It would seem that we have the French to thank for our name of Kansas becoming the name of our state. As I understand it, the French explored the great plains extensively mapping from the 17th century on. As all good explorers do, they followed and noted water routes. The Kansa Indian tribe, fairly large at that time, lived near one of these water routes which came to be known as the Kansas River. Louis Jolliet's map of 1673 identifies the location of the Kansa Indians. Jean-Baptiste Louis Franquelin was the official court cartographer for the governor-general in Quebec. His 1684 map clearly defines la Grande Riviere des Cansa. Once the name was established on these maps it was here to stay.

The spelling of Kansas is another story. Supposedly Kansas can be spelled 80 different ways. It is easy to understand several spellings when you realize everyone is going on phonetics. (Somewhat like Fremont writing about sawatch which is spelled saguache today). Evidently the French and British (Americans) all shortened the name to one syllable on occasion, giving us the Kaw. The United States board of geographic names declared that the river should be called Kansas, but the citizens, being the individuals they are, still use the name Kaw.

A map of 1836 refers to this region as Kansas and with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 the name and spelling became official.

Some books I used for information are "Mapping the North American Plains" by Frederick C. Luebke, et al. "Kansas Place Names" by Rydjord, and "Bourgmont, Explorer of the Missouri 1698-1725" by Frank Norall.

Mary Ann Thompson, Hays Public Library, email: mthompso@fhsu.edu