In the early months of 1857, the survey of the Shawnee lands was followed closely by land speculators, among whom was Dr. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Kansas Territory, opening the land to pre-emption by home seekers of European descent from the more heavily populated states.

Thomas Johnson immigrated with the Shawnee tribe to the new reserve in 1829, and established a mission. Government treaties forced many woodland Native American tribes to move into what is now eastern Kansas. Overland trade with Mexico along the Santa Fe Trail brought enterprising merchants, the military and the first settlements to the western borders of the United States.

Later, hunters and trappers ventured into the area, and after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the explorations of Lewis and Clark encouraged frontiersmen to move into the Trans-Mississippi West. In prehistoric times the Kansas, Pawnee and Osage Native American tribes roamed the land drained by the Kansas, Missouri and Osage Rivers.

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