Kansas has expanded its territory into the mountains of Colorado. The University of Kansas that is. The geology department has purchased a 600 acre ranch near Cañon City, for $360,000. The new addition to campus is approximately 45 miles south of Highway 24, southwest of Colorado Springs, and just east of the Royal Gorge.
The department has used the site for their summer geology camp since 1922. The land features a rare combination of formations that are an ideal classroom environment for anyone who studies rocks. The purchase was made possible by a gift from the family of Bob Harrison, an alumni of the geology program.
The University of Kansas was already invested in the area. They own more than 30 acres nearby that include support structures and summer housing for students. Geology camp wouldn't be the same without rocks, so this latest purchase now ensures that KU classes will continued to be offered in the area for many years to come.
Colorado shouldn't get too upset about this. The Cañon City area was part of the original Kansas Territory, so this is more of a return to sender situation. When the paperwork for us to become a state was submitted, our ancestors didn't push the issue as much as they could have, and the boundaries were excessively retracted. Some wanted to keep all lands of Territorial Kansas up to the continental divide, plus a chunk of what is now Nebraska. The line was instead drawn 170 miles east of the little town named for Kansas' first Territorial Governor, James Denver.
I'm sure the University of Kansas Department of Geology would have supported the bigger map.
Losing the mountainous part of our territory was our first, and is still our greatest, economic mistake. When viewed in this light, budgetary and economic initiatives put forth by current elected officials don't seem nearly as transformative, but we continue to hope they will work in good faith to improve the Kansas condition.
While we wait for an improved economy (Kansas is ranked 44th among states), let's congratulate the Jayhawks for reacquiring some of our territorial birthright!