Located in south-central Kansas 140 mi/225 km southwest of Topeka, Wichita has grown to become the state's largest city—largely because of the many aviation plants located there. Before it became an aeronautical center, Wichita was a cow town, and nothing shows off its origins better than the Old Cowtown Museum.
Many of the city's best museums are located along the river. The Wichita River Festival, Kansas' largest special event, is a 10-day celebration in May.
Farther south, on the border with Oklahoma, is Arkansas City, where thousands of homesteaders lined up in September 1893 waiting for the gunshot that would signal the start of the Cherokee Strip Land Rush. Today, the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum in town depicts the turf race, and there's a marker just south of town on Highway 77.
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