Recognition, At Last The Quindaro Townsite

Aerial view (to the south-southwest) of the 1987 excavations along Quindaro’s Avenue (from Schmits 1988:111).

In February of 2002 a nomination to place the Quindaro Townsite (14WY314) on the National Register of Historic Places was presented to the Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review. The review board endorsed the proposed nomination, which was forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register by the Kansas State Historic Preservation Officer. In May 2002, the nomination was formally accepted, and Quindaro was officially listed on the National Register, thus ending two decades of research and attempts by various groups to have the townsite’s significance formally recognized. Quindaro has a long and complex history and has been associated with a variety of social or ethnic groups, including Native Americans, European-Americans, and African-Americans. The nomination that placed Quindaro on the National Register only dealt with the site’s archeological significance and a small portion of the area that is referred to as Quindaro. National Register requirements mandated this narrow scope and, unfortunately, much of Quindaro’s history was not included in the formal nomination. This restricted coverage was necessary because features related to occupations after the 1860s are no longer present or lack integrity. This article summarizes the archeological importance of the townsite and also outlines later occupations and their importance to the area’s history.

7 Boundaries of the Quindaro townsite nominated to the National Register of Historic Places (base map adapted from Schmits 1988:105).

he Quindaro Townsite (14WY314) Quindaro’s significance as an archeologi- equality was just that, a concept, or if it is located on the right side of the cal resource lies in the opportunity it was actually carried out in everyday life. TMissouri River trench in the provides for reconstructing past lifeways. For example, are there differences northern portion of Kansas City, Kansas, The integrity of the site’s components, between the cultural and social classes approximately 5 miles upstream from the the excavated assemblages, and the with respect to their access to trade confluence of the and Kansas probable existence of these components goods and luxury items? If social differ- rivers. From an archeological standpoint, in unsampled areas of the site allow ences did exist, and one can assume they the area of significance is the portion of researchers to obtain a detailed glimpse of did, did they leave behind a recognizable the platted townsite that was settled cultural activity at a river port town dating archeological signature? Clues about between 1857 and 1862 (see map above). to the Kansas Territorial Period. social standing can be found by analyz- Investigations during the 1980s demon- Reynolds (1984:21) states that archeologi- ing structural elements, site arrangement, strated that this portion of Quindaro had cal research at Quindaro will add details and the remains of material culture. a high level of archeological integrity (see about what life was like in the mid-1800s The integrity of Quindaro’s archeo- photo at left). and could add materially to our knowl- logical deposits allows for questions As is typical with briefly occupied edge of the early settlement of Kansas. related to cultural site formation pro- archeological sites, the significance of cesses to be addressed. Such issues Quindaro lies in the fact that it represents A Diverse Population would include building methods, building an archeological time capsule representa- It has been documented that and abandonment sequences, refuse tive of one of the many Kansas territorial Quindaro’s inhabitants were culturally disposal practices, access to regional and settlements situated along the Missouri and racially diverse. The initial settlers of national trade networks, as well as River (Schmits 1988:138). After the the townsite included European-Ameri- settlement patterning (Robinson 1994). territorial settlement was abandoned, cans and partial-blood Wyandot Indians. The Quindaro archeological site has natural erosion as well as deliberate and As the town grew, African-Americans a high degree of integrity, and detailed indirect cultural destruction of the became part of its population base. and diverse cultural assemblages have buildings during the late nineteenth Archeological studies of Quindaro will been recovered during archeological century served to seal the archeological provide the opportunity to examine the excavations. These assemblages have yet component associated with the site’s lifestyles of these different “ethnic” or to be analyzed, but will undoubtedly be occupation between 1856 and 1862. cultural groups. In small territorial towns, invaluable in addressing the issues These conditions have protected the site there was little separation between lower from disturbances that can compromise and upper economic strata, thus strength- This article was prepared by Will Banks, archeological integrity. ening the concept of social equality. The archeologist in the state historic One of the primary reasons for question is whether this concept of social preservation office. 8 Reserve, a total of 36 sections of land. A small settlement then grew up between the river front and the present Huron Indian Cemetery; within a few years this became known as the town of Wyandott or Wyandott City. This town would eventually become the present Kansas City, Kansas. A Role in the Free State Movement In 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill to establish the Kansas and Nebraska territories. The Kansas- Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise that had limited the spread of slavery, instead allowing the question of slavery in the new territories to be settled by “popular sovereignty.” This immedi- ately made control of Kansas Territory the goal of competing pro- and anti-slavery View to the northwest of the Upson and Ranzchoff Buildings (from Schmits 1988:116). forces. In the fall of 1856, the Quindaro Town Company was formed by an alliance of Wyandots and several individuals from the free-state town of Lawrence with ties to the New England Emigrant Aid Company. The intent was to develop a profitable and safe port of entry into Kansas for free-state settlers, as the established river ports such as Atchison and Leavenworth were largely in pro- slavery hands. Pro-slavery interests were easily able to interrupt the flow of people and goods into Kansas. The provided easy transport and was ultimately necessary for trade and the eventual development of Kansas. At the time that the city charter was first approved in January 1858, Quindaro had a population of 800 (and may have reached 1,200 before decline set in), with nearly 100 private houses built. Busi- nesses included two hotels, a hardware store (Shepherd & Henry at 179 Main View to the southeast of the probable town company office located to the rear of the Quindaro Street), three dry goods stores, four House Hotel (from Schmits 1988:115). groceries, one clothing store (N. Ranzchoff & Co.), two drug stores, two outlined above. Additionally, many areas settle on a portion of the Shawnee meat markets, two blacksmiths, one of the site remain unsampled and there is Reserve near the town of Westport, wagon shop, six boot and shoe shops, no evidence to suggest that the archeo- Missouri. Such a purchase had already and one livery stable. There were also logical components in these areas been provided for in a treaty drafted in four doctors, three lawyers, two survey- possess a lesser degree of integrity than 1839; however, upon arrival, the ors, and several carpenters and builders. those that have been subjected to Wyandots found the Shawnee unwilling For almost two years the town boomed, archeological investigation. Therefore, to go through with the agreement. By attracting national attention. Quindaro has the potential to substan- October, the Wyandots began negotia- As the only free-state river port, from tially contribute to our knowledge of life tions with the Delaware for the purchase its very beginning Quindaro was rumored and cultural processes during Kansas’ of a portion of their reserve and had to be involved in activities of the Under- Territorial Period. established a ferry across the river in the ground Railroad (the well-known and Apart from its archeological signifi- location of the present Lewis and Clark covert operation that helped fugitive cance, Quindaro has a deep and important Viaduct to facilitate relocation. On slaves escape to freedom in the North history. When the Wyandot Indians were December 14, 1843, the Wyandots signed prior to the end of the Civil War). How- forced to move from to Kansas in an agreement with the Delaware to ever, the known references to such activ- July 1843, they hoped to purchase and purchase the eastern end of the Delaware ity suggest that the town did not play a 9 primary role in the . remained standing but were all unoccu- Freedmen’s University struggled to Nevertheless, there is undeniable evi- pied. Cottonwood trees had begun to survive in the troubled mid-1870s. In dence that some residents of Quindaro grow in the middle of the streets. After a 1879, the school’s trustees took out a did participate in activities tied to the visit ten years later, Chase noted that the mortgage on part of the property of the Underground Railroad. The best way to only change in the townsite proper was Freedmen’s University in an attempt to describe this participation is that when that the cottonwoods were taller. keep the school open. After considering the opportunity arose to assist fugitive selling the school to Park College in slaves, individuals in the town took ad- A Second Occupation Parkville, Missouri, the school was taken vantage of it. This part of Quindaro’s Throughout the Civil War, but over by the African Methodist Episcopal history could not be stressed in the Na- especially after emancipation and Union Church in 1880. The A.M.E. church tional Register nomination since there are victory, freed and escaped slaves fled supported other colleges and since the no physical features, nor an archeological Missouri. Many were drawn toward Freedmen’s University was its most signature, that can be unequivocally at- Quindaro because of its anti-slavery western institution, the school was given tributed to such activities. history. They settled on the mostly the name Western University in 1881. abandoned town site, particularly in the The school’s educational model was Beginning of the End valley around Quindaro Creek. Individu- Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Despite having been reincorporated als and families farmed their own land or Institute, which stressed vocational and into Wyandotte County in 1859, Quindaro worked for the remaining white popula- industrial training for African-Americans. was beginning a decline almost as rapid tion. Newcomers to the area lived and There was a decade-long delay before as its growth. The rough topography was farmed near the town in an area that came Western University began to truly proving to be a major operate as a university in barrier to continued 1890 with an all-black development, a nation- board of trustees and staff. wide business depres- By 1904 Western sion following the University had added economic panic of 1857 architectural and mechani- dried up investment cal drawing, carpentry, capital, a drought that cabinet-making, printing, began in June 1859 and wood-turning, business lasted almost two years (stenography and typing), caused great hardship for dressmaking, tailoring, many, and the triumph of music, and agriculture free-state forces in programs. Western Kansas ended much of University became Quindaro’s basic reason affiliated with Frederick for existence. Douglass Hospital Once the Civil War beginning in 1915, when it began in April 1861, moved near the college much of Quindaro’s campus. remaining population Medical care was hard began to disappear. With to obtain in segregated the main part of the town South-southeast view of the abandoned townsite in the 1880s (from Schmits turn-of-the-century Kansas largely deserted, on 1988:103). City. Blacks were only able January 20, 1862, the 9th to seek medical care in the Kansas Volunteer segregated—and inad- Infantry under Col. Alton C. Davis was to be known as “Happy Hollow,” to the equate—wards of Kansas City General ordered stationed in Quindaro to protect west of Quindaro. This community Hospital. Douglass Hospital was the town from bushwhackers and border served as a transition point from slavery chartered in 1899 after four black men— raiders. Initially the 700 troops in Davis’ to freedom; however, not much is known two doctors, a minister, and a lawyer— regiment were welcomed in the shrunken about this African-American community. met to organize a hospital and nursing community and many attended services at Freedmen occupied the abandoned school for African-Americans. Douglass the Congregational Church. But as time buildings, farmed, and existed as an Hospital was sponsored, beginning in passed, the largely idle troops reportedly isolated, non-urban, unplanned subsis- 1905, by the A.M.E. church and moved to quartered their horses in vacant build- tence “village” without any organized Quindaro Boulevard in 1915. Douglass ings, pulled down houses for firewood, social, political, or economic structure. Hospital was also a training facility and and generally devastated the community. There was no center of commerce and all educated students in Western The troops were finally removed from the the buildings were residential. University’s nursing program. The town on March 12, 1862, but only after By 1865 there were 429 African- hospital continued to serve the black the state legislature had repealed Americans living in the town site and a community for nearly fifty more years. Quindaro’s incorporation six days earlier. group of Quindaro citizens decided to Western University reached the By mid-1862, Quindaro had not only establish a formal school. Soon after, the apogee of its success during the 1920s ceased to exist legally but also culturally. school became a Freedmen’s University, when 400-500 students a year attended C. M. Chase visited the abandoned town supported through donations and with the school. However, circumstances in 1863 and found only one family living only two teachers throughout its exist- began to interfere with the school’s there. He noted that some buildings still ence, Eben and Jane Blachly. The Continued on page 13 10 Quindaro Townsite Kansans Well Represented at Continued from pg. 10 mission. In 1924 a severe fire devastated Ward Hall, destroying most of the Regional Conference school’s dormitories. The A.M.E. church did not have the money to replace the Cultural Resources Division arche- McCoy from Emporia State University; facilities. Western University officials ologists Tod Bevitt, Jennifer Epperson, Dustin Caster and Matthew J. Padilla from also quarreled with the A.M.E. church Bob Hoard, Jim Marshall, Randy Thies, ; Jeannette over administrative issues, further th and Tim Weston attended the 60 annual Blackmar, Joshua S. Campbell, Jack L. complicated by accounting and financial Plains Anthropological Conference in Hofman, William C. Johnson, Roche M. problems in the late 1920s. Student Oklahoma City October 23-26. The 2002 Lindsey, Brad Logan, Rolfe D. Mandel, enrollment continuously dropped after conference was hosted by the Oklahoma Shannon Ryan, and Chris Widga from the the fire that destroyed the dorms. In 1931 Archeological Survey and co-sponsored ; David T. Hughes only 182 students were enrolled at by the Department of Anthropology, Sam from Wichita State University; and Mark Western University. Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural His- Latham from Burns and McDonnell. On June 30, 1943, Western University tory, and the College of Arts and Sciences Donna Roper led a roundtable lunch was closed. Douglass Hospital, however, at the University of Oklahoma. discussion on Plains earthlodges, and continued to serve the African-American Tod Bevitt and James Marshall repre- KSHS archeologist Martin Stein collabo- community in Kansas City. In fact, the sented the KSHS in a symposium entitled rated with Jack Hofman and Rolfe Mandel hospital moved to the unoccupied “Cultures of the Protohistoric to Historic on a poster presentation, “Winger: An university campus in 1945 and took over Transition in the Southern Plains.” Early Holocene Bison Bonebed in South- the abandoned Grant Hall. Frederick Donald J. Blakeslee of Wichita State Uni- western Kansas.” Douglass Hospital remained open until versity and Richard Drass of the Okla- Tim Weston served on the Student 1978 when it was closed, an ironic victim homa Archeological Survey organized Paper Award Committee, as did Mary of desegregation. this session for the purpose of introduc- Adair of the University of Kansas Mu- The closure of Douglass Hospital in ing participants to current research direc- seum of Anthropology. Nine papers were 1978 brought an end to more than 120 tions on the protohistoric archeological evaluated in the competition, with the years of Quindaro’s existence. Begun as complexes present from southern Kansas award based on the student’s research, a profit-making antislavery town in late to northern Texas. Epidemics, warfare, written paper, and verbal presentation at 1856 by enterprising European-Ameri- and the introduction of new technologies the conference. cans, the town site had evolved through and new markets made the very late pre- At the business meeting on Thurs- more than a century to become an historic and protohistoric periods times of day evening, Michael Finnegan, profes- important—and historic—educational rapid and revolutionary changes that sor and program coordinator of anthro- and medical center for the African- radically transformed native cultures in pology at Kansas State University, was American population in both the Kansas the region. elected to the Plains Anthropological City area and the Midwest. Quindaro is a Bevitt’s paper, “On the Verge of the Society Board of Directors. uniquely important historic site in the Protohistoric: The Late Prehistoric Pratt The Plains Anthropological Society’s state of Kansas, for it represents a rare Complex,” reviewed the pertinent sites Distinguished Service Award was con- combination of Native American, Euro- and research on the Late Prehistoric Na- ferred upon Dr. Don G. Wyckoff, associ- pean-American, and African-American tive American presence in the Pratt vicin- ate curator of archeology at the Oklahoma culture. ity. Bevitt summarized the current under- Museum of Natural History and associate standing of the Pratt complex and offered professor of anthropology at the Univer- References Cited recommendations for future research nec- sity of Oklahoma. Wyckoff was born in Reynolds, John D. essary for a more complete understanding Topeka and graduated from Osborne Ru- 1984 Report of Initial Archeological Inspec- of the Pratt complex’s place in the cultural ral High School. He went on to receive tion of a Proposed Sanitary Landfill Site sequence of Kansas. B.A. and M.A. degrees in anthropology in Sections 29 and 30, T10S, R25E, In “An Analysis of the Stone Imple- from the University of Oklahoma and a Kansas City, Kansas. Archeology Office, ments of the Lower Walnut Focus,” Ph.D. from Washington State University. Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Marshall presented the analysis of stone He served as Oklahoma’s first State Ar- Kansas. implements, particularly projectile points, cheologist and first Director of the Okla- Robinson, Gary G. from archeological sites in the Arkansas homa Archeological Survey prior to his 1994 Material Culture and Settlement Pattern City area, dating to a 350-year period from museum appointment in 1996. KSHS ar- Among the Germans in the New World: A.D. 1350 to 1700. He proposed convert- cheologist Virginia Wulfkuhle served on The View from Frankenmuth, Michigan. ing the focus to an archeological phase the nomination review committee. In Spacial Patterning in Historical with four subphases. The Friday evening banquet address Archaeology: Selected Studies of Also participating in the symposium by Dr. Doug Owsley of the Smithsonian Settlement, edited by Donald W. were Kansas archeologists Lauren W. Institution was “Paleo-American Osteol- Linebaugh and Gary G. Robinson, pp. Ritterbush and Donna C. Roper from Kan- ogy.” On Saturday the Sam Noble Okla- 91–115. King and Queen Press, sas State University and Donald J. homa Museum of Natural History in Williamsburg, Virginia. Blakeslee and James N. Gundersen from Norman hosted an open house, and a Wichita State University. field trip to the Certain bison kill site in Schmits, Larry J. Other Kansas scholars presenting western Oklahoma was offered. 1988 Quindaro: Kansas Territorial Free-State papers at the conference were Ron Port on the Missouri River. The Missouri Archeologist, 49:89-145. 13