January 1998
(Volume 1, Number 4)

Think of Kansas. What images come to mind? Some of us might think of sunflowers, fields of wheat or buffalo grazing on the open prairie; others might think of tall cottonwood trees. These images are so common among us they have become symbols of Kansas.

The 1985-86 sixth-grade class at Caldwell Elementary School learned firsthand the process of creating an official state symbol. It's the ornate box turtle!

It's the wild native sunflower!

Have you ever heard of harney silt loam?

Do you know our state song, "Home on the Range?"

Spot the state bird, the western meadowlark.

Can you recognize the fluffy seeds of our state tree, the cottonwood?

Though buffalo have not roamed free on the plains of Kansas since the late 1800s, the massive animals have long been associated with the region.

Between 1976 and 1994, Kansas schoolchildren were responsible for getting the Kansas Legislature to officially designate three additional state symbols: the honeybee, the ornate box turtle, and the barred tiger salamander.

Kansas symbols have made history from 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act opens Kansas Territory for settlement to 1994 when the barred tiger salamander is named the official state amphibian.

This crossword puzzle tests your knowledge of Kansas symbols!