Known as the "Sunflower State, Kansas became a free state on January 29, 1861, after seven years of bloody feuding between residents over whether to be admitted as a slave or free state. The state's name comes from the Kansa or Kaw Indians and is a Sioux Indian term meaning "south wind people." Within Kansas's borders is the magnetic center mark for all of North America. All land surveys in the US, Canada, and Mexico use this as a reference point. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous (connected) states is located in a Kansas pasture. The native sunflower is Kansas state flower and the capital is Topeka.