Topics in Kansas History: Settlement (1830 - 1890)

Settlement between 1830 and 1890 included thousands of American Indian tribes who were moved to the area from the East and Great Lakes area. After Kansas Territory was opened to settled in 1854 people of European ancestry chose to move to the region, increasing in numbers with statehood in 1861.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 resulted in the settlement of more than 10,000 American Indians to what is now Kansas. The Kickapoo, originally from Wisconsin, were removed to Kansas in 1832 from Missouri.In 1836 the Iowas from north of the Great Lakes were assigned a reservation in Kansas. In 1838 the Potawatomis began their move from northern Indiana. Treaties with the Sak and Fox of the Mississippi Valley from 1842 to 1861 ceded Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska lands to the United States, leaving small reserves in Doniphan and Osage Counties, Kansas. The Miamis were moved by barge from Indiana in 1846.

In 1854, the newly created territory of Kansas was opened for settlers. It was not until after the Civil War, however, that Kansas experienced a significant increase in population. Free and cheap land provided by the Homestead Act and the railroads attracted many settlers. More than 70 percent of the immigrants arriving in these first two decades, were engaged in agricultural pursuits. Agriculture remained the principal occupation for Kansans until the 1920s.

After the Civil War and before 1890, the population of Kansas increased by the greatest amount in its history. More than a million people streamed into Kansas seeking a new life on the frontier. If you had ancestors in Kansas more than 130 years ago, there's a good chance they came to claim the free land offered to settlers by the Homestead Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1862. During the settlement period, some immigrants preferred to settle in communities with people who shared the same culture and language.

Children without parents to care for them were given special help to come to Kansas. Some of these children were recent immigrants from Europe, others were abandoned or homeless American children. The Children's Aid Society of New York operated orphan trains between 1854 and 1929. Of the 150,000 children who left New York, nearly 5,000 of them were adopted by families in Kansas.

By the end of the 1800s, German-speaking people formed the largest group of new immigrants to Kansas. Many came from Germany but many others were living near the Volga River in Russia. They called themselves Volga-Germans or German-Russian. Most were members of one of three different religions: Lutherans, Catholics, or Mennonites. All three of these groups helped large numbers of emigrants come to Kansas.

Children of immigrants usually learned to speak English faster than their parents. One reason was that most classrooms used English only. In the early 1900s the Santa Fe Railroad paid the bilingual children of their Mexican workers to translate for them. Students also helped their parents with the language barrier when shopping and doing business.

Swedish pioneers who moved to central Kansas in the mid-1800s called their new home framtidslandet, the land of the future. Many left Sweden when famine threatened starvation. The Swedish immigrants, in turn, encouraged their friends and family to join them.

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