What were Wichita and Kansas like in 1776? For starters, cooler and wetter than at present.
That sounds pretty good about now, huh?
Adam Hodge, head of reference for the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka, said the American Revolution took place during what’s known as the “Little Ice Age.”
“From about 1300 to 1850 — 550 years — it was noticeably cooler and wetter in Kansas,” Hodge said. Hodge was scheduled to give a talk about conditions in Kansas in 1776 at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum on June 28. The free presentation starts at 2 p.m. Hodge was also involved in creating an exhibit examining Kansas in 1776 that opens July 1 at the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka.
Hodge said the wetter, cooler weather was generally good for the state’s grasslands, which in turn hosted plenty of wildlife.
“Some of the biggest changes (compared to today) include the animal landscape, where bison, wolves and elk would have been pretty common back then,” he said.
Also, he said, “Beavers were historically present in significant numbers in Kansas. They played a significant role in affecting environments by erecting dams.”
Despite more rainfall, there weren’t many lakes and ponds. Hodge said it’s estimated that more than 120,000 farm ponds, reservoirs and other artificial bodies of water have now been created in the state.
But the state’s longest river — the Arkansas — would have flowed much heavier. Today, upstream irrigation has significantly reduced its volume.
Current staples of our landscape — from power lines and roads to crops to wheat and cows — would not have been present, of course. The European honeybee was another later introduction.
Euro-Americans had not yet settled in what would become Kansas, but it was far from empty. Hodge said it’s difficult to make estimates of the Native American population because “Kansas had a very fluid cultural landscape. There were a lot of tribal communities that came and went.”
“There were villages of 1,000 people here, 500 people there. At best, we’re probably talking in the tens of thousands” of Native Americans.
Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kaw, Kiowa, Osage, Pawnee, Comanche and Wichita tribes would have been present at various times. Hodge said tribal rivalries existed over prime hunting grounds and raids for the purpose of taking captives was a significant part of Plains Indian culture.
Some Native Americans would have been equipped with guns other Euro-American goods acquired through interaction with French fur traders traveling on the Missouri River, although most probably relied on bow and arrow. The French established a fort north of Kansas City, Kan., in 1744.
Kansas “was a truly dynamic landscape, due to human activities and natural processes causing almost constant change,” Hodge said. “Kansas wasn’t just a land waiting for something to happen in 1776.”
