Excerpt from Topeka Pen and Camera Sketches The kansas-nebraska act was signed May 30, 1854; it became a law; the Missouri compromise was repealed, and from the great lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, all eyes were turned to that Territory - a Territory opened for settlers, a Territory of broad, rolling prairies, interspersed with beautiful groves, and rippling streams of clear water flowing through its entire length, the prairies covered with beautiful wild flowers of the most fragrant odors, while the groves, too, had their wild flora, and song birds of gorgeous plumage flitted among the wild jasmine and luxuriant growth of wild roses. These made a Kansas grove as attractive as an Eastern park. The tall, dark green grass, waving before the constant summer breeze, was another charm for the lover of nature. Travelers and adven turers never tired of the scenery of the Kansas plains. Coronado, in 1541 - 2, made entries in his journal, as he passed through this latitude and longitude, of its grandeur; Du Tissennet, the French explorer, in 1719, did the same; General Pike, in 1806, devoted page after page to descriptions of the vast prairies and varied scenery of the western territory he was passing through. With all these descriptions, Washington Irving comes to the front with his Tours on the Prairies, in 1832, when he passed down the Kansas border. Why, then, with such favorable notices, should not the eyes of public-spirited men, men of means and enterprise, be turned to the most delightful country for homes, for business of all kinds? What was then The Garden of the West has not changed by the thirty-five years of its settlement. Kansas has not only attracted notice of her own nation, but the oldest nations on the earth are saying, Kansas is one of the most enterprising places on the globe. France, Germany, Scotland, and other coun tries, send to us for full particulars of the electric railway - the largest in the world - situated in the city of Topeka; Russia sends. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.