Kansa

“ Kaṅsa has Vasudeva summoned, is told of the birth of a daughter, refuses to spare the child, and hurls it against a rock. But part only of the lifeless body falls to earth; the rest rises to heaven, and the dread figure of the goddess Kārtyāyanī appears to the king. Her retinue come also, announcing each his advent with a verse, and declare their purpose to destroy Kaṅsa. In the meantime, in herdsmen’s guise they will go to the home of the child to share in the sports of the herdsmen. ”

“ Some days later Nanda learns of Kansa's order to seize all male children and, deeming it prudent to offer presents, he collects the cowherds in a body and goes to Mathura to pay tribute. Kansa receives him and on his way back Vasudeva meets him at the river. He dare not disclose his secret that Krishna is not Nanda's son but his own. At the same time he cannot suppress his anxiety as a father. He contents himself by telling Nanda that demons and evil spirits are abroad seeking to destroy young children and urges him to return to Gokula as quickly as possible. ”

“ By Kansa's orders, the fierce Putanâ went about killing children in towns, villages and pasture lands, for verily she was a killer of children. That wanderer of the skies entered Gokula at will, assuming the form of a woman most beautiful to look at. So no one stopped her passage. She moved freely here and there and at last entered the house of Nanda. She looked like a kind mother and Yasodâ and Rohini were so much struck by her fine exterior that they did not stop her access to Krishna. Putanâ placed the child on her lap and gave him milk from her breast full of deadly poison. ”

“ Six sons of Devaki were killed, one by one, by Kansa.
The seventh, the abode of Vishnu, whom they call Ananta, appeared in the womb of Devaki, causing both joy and grief to his parents.
Vishnu, the Âtmâ of all beings, knew the sufferings of His own followers, the Yadus, at the hands of Kansa. He summoned Yoga Mâyâ and commanded her as follows. "Go forth, blessed Devi! to Vraja, which is adorned by Gopas and Gos (Go is ordinarily a cow. Gopa, go and pa is a preserver of cow, a cowherd. Vraja or Go-kula was the chief town of Nan da, the king of the Gopas) . ”

“ When it is cold, people say, “Waziya has returned.” They used to pray to him, but when they found he paid no attention to him, they ceased to do it.
When warm weather is coming, Waziya wraps himself in a thick robe. But when cold weather is coming, he wears nothing at all. Waziya, the giant god of the north, and Itokaga, the god of the south, are ever battling. Each in turn wins the victory.
[Pg 132]
KANSAS BLIZZARDS Kansa
When there is a blizzard, the other Kansa beg the members of the Tcihaci gens to interpose, as they are the Wind People.
They say, “Oh, grandfather, I wish good weather. ”

“ The first mention of the Kansas Indians in the white man's history was about the beginning of the 17th century, when Juan de Onate gave them the name of Escansaques. It will be noticed that the second and third syllables of this word form the name "Cansa," which is one of the numerous forms later used. George P. Morehouse of Topeka, who has made a rather exhaustive study of Indian lore and tradition, says "The famous historic word Cansa or Kansa is neither of French or Indian origin. ”

“ In reality his excess of faith hinders the way to conditions his idealism has ever been seeking.
The Kansan is, after all, but a phase—a magnificent present-day example and striving—of the mighty democratic spirit which has been groping forward through centuries towards its ideal, the human race’s ideal of ideals. ”

“ It derives its name from the principal tribe of Indians that inhabited the region at the time the territory was organized in 1854, but the origin, meaning and orthography of the word "Kansas" is somewhat uncertain. One authority says the Indian word Kansa has a dual meaning—"wind and swift"—and that the word Kansas may be interpreted as meaning "swift wind." F. W. Hodge says that the word refers to winds, but the full definition is not known. The name of the Indian tribe has been spelled in many different ways. ”

“ So if you make a practice of inviting Kansans to visit you to see something you have to show, and then call on them to talk, you may not be able to catch them again. Kansans are not accustomed to blowing their own horns. You never heard a Kansan exalting the wealth and prosperity of his State, did you? Or telling any one that Kansas was the center, the glory, the bright particular star of the Universe? ”

“ Your triumph over the adverse forces of nature is as marvelous and complete as was that won at Mission Ridge, and, as a Kansan, I rejoice over and am proud of it. There is something splendid in the march of civilization into and over an unpeopled land—something grander, even, than the advance of a victorious army. It is better to build up than to destroy—better to redeem a desert than to make one. ”

“ And it is a just reproach to Kansas that not one of our counties bears the name of either of these three men—Reeder, Geary, or Walker. Kansas owes them much. Their memory should be honored by every Kansan. They have all passed away from the trials and troubles of this world. This State, the rights and liberties of whose people they defended with such self-sacrificing devotion and steadfast courage, cannot now reward them with substantial gifts. ”

“ Or asserting that the development of Kansas was without parallel in the history of American States? Or affirming that there were more railroads to the square mile, and more corn and wheat to the acre, and more prosperous and growing cities per county, and greater wealth per capita, in Kansas, than in any other section of the civilized globe? These facts are told in histories, census reports, geographies, and other official records, but you never hear a Kansan boasting about them! We are a modest people, and are not puffed up, even if we have the best and greatest State in the Union. ”

“ That they will be highly prized by our people there is no doubt. Kansans are a reading and writing people; they are proud of their history, and they preserve all the records of the past. Governor Martin was one of the founders of the State Historical Society, has been its President, and if he did not have this spirit he would not be a Kansan. The historical facts in this book will be eagerly prized and gladly treasured. Governor Martin was one of the Secretaries of the convention that organized the Republican party of Kansas, at Osawatomie ”

“ She reaches right down into human breasts and grips the heart strings."
It is the busy people who find time to do things and the mother-heart of Miss Graham finds expression in her household in West Lawn, a suburb of Topeka. Among the members of her family are a niece and nephew whose High School and College education she directs.
ESTHER M. CLARK.
Every Kansan, homesick in a foreign land, knows the call of Kansas and every Kansan book lover knows Esther Clark's "Call of Kansas." ”

“ These were the Kanza, the Osage, the Pawnee, and the Comanche tribes. The Kanza, or Kaw, Indians lived in the northeastern part of the State and were the ones seen by Lewis and Clark in their expedition up the Missouri River. It is from this tribe that Kansas probably received its name. The Osage Indians were located in the eastern part, south of the Kansas River. The Pawnee tribe lived north and west of the Kanza Indians. It was in the Osage village that Pike secured supplies for his journey, and in the Pawnee village that he caused the Spanish flag to be lowered. ”

“ Kansas history is not made; it is in the making. We study the past that we may learn how to make the present better. Great things have been accomplished but there is much yet to be done. The pioneers solved their problems, and if we are worthy of the Kansas they have given us we will strive to solve ours. We will keep alive the Kansas spirit. ”

“ Life of the Early Settlers. In order that this great result might be accomplished, that the Kansas of to-day might be, a generation of men and women had to conquer these vast prairies that were swept by blizzards, parched by drouths, scorched by hot winds, and scourged by grasshoppers. A few of the pioneers gave up and returned to their old homes, but most of them were of the sturdy type and remained, always believing that the day of better things was to come. ”

“ Certain characteristics of the people of Kansas are largely due to the fact that this was so recently a frontier state. Pioneer life, wherever it exists, develops the qualities of independence, courage, resourcefulness, endurance, and democracy. ”

“ I do not ask for overcentralization; but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and far-reaching nationalism when we work for what concerns our people as a whole. We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent. I speak to you here in Kansas exactly as I would speak in New York or Georgia, for the most vital problems are those which affect us all alike. ”

“ Their services and sacrifices and your own choice have made you heirs to the common heritage of American citizenship—individual liberty and security, a fair chance to work and win, the sovereignty of electors, and the protection of just laws. No government can give more than this, and no fair-minded and independent man expects or asks more of any government.
In exchanging the rocks and snows of Sweden for the broad prairies and rich soil of Kansas, you have not only benefitted yourselves, but you have benefitted the State. ”

“ That sturdy old Scotch statesman, Fletcher of Saltoun, writing to the Earl of Montrose, two hundred years ago, said: “I knew a very wise man that believed that, if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation.” I welcome you, teachers of Kansas, as men and women who could say, with far more truth: “In educating the boys and girls of the State, we inspire its sentiment, control its business, direct its enterprise, and make its laws.” ”

“ After the introduction of the hard wheats, the wheat crop came to be much more certain, the acreage increased, and the milling industry grew. Kansas flour is now sold in all the important markets of the world, and Kansas is one of the leading states in the milling industry. ”

“ In this fact lies the greatest reason for teaching Kansas History in the schools. A knowledge of the difficulties that have been met and conquered in building the State will create in the minds of the boys and girls a greater respect for the sturdy qualities of the pioneers; it will give them a wholesome sense of the great cost at which the ease and comfort of to-day have been purchased; it will stimulate in them a desire to live up to the past. ”

“ Government of Kansas. As the pioneers look at their State they may feel a pride not only in the acres that have been brought under cultivation and the wealth that has been produced, but also in a government that is one of the most advanced in the Union. Many measures have been passed to promote the welfare of the people. ”

“ President, is proud of Kansas, and has a right to be. But above all other Kansans, the men of the newspaper craft have a just right to be proud and happy. This great commonwealth of ours has not been builded without effort. Dangers and difficulties, trials and vicissitudes, have marked every step and stage of its growth and development. ”

“ Even so to the creature whose paws are now fastened upon Kansas, whatever it may seem to be, constitutes in reality a part of the Slave Power, which, with loathsome folds, now coiled about the whole land. ”

“ Long years of hard work and patient effort were required to secure the knowledge necessary to make a successful fruit state of Kansas. To-day there are many fruits grown here, but it is the Kansas apple that is famous. Scarcely a farm in the eastern and central parts of the State is without its orchard, and there are a number of commercial orchards that are making horticulture an important industry in Kansas. ”

“ Thousands of the men and women who came into Kansas in their wagons and drove across the unfenced plains are still among us, but now when they journey over the same country they go in swiftly moving trains or automobiles. Where once they saw only the prairie and a few settlers’ cabins they now see roads and bridges, farms and 136 ranches, stores, banks, mills, mines, and factories. They see what they have helped to build, a great state, and they may well be proud of it. By their unconquerable faith and courage and their unremitting toil they have made Kansas what it is to-day. ”

“ The free-state people could not step over a boundary line and be in Kansas. They lived a long way off, the trip out here was expensive, and little was known of the new Territory. It was a land without homes or towns, churches, schools, or newspapers, and the Northerners knew that people would hesitate to start to Kansas under all these difficulties. ”

“ Comforts of Life Receive Little Attention. The seven Territorial years had brought freedom to Kansas, but the struggle had left the pioneers little time or strength for building better homes, improving their farms, or establishing public institutions. The energy that might have accomplished these things had been given to fighting and to politics. When Kansas became a State, the people had almost as few of the comforts of life as when they first came to the Territory. ”