When Kansas was formed as a territory in 1854, it had 126,823 square miles. The original Kansas Territory included portions of what is now Colorado west to the Continental Divide, and Pike's Peak was in Kansas at that time.

The act that established the Territory of Kansas set its limits as follows:

beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where parallel 37° N. crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north of said boundary to 38° N.; thence following said boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit to 40° N.; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said state to the place of beginning.

Colorado

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This page was last updated on 03/16/2011.