Trading Post, Kansas

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Trading Post, Kansas
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Trading Post
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Trading Post
Coordinates: 38°14′55″N94°40′51″W / 38.24861°N 94.68083°W / 38.24861; -94.68083 [1]
Country United States
State Kansas
County Linn
Founded1842
Elevation
[1]
807 ft (246 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code 913
FIPS code 20-71275
GNIS ID 477932 [1]

Trading Post is an unincorporated community in Linn County, Kansas, in the United States. [1]

Contents

History

Trading Post is said to be one of the oldest continuously occupied locations in the Kansas.[ citation needed ] A United States Army fort was built there in 1842. It was abandoned shortly after the end of the Civil War. A military post was established in 1861 and lasted until summer 1865. The Battle of Marais des Cygnes was fought here during the American Civil War. The location derives its name from a French trading post established there about 1825. [2]

The site is also the location of the Marais des Cygnes massacre on May 19, 1858, when Charles Hamilton was forced out of the state by Jayhawkers, freedom fighters from Kansas fighting for anti-slavery and individual liberty rights in Kansas. Hamilton returned with border ruffians from Missouri and captured 11 unarmed Jayhawkers. Hamilton and his men lead the unarmed Free-Staters into a gorge. Five of the Jayhawkers were executed on the spot by the Missouri border ruffians, five were wounded and one escaped. John Brown was to visit the site and built a fort.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linn County, Kansas</span> County in Kansas, United States

Linn County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas, located in along the eastern edge of Kansas, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its county seat is Mound City, and its most populous city is Pleasanton. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 9,591. The county was named for Lewis Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osawatomie, Kansas</span> City in Kansas, United States

Osawatomie is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States, 61 miles (98 km) southwest of Kansas City. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,255. It derives its name as a portmanteau of two nearby streams, the Marais des Cygnes River and Pottawatomie Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bleeding Kansas</span> Violent slavery-related confrontations in Kansas territory in latter half of 1850s

Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Marais des Cygnes</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Marais des Cygnes took place on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, during Price's Missouri Campaign during the American Civil War. It is also known as the Battle of Trading Post. In late 1864, Confederate Major-General Sterling Price invaded the state of Missouri with a cavalry force, attempting to draw Union troops away from the primary theaters of fighting further east. After several victories early in the campaign, Price's Confederate troops were defeated at the Battle of Westport on October 23 near Kansas City, Missouri. The Confederates then withdrew into Kansas, camping along the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River on the night of October 24. Union cavalry pursuers under Brigadier General John B. Sanborn skirmished with Price's rearguard that night, but disengaged without participating in heavy combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mine Creek</span> 1864 battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of Little Osage, was fought on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, as part of Price's Missouri Campaign during the American Civil War. Major-General Sterling Price had begun an expedition in September 1864 to restore Confederate control of Missouri. After being defeated at Westport near Kansas City on October 23, Price's army began to retreat south through Kansas. Early on October 25, Price's army was defeated at the Marais des Cygnes. After Marais des Cygnes, the Confederates fell back, but were stalled at the crossing of Mine Creek while a wagon train attempted to cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border ruffian</span> Proslavery Missourian raiders within Kansas Territory

Border ruffians were proslavery raiders who crossed into the Kansas Territory from Missouri during the mid-19th century to help ensure the territory entered the United States as a slave state. Their activities formed a major part of a series of violent civil confrontations known as "Bleeding Kansas", which peaked from 1854 to 1858. Crimes committed by border ruffians included electoral fraud, intimidation, assault, property damage and murder; many border ruffians took pride in their reputation as criminals. After the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, many border ruffians fought on the side of the Confederate States of America as irregular bushwhackers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayhawker</span> Became synonymous with the people of Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s

Jayhawker and red leg are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs were guerrillas who often clashed with pro-slavery groups from Missouri, known at the time in Kansas Territory as "Border Ruffians" or "Bushwhackers". After the Civil War, the word "Jayhawker" became synonymous with the people of Kansas, or anybody born in Kansas. Today a modified version of the term, Jayhawk, is used as a nickname for a native-born Kansan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Price's Missouri Expedition</span> Military campaign during the American Civil War

Price's Missouri Expedition, also known as Price's Raid or Price's Missouri Raid, was an unsuccessful Confederate cavalry raid through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. Led by Confederate Major General Sterling Price, the campaign aimed to recapture Missouri and renew the Confederate initiative in the larger conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marais des Cygnes River</span> River in Missouri, United States

The Marais des Cygnes River is a principal tributary of the Osage River, about 217 miles (349 km) long, in eastern Kansas and western Missouri in the United States. Via the Osage and Missouri rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushwhacker</span> Form of guerrilla warfare during the American Revolutionary War, and American Civil War

Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tracts. This was particularly prevalent in rural areas during the Civil War where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers. The term "bushwhacking" is still in use today to describe ambushes done with the aim of attrition.

Marais des Cygnes may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas in the American Civil War</span>

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Kansas was the newest U.S. state, admitted just months earlier in January. The state had formally rejected slavery by popular vote and vowed to fight on the side of the Union, though ideological divisions with neighboring Missouri, a slave state, had led to violent conflict in previous years and persisted for the duration of the war.

The Battle of Osawatomie was an armed engagement that occurred on August 30, 1856, when 250–400 pro-slavery Border ruffians, led by John W. Reid, attacked the town of Osawatomie, Kansas, which had been settled largely by anti-slavery Free-Staters. Reid was intent on destroying the Free-State settlement and then moving on to Topeka and Lawrence to do more of the same. Abolitionist John Brown first learned of the raiders when they shot his son Frederick. With just 40 or so men, Brown tried to defend the town against the pro-slavery partisans, but ultimately was forced to withdraw; five Free-Staters were killed in the battle, and the town of Osawatomie was subsequently looted and burned by Reid's men. The battle was one of a series of violent clashes between abolitionists and pro-slavery partisans in Kansas and Missouri during the Bleeding Kansas era.

The timeline of Kansas details past events that happened in what is present day Kansas. Located on the eastern edge of the Great Plains, the U.S. state of Kansas was the home of sedentary agrarian and hunter-gatherer Native American societies, many of whom hunted American bison. The region first appears in western history in the 16th century at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, when Spanish conquistadors explored the unknown land now known as Kansas. It was later explored by French fur trappers who traded with the Native Americans. It became part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In the 19th century, the first American explorers designated the area as the "Great American Desert."

Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area, Inc. (FFNHA) is a federally designated U.S. National Heritage Area located in eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. This heritage area preserves, conserves, and interprets historic and cultural landscapes pertaining to: the shaping of the frontier, the Missouri-Kansas Border War, and the enduring struggle for freedom. FFNHA was authorized on October 12, 2006, with the passage of the National Heritage Areas Act of 2006. The management plan for the heritage area was approved by the Board of Trustees on June 10, 2009, and undergoes official review by the National Park Service to ensure it complies with all components required within the enabling legislation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles R. Jennison</span>

Charles Rainsford Jennison also known as "Doc" Jennison was a member of the anti-slavery faction during Bleeding Kansas, a famous Jayhawker, and a member of the Kansas State Senate in the 1870s. He later served as a Union colonel and as a leader of Jayhawker militias during the American Civil War, until being dishonorably discharged for murder and robbery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Linn County, Kansas</span>

There are eight properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in Linn County, Kansas. Two of the sites are the location of historic events. The Marais des Cygnes Massacre Site is the location of the Marais des Cygnes massacre, an 1858 event during Bleeding Kansas in which pro-slavery advocates kidnapped 11 anti-slavery settlers, killing five of them. John Brown temporarily used the site as a fort, and the property was listed on the NRHP in 1971. The Battle of Mine Creek Site preserves the location of the Battle of Mine Creek, which was fought in 1864 as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. Confederate general Sterling Price's army was retreating after being defeated at the Battle of Westport and was attacked by pursuing Union troops. Price's Confederate lost heavily in men and supplies. The site was added to the NRHP in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marais des Cygnes massacre</span> United States historic place

The Marais des Cygnes massacre is considered the last significant act of violence in Bleeding Kansas prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War. On May 19, 1858, approximately 30 border ruffians led by Charles Hamilton, a Georgia native and proslavery leader, crossed into the Kansas Territory from Missouri. They arrived at Trading Post, Kansas, in the morning and then headed back to Missouri. Along the way, they captured 11 abolitionist Free-Staters, none of whom were armed and, it is said, none of whom had participated in the ongoing violence. Most of the men knew Hamilton and apparently did not realize he meant them harm. These prisoners were led into a defile, where Hamilton ordered his men to shoot, firing the first and last bullet himself. Five men were killed and five severely wounded. Only one Free-Stater escaped injury.

In 1842 a large log fort was built at Trading Post by the United States Army, upon the order of Gen. Winfield Scott. This fort was on the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Gibson Military Road. The completed fort was fairly elaborate. It included space to house a company of dragoons and their horses. Also, it contained a hospital and store houses. Gaps along the outside walls of buildings were filled in with stockade walls. The buildings were built around a large interior open area.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Trading Post, Kansas
  2. Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume 2. Standard Publishing Company. pp.  817.

Further reading