“ Born in the storm and stress period of national political controversy, cradled in the tumult of civil war, and reared to full statehood in an era unparalleled in the arts of peace, the life of Kansas has been one of intense activity. Carved out of territory once known as part of the Great American Desert, by the industry of her people it has become one of the most productive and wealthy states of the Union in proportion to its population. From the political unrest of the early life has sprung a people alive to progressive forms of government. ”

“ History seldom portrays the real life of the commonwealth. It is the sociology of the state after all that represents its true greatness.
Indeed the political history of the state represents a small part of what Kansas has wrought and hence a small part of its life. The Kansas Cyclopedia assumes to present every factor in the political, social, and economic development and relate every important event which has had to do with the building of a great commonwealth. ”

“ Those men and women who endured the hardships of pioneer days (and Kansas has always had her pioneer days in the progress of civilization from the Missouri border to the Colorado line) , subdued the soil, mastered the resources of the country, developed her industries, built her schools, churches and railroads, made a large part of the real history of Kansas which cannot be recorded except in a general way. ”