Western Fictioneers: Kansas Territory

When plotting a new story or book idea, one of the western writer’s most important decisions is LOCATION. Will the story take place in the high deserts of Arizona or New Mexico? The Front Range of Colorado? The rolling plains of Wyoming? The geography can dictate the types of characters, weather, architecture, landscape, and historical events you intend to include.

But wait a minute. Is it Arizona you’re writing about . . . or Arizona Territory? Texas . . . or the Republic of Texas? The western “states” straggled into the Union, a few at a time, between the years of 1845 (Texas) and 1959 (Alaska). To make things even more confusing, much of the Midwest and some of the West once lay within the borders of the Louisiana Purchase. As a native Louisianian, I like to rib my Texas and Alaskan friends that my state was biggest, once upon a time. And what do you know? My current home state of Tennessee was once called the Southwest Territory!

The period of American history known as “the Wild West” lasted roughly thirty years . . . from 1865 to 1895. Several western states were admitted to the Union in the very late 1800s: North and South Dakota, Montana, and Washington (1889), Idaho and Wyoming (1890), and Utah (1896). It wasn’t until the 1900s that the United States admitted Oklahoma (1907), New Mexico and Arizona (1912), and Alaska (1959).

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For some states, the journey to statehood came with great difficulty and sacrifice. The Kansas-Nebraska Act which became law on May 30, 1854, established Nebraska Territory and Kansas Territory. The region was attractive to both the slave and free states, where tensions were building to a fever pitch. Settlers from both sides began pouring into Kansas, hoping to swing the vote when Kansas citizens decided where their loyalties lay. When the so-called “Border Ruffians” from Missouri arrived (planning to stuff the ballot boxes with pro-slavery votes), a period of extensive violence began, lasting until 1858. At the end of these “Bleeding Kansas” years, the Wyandotte Constitution was adopted, assuring the anti-slavery status of the future state of Kansas.

Oklahoma is another state with an eventful history leading up to its statehood. Always a Native American stronghold, the U.S. government’s relocation of several tribes to this region created an expansive “Indian Territory” adjoining Oklahoma Territory. The tribes agreed to let the government open up “Unassigned Lands” for settlement in 1899. As discussions of statehood escalated, executive officers of the “Five Civilized Tribes” proposed that Indian Territory be name the new state of “Sequoyah,” separate from Oklahoma Territory. However, the U.S. government ultimately decided to combine both territories and President Teddy Roosevelt signed a proclamation naming “Oklahoma” as the nation’s 46^th state in 1907.

Of course, every state has its own unique and fascinating history. Fiction writers can develop plotlines and characters that correspond with those historic events, making for a more authentic experience for readers. For the research convenience of those writers, here’s a list of all fifty states, along with their dates of admission to the Union, year of first settlement, and former territorial names.

State	Entered Union	Year Settled Formed from:
Delaware	Dec. 7, 1787	1638 Colony of Delaware
Pennsylvania	Dec. 12, 1787	1682 Proprietary Province of Pennsylvania
New Jersey	Dec. 18, 1787	1660 Crown Colony of New Jersey
Georgia	Jan. 2, 1788	1733 Crown Colony of Georgia
Connecticut	Jan. 9, 1788	1634 Crown Colony of Connecticut
Massachusetts	Feb. 6, 1788	1620 Crown Colony of Massachusetts Bay
Maryland	Apr. 28, 1788	1634 Proprietary Province of Maryland
South Carolina	May 23, 1788	1670 Crown Colony of South Carolina
New Hampshire	June 21, 1788	1623 Crown Colony of New Hampshire
Virginia	June 25, 1788	1607 Crown Colony; Dominion of Virginia
New York	July 26, 1788	1614 Crown Colony of New York
North Carolina	Nov. 21, 1789	1660 Crown Colony of North Carolina
Rhode Island	May 29, 1790	1636 Crown Colony of Rhode Island
Vermont	Mar. 4, 1791	1724 Vermont Republic
Kentucky	June 1, 1792	1774 Virginia; District of Kentucky (part)
Tennessee	June 1, 1796	1769 Southwest Territory
Ohio	Mar. 1, 1803	1788 Northwest Territory (part)
Louisiana	Apr. 30, 1812	1699 Territory of Orleans
Indiana	Dec. 11, 1816	1733 Indiana Territory
Mississippi	Dec. 10, 1817	1699 Mississippi Territory
Illinois	Dec. 3, 1818	1720 Illinois Territory (part)
Alabama	Dec. 14, 1819	1702 Alabama Territory
Maine	Mar. 15, 1820	1624 Massachusetts; District of Maine
Missouri	Aug. 10, 1821	1735 Missouri Territory (part)
Arkansas	June 15, 1836	1686 Arkansas Territory
Michigan	Jan. 26, 1837	1668 Michigan Territory
Florida	Mar. 3, 1845	1565 Florida Territory
Texas	Dec. 29, 1845	1682 Republic of Texas
Iowa	Dec. 28, 1846	1788 Iowa Territory (part)
Wisconsin	May 29, 1848	1766 Wisconsin Territory (part)
California	Sept. 9, 1850	1769 Unorganized territory (part); California Republic
Minnesota	May 11, 1858	1805 Minnesota Territory
Oregon	Feb. 14, 1859	1811 Oregon Territory (part)
Kansas	Jan. 29, 1861	1727 Kansas Territory (part)
West Virginia	June 20, 1863	1727 Virginia (Trans-Allegheny region)
Nevada	Oct. 31, 1864	1849 Nevada Territory
Nebraska	Mar. 1, 1867	1823 Nebraska Territory
Colorado	Aug. 1, 1876	1858 Colorado Territory
North Dakota	Nov. 2, 1889	1812 Dakota Territory (part)
South Dakota	Nov. 2, 1889	1859 Dakota Territory (part)
Montana	Nov. 8, 1889	1809 Montana Territory
Washington	Nov. 11, 1889	1811 Washington Territory
Idaho	July 3, 1890	1842 Idaho Territory
Wyoming	July 10, 1890	1834 Wyoming Territory
Utah	Jan. 4, 1896	1847 Utah Territory
Oklahoma	Nov. 16, 1907	1889 Oklahoma Territory & Indian Territory
New Mexico	Jan. 6, 1912	1610 New Mexico Territory
Arizona	Feb. 14, 1912	1776 Arizona Territory
Alaska	Jan. 3, 1959	1784 Territory of Alaska
Hawaii	Aug. 21, 1959	1820 Territory of Hawaii; Republic of Hawaii; Kingdom of Hawai’i