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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska

tlers came from other U.S. states and territories. Many also came from Europe, especially Germany and the British Isles. Starting in the 1870s, large num- bers of black settlers migrated to Kansas, escaping the South in search of a better life. These settlers became known as Exodusters, after the exodus from Egypt in the Bible. Fueling Kansas’s boom was the expansion of the railroads. Construction of the first railroad line to pass through the state, the Kansas Pacific Railroad, began in 1863. The Kansas Pacific later became part of the Union Pacific Railroad, which crossed the entire country. By the end of the 19th century, Kansas was ranked third in the nation for rail mileage, with almost 9,000 miles (14,500 km) of railroads crisscrossing the state. Thanks to the railroads, a thriving cattle industry developed in Kansas. From the mid-1860s to the mid- 1880s, hundreds of thousands of cat- tle were herded every year from Texas to Kansas. These cattle were then

A restored Union Pacific Railroad engine on display in Dodge City.

A 19th-century cowboy rounds up cattle on a ranch near present-day Kansas City.