• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

"SILVER CITY," A HISTORY OF THE ARGENTINE COMMUNITY OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS A Thesis Presented to the Division of Social Sciences Emporia Kansas State College In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Edwin Dale Shutt II August 1974 T r~ ~ 91~./JI~~ ~roved for the Major Department ~. ~-e.J' (I 4- ... -_-.------:r ,-It' <....G- -' u.~ Approved for the Graduate Council i 35~304 u OUTLINE Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter I Early Beginnings Chapter II The Founding of the Town Chapter III The Argentine Smelter Chapter IV Castle on a Hill Chapter V The Kansas City Structural Steel Company Chapter VI Tales of Floods and Disasters Chapter VII History of the Schools Chapter VIII Mr. Argentine Chapter IX The Argentine Community Today Appendix I List of Businesses in the Town of Argentine in 1908 Appendix II Partial List of BUildings Constructed in the Greater Kansas City Area by the Kansas City Structural Steel Company Appendix III Community Organizations Appendix IV Partial Listing of Prominent Citizens in the Town's Past Bibliography if PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the flat bottomlanda of the Kaw River, about three miles from its mouth, lies the Argentine community of Kanaaa City, Kansas. The Argentine community has a colorful past. Founded in 1880, this town was the headquarters of the Kansas City Consolidated Smelting and Refining Company. A large smelter plant was maintained at Argentine. This smelter had the reputation of being the largest in the world, both in terms of capacity and in the value of the ore refined. A settlement grew up around the amelter and the rail­ road, which had come in the late 1870's. Thia aettlement became known as Argentine, which is derived from the Latin word for "silver." As a reault of several factors, the Argentine amelter shut down permanently in October of 1901. The town of Argentine imme­ diately went into a depression. Hundreda of people left the community to seek work elsewhere. Thia waa the main reason why the little city sought for and gained annexation into the city of Kansas City, Kansas. Thus, on January 1, 1910, Argentine officially became the seventh ward of Kansas City, Kansas. Argentine fortunes have grown with the city, and in 1974 it is a prosperous suburb. In 1907 a group of men organized the Kansas City Structural Steel Company in Argentine. From small beginnings this plant grew to such an extent that for many years, in terms of steel fabricated, it was considered the largest steel plant west of 11i iv Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In later years, the company was still credited as the largest plant west of the Mississippi River. The Argentine community has many other claims to fame. For many years, the Argentine High School was considered one of the most prestigious schools in the state. In the 1930's a vocational technical program was started at the high school and it quickly became a pioneer in the field of vocational training. During the pioneer days of Kansas, the community could boast of another diatinction. White Feather Creek in Argentine is the grave site of the famous Shawnee Indian known as the "Prophet." This Indian, reputed to be the twia brother of the great Chief Tecumseh, spent his final years living around what is now the Argentine community. A section of the first chapter is devoted to him. In the summer of 1951, the Argentine and the lowlands of the greater Kansas City area were subject to one of the greatest natural disasters of our nation's history. The great Kaw River flood of 1951 caused losses of over $870,000,000 along the Kaw, Missouri, Marais des Cygnes and Osage River basins. A large chapter has been devoted to this and other great floods that have struck the Argentine community. The purpose of this paper is to trace the growth of the Argentine community from its beginnings to the present. The major emphasis of the paper has been placed on the silver smelter, the Kansas City Structural Steel Company, the great floods, and the old town itself. Outside of old newspaper accounts, little has been written about much of the community's history. What works do exist, the v author utilized to the utmost. Also, the author had the aid of numerous libraries and collections to achieve materials for the fuller accounts in this study. The author is thus deeply indebted to the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society. Much of the old newspaper clippings that they had on the smelter and the early days of the town could not have been found elsewhere. A special thanks goes out to the staff of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library. The staff gave me access to their Kansas Room Collection, and spent many hours setting up dozens of rolls of aicrofilm for the author. The Argentine Branch Library and the Wyandotte County Historical Society also deserve mention. The.author also received valuable information from the Argentine files of the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Kansan, and the Silver City Record. A special thanks goes out to Hewitt and George McCamish, Tom Yearsley, Joseph L. Larson, Clarence Baker, Loyd Crawford and the author's father, Edwin Dale Shutt, Sr. Without their aid, much of the information on the Kansaa City Structural Steel Company could not have been gathered. The author also received valuable assistance from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the archives of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schoola System. The author gives special thanks to the many wonderful people whom he interviewed. Last, but not least, the author gives special recognition to his mother, father, sister, and brother. Without their assistance over the many weeks, the typing and editing of this paper would have been impossible to complete. CHAPTER 1 EARLY BEGINNINGS Kansas haa a rich Indian heritage. Long before the coming of the white man, Indians dwelled in the fertile river valleys. Other tribes roamed the plains in search of the buffalo. Unfortu­ nately, most of the traces of these Indian cultures have vanished, but the names of many towns and rivers reflect their Indian origins. The word Kansas has such an origin. Early Spanish explorers may have derived the word from the Kansa Indian tribe. These Indians were of Siouan linguiatic stock and lived in the eastern part of the state. l There are several theories as to the meaning of the name Kansas. Some experts believe the name meant "People of the South Wind." Andreas in his History ~ the State of Kansas, which was written in 1883, gave another meaning for the word. He said that it meant "smoky." Consequently, the southern fork of the Kansas River is called the Smoky Hill River. Other historians, however, claim that the word Kansas has no particular meaning. They tend to disregard an old Osage Indian legend that said the "Kansas" Indians were a tribe of cowards because they refused to aid the Osage Indians 1Kansas City Kanaan, August 2, 1962, p. 1. 1 2 during a war. Thus, by this interpretation, the word Kansas means tribe of ~owards.2 Regardless of the exa~t meaning of the word, the fa~t remains that the name of the largest river and the name of the state derive their origins from the Kansa Indians. Unfortunately, the name Kansa has also been spelled many different ways. The name of the river for instan~e has been spelled as many as 125 different ways. 3 Some of these were: Cans, Causa, Kan~es, Kanza and Quans. Even as late as 1882, Professor Hay's arti~le on Kansas written in the ninth volume of the Kansas Histori~al Colle~tions gave twenty-four spellings of the name. 4 One of the earliest spellings of the river had it being ~alled the Cansez River. This was on a map of the Louisiana Territory by a Fren~hman by the name of Du Pratz. A Monsieur De Bourgmont, the Commandant of the Fren~h fort at New Orleans spelled the name of the tribe and the river by the name of "Cana." A 1715 map by still another Fren~hman by the name of Charlevoix even ~alled the river the Padouea River after the Padieu~a Indians. This was a mysterious tribe of Indians whi~h he ~laimed roamed the region between Kansas and the Gulf of Mexi~0.5 Needless to say, this name did not ~ome into popular usage. By the 19th ~entury, the most ~ommon names for the river were the 2Ibid ., p. 1. 3Ibid., p. 3A. 4John Hay, "Kaw and Kansas, A Monograph on the Name of the State," Kansas Histori~al Colle~tions, IX (1905-06), 523-24. 5Kansas City Kansan, August 2, 1962, p. 3A. 3 Kansas or Kaw. The word Kaw seems to have been derived from a corrup­ tion of the word Kansa. The first "a" in Kansa became sounded "aw" or "awer." From this came the word Kawer and finally Kaw. 6 To this day, the river has continued to be referred to as the Kansas or Kaw River. This has caused some confusion to mapmakers. In IB95, the United States Board of Geographic Names asked a Kansas City, Kansas newspaper to decide the issue. This newspaper took a 7 poll among residents of the area. The results were inconclusive. Generally speaking, Kansas is the official name. This is even the name that the Kaw Valley Drainage Association uses on its official stationery. Kansas is also the name used on maps and official government documents such as those of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Load more

  227

Copy Link