The Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma upped the ante Thursday in the long fight over casino gambling when it brought 200 slot machines onto land it claims in downtown Kansas City, Kan.

The action brought a strong response from Gov. Bill Graves, who demanded a state investigation. An official with Wyandotte County, where Kansas City, Kan., is located, then criticized Graves for continuing to block the tribe from opening a casino at the Woodlands racetrack or some other land in the county.

The tribe brought the slot machines to a former Masonic temple building in the downtown area, which is next to a tribal cemetery.

Chief Leonard Bearskin said the federal government ruled in March that the land is trust land thus giving the tribe the right to conduct business there.

“We have met all federal regulations that we have to go by in order to get where we are today,” Bearskin said. “It has been a long, hard process. Now we will use this as a temporary facility just for a little while until we can get out to where we want to be.”

Wyandotte County has consistently supported the tribe’s right to open a casino in the county. Both the county and tribe have said their first choice for a casino would be the racetrack, but the tribe has said it will open a casino downtown if no other land is available.

Bearskin said the tribe hopes to have the casino running sometime this summer but hopes not to have to stay in the building.

“We want out to be out in the county,” Bearskin said. “The city doesn’t want us to be here and we want to be out in county.”

After being told the tribe had brought in slot machines, Graves asked the Kansas attorney general and the U.S. attorney to investigate the tribe.

“I expect state and federal authorities to take appropriate, immediate and decisive action,” Graves said in a statement. “I am confident this tribe does not have the authority to conduct gaming activities or possess gaming machines in Kansas. I will continue to aggressively oppose this tribe’s attempts to engage in gaming activities in this state.”

Hal Walker, attorney for the Unified Board of Commissioners of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., called Graves’ reaction “regrettable.”

“I think the state of Kansas is fighting a losing battle,” Walker said. “It is ultimately up to the governor and Legislature to reach out and solve this problem, or Kansas City, Kan., is going to be confronted with casino gaming in a downtown office area.”

Walker said the county was not aware the tribe planned to bring slots to the city Thursday.

“I think they’ve drawn a line in the sand today,” Walker said. “They are prepared to go to court to defend what they see as their right to run a casino. What we’ll find out is whether the state or the governor are prepared to take action to stop them.”

Walker said he met with Bearskin and other representatives Thursday. He said his impression was that the tribe expects the state or federal government to file a lawsuit, but expects to win the lawsuit.

“Once that lawsuit is disposed of, I think they are prepared to proceed (with the casino) if no other alternative location is available at that time,” Walker said.

The Wyandotte Tribe left Kansas under treaty in the 1850s for its present-day reservation in Oklahoma. But the tribe contends it held on to some parcels of land in the county, including a small parcel near an Indian cemetery in the downtown area. They bought the Masonic Lodge building next to the cemetery, and say federal rulings have made it trust land that gives them the right to run a casino in the building.