies.”
The joke of course was on Kansas. No sooner did Kansas give up its mountain ranges than gold and silver were discovered around Denver. Fortunately for Topeka, the country was soon thrown into a Civil War. The memories of Kansas Territory Rockies dimmed during the conflict and every Kansas grade schooler henceforth was soon forced to correctly spell T-o-p-e-k-a as the Kansas State Capitol.
Today, Colorado claims to be the Mountains State and Kansas is considered flatland.
Lessons to be learned:
1) If you think Eastern Colorado looks a lot like Western Kansas – you are correct – it probably should be lumped together as the Kansas “High Prairie".
2) Never give up mountain ranges.
3) Never, never give up mountain ranges containing large gold and silver deposits.
As for Topeka, it did become and remains the Kansas State Capitol.
However, having secured the Capitol title for Topeka, the legislature selected Lawrence and Manhattan respectively for the state’s first chartered universities.
Today most college basketball and football fans across the nation know of Lawrence and Manhattan Kansas – but struggle to name the Kansas Capitol – much less spell it correctly.
Was the giving up the Kansas Mountain Ranges just to locate the State Capitol in Topeka worth the trade?
Perhaps an even more important speculation is whether Kansans could have ever gotten use to cheering for their very own Kansas Denver Broncos – located in what would become by far the largest city in the State. Obviously – one can only wonder.
As we move towards this Thanksgiving, lets count our blessings – and be vigilant not to underappreciate, overlook, or inadvertently give away for expediency what may prove to be our own hidden mountain ranges or gold mines buried within the hustle & bustle of our daily lives.
Our best – and our offer of many blessings to you and your family for this Thanksgiving. Onward!
~Thank you for giving us this opportunity to be your bank and bankers~
“The Bank of Prairie Village ~ Home of Blue Lion Banking”~ cited March 2020 and~ again in April 2021 by the Kansas City Business Journal as one of the “Safest Banks in Kansas City for Your Money.”
Our Outside Deposit Drop Vault is located on the south rear side our building and underneath our jutting Blue Lion sign. ~ Now Located on newly named “Fox Lane”.
