Wichita, Kansas April, 1998 Located in south-central Kansas on the eastern Great Plains, the city of Wichita is situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers. It is the home of McConnell Air Force Base whose runways are visible just to the bottom and left of the center of the view (southeast of the central city). The runways of the commercial Wichita Mid-Continent Airport are visible to the west (up) from the central city. Wichita is the chief agricultural, commercial, industrial, financial, and cultural center of southern Kansas. The city was founded in 1868 to serve travelers moving westward on the famous Chisholm Trail