Jan 30, 2023

WITH ANSWERS: Test your knowledge of the Sunflower State

Posted Jan 30, 2023 1:54 PM
<b>Happy birthday to the Sunflower State!</b> Photo by&nbsp;<a href="https://pixabay.com/users/lauragilchrist4-2310177/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1472341">Laura Gilchrist</a>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1472341">Pixabay</a>
Happy birthday to the Sunflower State! Photo by Laura Gilchrist from Pixabay

EDITOR'S NOTE 7:30 a.m. Jan. 30: The correct answers appear in bold italic.

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By SALINA POST

Happy Kansas Day! Kansas officially became a state of the United States on Jan. 29, 1861.

Test your Kansas knowledge with these trivia questions from the Kansas Historical Society. (We'll give you the answers on Monday.)

What was Kansas called during the territorial period?

a. Battlefield Kansas

b. Bleeding Kansas

c. Fighting Kansas

d. Jayhawk Kansas

. . .

What were abolitionists from Kansas known as?

a. Border Warriors

b. Kansans

c. Brown’s Boys

d. Jayhawkers

. . .

What is the state reptile of Kansas?

a. snapping turtle

b. ornate box turtle

c. painted turtle

d. spotted turtle

. . .

What is the state tree of Kansas?

a. cottonwood

b. oak

c. ash

d. evergreen

. . .

Which city is the oldest in Kansas?

a. Lawrence

b. Leavenworth

c. Lecompton

d. Kansas City

. . .

Which Kansan was named the National Football League’s Rookie of the Year in 1965?

a. John Riggins

b. Gale Sayers

c. Lynn Dickey

d. Barry Sanders

. . .

Which cartoonist, born in Kansas, is the creator of the famous comic strip “Beetle Bailey?”

a. Charles Schulz

b. Bill Amend

c. Bill Watterson

d. Mort Walker

. . .

Which famous Dodge City sheriff was a buffalo hunter, gambler, deputy U.S. marshal, and later a newspaper journalist?

a. William “Bat” Masterson

b. Wyatt Earp

c. Henry Newton

d. Doc Holliday

. . .

Which Kansas-born clown known as Weary Willie, toured with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and is considered one of the greatest of all time?

a. Red Skelton

b. Emmett Kelly

c. Mark Anthony

d. Bobby Kaye

. . .

Which famous and influential African American poet and author spent much of his boyhood growing up in Lawrence and Topeka?

a. Langston Hughes

b. Countee Cullen

b. Jupiter Harmon

d. Paul Laurence Dunbar

. . .

What town was the territorial capitol of Kansas in 1856?

a. Wyandotte

b. Lecompton

c. Topeka

d. Lawrence

. . .

What is the state amphibian of Kansas?

a. barred tiger salamander

b. bullfrog

c. tree frog

d. mudpuppy

. . .

What is the state march of Kansas?

a. I’m a Jayhawk

b. Wildcat Victory

c. Kansas March

d. Free State March

. . .

After Kansas was admitted into the Union, how many stars were on the United States flag?

a. 32

b. 33

c. 34

d. 35

. . .

When was the state seal of Kansas adopted?

a. 1861

b. 1862

c. 1859

d. 1860

. . .

What is the name of the site where a major Civil War battle in Kansas was fought?

a. Baxter Springs battlefield

b. Trading Post battlefield

c. Marais de Cygnes Massacre

d. Mine Creek Battlefield

. . .

Which city was struck by tornadoes consecutively in 1916, 1917, and 1918 on May 20?

a. Hesston

b. Garden City

c. Codell

d. Liberal

. . .

What is the name of the sinkhole located near Ashland, Kansas, that has never been known to be dry?

a. Buffalo Bill’s Well

b. Elm Springs

c. Big Well

d. St. Jacob’s Well

. . .

Kansas was the first state to raise what kind of military unit?

a. National Guard

b. African American infantry regiment

c. Plains calvary unit

d. Special forces unit

. . .

Which frontier army scout who guided military units in Kansas was described by George Armstrong Custer as the “most famous scout on the plains?”

a. James “Wild Bill” Hickok

b. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody

c. Kit Carson

d. William Bent

. . .

During the years of the Santa Fe Trail, which Kansas river served as the border between the United States and Mexico?

a. Kansas River

b. Neosho River

c. Arkansas River

d. Smoky Hill River

. . .

Which tribe of American Indians did Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado meet in the Quivira Region of Kansas?

a. Pawnee Indians

b. Cheyenne Indians

c. Kansa Indians

d. Wichita Indians

. . .

Which “giant” Kansan became a world champion boxer when he defeated the defending world heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson in 26 rounds?

a. Jess Willard

b. Joe Lewis

c. Max Schmeling

d. Tommy Burns

. . .

What major trade route through Kansas stretched a thousand miles from Missouri to New Mexico?

a. Chisholm Trail

b. Santa Fe Trail

c. Oregon Trail

d. California Trail

. . .

Which influential Kansan from Emporia was a newspaper journalist and author who received two Pulitzer Prizes?

a. Samuel L. Clemens

b. Walter Winchell

c. William Allen White

d. Ernie Pyle