Kansas include I-470 around Topeka, I-235 around Wichita, and I-670 in downtown Kansas City. I-435 is a beltway around the Kansas City metropolitan area while I-635 bypasses through Kansas City. U.S. Route 69 (US-69) travels south to north, from Oklahoma to Missouri. The highway passes through the eastern section of Kansas, traveling through Baxter Springs, Pittsburg, Frontenac, Fort Scott, Louisburg, and the Kansas City area. Kansas also has the country's third largest state highway system after Texas and California. This is because of the high number of counties and county seats (105) and their intertwining. In January 2004, the Kansas Department
Kansas State Guard abroad, the State Guard was funded and equipped solely by the state and as such was immune to deployment. The Kansas State Guard is authorized under Kansas law. In 2007, the Kansas Legislature considered a bill which would create a modern Kansas State Defense Force. The bill did not pass. Prior to the Militia Act of 1903, which reorganized state militias into the National Guard of the United States, each state maintained its own militia, which could be used to supplement the full-time military in times of war. After Kansas was opened for settlement in 1854, conflict broke out between