Secret Kansas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Among Kansas’s many wheat fields lie secrets and hidden stories of heroes and villains that even a fiction author could never devise. It wasn’t just Dorothy Gale of the Wizard of Oz who roamed The Wheat State. Secret Kansas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure will introduce you to a true cast of characters along with the little-known history of their inventions, deeds, and fame. Learn about the first indigenous woman to argue before the Supreme Court to save her ancestors’ graves from greedy developers. Discover how Frank Bellamy from Cherryvale wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, only to lose his claim to its authorship. Inventions abound in Kansas history such as Mentholatum which had a small role in ending World War II. From Capt. Emil Kapaun who is headed for sainthood to the fraudulent Goat Gland Doctor whose tonics started many entertainers’ careers, there’s no shortage of fascinating anecdotes to choose from. Add to that the countless examples of courageous captains, game-changing women, along with a few ne'er-do-wells whose biographies are chronicled here. Longtime Kansan Roxie Yonkey will unearth the hidden roads and secret passages to unearth the state’s buried treasures. Visitors and lifelong residents alike will find a surprise on every page.