Chapter 4 Affected Environment

The study area for the “Bleeding and Labette County to the Kansas-Oklahoma the Enduring Struggle for Freedom” border. The southern boundary of the National Heritage Area comprises 12,958 Heritage Area runs along the Labette and square miles, representing approximately Cherokee County lines to the state boundary. 15.8 per cent of the state of Kansas. One (See Figure 4-1. Proposed Basic Boundary main part of the study area is oriented east National Heritage Area Map.) and west along the Kansas River west of the confluence with the River at Counties included in the Kansas City and the other is oriented north National Heritage Area at this time. and south along the Missouri-Kansas state boundary with additional counties associated Kansas River valley with these two main areas. The study area Clay Douglas Geary includes twenty-three of the one hundred and Johnson Leavenworth Pottawatomie five counties in the state. Riley Shawnee Wabaunsee Wyandotte Currently, this study places the tentative boundaries of the basic Bleeding Kansas Eastern Border National Heritage Area as follows. The east- Allen Anderson Bourbon ern boundary of the entire Heritage Area is Cherokee Coffey Crawford the Kansas-Missouri state line. The northern Franklin Labette Linn boundary of the Kansas River valley area Miami Neosho Wilson runs along the northern border of Woodson Leavenworth County, then south to the northern border of Douglas County, and then west along the county boundaries of POPULATION Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Riley, and Clay Counties. The western boundary is the west- According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Kansas ern border of Clay County. has a population of 1,037,891 households. Of the state’s total population of 2,688,418, The southern boundary of the Kansas River there are 1,328,474 males and 1,359,944 valley area runs south along the Geary females. The counties in the study area have County line, then east along the Wabaunsee an aggregated population of 1,296,441 repre- County line, then north to the Shawnee senting approximately 48.6 per cent of the County line, then east to the Douglas County state’s population. Because the study area line, then south along the Douglas and includes growing towns and suburban areas Franklin County lines to the northern border as well as declining towns and rural areas, of Coffey County. The boundary runs south the rate of growth varies from county to along the Coffey, Woodson, and Wilson county. Overall, the state of Kansas has a County lines, then east to Labette County positive population growth rate of 8.2 per- and south along the western border of cent.

65 designation of the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area designation will not have a significant effect on current and future populations in the study area. However, the organiza- tional and promotional links between counties of increasing population and counties of decreasing population may provide wider dispersion of tourism and investment with a corresponding improvement in the economic and social stability of the counties with decreasing population. In the long term, heritage area designation will protect historic and cultural resources in both areas. Where rapid urban and suburban development is taking place, identification and protection of the resources associated with Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom is essential for their survival. In counties where population is declining or stable, designation will provide recognition and help attract the financial capacity required to pro- tect and interpret these resources. This assemblage of buildings, sites, Figure 4-1. Proposed Basic Boundary National Heritage Area landscapes, and institutions is neces- sary to interpret the important stories Population density in the study area varies of Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring considerably from east to west and north to Struggle for Freedom in the study area. south. The average number of persons per square mile in Wyandotte County, for exam- SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ple, is 1,042.9; Johnson County, 946.1; Douglas County, 218.8; and Shawnee Among the residents of the counties in the County, 309.0. To the west, the average study area, household income varies consid- number of persons per square mile in erably. Johnson County in the study area Wabaunsee County is 8.6; Pottawatomie had the highest median household income in County, 21.6; and Geary County, 72.6. To the state. Two counties in the study area, the south, the average number of persons per Wilson and Woodson, had the lowest house- square mile in Miami County is 49.2, hold income. Total nonfarm employment in Bourbon County, 24.1; and Linn County, Kansas for 2001 was 1,347,700. Goods pro- 16.0. ducing industries employed 265,500 resi- dents. Service-providing industries Based on the feasibility study, it appears that employed 1,082,200 residents. Federal,

66 state, and local governments employed County to a high in Coffey County. Other 248,100 residents. The major employment counties with relatively higher tax per capita bases in the study area are located in the rates are Johnson, Linn, and Pottawatomie. Kansas City, Lawrence, and Topeka metro- Coffey, Linn, and Pottawatomie Counties politan areas. have the lowest mill levies. Wyandotte County has the highest mill levy with rela- In the study area, the highest property values tively higher levies in Bourbon, Clay, Geary, per capita were found in three counties and Shawnee Counties.1

Table 4.1 Demographic and Socioeconomic Data

County Population Population Median Household Non-farm As in the analysis 2000 Change 1980-2000 Income (1999 est.) Employment of the impact on Allen 14,385 -1,269 $32,155 8,696 population, the Anderson 8,1101 -639 $32,140 3,519 effect is difficult to Bourbon 15,379 -590 $30,410 8,666 Cherokee 22,605 301 $30,124 9,696 assess, but it Clay 8,822 -980 $34,384 5,618 appears that her- Coffey 8,865 -505 $36,633 62,068 itage area designa- Crawford 38,242 326 $29,642 22,299 tion will have a Douglas 99,962 32,322 $37,36 62,068 modest positive Franklin 24,784 2,722 $38,391 11,808 impact on socioe- Geary 27,947 -1,905 $30,342 25,358 conomic condi- Johnson 451,086 180,817 $62,887 363,250 tions. Even a Labette 22,835 -2,847 $30,506 14,350 small increase in Leavenworth 68,691 13,882 $46,037 31,962 Linn 9,570 1,336 $34,020 3,211 tourism and invest- Miami 28,351 6,733 $44,865 11,206 ment in those Neosho 16,997 -1,970 $31,881 10,169 counties with static Pottawatomie 18,209 3,427 $40,369 10,750 or declining popu- Riley 62,843 -662 $33,360 34,929 lations will pro- Shawnee 169,871 14,955 $39,831 122,068 vide greater Wabaunsee 6,885 18 $40,201 2,201 socioeconomic sta- Wilson 10,332 -1,796 $29,499 5,165 bility and prosperi- Woodson 3,788 -812 $25,565 1,440 ty. Heritage area Wyandotte 157,882 -14,453 $31,816 94,187 designation will

provide two gener- where regional electrical generating plants al benefits—a better balance between are located. These are Coffey, Linn, and tourism and heritage investment in urban and Pottawatomie Counties. Other counties with rural counties coupled with recognition that relatively higher property values per capita attracts visitation and investment from out- are Johnson, Douglas, and Miami. The low- side Kansas. In the long term, heritage area est property values per capita are found in designation will protect and then enhance Geary, Riley, and Bourbon Counties. The interpretation of the buildings, sites, land- Fort Riley military reservation is located in scapes, and institutions related to the Geary and Riley Counties. Property tax per Bleeding Kansas and Enduring Struggle for capita rates range from a low in Cherokee Freedom theme.

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1 For property tax information, see http://www.ksrevenue.org/pvdstatistics.htm. LAND USE consisting of a county seat town with smaller towns and villages in a generally rural area. The study area is a mosaic of urban centers, suburban communities, smaller towns, and In the counties near Kansas City, Kansas, rural areas. The Kansas River valley area more of the land is built out while the west- lies along the I-70 highway corridor with I- ern and southern counties are less developed. 35 cutting diagonally across the northern For example, Johnson County has 44.5 per- area. The river valley area includes the cent of the land area in farms. Wyandotte major towns of Overland Park, Olathe, County has 23.1 percent of the land area in Lawrence, Topeka (the state capital), farms. Most of the study area has a landcov- Manhattan, and Junction City. The eastern er/land use designation of agricultural land. border area includes the county seat towns of The counties of Allen, Anderson, Clay, Paola, Ottawa, Mound City, Garnett, Fort Coffey, Franklin, Miami, Pottawatomie, Scott, Iola, Yates Center, Fredonia, and Wabaunsee, Wilson, and Woodson have Columbus. Both areas, however, encompass more than 75 percent of the land area in a rich array of natural, cultural, scenic, and farms. The counties of Cherokee, Douglas, recreational resources. The river valley area Geary, Leavenworth, Linn, Shawnee, and is more developed with urban and suburban Riley have more than 60 percent of the land communities. The eastern border area is typ- area in farms. ical of most of Kansas with development Table 4.2 Land Use

County % % % % % % Residential Commercial Cropland Grassland Woodland Water Allen 0.87 0.12 41.7 54.14 2.24 0.51 Anderson 0.26 0.1 38.05 54.57 6.43 0.45 Bourbon 0.31 0.09 43.65 42.75 12.51 0.45 Cherokee 0.88 0.12 60.01 25.72 10.36 1.73 Clay 0.31 0.05 56.44 37.44 3.86 1.82 Coffey 0.41 0.05 33.99 57.9 3.16 3.94 Crawford * * * * * * Douglas 1.42 0.64 39.76 41.1 11.77 3.29 Franklin 0.58 0.26 41.6 45.47 10.18 1.06 Geary 0.89 0.53 22.37 61.29 9.79 4.26 Johnson 14.54 3.93 24.9 36.9 11.1 1.36 Labette * * * * * * Leavenworth 1.82 0.45 29.35 48.18 16.53 1.68 Linn 0.51 0.05 24.41 53.97 17.41 2.15 Miami 0.48 0.16 24.62 60.73 10.96 1.96 Neosho * * * * * * Pottawatomie 0.29 0.1 19.53 68.37 8.48 1.67 Riley * * * * * * Shawnee 3.39 2.66 20.69 50.23 6.85 2.58 Wabaunsee * * * * * * Wilson 0.51 0.1 34.49 57.95 5.87 0.88 Woodson 0.25 0.04 23.3 70.57 4.23 1.51 Wyandotte 17.93 11.02 14.24 22.29 16.85 4.79

68 Generally, heritage area designation will nect to the interstate system going north to help protect the traditional diversity of St. Joseph, Missouri, Omaha, Nebraska, and urban, suburban, small town, and rural agri- Des Moines, Iowa, south to Wichita, Kansas, cultural land uses in the study area. As in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma, west the analysis of socioeconomic impact, her- to Denver, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, itage area designation will have a modest and east to St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S. positive impact on land use planning. In the and state highways connect communities long term, by adding a voluntary, coopera- within the study area and include portions of tive organizational framework for the inter- U. S. Routes 24, 56, 59, 169, and 69. Local pretation of cultural resources in the study roads are most numerous and provide access area, heritage area designation will protect to sites within these communities. Because and then enhance the interpretation of the of the historic land survey system, these buildings, sites, landscapes, and institutions areas typically have a characteristic grid pat- related to the Bleeding Kansas and Enduring tern of local roads. Struggle for Freedom theme. The study area is also accessible by rail TRANSPORTATION transportation. There are four Class I carri- ers (annual gross revenues of $250 million Beginning in 1821, increasing in the 1840s or more) in Kansas. These are the Burlington and 1850s, and consolidating in the late Northern/Santa Fe, Kansas City Southern, nineteenth century, the geographical area Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific now known as Kansas has been an important System. The volume of freight transported transportation route between the eastern by Class I carriers in Kansas during 2000 United States and the West. Settlements totaled approximately 308 million tons. The established around the confluence of the principal commodities transported were coal, Kansas and Missouri Rivers were outfitting agriculture products, food and similar prod- centers for westward exploration and migra- ucts, and chemicals and similar products. tion. The metropolitan area centered on (See Figure 4-2, Kansas Railroad Map.) Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas, is still the regional transportation Rail passenger service in Kansas is provided center. by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, commonly known as Amtrak, a Highways, railroads, and the Kansas City quasi-public corporation. Amtrak was estab- International Airport form a nexus of major lished in1970. The Amtrak train serving transportation routes at the eastern edge of Kansas, the Southwest Chief, operates the study area. The highway system within between Los Angeles and Chicago with daily the study area is divided into interstate high- service in each direction. Boarding/disem- ways, U.S. and state highways, and local barking takes place at two places in the roads. Interstate highways I-70 and I-35 study area: Lawrence and Topeka. While connect the major cities of Kansas City, Amtrak usage increased nationally in 2001, Lawrence, and Topeka with Chicago, passenger ridership in Kansas fell six percent Denver, and other major cities on both the compared to 2000. At Lawrence, ridership east and west coast as well as Canada and increased five percent and ridership Mexico. These run east and west and south- decreased six percent at Topeka. Localized west-northeast. The interstate highways con- rail passenger service via commuter rail had

69 been investigated in Johnson County, Kansas planning in the study area. With minor spe- since 1992. There are two major private cific improvements, the existing transporta- inter-city bus lines serving the study area: tion network has ample capacity to serve the the Greyhound and Jefferson lines. The historic and cultural institutions that are rep- Greyhound line follows the interstate high- resented in the BKNHA planning committee. way system while the Jefferson line serves However, in the long term, there is potential southeastern Kansas. for cooperative arrangements among the BKNHA management entity and bus compa- Kansas City International (KCI) Airport nies, Amtrak, and the Kansas Department of located in Missouri fifteen miles directly Transportation to enhance tourism and visi- north of Kansas City, Kansas provides air tation by telling the stories of Bleeding passenger transportation for the residents of Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for eastern Kansas. Scheduled commercial serv- Freedom. ice provided at Forbes Field in Topeka and Manhattan Municipal Airport. Although the AIR AND WATER QUALITY amount of freight moved by air is not signif- icant compared to that moved over highways According to the 2000 Kansas Air Quality and rails, freight can be moved at much Report, Kansas Governor Bill Graves recom- greater speed by air transportation.2 mended that all counties in Kansas, except Johnson and Wyandotte, be designated as Heritage area designation will not have a “attainment/unclassifiable” for the proposed significant impact on future transportation 8-hour ozone standard. Johnson and Wyandotte Counties were recommended as not attaining the 8-hour stan- dard. In addi- tion, air quality monitors in the Wichita area showed that ozone concen- trations were increasing and, if actions are not taken to reduce ozone formation, will eventually exceed the pro- posed 8-hour ozone standard. Based on Figure 4-2, Kansas Railroad Map results for the

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2 Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Long-Range Transportation Plan Chapter 4 "Other Transportation Modes," (December 2002), 4/1-4/18. See also Kansas Rail Plan Update, 2000-2001. These public documents are available at http://www.ksdot.org. years 2000-2002, the Kansas City area will international travel expenditures among all again be in violation of the standard.3 fifty states and the District of Columbia.4

Based on current information, designation of For comparison, a study of the economic the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area impact of tourism in Missouri for the fiscal will not have a significant impact on the air year July 2001-June, 2002 concluded that and water quality of the study area. In the the direct expenditures by domestic and long term, the maintenance of relatively international visitors totaled 7.9 billion dol- good air quality and improvement in water lars during that year. Travel in Missouri quality will enhance the preservation and resulted in the employment of 192,159 peo- interpretation of the stories represented in ple and employment in select tourism-related the heritage area resources. industries totaled 243,569.5

TOURISM Designation of the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area will have a strongly positive Tourism’s economic impacts are an impor- impact on tourism in the study area. tant consideration in state, regional, and Regional cooperation and comprehensive community planning and economic develop- management for heritage assets will be ment. According to the January 2001 enhanced as relationships with the heritage National Travel Survey, sixty-five percent of area theme and sub-themes provide market- American adult travelers reported that they ing and investment leverage. Because of the included a cultural, arts, heritage, or historic ideals and commitment expressed in the sto- activity or event while on a trip of fifty miles ries of Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring or more, one-way, in the past year. Visiting Struggle for Freedom, the interpretation of a historic site such as a building, battlefield related resources will become even more or historic community remains the most pop- important in the future to Kansans, other ular cultural activity forty-three percent of Americans, and visitors from outside the adult travelers participating in this activity United States. while on a trip in the past year. Museums are also popular with travelers since thirty percent claim that they have visited a muse- um while on a past-year trip.

In 2000 domestic and international visitors spent about 3.9 billion dollars in Kansas, which was a 5.4 percent increase over 1999. That activity supported over 57,000 jobs with 887.2 million dollars in wages and salaries. Travel-generated jobs comprised 4.2 percent of the total non-agricultural employment in Kansas. Also in 2000, travel spending generated almost 564 million dol- lars in tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments. Kansas ranked 38th in domestic travel expenditures and 40th in

71 3 Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Air Quality Report, 2001-2002, see http://www.kdhe.state.ks.us/bar/down load/2001-2002_AQ_Report_6-11-03.pdf. 4 See http://kdoch.state.ks.us/busdev/travel_tourism_info.jsp Reference from 11/30/2003. 5 www.visitmo.com/pdf/EconomicImpact , "Executive Summary," 1. Reference from 11/30/2003. TOPOGRAPHY6 Most of the area is Osage Cuesta, a region The study area has six physiographic which occupies nearly all of eastern Kansas provinces: Glaciated, Ozark Plateau, Flint south of the Kansas River and is character- Hills, Cherokee Lowlands, Chautauqua ized by a series of east-facing ridges or Hills, and Osage Questas. escarpments, between which are flat to gen- tly rolling plains. Cuesta, Spanish for hill or Glaciated Region cliff, is the term geologists use to describe ridges with steep, clifflike faces on one side and gentle slopes on the other. Cuesta topography developed in gently dipping, alternating layers of hard and soft rocks. This area is one of abundant limestone.

Flint Hills

The north-eastern area of Kansas was glaciated, covered by at least two of the eight or nine glaciers that encroached upon much of the northern United States during the Pleistocene Epoch, between 1.6 million and 10 thousand years ago. The first of these covered just the northeastern corner of Kansas. The second, which encroached on Kansas about 600,000 years ago, extended almost to Manhattan and beyond Topeka and Lawrence in a line roughly parallel to the present-day Kansas River. In some places, this ice sheet was 500 feet thick.

Osage Cuestas The were formed by the erosion of limestones and shales. Unlike the lime- stones to the east, however, many Flint Hills limestones contain numerous bands of chert, or flint. Because chert is much less soluble than the limestone around it, the weathering of the limestone has left behind a clayey soil full of cherty gravel. Most of the hilltops in this region are capped with this cherty grav- el. Because of the cherty soil, the land is better suited to ranching than farming. The Flint Hills province is still primarily native

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6 Physiographic descriptions from http://www.kgs.ukans.edu/Extension/Physio.html, referenced 11/19/03. prairie grassland, the last remaining land- Chautauqua Hills scape-scale tall grass prairie in the country.

The tall grasses in this region are mostly big and little bluestem, switch grass, and Indian grass. Except along stream and river bot- toms, trees are rare. The streams in the Flint Hills have cut deep precipitous channels. Streams cut in chert-bearing strata are nar- row, boxlike channels, whereas those cut in The Chautauqua Hills are a sandstone- weaker shales are wider, more gently sloping capped rolling upland that extends into the valleys. Osage Cuestas from the southern Kansas border. Approximately 10 miles wide, these hills extend as far north as Yates Center in Woodson County. Small patches of similar Cherokee Lowlands terrain can be found as far north as Leavenworth County.

The Chautauqua Hills formed primarily in the thick sandstones of the Douglas Group. During the Pennsylvanian Period, about 286 million to 320 million years ago, rivers and streams flowed into the sea in this area. Sand and other sediments collected in the estuaries Occupying roughly 1,000 square miles in and at the mouths of the rivers in deltas. Bourbon, Crawford, Cherokee, and Labette The sediments were buried and compacted— counties, the Cherokee Lowlands region is a the sands became sandstone and the muds gently rolling plain that developed on easily became shale. Over millions of years, uplift eroded shales and sandstones of the and erosion exposed the sandstone and shale Cherokee Group. The landscape is traversed at the surface. Further erosion has dissected by shallow stream valleys. Isolated sand- the area into a series of low hills, capped by stone hills offer occasional topographic more resistant sandstone. relief. One of these, Blue Mound, is located just east of Kansas Highway 69 in southern Because of rock outcrops in this region, the Cherokee County, a half mile north of the hills are generally not cultivated but are used Oklahoma border instead for pasture. The Verdigris, Fall, and Elk rivers cross the area in narrow valleys The region is characterized by deep, fertile walled by sandstone bluffs. Topographic soils. These soils and the relatively flat and relief in the region is never more than 250 well-drained topography make the region feet. good for farming, except where the surface has been disturbed by mining. Generally trees grow only on the slopes of hills, banks of larger streams, and in abandoned mining areas.

73 Ozark Plateau Learning to live permanently on the edge of the semi-arid Great Plains of North America was a challenge for Native Americans during prehistoric times and for European- Americans during the territorial period. While that challenge has been met by tech- The southeastern corner of the state, in nological innovation and modernization, the Cherokee County, is Ozark Plateau. As its availability of fertile land, abundant water, name suggests, this corner is part of the timber, and other resources (stone, coal, oil of Missouri, Oklahoma, and and gas) still influences present-day resource Arkansas. Bounded by the Spring River on development and the socioeconomic stability the west, the Ozark Plateau covers about 55 of communities in the study area. square miles and includes the towns of Baxter Springs and Galena. By visiting the Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Refuge and other refuges associated with Heritage area designation will provide a federal reservoirs and state wildlife areas, strong incentive for the research, interpreta- Kansans and other visitors can better under- tion, and development of a broader public stand the riparian environment territorial set- understanding and appreciation of the topog- tlers encountered. Examples of the native raphy and geographical features of the his- tall grass prairie environment may be visited toric and cultural resources in the study area. at sites managed by the Nature Conservancy Public appreciation of the varied landscapes and the Kansas Land Trust. of eastern Kansas has been undeveloped. By linking the inspiring stories of Bleeding National Natural Landmarks. Presently, Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for there are no National Natural Landmarks Freedom with the landscape, management of identified within the study area. Designation the heritage area will improve the apprecia- of a National Heritage Area may provide tion and protection of these different topo- incentives for further research and protection graphical provinces. of significant eco-systems.

NATURAL RESOURCES Heritage Area Landscapes. Landscapes related to the themes of the Heritage Area Heritage area designation will have a signifi- are generally associated with historic sites, cant positive impact on the current and such as Mine Creek or other battlefields. future condition of natural resources in the The Kansas Department of Wildlife and study area. By interpreting the ideals and Parks oversees the state’s natural resources values associated with the early settlement of and works closely with the Kansas , the comprehensive man- Biological Survey and the Kansas agement of heritage area activities will Geological Survey. There are no regional enhance a broad appreciation of settlement agencies. origins and the understanding of environ- mental change during the past one hundred Within the study area, the U.S. Fish and and fifty years. Wildlife Service manages the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, located in

74 Linn County. This refuge is named after the Endangered – Topeka Shiner, Notropis which is the domi- topeka nant natural feature of the region. The Endangered – Gray Bat, Myotis name, Marais des Cygnes, comes from the griesescens French language and means Marsh of the Endangered – Interior Least Turn, Sterna Swans. Presumably, Trumpeter Swans, antillarium which were historically common, use the wetlands adjacent to the river during spring Recreational resources in the study area and fall migration.7 The refuge comple- include a number of federal reservoirs and ments the Marais des Cygnes Historic Site state recreational areas. Of the twenty-four operated by the Kansas State Historical multiple purpose federal reservoirs, six are Society. As a natural landmark and resource, located in the study area: Clinton, Hillsdale, the river in northeastern Linn County was John Redmond, Milford, Toronto, and Tuttle significant in history for Native Americans, Creek. State park recreational areas also are Free State and proslavery settlers during located at Clinton, Hillsdale, Milford, “Bleeding Kansas” and the Civil War. Other Toronto, and Tuttle Creek Reservoirs. The wildlife refuges, such as Tuttle Creek Hillsdale area had 1,373,444 visitors in Wildlife Refuge, are associated with the fed- 2000. Clinton had 459,290 visitors. Milford eral reservoirs and state recreational areas in had 303,256 visitors. Toronto had 112,161 the study area. visitors. Tuttle Creek had 501,744 visitors.

Threatened, or Endangered Plant and Animal The Prairie Spirit Rail Trail, a state recre- Species in the Study Area. ational area with 52,040 visitors in 2000, is located in Franklin and Anderson Counties. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing of Other resources in the study area include federally threatened or endangered plant and several state fishing lakes and state wildlife animal species within the study area includes areas. These are located in Bourbon, the following: Douglas, Geary, Leavenworth, Miami, Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Flora Wilson, and Woodson Counties. (See Figure Threatened – Mead’s Milkweed, asclepias 4-3, Kansas Recreational Areas.) meadii Threatened – Western Prairie Fringed Presently, there are no comprehensive pub- Orchid, platanthera lic/private partnerships to protect the land- praeclara scape and resources of the Bleeding Kansas Heritage Area. However, the Nature Fauna Conservancy is active in Kansas and protects Threatened – Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leu the Welda native prairie in Anderson County. cocephalus The Kansas Land Trust also manages conser- Threatened – Neosho Madtom, Noturus vation easements for several protected areas placidus in the counties of Douglas, Linn, Miami, Endangered – Pallid Sturgeon, Riley, and Wabaunsee. Protected landscapes Scaphirhynchus are mostly native tall grass prairie sites. Endangered – American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus americanius Development can be an issue. Residential

75 7 See http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/reference/briefing_book_ks_2000.pdf. Referenced 11/20/03. Figure 4-3, Kansas Recreational Areas, 2003

development recently was proposed on the Avenue, Topeka. Beginning April 3, 2004, Black Jack Battlefield site in Douglas the Museum will open a special exhibit, County. A local preservation group organ- “Willing to Die for Freedom: A Look Back ized and purchased this significant forty-acre at Kansas Territory,” observing the territory’s site. The property has been proposed for 150th anniversary and exploring the Free listing on the National Register of Historic State heritage of Kansas. Places. Anderson County Historical Society In addition, there are “Friends” groups or Museum, 6th & U.S. Highway 59, Garnett. foundations at some historic sites and institu- This county museum has exhibits, photos, tions. These are volunteers who act as inter- and artifacts that interpret local history. The preters or assist in local research and preser- museum exhibits relate to the Kansas vation of artifacts. For example, the Mine Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. Creek Battlefield Foundation is a not-for- profit volunteer organization in Linn County Valentin Gerth Cabin, East side SE Trego that promotes the significance of the Battle Road, Greeley, Anderson County. Typical of of Mine Creek as well as preserving the land European American construction, this log upon which the battle took place. cabin was built for Valentin Gerth’s parents who died in 1856 soon after their arrival in Educational exhibits and publications Kansas Territory. The structure may have been used by the Underground Railroad. Kansas Museum of History, 6425 S.W. Sixth The Gerth cabin relates to the Kansas

76 Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. culture of Douglas County. The museum has archives and artifacts which interpret the his- Baxter Springs Heritage Center & Museum, tory of Kansas Territory and the Civil War in 740 E. Avenue, Cherokee County. This is an Kansas. The exhibits relate to the Kansas interpretive and research museum with Territory: Geography, Kansas Conflict: exhibits interpreting the Territorial Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Underground Railroad in and Civil War period. The exhibits relate to Kansas, African American and Native the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas, American Struggle sub-themes. African American, and Native American sub-themes. Dietrich Cabin Museum, 5th & Main, City Park, Ottawa, Franklin County. This cabin Clinton Lake Museum, 261 N. 851 Diagonal was built by German immigrants Jacob and Road, Douglas County. This museum inter- Catherine Dietrich in 1859 on a site nine prets the history of communities in the miles south of Ottawa. The building form, Clinton Lake vicinity. In 1854 this part of materials, and construction techniques repre- the Wakarusa River valley was settled by sent the type of houses constructed by many who believed that slavery was wrong. European American settlers in Kansas The area was known as the home of the Territory. The cabin relates to the Kansas Bloomington Guards, an Underground Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. Railroad safe haven, and a place where both European and African Americans served in , Junction U.S. 59 & K- the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry. 68, Ottawa, Franklin County. This is a coun- The museum relates to the Kansas Territory: ty historical museum with exhibits interpret- Geography, Kansas Conflict: Bleeding ing the local history of “Bleeding Kansas” Kansas, Underground Railroad in Kansas, with an emphasis on and the and African American Struggle sub-themes. emigrant Indians. The exhibits relate to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas and Hobbs Park Memorial, 1004 , Native American Struggle sub-themes. Lawrence, Douglas County. This is a ca. 1867 brick house that has been moved to the Geary County Museum, 530 N. Adams, John Speer home site. John Speer was a Junction City, Geary County. This museum notable newspaper editor who fiercely advo- has exhibits that interpret local history, the cated the Free State cause in Kansas Territory, and Native Territory. Speer’s eldest teen-age sons were American history. The museum exhibits killed in Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence in relate to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding 1863. The building is being developed as an Kansas and Native American Struggle sub- interpretive memorial for the Free State themes. leader and the heritage of Bleeding Kansas. The memorial relates to the Kansas Conflict: Johnson County Museum, 6305 Lackman Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. Road, Shawnee, Johnson County. This is an educational institution that provides informa- Watkins Community Museum, 1047 tion about the county’s history through Massachusetts, Lawrence, Douglas County. exhibits, programs, and publications. The This museum is dedicated to collecting, pre- permanent exhibit, “Seeking the Good Life,” serving, and disseminating the history and interprets local history from the early nine-

77 teenth century to the recent past. Museum Osage Mission-Neosho County Historical exhibits and archives relate to the Kansas Museum, 203 Washington, St. Paul, Neosho Territory: Geography, Kansas Conflict: County. This museum has extensive Bleeding Kansas, African American and research materials and artifacts that illustrate Native American Struggle sub-themes. the history of Osage Mission. The docu- ments and exhibits relate to the Kansas Frontier Army Museum, Fort Leavenworth, Conflict: Bleeding Kansas and Native Leavenworth County. This museum has an American Struggle sub-themes. extensive collection that emphasizes military history including the evolution of the Army Wilson County Museum, 420 N. 7th, of the Frontier and the Civil War in the West. Fredonia, Wilson County. Housed in a his- The exhibits relate to the Kansas Territory: toric jail, this museum has research materi- Geography and the Kansas Conflict: als, documents, and artifact exhibits that Bleeding Kansas sub-themes. interpret local history. The documents and exhibits relate to the Kansas Conflict: Linn County Historical Museum, 307 E. Bleeding Kansas and Native American Park, Pleasanton. This museum has exhibits, Struggle sub-themes. maps, artifacts, and archives that interpret the history of Bleeding Kansas and the Civil Woodson County Historical Society War period. The exhibits relate to the Museum, 511 W. Wilson, Yates Center. Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas and Housed in a historic church, this museum Native American Struggle sub-themes. has exhibits interpreting local history includ- ing early settlement, the Civil War, and Trading Post Historical Museum, 15710 N. Native American history. The exhibits relate 4th, Pleasanton, Linn County. This museum to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas interprets the history of the Marais des and Native American Struggle sub-themes. Cygnes “massacre,” John Brown, the Civil War, and other aspects of local history. The Wyandotte County Museum, 631 N. 126th, exhibits relate to the Kansas Conflict: Bonner Springs, Kansas. This museum Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. traces the social history of Wyandotte County since 1854. The museum archive Osawatomie Museum and Depot, 628 Main, has newspapers, photographs, maps, and Miami County. This is a community muse- other records documenting local history. um interpreting the history of one of the The museum exhibits and archive relates to prominent Free State settlements in Kansas the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas, Territory. The exhibits relate to the Kansas Underground Railroad, African American, Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. and Native American Struggle sub-themes. (See Figure 4-4, Educational Exhibits.) Swan River Museum, 12 East Peoria, Paola, Miami County. This is the center of the Brochures Miami County Historical and Genealogy Societies. The documents and exhibits relate The Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance has to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sponsored the research and writing of several sub-theme. brochures, “Bleeding Kansas: A Battle for Freedom and Land,” “John Brown of

78 to the heritage area theme, see the detailed list in the Appendices.

Reenactors.

1st Kansas Vol. Inf., Co. D & Kansas Women’s Relief Corps. The First Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment was formed in May 1861 at Leavenworth and commissioned by Governor Charles Robinson. The regiment served in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Missouri. Members of the Women’s Relief Corps strive to educate themselves and others about the life and events of the Civil War. Participants in these groups portray typical Kansans of the mid-19th century, research the time period and participate in living history events, reenact- ments, school programs, and parades.

7th Kansas Cavalry. This regi- ment was formed at Fort Leavenworth on October 28, 1861. The mission of the 7th was to protect the Kansas- Missouri border from border ruf- fians and guerilla bands operating Figure 4-4, Educational Exhibits in that area. Protecting the bor- der and preventing Indians from Kansas, 1855-1859,” “The Underground joining the Confederate cause was a full time Railroad in Kansas.” These brochures pres- job. The 7th also garrisoned several towns ent to the public important themes and sto- on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri ries that are related to the Bleeding Kansas border. National Heritage Area. Lecompton Reenactors is a volunteer group Events, tours, and re-enactments dedicated to making Kansas Territory History come alive for entertainment and For a survey of the many events and tours education. In their plays about the Kansas carried out in the study area that are related territorial period, Lecompton Reenactors

79 breathe life and vitality into that history. ment period of the city’s history. New The group presents original plays such as England settlers originally called this ceme- “Kansas Territory, Triangle of Mistrust,” tery “Oread,” and the first burial was only a “Bleeding Kansas,” and “Prelude to the Civil few weeks after the first settlers arrived. In War.” 1855, pro-slavery supporters killed Thomas W. Barber, an immigrant from Ohio, and his Commemorative Resources death was given national attention. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem, “Burial of The following description reflects the geo- Barber,” which immortalized the incident. graphic range and types of commemorative The cemetery was the original burial site of resources and monuments that have been most of the Quantrill’s Raid victims who identified at this time as contributing to the were buried in a mass grave. The Pioneer Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area. Cemetery relates to the Kansas Conflict: Because there are many resources of this Bleeding Kansas sub- type in the study area, the following list is theme. not comprehensive. Oak Hill Cemetery, Pottawatomie “Massacre” site, rural Franklin Quantrill Raid Victim County. Historical Kansas Road Marker in Monument, 15th Street Lane. At this site near what is now Lane, and Elmwood, Kansas, in May 1856, John Brown, some of Lawrence, Douglas his sons, and followers, murdered five pro- County. One year after slavery settlers. The murders were justified Quantrill’s Raid, as a reaction to the “Sack of Lawrence” and Lawrence sur- Oak Hill Cemetery and other violence by proslavery bands. On the vivors established James Lane Monument night of May 24-25, 1856, a small band of a new cemetery abolitionists led by John Brown murdered in 1864 as a memorial to raid victims. The five pro-slavery men along Pottawatomie “” in 1863 was the most Creek. This was one of the most famous dramatic consequence of the Kansas Conflict events in “Bleeding Kansas.” Brown was during the Civil War. Early territorial lead- later captured after his unsuccessful raid on ers were also buried here such as James H. Harper’s Ferry, (West) Virginia in 1859. Lane, fiery politician and military leader, and Although this site is located on private prop- Solon O. Thacher, who was chair of the erty and is not interpreted at this time, the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention. environment evokes a sense of the historical time and place. The Pottawatomie “Massacre” site relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub- theme.

Pioneer Cemetery, University of Kansas West Campus near the Highway 59 overpass, Lawrence, Douglas County. This cemetery Pioneer Cemetery contains burials from the settle- Quantrill Raid Victim Memorial 80 Charles and Mary Langston, grandparents of “Bleeding Kansas” period were buried here Langston Hughes, were buried in this ceme- including Col. James Montgomery, a leader tery and George Nash Walker, a famous of Free State men during the border warfare African American vaudeville entertainer. and a commander of U.S. Colored troops Oak Hill Cemetery and the Quantrill Raid during the Victim monument relate to the Kansas Civil War, Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. August Wattles, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Fort an aboli- Leavenworth, Leavenworth County. tionist and Established in 1863, this National Cemetery associate is the first west of the of John Mississippi River. Several Brown, Medal of Honor winners are and Lieut. buried there as well as veterans H. W. of the Civil War, Spanish Curtis, the American War, World War I, only World War II, Korean War, Union Vietnam War and Gulf War are officer Civil War Soldiers Monument buried here. The Fort killed in National-Woodland Cemetery Leavenworth Cemetery relates the to the Kansas Conflict: Battle of Bleeding Kansas, African Mine Creek. The cemetery has a Civil War American Struggle, and Native Soldiers’ Monument. The site relates to the Fort Leavenworth American Struggle sub-themes. Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub- Monument theme. Buffalo Soldiers. There is a monument to the Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Leavenworth. Marais des Cygnes Martyrs’ Memorial, Colonel Benjamin Grierson formed the 10th Trading Post Cemetery, Trading Post, Linn Cavalry on 21 September 1866 at Fort County. This monument was erected in Leavenworth, Kansas. It, along with the 9th 1886 to honor the eleven Free State victims Cavalry, 24th and 25th Infantry, formed the of the May 19, 1858 “massacre.” Five of the first all-black regiments in the Regular victims were buried near the monument. United States Army. In western Kansas, the The monument relates to the Kansas Kiowa encountered the soldiers of the 10th Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. as valiant opponents and termed them the “Buffalo Soldiers.” In time, the term desig- -Soldiers Monument, nated all of the African American soldiers in 9th and Main, Osawatomie, Miami County. all four regiments. The Buffalo Soldiers The marker commemorates the Free State Monument relates to the African American settlers killed in the second battle of Struggle sub-theme. Osawatomie by pro-slavery forces August 30, 1856. Although defended by a small National-Woodland Cemetery, Civil War group of Free State settlers led by John Soldiers Monument, Mound City, Linn Brown, the town was burned and Brown’s County. Many important figures of the son was killed. The incident helped make

81 Brown well-known through the then follows U.S. 69 and Alternate U.S. 69 nation. Less than two weeks after the to the state line. The byway approximates battle, a drama called “Ossawattomie the route of the old Military Road used to Brown” celebrated him on transport troops and supplies between the Broadway. The monument relates to frontier forts, one of the first major roads in the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Indian and Kansas Territory. It was used by Kansas sub-theme. the U.S. Army, contractors, traders and mis- sionaries, thousands of emigrants and settlers during Bleeding Kansas and border ruffians and soldiers from both the Union and John Brown Statue. Wyandotte Confederacy during the Civil War. This sce- County. Vicinity of North 27th Street nic route relates to the Kansas Territory: Battle of and the Missouri Pacific Railroad Geography and the Kansas Conflict: Osawatomie tracks, Kansas City. This white mar- Bleeding Kansas sub-themes. Monument ble statue is a life size likeness of John Brown and stands atop a 7 foot, Along the route through Leavenworth, 2 inch granite pedestal. The John Johnson, Wyandotte, Bourbon, Miami, Linn, Brown Monument was dedicated on Crawford and Cherokee counties, cultural the Western University campus in resources include the following: June, 1911. Governor John P. St. John and other dignitaries were pres- · Fort Leavenworth ent for the dedication. The · Adair Cabin money to have a monument · Marais des Cygnes National and State sculpted was raised by dona- Wildlife Refuge tions of a few pennies to ten · Marais des Cygnes Massacre Site dollars from African · Battle of the Marais des Cygnes Site, Americans. This campaign Trading Post demonstrated the emotional · Trading Post Museum, Trading Post link between the Free State · Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield Site heritage of “Bleeding · Fort Scott National Historic Site Kansas” and the African · Prehistoric and Osage Indian sites American struggle for free- dom. This monument relates The Glacial Hills Scenic Byway begins at to the Kansas Conflict: the intersection of K-7 and K-92 in Bleeding Kansas and African Leavenworth, Kansas, and extends 63 miles American struggle sub- north/south through the Glacial Hills of John Brown Monument themes. northeast Kansas. It traverses Atchison, Doniphan and Leavenworth Counties and the Scenic Byways in the Study Area communities of Atchison, Leavenworth, Troy and White Cloud along the route. The The Frontier Military Scenic Byway extends scenic route traverses a landscape related to roughly 167 miles tying Fort Leavenworth to the Kansas Territory: Geography and the the north with Fort Scott at the south and Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub- then onward to the Oklahoma border. It fol- themes. lows K-5 out of Leavenworth to I-435, and

82 Other Trails Associated with Study Area There are seven National Historic Themes Landmarks associated with the theme of the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area. Trails of Blood on Ice. This is a self-guided These National Historic Landmarks are list- tour in Allen, Coffey, Wilson and Woodson ed on the National Register. Also, the Counties that follows Opothleyahola’s flight Kansas State Historical Society maintains into Kansas from Indian Territory at the and interprets several other sites that are sig- onset of the Civil War. Opothleyahola, a nificant in territorial Kansas history. Creek and long time foe of the pro-southern tribal leaders, led Unionist Creeks and their There are thirty-two properties listed on the families into Kansas from Indian Territory. National Register that are associated with the His followers included opponents of the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle Creek anti-Confederate faction, other Native for Freedom theme. The National Register Americans (Seminoles and a few from four is the official federal list of America’s his- other civilized tribes) hoping to avoid war, toric and cultural resources. Districts, build- and hundreds of African Americans, many of ings, structures and objects of significance in whom were runaway slaves. They were pur- American history, architecture, archaeology, sued by Confederate troops and attacked culture and engineering on the national, three times. After they reached Kansas, the state, and local level are eligible for listing people suffered hardship and starvation dur- in the National Register. Besides National ing the winter of 1861-62. In 1862 Union Register properties, three properties in the soldiers moved the survivors from Fort Row study area listed on the Register of Historic in Wilson County and Fort Belmont in Kansas Places are associated with the Woodson County to Leroy, Coffey County. Heritage Area theme. Seven sites in the More than 1,000 men volunteered to form study area are listed on the National the First Indian Regiment and marched to Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Camp Hunter, Humboldt, Allen County. This program was established by Congress There they were inducted as the first Native in 1998 to tell the story of resistance against American soldiers to serve in the Union the institution of slavery in the United States Army during the Civil War. This tour relates (and related territories) through escape an to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas, flight. Through current and potential inter- African American, and Native American pretation, these sites are directly related to Struggle sub-themes. the sub-theme, the Underground Railroad in Kansas. In addition, the American CULTURAL RESOURCES Battlefield Protection Program () identified four notable battle- Cultural resources in the study area include field sites in Kansas. Only two are listed on National Historic Landmarks (NHL), the National Register; the others are recog- National Register sites (NR), State Register nized by historical markers. (See Figure 4-5, of Historic Places sites (SR), properties that Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area have been determined eligible for listing in Sites.) the National Register of Historic Places, and sites that have been listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

83 identify properties that may be relevant to the heritage area and advised the consultants on the physical integrity of prop- erties and sites, the poten- tial for interpretation, and the level of threat to these properties.

List of Essential Sites

The following description reflects the geographic range and types of properties that have been identified at this time as contributing to the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area. From a survey of public information, consultation with the Kansas Historic Preservation Office, and the review of information provided by members of the BKNHA Planning Committee, more than forty essential sites were selected for the following descriptive inventory. These are noted and described according to their associations with the Heritage Area sub- Figure 4-5, Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area Sites themes. This selection is based on current knowl- In cooperation with the staff of the Kansas edge and is subject to future revision. State Historical Society, Historic Preservation Office, the study consultants Kansas Territory: Geography also reviewed an inventory of 291 other cul- tural resources in the Historic Preservation Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, files associated with the time period of National Historic Landmark, National “Bleeding Kansas” from 1854 to 1865. Register. Fort Leavenworth, with many his- Historic Preservation Office staff helped toric houses and buildings, is considered one

84 of the most significant historic military The early history of Fort Riley is closely tied installations in the Nation. The fort is the to emigration and trade along the Oregon oldest active army post west of the and Santa Fe Trails. During the 1850s, a Mississippi River. From the time of its number of military posts were established at founding in 1827 until the present, it has strategic points to provide protection along served as a front-ranking military installa- these arteries of emigration and commerce. tion. Soldiers helped protect westward trav- In 1853, a military camp was named “Fort elers. For 30 years, Fort Leavenworth was Riley” for Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Riley who the chief base of had led the first military escort along the operations on in 1829. Fort Riley’s design the western fron- followed the standard frontier post configu- tier. When ration and buildings were constructed of the Kansas Territory most readily available material - in this case, was organized in native limestone. Many of the fort’s original 1854, Governor buildings are intact and can be visited today. Andrew Reeder set up executive As the fort grew, troops were drawn into the offices on the national debate concerning Kansas, debated post and lived not far from the fort, at Pawnee, when the there for a short brief territorial legislative session met in Fort Leavenworth’s Rookery time. Mounted 1855. Slavery was an issue within garrison troopers from just as it was in the rest of the country. The Fort Leavenworth were instrumental in seeds of sectional discord were emerging enforcing an end to the violence that marked that would lead to “Bleeding Kansas” and the “Bleeding Kansas” conflict.

In 1995 a National Park Service study identi- fied 237 contributing buildings in the fort’s historic district dating from 1832 to the 1940s. The district also includes three his- toric structures and twenty-two archeological sites. The National Historic Landmark dis- trict includes 213 acres and preserves some of the most valuable historic military archi- tecture in the United States. Today the Frontier Army Museum holds collections from the fort’s history and interprets its Example of Fort Riley Buildings national significance. Fort Leavenworth relates to the Kansas Geography, “Bleeding eventually, civil war. Increased tension and Kansas,” African American and Native bloodshed between pro and anti-slavery set- American sub-themes. tlers resulted in the use of the Army to “police” the troubled territory. Soldiers con- tinued to patrol the Santa Fe Trail in 1859 Fort Riley, Geary County, Junction City and 1860 due to increased Indian threats. vicinity, Main Post area, National Register.

85 The outbreak of hostilities between the for the town of Fort Scott. North and South in 1861 disrupted garrison life. Regular units returned east to participate In the 1850s, Fort Scott was involved in the in the Civil War while militia units from turmoil and violence of the “Bleeding Kansas and other states used Fort Riley as a Kansas” years. The town was a pro-slavery base from which to launch campaigns and center during this time period, while Free offer a degree of protection to trading cara- State settlers occupied much of the surround- vans using the Santa Fe Trail. In the early ing countryside. This division was manifest- stages of the war, the fort was used to con- ed at the site of the fort where a former fine Confederate prisoners. At the conclu- infantry barracks served as the Western sion of the Civil War in 1865, Fort Riley Hotel (proslavery), while directly across the again provided protection to railroad lines old parade ground stood the Free-State being built across Kansas. The 9th and 10th Hotel, occupying a former officer’s quarters. Cavalry Regiments — the famed “Buffalo Incidents of violence compelled the military Soldiers” — were stationed at Fort Riley to return to Fort Scott periodically to restore several times during their history. Fort Riley order throughout this era. relates to the Kansas Territory: Geography, “Bleeding Kansas,” African American and When the Civil War broke out, a new wave Native American sub-themes. of conflict engulfed the area. The United Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Old Highway States Army returned to Fort Scott and estab- 54 West, Fort Scott. (1842-1873) National lished a major military complex. This com- Historic Landmark, National Register, plex included a supply base, a training National Park Service Site. Fort Scott was ground, an army hospital, and a military established in 1842 as a base for the Army’s prison. The town served as a logistical cen- peace-keeping efforts along the “Permanent ter for troops operating in Kansas, Missouri, Indian Frontier.” The fort was garrisoned by Arkansas and the Indian Territory dragoon and infantry soldiers. Dragoon sol- (Oklahoma). Fort Scott was also a refugee diers provided center for the many people left homeless in armed escorts this region during the war. The First and for parties on the Second Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Santa Fe and Regiments, the first African-American Oregon Trails, troops from a Northern state, were mustered surveyed in at Fort Scott. Also present in the region unmapped coun- were three regiments of Indian Home try, and main- Guards, the largest concentration of Fort Scott tained contact American Indians to serve in the U.S. Army with Plains Indians, while infantry soldiers during the Civil War. Today one can visit were responsible for most of the routine eleven historic buildings with thirty-three duties and construction of the fort. Both historically furnished rooms. The site also infantry and dragoons played a major role in has three museum areas with exhibits. Fort the Mexican War and the opening of the Scott relates to the Kansas Territory: West. The U.S. Army abandoned Fort Scott Geography, “Bleeding Kansas,” African in 1853. The buildings were sold at public American and Native American Struggle auction in 1855 and then became the nucleus sub-themes.

86 Lanesfield School, Johnson County, 18745 Vermillion Creek Crossing, Pottawatomie S. Dillie Road, Edgerton vicinity, Johnson County, , 6 miles northwest of County Museums, National Register. This Belvue, National Register. This site also is one- known as the Louis Vieux Ford. Vieux was room Pottawatomie Indian and French. About lime- 1848, Vieux moved to land in what became stone Pottawatomie County, located on the Oregon school Trail near the Vermillion River crossing. The is the Vieux family built and operated a toll bridge only over the river. Vieux served as a business building agent and interpreter and occasionally repre- which sented the tribe in Washington, D.C. The Lanesfield School remains site relates to the Kansas Territory: on the Geography sub-theme. town site of Lanesfield, a mail stop on the Santa Fe Trail. Built in 1869, former stu- Rock Creek Crossing and Oregon Trail Park, dents remembered attending school and Westmoreland, Pottawatomie County. watching wagon trains pass by. Lanesfield Because of Scott Spring, a dependable water School relates to the Kansas Territory: source near the Rock Creek Crossing of the Geography sub-theme. Oregon Trail, most of the area now occupied by the town of Westmoreland served as an emigrant campground. Presently, there is a Mahaffie (J.B.) House, Johnson County,1100 park with a walking trail at the crossing. The Kansas City Road, Olathe, National Register. site relates to the Kansas Territory: The Mahaffie stagecoach stop & farm is the Geography sub-theme. last remaining stagecoach stop on the his- toric Santa Fe Douglas County Santa Fe Trail Segments, Trail open to Douglas County Prairie Park, 3 miles east of the public. Baldwin on US-56, National Register. At James Beatty the junc- Mahaffie and tion of his wife, the Santa Lucinda, Fe Trail moved in 1857 and the to Olathe, Kan. Oregon and flourished Trail Mahaffie House as a livestock west of Santa Fe Trail Ruts, Douglas breeder and present- County farmer. During the border wars, the day Mahaffies were visited several times by bor- Gardner, Kansas, the Santa Fe and Oregon der ruffians. Beginning in 1863, Mahaffie Trails separated after following the same provided livery service and meals for the route from Independence, Missouri. In the westbound stagecoach trade. The Mahaffie 1840s, a sign that said “Road to Oregon” House relates to the Kansas Territory: was erected at this site. A dramatic set of Geography sub-theme. Santa Fe parallel ruts is located in Douglas

87 County Prairie Park, adjacent to Black Jack ances should be addressed. However, sites State Park, east of Baldwin City. As the related to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding National Park Service National Santa Fe Kansas are particularly important. The fol- Trail map has noted, these ruts are among lowing properties are prominent examples of the finest along the entire length of the trail. the public interpretation of this sub-theme. The Prairie Park relates to the Kansas Territory: Geography sub-theme. Constitution Hall, Lecompton, Douglas County, 319 Elmore, Lecompton. (1857) National Historic Landmark, National Hole in the Rock, south of Hwy 56, west fork Register, and Kansas State Historical Society of Tauy Creek, rural Douglas County, south site. During 1857 this building was one of of Willow Spring 2 the busiest and most important in Kansas miles, 1.5 East. Hole in Territory. Thousands of settlers and specula- the Rock is a large deep tors filed claims in the United States land spring in the eastern office on the first floor. Upstairs the district Kansas prairie. Native court periodically met to try to enforce the Americans incorporated territorial laws. Most Free State settlers the site into Kaw and refused to obey these laws because they had Osage lore. These been passed by the proslavery territorial leg- groups competed for use islature. This resistance made law enforce- Ireland Sandstone at Hole In Rock, Santa Fe Trail of the water and the ment nearly impossible for territorial offi- watering place also cials. became a landmark along the Santa Fe Trail. The Hole in the Rock site relates to the In January 1857 the second territorial leg- Kansas Territory: Geography and the Native islative assembly met on the upper floor. American struggle sub-themes. (See Figure Although still firmly proslavery, this group 4-6, Kansas Territory: Geography Assets.) removed some of the earlier laws that their antislavery neighbors opposed. The Lecompton Constitutional Convention met that fall in this same second-floor assembly room. The document representatives created The Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas protected slavery no matter how the people of Kansas Territory voted. This was intolera- Several sites important to the Kansas ble for their antislavery opponents, who Territory: Geography sub-theme also are refused to participate in what they consid- related to the sub-theme of The Kansas ered to be an illegal government. Eventually Conflict: Bleeding Kansas. These include the Lecompton Constitution was defeated at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and Fort the national level. Scott. Because the designation and interpre- tation of properties has occurred over time Free State settlers gained control of the terri- without a management plan, the list of torial legislature in the October 1857 elec- essential sites is not comprehensive and tion. Two months later this new legislature equally representative of each of the identi- was called into special session to deal with fied sub-themes. In the development of the critical territorial problems. Legislators met heritage area management plan, these imbal- in Constitution Hall, the same Lecompton

88 Constitution Hall has a land office and the room where the Lecompton Constitution was written. Exhibits discuss slavery and the territorial governments. Constitution Hall relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme.

Marais Des Cygnes Massacre Site, Linn County, (1858), Six miles north on U.S. 69, three miles east on 1700 Road of Pleasanton. National Historic Landmark, National Register, Kansas State Historical Society site. During the years of Bleeding Kansas, numerous instances of violence took place between free-state and pro-slavery groups. Men were attacked, beaten, and killed, often for no reason except their views on slavery. In Linn and Bourbon Counties, on the eastern Kansas border, raids were frequently carried out by opposing factions. Tense encounters between free-state and pro-slavery settlers continued through 1858. On one occasion a free-state group leader Figure 4-6, Kansas Territory: Geography Assets rode into the town of Trading Post and notified the proslavery people to leave the territory. assembly hall controlled by their political enemies only a few weeks earlier. Free State A leader of the proslavery faction was legislators began to reform the laws of Charles Hamilton, a native of Georgia who Kansas Territory. had come to the border area in 1855 to help During later legisla- make Kansas Territory a slave state. In May tive sessions in 1858, 1858, he along with other pro-slavery sup- the assembly moved porters captured eleven free-state men near from the proslavery Trading Post in May 1858, and killed five, capital of Lecompton some of whom were his neighbors. The to meet in the free- “massacre” appalled the nation, and John state town of Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem on the Constitution Hall Lawrence and later murder, “Le Marais du Cygne,” which met in other towns. appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. Locally,

89 indignation accompanied feelings of shock. Since most of the legislators were from the John Brown, arriving at the scene toward the border towns with interest in Missouri, they end of June, wanted the administrative center located in built a “fort” the eastern part of the territory where their near the site strengths lay. On July 4 the legislature which was passed a bill providing for the temporary occupied until establishment of the capital at the Shawnee the end of the Methodist Mission. Two days later the gov- summer of ernor vetoed it on the grounds that the legis- 1858. This site lature had overstepped the authority con- Marais des Cygnes Site is not interpreted ferred upon it by Congress. Both houses, by museum staff however, promptly passed the bill over his but historic markers interpret the site for vis- veto and then adjourned to meet at Shawnee itors. The site relates to the Kansas Conflict: Mission on July 16. The site’s stone build- Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. ing contains exhibits on Kansas territorial politics, as well as river and rail travel, and the story of the early city of Pawnee. The first Territorial Capital relates to the Kansas First Territorial Capital, Geary County, Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. Pawnee, Exit 299 on I-70, via Huebner Road in Fort Riley, Kansas State Historical Society, National Register. Early in the sum- mer of 1855, members of the territorial leg- Shawnee Methodist Mission, Johnson islature journeyed to the town of Pawnee, County. 3403 West 53rd in Fairway near adjacent to the Fort Riley military reserva- Kansas City. National Historic Landmark, tion, to attend the first session on July 2 National Register, Kansas State Historical called by Governor Andrew H. Reeder. Society site. Shawnee Indians, with other eastern tribes, were part of the Indian Removal. The Shawnee immigrated into Kansas in the 1820s and 1830s. Paschal Most of the legislators who Fish, a white chief of the Shawnees, request- came to Pawnee were sym- ed a missionary in 1830 and Reverend pathetic to the proslavery Thomas Johnson, a Methodist minister, was cause. They had been elect- appointed missionary to the Shawnees. He ed on March 30, 1855, with arrived in present-day Turner, Wyandotte the aid of Missourians who County, to begin the first Shawnee had crossed the border to First Territorial Capitol Methodist Mission in 1830. The school was vote. The election was con- in operation at that location until 1839, serv- tested by Free State settlers, but the fraudu- ing the Shawnee and Delaware tribes. lent votes helped to overwhelm them. Eventually Johnson became dissatisfied with Because of this illegal selection of represen- the school’s operation and proposed to the tatives, antislavery Kansans called this the missionary society that a central school be “bogus” legislature and the laws it passed built to serve many tribes. A site was chosen “bogus laws.” where a branch of the Santa Fe Trail passed through the Shawnee lands. Building began,

90 and the boarding school opened at the pres- Shawnee Mission relates to the Kansas ent Johnson County location in October Territory: Geography, Kansas Conflict: 1839. Indian children of many tribes were Bleeding Kansas, and Native American sent to this school to learn basic academics, Struggle sub-themes. manual arts, and agriculture. Some of the Big Springs Stable, Douglas County, Hwy tribes represented were the Kaw (Kansa), 40 east of E 100 Road, Big Springs. Big Munsee, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Otoe, Springs was the site of a convention held in Osage, Cherokee, Peoria, Kickapoo, September 1855 as one of a series of public Pottawatomie, Wea, Gros Ventres, Omaha, meetings to organize resistance to the actions and of the “bogus” or pro-slavery territorial leg- Wyandot. islature. These meetings led to the founding At the of the Free State Party. The Big Springs height of its Convention endorsed a resolution calling for activity, the a people’s convention to be held in Topeka. mission had Delegates at Topeka drafted a constitution more than calling for admission of Kansas as a Free two thou- State. This public commitment to resist the sand acres formally elected territorial government made Shawnee Methodist Mission with sixteen a struggle in Kansas and in Congress buildings, inevitable. The old stable, a stone building including the three large brick structures, which sits along US Highway 40, dates from which still stand, and an enrollment of near- the territorial period. The Big Springs site ly two hundred Indian boys and girls. relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding In 1854 Kansas Territory was established. Kansas sub-theme. Andrew Reeder, newly-appointed territorial governor, had his offices at the mission. Blanton’s Crossing, Douglas County, East of Following their adjournment from the first E 1400, territorial capitol, the legislature met at the Louisiana Street mission. During this legislative session, the extended, so-called “bogus laws” were passed in an Wakarusa River attempt to perpetuate slavery in Kansas. bridge vicinity. By 1855, In 1858 Reverend Thomas Johnson turned Napoleon Bonaparte the school over to his oldest son, Alexander, Blanton’s Crossing who ran the mission until it closed in 1862. Blanton had built Reverend Johnson was murdered in 1865 by a toll bridge over the Wakarusa River south those believed to be Southern sympathizers of Lawrence and the California Road cross- who apparently were angered that Johnson, a ing became known as Blanton’s Crossing. proslavery man for many years, swore an Travelers used the California, or Westport- oath of allegiance to the Union at the start of Lawrence Road, beginning in 1849 and it the Civil War. During the war, the grounds was a popular route for many years. The became a camp for Union soldiers. The site crossing played a part in Sheriff Jones arrest is interpreted today and has teachers' living of Jacob Branson, an abolitionist, who was quarters, classroom, and dormitories. eventually rescued by free-state supporters at

91 the crossing. This crossing was also chosen donated 25 Bibles. Charles B. Lines was the by Quantrill and his raiders as an escape leader of the Beecher Colony. The Beecher route away from Lawrence. This site relates Bible Church relates to the Kansas Conflict: to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. sub-theme. Quindaro Archaeological Ruins. Wyandotte . Douglas County, County. Vicinity of North 27th Street and the (Robert Hall Pearson Park), vicinity of N Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks, Kansas 175 and E 2000 roads, Palmyra Township. City. National Register. The town of In June 1856, abolitionist John Quindaro was one of a number of territorial Brown and his Free State militia Kansas river ports established after the pas- led an attack on a camp of a pro- sage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Platted by slavery militia led by Capt. Henry members of the Emigrant Aid Clay Pate and his Missouri fol- Society and abolitionist Wyandot Indians, lowers had been looking for the town was located Brown and had spent the night at a on a limestone ledge popular camping ground on the next to the Missouri Santa Fe Trail near Black Jack River; an ideal stop Creek. Though Pate outnumbered for river boats which Brown, Pate surrendered in what provided a safe port Black Jack Battlefield John Brown later called “the first for Free State set- regular battle fought between Free- tlers. The town was State and Pro-Slavery men in Kansas.” also an Underground Many consider the battle the first in the Railroad site. Named for Nancy struggle that would become the Civil War. Quindaro Ruins This site relates to the Kansas Conflict: Brown Gutherie, Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. whose Wyandot name is the source of Quindaro, the town Beecher Bible and Rifle Church, Wabaunsee was a boom town until the Civil War. The County, off K-18, National Register. The town left a legacy after the Civil War in a Beecher Bible and Rifle church was associ- thriving African American community. ated with a colony of Connecticut citizens Quindaro also was the home of Clarina who gathered to immigrate to the Kansas Nichols, a feminist reformer who was the Territory to support the free newspaper’s assistant editor. She argued for soil/anti-slavery movement. a Free State and equal rights for women. The Officially known as the park includes the ruins of Quindaro build- Connecticut Kansas Colony, ings. The Quindaro Archaeological site it became popularly known relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding as the Beecher Bible and Kansas, Underground Railroad in Kansas, Rifle Colony after Rev. and the African American Struggle sub- Henry Ward Beecher raised themes. money to purchase 25 rifles for the colony members and Beecher Bible and Rifle Church one of his parishioners

92 Lane University, Douglas County, family furnishings and belongings as well as Lecompton, 640 E. Woodson Avenue, a collection of Civil War weapons. The Lecompton, National Register. Part of the Kansas career of Florella’s legendary half historic structure was brother, John Brown, and his Abolitionist originally planned to efforts is interpreted in an exhibit gallery. become the first pro-slav- The Adair cabin relates to the Kansas ery Kansas Capitol build- Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. ing. Construction began in 1855, but was aban- doned in 1857. Taken Old Stone over by the United Church, 305 Lane University Brethren church in 1865, 6th Street, a building was finished in Osawatomie, 1882 and the university named after James Miami H. Lane, United States senator from Kansas. County. One The Lane University structure relates to the of the earliest Old Stone Church Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub- churches in theme. Kansas, this church was constructed by a Congregationalist group and is typical of the John Brown Museum, Memorial Park, church structures built during Territorial Miami County, Osawatomie, Adair cabin Kansas. The building was dedicated to pub- 1854, National Register, Kansas State lic worship in 1861. Its first pastor was the Historical Society site. This site is where Reverend Samuel Adair, the brother-in-law Reverend Samuel and Florella Adair strug- of John Brown, the famous abolitionist. The gled to survive on the Kansas frontier while Osawatomie church relates to the Kansas maintaining their Abolitionist principles. Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. John Brown was half brother to Florella Adair and five of Brown’s sons moved to the Isaac Goodnow House, Riley County, Osawatomie area in 1855 Manhattan, 2301 Claflin Road, (1861), as free-state settlers. Kansas State Historical Society site, National Osawatomie was attacked Register. After attending an antislavery lec- and burned by proslavery ture in 1854, given by Eli Thayer in forces on August 30, Providence, Rhode Island, Isaac Goodnow 1856, but the Adair Cabin, and his brother-in-law, Reverend Joseph located some distance Denison decided to immigrate to Kansas to northwest of the town, assist in the free-state movement. By March Adair Cabin at John Brown survived. It is a typical 1855 Goodnow had organized a company of Museum rough cabin with a fire- two hundred men and women, who located place used for warmth and the town site at present-day Manhattan cooking, and the room in back is said to where the Blue and Kansas Rivers meet. have hidden escaped slaves. Frederick, John Manhattan grew rapidly as a free-state com- Brown’s son, died nearby at the Battle of munity. Osawatomie. John Brown stayed in the Goodnow then turned his attention to build- cabin with the Adairs from time to time. ing a Methodist school, Bluemont College. The site has the original Adair cabin with

93 In 1861, after returning from a trip East der and Confederates won several skirmish- which included a visit with Abraham Lincoln es. Federal cavalry troops began pursuing in Springfield, Illinois, Isaac purchased six Price who crossed into Linn County and they acres of land with- overtook him October 25, 1864. in sight of the new college. The decisive engagement came late in the Construction start- morning. General John Marmaduke, one of ed immediately, the Confederate division commanders, was and he and his forced to fight a rear guard action on the family moved into north bank of Mine Creek to protect Price’s Goodnow house in fleeing wagon train. He was supported by Goodnow House November 1861. General James Fagan’s division, which had Built in the 1860s already crossed the creek. The two and furnished with many family belongings, Confederate divisions contained about seven the Goodnow house reflects domestic life in thousand men. Although the Union advance the late 1800s and the Goodnow family. under Pleasonton numbered less than twen- Eventually, Bluemont College became part ty-five hundred, the rebels were crushed by a of the national land grant college system as furious cavalry charge. the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Continuing his retreat, Price was forced to Applied Science. The Goodnow home has abandon original furnishing and documents related to plans to Goodnow’s activities in Kansas. The attack Goodnow house relates to the Kansas Fort Scott. Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. His troops Mine Creek Battlefield, Linn County, two purposely miles south on U.S. 69, one-half mile west destroyed on K-52 in Pleasanton. Kansas State most of the wagon Historical Society site, National Register. Mine Creek Period of Significance: 1850-1874. Near the train car- first lead mines in Kansas, and known for a rying their supplies and booty. On October crossing on the Military Road, Mine Creek 28, federal troops handed Price his final was a baptizing and swimming place for defeat at Newtonia, Missouri. The rebel local residents. But in 1864, the creek army recrossed the Arkansas River on became the site of a major battle in Kansas November 8. For all practical purposes, the between the Union and Confederate troops. Civil War in the West was over. The site has a visitor center with exhibits that describe General had led a Confederate the Civil War in Kansas and at Mine Creek. army into Missouri to help capture the state There are living history programs through for the Confederacy. As he faced heavy the year and a walking trail that describes losses in Missouri, Price turned west to the battle site. The Mine Creek Battlefield retreat through Kansas. Kansas prepared for site relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Price’s invasion when the governor, Thomas Kansas sub-theme. Carney called out the state militia. Fighting began began along the Kansas/Missouri bor-

94 Baxter Springs Massacre. Rural Cherokee Riggs (Samuel) House, 1501 Pennsylvania, County. Site marked by a Historical Kansas Lawrence, Road Marker 2 miles north of Baxter Douglas Springs. On October 6, 1863, Gen. James County, Blunt and about 100 men were surprised National near Baxter’s springs by William Quantrill Register. This and several hundred Confederates mas- house was querading as Union troops. As Blunt’s band under construc- was preparing a musical salute, the enemy tion at the time fired. Although Blunt escaped the attack, of Quantrill’s ninety percent of his men were killed. The Raid on raiders also attacked 95 members of the 2nd Lawrence in Samuel Riggs House Kansas Colored Infantry led by Lt. James 1863. Riggs Pond who were encamped at the springs. was a lawyer and became a county attorney, This force was likewise caught off guard but district attorney and judge. Judge Riggs resisted until the enemy retired. Lt. Pond prosecuted Quantrill at Lawrence in 1860 for won the Congressional Medal of Honor for burglary and larceny, and for arson and kid- his actions that day. The battle sites are napping under the name of ‘Charley Hart’. located in the present town of Baxter He served as a Kansas senator, and helped Springs. Some of the victims are buried in revise the Kansas civil and criminal codes. the national cemetery one mile west of town. The Riggs’ house relates to the Kansas The Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. Museum also has exhibits on the “mas- sacre.” The “Baxter Springs Massacre” site relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Miller (Robert H.) House, 1111 East 19th Kansas sub-theme. Street, Lawrence, Douglas County, National Register. Bell George and Annie) House, 1008 Ohio, Miller and Lawrence, Douglas County, National his family Register. George Bell and Annie Bell lived arrived in at 1008 Ohio in the stone house Kansas in before Quantrill’s Raid on 1858 and Lawrence in August 1863. Bell the home was the county clerk for Douglas was con- County and was killed by the structed raiders. This gable front stone soon after Robert H. Miller House house sits on Mount Oread, a their prominent natural landmark, in arrival. Lawrence. The Bell house The Miller house relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. George and Annie Bell relates to the Kansas Conflict: House Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. Eldridge House Hotel, 7th and Massachusetts, Lawrence, Douglas County, National Register. This is the original site of

95 the Free-State Hotel, burned in the sack of Kansas sub-theme. (See Figure 4-7, Lawrence May 21, Bleeding Kansas Assets.) 1856. Rebuilt and Underground Railroad renamed , it opened in The National Underground Railroad 1859. That structure Network to Freedom (NPS) has recognized was burned by seven sites in Kansas that relate to this sub- Quantrill’s raiders in theme. These include Constitution Hall- 1863, the hotel was Topeka, the John Doy Home site, the Henry rebuilt again in 1865- and Ann Harvey Farmstead, the Captain Eldridge House Hotel 66. The current brick William Mitchell Farmstead, Wabaunsee structure dates to Cemetery, Clinton Lake Museum, and 1925. The site relates to the Kansas Watkins Community Museum. Conflict: Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. “Constitution Hall” was the name given to a two-story building at this site, 427-429 S. House Building, 729-731 Massachusetts, Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Shawnee County. Lawrence, Douglas County, Register of In 1855 Free State settlers wrote a territorial Historic Kansas Places. The House constitution (“Topeka Constitution”) and Building, once called the Miller elected a legislature that met in Topeka to Building, was the only remaining demand the admission of Kansas to the commercial building left along Union as a free state and challenge the Lawrence’s main street after fraudulently elected proslavery legislature. Quantrill’s Raid in 1863. Today The Free State constitution prohibited slav- the commercial building still fronts ery in the territory. This building became on Massachusetts, Lawrence’s known as the Free State capital. On July 4, main street although with a twenti- 1856, federal dragoons dispersed the Free eth century façade. The building State legislature when it met in session. relates to the Kansas Conflict: “Constitution Hall” served as a center of House Building Bleeding Kansas sub-theme. community activities in Topeka during the Bleeding Kansas period. From 1864 to 1870, the capital of Kansas enclosed old Kansas State Capital, Capital Square, Constitution Hall and extended at each end. Topeka, Shawnee County. Topeka was The enlarged structure housed all the offices named the Free State Capital in 1855 and for the state government until a more presti- became the state capital in 1861. gious capital building (still in use) was con- Construction of the East Wing of the present structed. This site is being developed for building began in 1864 and was completed interpretation. Constitution Hall, Topeka, in 1869. At this time the state government relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding moved from the temporary capital in the Kansas and Underground Railroad in Kansas State Row office block (which included sub-themes. Constitution Hall, Topeka). An ambitious The Dr. John Doy homesite, Lawrence, rehabilitation and restoration of the Kansas Douglas County, is associated with the anti- State Capital is now in progress. This site slavery activities of Doy who was the gener- relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding

96 licized nationally and aroused wider support for the Free State cause in Kansas and abolitionism. This site relates to the Underground Railroad in Kansas sub-theme.

This is the site of Henry and Ann Harvey’s cabin, Harveyville, Wabaunsee County. Constructed in 1854, the homestead was a station of the Underground Railroad in Kansas Territory. The Harveys were members of the Society of Friends and life-long opponents of slavery. They served as missionaries to the Shawnee Emigrant Indians. The original cabin survived until ca. 1900 when the present wood-frame house was constructed on the proper- ty. This site relates to the Underground Railroad in Kansas sub-theme.

The Captain William Mitchell house, Wamego, Pottawatomie County, Figure 4-7, Bleeding Kansas Assets began as a log cabin con- structed in 1855. Mitchell al conductor of the Underground Railroad in built it with the help of other members of the the Lawrence area. He settled in Kansas in Connecticut-Kansas Colony, later called the October 1854 and lived with his family in a Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony. The mem- log structure from 1854 to 1860. Doy was bers emigrated to Kansas to help insure the captured by proslavery supporters in January territory’s admission as a free state. They 1859 while conducting 13 fugitive slaves. sheltered freedom seekers from Missouri, Then in a daring rescue, he was freed from Arkansas, and Texas. Captain Mitchell acted the St. Joseph, Missouri, jail and returned to as both station master and conductor on the Kansas. Doy’s capture and rescue was pub- Underground Railroad. The Mitchell cabin

97 relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding associated with John Ritchie, a prominent Kansas and Underground Railroad in Kansas Free State settler. He was a leader of aboli- sub-themes. tionists in the Topeka area, an associate of John Brown, and a delegate to the Nearby, the Wabaunsee Cemetery, Leavenworth and Wyandotte Constitutional Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County, is the final Conventions. This building relates to the resting place of seventeen settlers who par- Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas, ticipated in the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad in Kansas, and cemetery is located one mile northeast of the African American Struggle sub-themes. historic community of Wabaunsee, home of the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church. The Wabaunsee Cemetery relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas and Underground Railroad in Kansas sub-themes. African American Struggle for Two other facilities offer particular interpre- Freedom tations of the activities of the Underground Railroad in Kansas Territory. Exhibits in the As noted earlier, both Fort Leavenworth and Clinton Lake Museum, Douglas County, Fort Riley relate to this sub-theme. (See interpret the history of Bloomington and Figure 4-8, African and Native American other communities in the valley of the Struggle Assets). Wakarusa River. Many settlers in this area Monroe Elementary School, Topeka, supported the Underground Railroad. The Shawnee County, National Historic Watkins Community Museum, Lawrence, Landmark, National Park Service Site. On Douglas County, interprets the history of this October 26, 1992, Congress passed Public prominent Free State town, a center of Law 102-525 establishing Brown v. Board of Underground Railroad activities. Education National Historic Site to com- Joel Grover Barn/ Fire Station, 2819 Stone memorate the landmark Supreme Court deci- Barn Terrace, Lawrence, Douglas County. sion aimed at ending segregation in public The barn was built from 1857-1858 for the schools. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Grover family. They came to Kansas with Court unanimously declared that “separate assistance from the New England Emigrant educational facilities are inherently unequal” Aid Company, a group established in 1854 and, as such, violated the 14th Amendment and known for its anti-slavery sentiments. to the United States Constitution, which This barn, now incorporated into a Lawrence guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of Fire Station #4, was once part of the the laws.” Underground Railroad network in eastern Kansas. The Joel Grover barn relates to the The case was initiated by members of the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Kansas and local NAACP chapter in Topeka. Thirteen Underground Railroad in Kansas sub- parents volunteered to participate. In the themes. summer of 1950, they took their children to schools in their neighborhoods and attempt- John Ritchie House, 1116 SE Madison, ed to enroll them for the upcoming school Topeka, Shawnee County, Register of year and all were refused admission. The Historic Kansas Places. This stone house is children were forced to attend one of four

98 ties, the issue revolved around sepa- ration based on race.

Kansas and Monroe school were chosen for this court case specifi- cally because of the state’s Free State heritage and anti-slavery beginnings. After the Civil War, a number of newly freed African Americans came to Topeka and built homes on land in this area developed by John Ritchie and oth- ers. Due to the sizable African American population, the school board decided to establish a school for black children in the neighbor- hood. The current building is the third Monroe school to sit on the corner of Fifteenth and Monroe streets. The first school was located in a small rented building that was used from 1868 until a permanent structure was erected in 1874. The current building was constructed in 1926 just to the south of the old school. Monroe was the newest of the four segregated schools serving Topeka’s African American com- munity. The other schools were Buchanan, McKinley, and Washington. Washington no longer stands and the Topeka Board of Figure 4-8, African and Native American Struggle Assets

schools in the city, including Monroe School, for African-Americans. For most African American students, this meant trav- eling some distance from their homes. These parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of their twenty chil- dren. Oliver Brown, a minister, was the first parent listed in the suit, so the case came to be named after him. The legal issue was not that schools had separate but unequal facili- Monroe School

99 Education no longer owns the remaining became inactive following the Rev. schools. The site is currently being restored Blachley’s death in 1877. by the National Park Service for a visitors’ center, a research center and forum for dis- The school was revived in 1881 under the cussion of the Brown case and the Civil sponsorship of the African Methodist Rights Movement. Monroe School relates to Episcopal Church and reopened in 1882. In the African American Struggle sub-theme. 1891 the school was renamed Western University and moved from the valley to a new building, Ward Hall, near 27th and Sumner School, built in 1935, is also in Sewell. William T. Vernon, who was subse- Topeka. This school drew the attention of quently named registrar of the treasury by the nation in 1954 because of the Brown vs. President Theodore Roosevelt, was placed in the Board of Education of Topeka legal case. charge of the school in 1896. When Vernon It was Linda Brown’s desire to attend retired from the school on 1916, he left Sumner School which was in the neighbor- behind a flourishing campus with many fine hood nearest her home. The school relates buildings. Western University continued to to the African American Struggle sub-theme. prosper under Dr. H.T. Kealing, adding a junior college and a school of religion. As St. Luke’s AME Church, 9th and New York, with many small schools, Western University Lawrence, Douglas County, Register of was severely affected by the Great Historical Places. This church was organ- Depression and was finally forced to close in ized in 1862 by runaway slaves, ex-slaves, 1948. The Western University building and their children. At the time of Quantrill’s relates to the African American Struggle sub- Raid in 1863, members were working on a theme. new church. Poet and writer Langston Hughes attended this church along with his “Auntie” Mary Reed. Langston Hughes, in Native American Struggle his autobiography, observed that he heard the rhythms that influenced his poetry in the As noted earlier, both Fort Leavenworth and black churches of Lawrence. This church is Fort Riley relate to this subtheme. representative of several other AME church- es in the study area that relate to the African Kaw Methodist Mission, 500 N. Mission, American Struggle sub-theme. Council Grove, Morris County, Kansas State Historical Society, National Register. When Western University, 27th and Sewell, Kansas the Santa Fe Trail was the great highway City, Wyandotte County. Western University between the Missouri border and the Spanish had its beginning in the Quindaro town of Santa Fe, Council Grove was an Freedman’s School founded in 1880 by the important point on the route. Situated on the Rev. Eben Blachley, a Presbyterian minister. Neosho River, it was a natural stopping The Freedman’s School was intended to pro- place, well-watered with abundant grass and vide an education for the children of escaped timber. Here in 1825, the US commissioners slaves and black families who had begun to negotiated with Osages for passage over settle in the area. The school received sup- their lands. This right of way became the port from the state in 1867 and 1873, but Santa Fe Trail. In 1846, a treaty with the Kansa or Kaw Indians gave them a dimin-

100 ished reservation twenty miles square that school for children of the Potawatomi included the site of present-day Council Indians, an eastern tribe which had been Grove. Traders and government agents soon forced west by the federal government in the followed the tribe to the new location. In 1830s. Native children struggled to adapt to this treaty, the government promised to make a strange new way of life. School enrollment an annual payment of one thousand dollars fluctuated from week to week. Disease often to advance the education of the Kaw Indians struck students and teachers. Because a in their own country. In 1850 the Methodist branch of the Oregon Trail passed by the Episcopal Church South, which had minis- mission, it was almost impossible to keep tered to the tribe since 1830, contracted with hired hands from leaving the mission and the government and completed the construc- heading west. The mission closed in 1861. tion of a stone mission and school building The Pottawatomie Baptist Mission relates to by February the Native American Struggle sub-theme. 1851. During its use, the school averaged about thirty pupils a year. Instruction was given in spelling, read- ing, writing, and Kaw Methodist Mission arithmetic to Pottawatomie Baptist Mission boys only. A treaty with the Kaw Indians in 1859 provid- ed that the reservation be diminished further Pottawatomie Indian Pay Station, Mission to an area nine by fourteen miles. These Street, St. Marys, Pottawatomie County, lands were relinquished in the 1870s, and the National Register. The town of St. Marys tribe moved to a reservation in present-day was founded in 1847 as a Jesuit Mission and Oklahoma. tribal headquarters, serving the Pottawatomie when that tribe was moved from the Sugar The site, the stone mission building, has Creek exhibits about the early “Kanza” or Kaw reserve in Native Americans, a photograph gallery, eastern Santa Fe Trail exhibits, and early-day Kansas. Council Grove artifacts. The Kaw Mission St. Marys relates to the Kansas Territory: Geography straddled and Native American Struggle sub-themes. the route of the Oregon- Pottawatomie Baptist Mission, Exit 356 on Pottawatomie Pay Station I-70, 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka, California Shawnee County, National Register, Kansas Trail, the State Historical Society property. The mis- Fort Leavenworth - Fort Riley Military Road sion, part of a complex of buildings, was and the Smoky Hill Trail. The Indian Pay built in 1847. It was operated as a boarding Station, the oldest building in Pottawatomie County, was built in 1857 by the U.S.

101 Government as an Indian Agency where the south to Indian Territory, although some Pottwatomie transacted business with the remained in the Kansas City area. These U.S. government. It was later used to make members prevented several efforts to sell or payments for land taken from the use the cemetery land for other purposes. Pottawatomie. The last payment was made The Huron Cemetery relates to the Native from this location in 1870. The American sub-theme. Pottawatomie Pay Station relates to the Native American Struggle sub-theme. St. Philippine Duchesne Memorial Park, approximately 10 miles northwest of Mound Grinter (Moses) House, 1420 South 78th City on County Road 1427, rural Linn Street, Kansas City, Wyandotte County. County. During Indian removal in 1838, the National Register, Kansas State Historical Pottawatomie were forced from their homes Society site. This two-story brick house in northern Indiana to eastern Kansas in the constructed in 1862 overlooks the historic fall of 1838. Sister Philippine Duchesne Delaware Crossing of the Kansas River. arrived in Kansas in 1841 to help educate the After Moses Grinter married Annie Potawatomi children. The park occupies the Marshall, a Delaware Indian, they operated a site of the former Sugar Creek Jesuit ferry at the crossing, a trading post with the Mission, around which the Pottawatomie Delaware from 1855 to 1860, farmed, and attempted to establish a transplanted culture raised livestock. The state historical society for the next ten years. The mission closed in acquired the property in 1971. Grinter 1848. The park is dedicated to the mission- House is related to the Kansas Territory: aries and Native Americans. Historical Geography, Bleeding Kansas, and Native markers describe buildings and list those American Struggle sub-themes. who resided or are buried at the site. The Memorial Park relates to the Native Huron Indian Cemetery, Minnesota Avenue American Struggle sub-theme. bet. 6th and 7th Streets, Kansas City, Wyandotte Whitefeather Spring, 3818 Ruby Avenue, County, National Register. Wyandotte County, Kansas City. National In 1842 the Huron, or Register. The spring is associated with the Wyandot, Native Shawnee Prophet, Ten-Squa-TA-WA, a noted Americans ceded their lands in Ohio and Michigan and began to immigrate Huron Indian Cemetery to Kansas in 1843. Illness killed nearly 100 while camped along the Missouri River. The dead were carried to the west side of the river to a ridge over- looking the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. These burials established the Huron cemetery. In 1855, the Wyandots lost their tribal status and Whitefeather Spring the tribe split. Many members moved

102 leader of the Shawnee along with his brother and Native American sub-themes. Chief Tecumseh. The Prophet moved with a band of Shawnee to Kansas in 1828. He Oak Grove Cemetery, North 3rd Street and died in 1836 and was buried near the mouth Waverly Avenue, Wyandotte County, Kansas of the Whitefeather Spring. George Catlin City, Kansas Historic Landmark. The town painted the Prophet in 1832 and the painting of Wyandotte (unincorporated) was chartered hangs in the Smithsonian in Washington on June 8, 1858. At that time, the only D.C. Whitefeather Spring relates to the cemetery close to the town was the Huron Native American Struggle sub-theme. Indian Cemetery which was largely restrict- ed to members of the Wyandot tribe. A ten- Graham Rogers House, 6741 Mackey, acre plot was selected at the crest of a low Overland Park, Johnson County, Register of hill overlooking the Missouri River valley, Historic Kansas Places. Underneath the and the cemetery was established before the modern sheathing, the original part of this City of Wyandotte which was incorporated house is the two-story log house of Graham in January 1859. Oak Grove cemetery Rogers, a leader of the Shawnee Indians who relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding were removed to Kansas Territory and then Kansas and Native American Struggle sub- moved again to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) themes. after the Civil War. The Rogers house relates to the Kansas Conflict: Bleeding Curtis (Charles) House, 1101 Topeka Kansas and Native American subthemes. Avenue, Topeka, Shawnee County, National Register. Charles Curtis was Vice President Jones (Tauy) House, rural Franklin County, of the United States under Herbert Hoover National Register. John Tecumseh “Tauy” (1929-1933). He is the only Kansan to hold Jones was part Chippewa Indian and part white. Born in the year 1800, he came to the area as an interpreter for the Pottawatomie. He joined the Ottawa tribe and became their interpreter, advisor, and minister. He operat- ed a trading post just south of the Marais des Cygnes River, where down- town Ottawa is today. Before the Curtis House Civil War, Jones helped abolitionist the office of Vice President, and the only John Brown in his Vice President of Native American heritage. anti-slavery activi- Curtis was one of the first supporters of ties. The existing women’s suffrage, and was influential in house was built passing Native American and farm legisla- Jones (Tauy) House during the Civil War tion. Born in 1860. his mother died in 1863, to replace an earlier structure from the terri- so he lived with his father’s parents, Mr. and torial period. The Jones house relates to the Mrs. William Curtis, in North Topeka and “Bleeding Kansas,” Underground Railroad, with his mother’s mother, Julie Gonville

103 Pappan, on the Kaw Indian Reservation in According to the State Historic Preservation Morris County. His grandmother Pappan was Office, at the present time there are no granddaughter of the Kanza Chief White sacred sites documented by NAGRPRA in Plume. The Curtis house relates to the the proposed Bleeding Kansas Heritage Native American Struggle sub-theme. Area. Three sites in Douglas County—the Haskell University Medicine Wheel, a site Haskell Institute, 23rd and Barker, near Highway 59 south of Lawrence, and a Lawrence, Douglas County, National large glacial boulder in the Riverfront Park Historic Landmark, National Register. in Lawrence—have been mentioned as Haskell Indian Industrial Training School, a sacred by others. The Prairie Band government boarding school, opened its Pottawatomie and Kickapoo Nations in doors in 1884 to begin an educational pro- Kansas have been contacted for comment on gram focused on agricultural education in this proposed action. grades one through five. The U.S. govern- ment founded Haskell in part to fulfill numerous treaties that promised to educate CONCLUSION Indians in exchange for their land. For more The historic and cultural resources of the than one hundred years, American Indians Bleeding Kansas Heritage Area are threat- and Alaska Natives have been sending their ened by urbanization, neglect, lack of funds, children to Haskell, and the school has and the lack of public awareness. developed from an industrial training school Particularly in the Kansas River valley, rapid to a university. Haskell football teams from urbanization can result in the destruction of the early 1900’s to 1930’s are legendary. And historic structures and historic landscapes. even after the 1930’s, athletics remained a Low density development consumes rural high priority to Haskell students and alumni. land and therefore accelerates the loss of his- Today, Haskell serves as the home of the toric structures and landscapes. In more American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. rural areas, population decline, depressed agricultural prices, and limited economic Haskell Indian Nations University, the only development can result in deferred mainte- four-year Native American university in the nance and investment in historic properties. United States, has grown over the last centu- ry from a school A lack of effective coordination among local designed to assimilate and state authorities coupled with wide- Indian children into the spread public misunderstanding of the bene- white culture, to a fully fits of historic preservation contributes to the accredited university vulnerability of these resources. Presently, that celebrates the diver- the process of identification, designation, sity and culture of the and protection of Bleeding Kansas and dozens of federally-rec- Territorial period properties is inadequate to ognized Indian tribes Haskell Indian Nations meet the cumulative threats to vulnerable throughout the country. properties. Even after significant properties A new museum has are identified, they are subject to demolition recently opened on the campus for visitors. and demolition by neglect. Recently in Haskell University relates to the Native Johnson County, for example, an intact terri- American Struggle sub-theme.

104 torial home and outbuildings were lost because their history was not widely known.

Many Kansans lack a useful knowledge of their local and state history and do not rec- ognize the importance of their historic struc- tures and sites. Some appreciate the resources, but are unaware of planning tech- niques and strategies that might help pre- serve them. Even when the historic signifi- cance of a property is recognized, individu- als, organizations, governments often lack the funding to preserve such sites. Residents of the Bleeding Kansas Heritage Area do have a basic appreciation for their history, but have not initiated coordinated action to ensure that the landscapes, structures, and sites representing that regional history are protected.

Because of the activities of the Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance and the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area Planning Committee, the assets associated with the “Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom” theme have become more visi- ble and valuable to Kansas citizens, city, county, state officials, and visitors. As more formal attention is focused on these assets with Congressional designation, they will become even more important. Thus, the National Heritage Area designation and the development of thematic interpretation will organize and strengthen the broad support for interpretation, protection, and manage- ment of these assets for the benefit of future generations of Americans.

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