Sprawling across 66 counties and more than two-thirds of Kansas' land area, the "Big First" is larger than many Eastern states. This is wheat-growing and cattle-raising country, dotted with small cities (none with more than 42,500 residents) and otherwise sparsely populated.

While much of the nation was enjoying an economic boom during the 1980s, western Kansas endured a period of "farm crisis" along with the typical vagaries of drought and freeze. These factors, along with continuing farm mechanization and concentration of land ownership, exacerbated population decline: Most counties in the 1st lost people in the 1980s.

But those who want to work in western Kansas can. Unemployment is extraordinarily low: In December 1992, several western counties had jobless rates below 2 percent.

1992, a year of GOP trial nationwide, proved the strength of the 1st's rural Republican voting traditions. George Bush finished first in all but one 1st District county. Bill Clinton finished third behind Bush and independent Ross Perot in 47 of the 66 counties. (Perot carried Wabaunsee and Morris counties in the eastern end of the 1st.) Republican Sen. Bob Dole, a native of the 1st, and Rep. Roberts swept the district. Roberts repeated the trick in 1994.

The two largest population centers are in the 1st's eastern reaches. Salina (Saline County) is a traditional farm-market town, but it has an industrial element. Beech Aircraft has a factory here; food products, car batteries and light bulbs are also produced. Not far east is Abilene (Dickinson County), site of Dwight D. Eisenhower's burial place and his presidential library.

Industry in Hutchinson (Reno County) is largely farm- and food-related. Located 54 miles northwest of Wichita, Hutchinson is the site of the annual Kansas State Fair. The city of McPherson is nearby to the north; Emporia is at the district's eastern edge.

In recent years, the nation's meatpacking industry has dispersed from big-city stockyards to smaller towns closer to the Midwest's cattle ranches. Such southwest Kansas locales as Garden City and Dodge City have benefited from the trend and bucked Kansas' population slump. Finney County (Garden City) had the state's largest population increase (32 percent) during the 1980s, a boost fueled by Mexican and Asian immigrants who came to work in the huge IBP and Monfort beef-processing plants.

An Excel beef plant is the heart of Dodge City's economy. But the town also relies on a tourist trade based on its "Wild West" history. At the district's western edge is a sparsely populated region that was one of the strongest areas in the nation for Bush in 1992; he pulled down 64 percent in Wallace County, along the Colorado border.

At the district's center is Russell, Dole's hometown. But just west is Ellis County: Populated largely by farmers of German and Russian extraction, Ellis developed a Democratic habit that is abetted by Fort Hays State University's academic community. It was the only 1st District county that Clinton carried -- with just 37 percent.