INMAN — Some Kansans have undertaken an effort to select a state grass. Kansas has a state song, bird, tree, insect, turtle, animal - and even proudly proclaims a state dirt. So why not a grass?
Marci Penner, director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, near Inman, and others are considering a grass-roots effort to have the Kansas Legislature pass a bill adopting a state grass.
Symbols are snapshots, Penner said.
"Symbols ... are icons of our culture. If not for being the state tree, the cottonwood tree might suffer from disrespect or apathy," Penner said. "State symbols are like comfort foods - common to our cultural palate and they make us feel good, safe, at home."
Each of the state's symbols - from the American buffalo to the western meadowlark - is emblematic of what the prairie means to Kansans. Some even help us identify who we are as a people and how the land has shaped us.
For instance, for the true meaning of the state song, "Home on the Range," visit Brewster Higley's homestead cabin near Athol.
In 1872, Higley was at the end of his fourth marriage and down on his luck. He left Ohio, seeking refuge and a little solace.
He ended up homesteading on the banks of Beaver Creek in Smith County.
In his loneliness, he wrote a six-verse poem called "My Western Home" on a piece of paper.
"Oh give me a home,
Where the buffalo roam,
And the deer and the antelope play,
Where never is heard a discouraging word,
And the sky is not cloudy all day."
The cabin where Higley wrote the song is now a tourist attraction.
"We have guests who come from all over to see the cabin," said Bobbi Miles, director of economic development in Smith County.
"It is free." Miles said. "You come to this cabin and stand where the song was written. You see wildlife on the site and understand the hardships our ancestors endured."
The site offers perspective, Miles said.
"It is such a harsh condition; I'm always happy to leave and come back to my own home. It puts you in your place and helps you appreciate what people did."
Our state symbols link us to our heritage, said Beverly Hurley, media relations representative for the state Commerce Department's Travel and Tourism division.
"Symbols are based on our resources," Hurley said.
Drive down almost any Kansas dirt road in the summer, Hurley said, and you'll spot wild sunflowers and meadowlarks in abundance.
For a more unique perspective on sunflowers, travel to Mount Sunflower in northwest Kansas near Weskan, the highest point in Kansas at 4,039 feet. There, visitors can see a steel sculpture of a sunflower.
The sunflower symbolizes Kansas, decorating its landscape and license plates, the state banner and its flag.
It will also be placed on the new state quarter, along with a bison, another symbol of Kansas.
The Legislature chose the American buffalo as the state animal 50 years ago.
"It's such a magnificent creature and found in several places all over the state," said Virgil Dean, historian and editor for the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka.
Some of the best places to spot bison are at the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton and at the Sandsage Bison Range and Wildlife Area near Garden City. You can find smaller herds throughout the state.
Penner and her group haven't discussed yet what type of grass they want to represent the prairie state.
"The choice ... would doubtless go to one of the taller species, but my personal preference would be either buffalo grass or little bluestem," said Jim Mason, naturalist at the Great Plains Nature Center.
Whatever the symbol, Penner says, it helps us feel closer to the land.
"Symbols make us unique and touch base with our roots and souls," she said. "I think when you look at a meadowlark and cottonwood tree - you look at it different than other birds or trees. You look at them as state symbols.
"And, as we travel and explore around the state, once we know their history and why they were chosen, we can look at them differently."
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