Warren's Blog

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Scenes of Late Winter in Kansas

American Robin...A Harbinger of Spring in Marysville's City Park

Three Gadwall stand on the ice in a cove at Milford Lake

A pair of Canada Geese take off from a partially unfrozen pond near Linn

Canada Geese at Milford Lake

Geese in Flight

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk in Flight

A Few of the Thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds in a Milo field south of Clay Center

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Kansas Sesquicentennial 1861-2011

Today is the 150th anniversary of Kansas statehood. On January 29, 1861 President James Buchanan signed the bill that made Kansas the 34th state. In honor of this very special Kansas Day here are a few of my photos of the state. Happy Birthday Kansas!

The Great Seal of the State of Kansas in the Governor's office in Topeka. Ad Astra per Aspera on the seal is a Latin phrase that means "To the stars through difficulties" and is the Kansas state motto.

The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas and the state is known as The Sunflower State

The Western Meadowlark is the State Bird of Kansas...it was chosen by the state's schoolchildren on Kansas Day in 1925 and approved as the official state bird by the State Legislature in 1937.

A field of Sunflowers in Washington County

The Kansas State Capitol in Topeka...
Construction began in 1866 only 5 years after Kansas statehood and one year after the end of the Civil War, it was completed in 1903.

Detail of the east front of the Kansas Capitol building

A mural in the Kansas Statehouse of a larger than life John Brown flanked by contending free soil and pro-slavery forces entitled Tragic Prelude, the mural is one of several in the capitol done by Kansas artist John Steuart Curry.

The Kansas State Senate Chamber

Looking up into the Capitol Dome

Inside the upper portion of the dome showing the top of the interior dome that is seen in the center of the last photo and also a small part of the stairway to the top of the dome is seen on the left.

Another view in the upper unfinished part of the dome.

The Kansa Warrior "Ad Astra" keeps watch over Kansas from atop the Capitol Dome. Ad Astra is 22 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 4,420 pounds. Kansas was named for the Kansa Tribe who lived along the Kansas River.