This memorial is erected in recognition of the men and women who built the B-25 bombers at the North American Aviation plant in Kansas City, Kansas, during World War II.
Between December 1941, and August 1945, over 50,000 employees built 6,608 . . . — — Map (db m46290) HM WM
Centennial Park was dedicated on August 25, 2001 to all the past, present and future generations of Bonner Springs and to all the citizens and business owners that have made our city what it is today. This park is a symbol of our heritage to the . . . — — Map (db m46783) HM
In June, 1804, Lewis and Clark, exploring the Louisiana Purchase, camped where the Kansas river empties into the Missouri. Forty years later the Wyandot Indians were moved here from Ohio. Their tribal burial ground, Huron cemetery, may still be . . . — — Map (db m46303) HM
When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, many different Indian nations occupied what is now the United States. European settlement gradually resulted in many of these native peoples being pushed to the west.
In 1825 the U.S. government . . . — — Map (db m46324) HM
In commemoration of the
ethnic communities present
in the new
Wyandotte County
created in 1859
Shawnee-Delaware Wyandot African German
Irish English Scottish Danish
1909
Within this 50 year span
the following . . . — — Map (db m46296) HM
This Memorial is dedicated to the American Farmer past, present and future
To the Farmers of America
Because of the sacrifices that you have made
Because of the hardships that you have endured
Because of your determination to succeed . . . — — Map (db m46246) HM
"The water we drink or the Common water of the missourie at this time, contains a half a Comm Wine Glass of ooze or mud to every pint-"
William Clark
June 21, 1804
The Missouri River of Lewis and Clark's era was wild and unpredictable. It . . . — — Map (db m53941) HM
" we determin to delay at this Place three or four Days to make observations & recruit the party "
Captain William Clark
June 27, 1804
On June 26, 1804, the U.S. Army expedition led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William . . . — — Map (db m53964) HM
She was not at Kaw's Mouth
in June 1804, but joined the expedition later in April of 1805 at the Mandan villages in what is now North Dakota. — — Map (db m54007) HM
June 26, Tuesday 1804. "passed a bad Sand bar, where our tow rope broke twice, & with great exertions we rowed round it and Came to & Camped in the Point above the Kansas River."
William Clark
This Kansas artist's interpretation of the . . . — — Map (db m53962) HM
As early as the 1600s, the Kanza (or Kaw) Indians migrated from their home east of the Mississippi River and up the Missouri River into what is now northeastern Kansas. In the 1700s, the Kanza occupied two villages on the west bank of the Missouri: . . . — — Map (db m53945) HM
Side A: Lewis and Clark at Kaw Point
The Lewis and Clark expedition arrived here at Kaw Point on June 26, 1804, concluding another daily struggle against the powerful current of the Missouri River. Captain William Clark wrote in his journal . . . — — Map (db m53939) HM
In 1804-06, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led about 40 soldiers and boatmen on an epic journey. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned this "Corps of Discovery" to find a route to the Pacific Ocean through the newly acquired . . . — — Map (db m53963) HM
Master of all jazz piano styles and a Kansas City jazz legacy for more than 60 years, James Columbus "Jay" McShann was born January 12, 1916 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He taught himself piano and began his musical career in 1931. In 1936, McShann, known . . . — — Map (db m201577) HM
A major figure in the Harlem Renaissance, artist Aaron Douglas was called the "Father of African-American art." Douglas founded the art department at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Known for his two-dimensional, black and white abstract . . . — — Map (db m200412) HM
Basketball was more than a sport for the "Baron of the Bluegrass," Adolph F. Rupp. It became his lifelong career. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas under Dr. Forrest "Phog" Allen. Rupp coached in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois . . . — — Map (db m202126) HM
Born in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1887, Alfred Mossman Landon moved to Kansas at age 17. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1908 and by 1929 was an oil industry millionaire. Deeply interested in politics, Landon served . . . — — Map (db m201453) HM
Celebrated running back and Heisman Trophy winner Barry David Sanders proved to coaches to coaches he was small but mighty. The 5'8" Sanders spent his first two years at Oklahoma State University playing backup to Thurman Thomas. He left OSU before . . . — — Map (db m200477) HM
Ragtime-oriented pianist and bandleader Bennie Moten was born November 13, 1894 in Kansas City, Missouri. He made his recording debut in 1923 leading an orchestra that set the Kansas City jazz standard. Moten's popular band attracted musicians away . . . — — Map (db m201579) HM
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner, Jr. was born on May 18, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri. He worked as a singing bartender at the Sunset Club, where boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson (born March 24, 1904 in Kansas City) played. Turner and Johnson . . . — — Map (db m201575) HM
Born November 13, 1911, Florida native Buck O'Neil became batboy for his father's baseball team at age six. In 1938, O'Neil moved to Kansas City to join the Monarchs and played three All-Star games and two World Series games in the Negro American . . . — — Map (db m202123) HM
As a young child, Charles Curtis lived on a Kaw Indian reservation. He attended law school and became prosecuting attorney of Shawnee County, Kansas from 1885-1889. He served in the House of Representatives from 1893-1907 and as a senator from the . . . — — Map (db m201455) HM
Alto saxophonist Charles "Yardbird" Parker was born August 29, 1920 in Kansas City, Kansas. He started playing the saxophone at age 11. From 1935 to 1939 he played in competitive Kansas City bands developing his own expressive style. In Harlem, he . . . — — Map (db m201580) HM
Pulitzer Prize winner Clarence Daniel Batchelor enjoyed a lifelong career as a political cartoonist for publications such as the New York Post and the New York Daily News. He utilized wit and irony to interpret events on the national . . . — — Map (db m200492) HM
The Father of Jazz Saxophone, Coleman "Hawk" Hawkins, was born November 21, 1904 in St. Joseph, Missouri. By age nine he played piano, cello, and tenor sax. At college in Topeka, Kansas, Hawkins studied music. In 1921, while Hawkins was playing with . . . — — Map (db m201578) HM
Andrea Jeannin paid tribute to her brother-in-law, Cpl. Lucas A. Frantz, who was killed by an Iraqi sniper in October, 2005 on his 22nd birthday. Andrea defined a legend as someone who does something important to better the world. She felt that . . . — — Map (db m200476) HM
Alfred Damon Runyon grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. A sportswriter and columnist, he worked for papers throughout the Rocky Mountains before moving to New York. A colorful fiction writer, Runyon is celebrated for his short stories about gangsters and . . . — — Map (db m200526) HM
Emily Knapp honored the fictional character Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz as being Kansas's biggest legend. According to Emily, when Dorothy clicked her ruby red slippers and said, "There's no place like home," she put Kansas on the map. . . . — — Map (db m200474) HM
Dr. James Naismith was born November 6, 1861, near Almonte, Ontario, Canada. While working as a physical education instructor at a YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, Naismith sought to relieve winter gym class doldrums . . . — — Map (db m200479) HM
Born in Denison, Texas in 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower grew up in Abilene, Kansas. A West Point graduate and career military man, he served under Generals Pershing, MacArthur and Krueger and was Supreme Commander of troops invading France on D-Day, . . . — — Map (db m201456) HM
Caitlin Teters admired how sculpture artist Edward Dwight Jr. stood up for his rights as an African American and worked to erase racial barriers through his art. Dwight was an aeronautical engineer, an Air Force test pilot, and the first African . . . — — Map (db m200475) HM
Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton became a living example of healing through creativity. Following a lifetime of clinical depression and personal loss, she began creating art in 1977, focusing on her subject, not on the canvas. She confronted grief in a . . . — — Map (db m200494) HM
Humanitarian and academician Dr. Eva Jessye organized her first all-girl singing quartet as a pre-teen. Thus began a lifetime of establishing and directing singing ensembles. The Negro spirituals of her ancestors formed her musical foundation. In . . . — — Map (db m201574) HM
At age eight, Frank Marshall Davis discovered the blues. The music affirmed and sustained him, and helped him translate his experience. After attending Kansas State University, Davis wrote major collections of poetry including I Am the American . . . — — Map (db m200524) HM
Gale Eugene Sayers, "The Kansas Comet" was an outstanding high school athlete who received more than 75 college scholarship offers. He chose Kansas and became a two-time All American. Sayers played football for the NFL's Chicago Bears from 1965 to . . . — — Map (db m202125) HM
Twice All-Around World Champion Cowboy Gerald Roberts dazzled the rodeo circuit form the mid-1930s until 1966, beginning at age 13. Altogether he won 67 belt buckles, 16 trophy saddles and was inducted into cowboy halls of fames in Colorado, . . . — — Map (db m200478) HM
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks moved to Chicago at six weeks of age and stayed her whole life. She became a leader in the Black Arts movement. Her life and work were rooted in the poor, African-American communities of Chicago's south . . . — — Map (db m200411) HM
The Kansas All-Sport Hall of Fame's first female honorary member, Iva Pembridge Jarvis, held the North American Trapshooting Champion title four times. She shot her way to 39 trophies at the Amateur Trap Association's Grand American Week between . . . — — Map (db m200958) HM
The Pottawatomie Giant, 6'7" Jess Willard, grew up loving horses. He worked in the livery stable business and didn't begin boxing until age 30. In Havana Cuba on April 5, 1915, Willard defeated Jack Johnson in 26 rounds to become the Heavyweight . . . — — Map (db m202124) HM
Joe Engle grew up loving airplanes and dreaming of flying. With a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Kansas, he joined the U.S. Air Force and became a test pilot, flying more than 155 types of aircraft. Engle has earned . . . — — Map (db m200961) HM
Joe Sanders, "The Ole Left Hander," began his foray into the world of music by singing soprano for a church choir as a boy. As a young man he sang baritone in quartets and in the Kansas City Oratorio Society in 1919. Sanders founded the Nighthawks . . . — — Map (db m201584) HM
A once aspiring actor, John Cameron Swayze abandoned his dreams of Broadway when the stock market crashed in October, 1929. He moved to Kansas City, took a job with The Kansas City Journal-Post as a reporter and broadcasted news bulletins on . . . — — Map (db m201452) HM
John Steuart Curry became America's very first "artist in residence" at the University of Wisconsin. The agriculture school there hired Curry to inspire rural Wisconsin residents to cultivate their creative natures in an experiment that placed art . . . — — Map (db m200529) HM
One of the great female blues singers of all time, jazz vocalist and pianist Julia Lee was born in Booneville, Missouri in 1902. She grew up in Kansas City and as a young girl performed with her father's string trio. When Lee's brother George E. Lee . . . — — Map (db m202129) HM
Three Kansans set world records in the 1500-meter run. Glenn Cunningham, dubbed the Kansas Flyer, was born August 4, 1909 in Atlanta, Kansas. He overcame crippling leg burns suffered as a child to become a two-time Olympian track star. The Men's . . . — — Map (db m202121) HM
Alto saxophonist Lester Young was born August 27, 1909 in Woodville, Mississippi. His musically inclined father taught Young and his siblings to play a number of instruments. In 1927, he played with Art Bronson's Bostonians. By 1933, with Kansas . . . — — Map (db m201585) HM
As a youngster, she played basketball on neighborhood courts. In college she played for the University of Kansas Jayhawks, and was a four time All American. During the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Woodard helped the team bring home the Gold Medal. . . . — — Map (db m202122) HM
Self-taught pianist Mary Elfrieda Scruggs was born May 8, 1910 in Atlanta, Georgia. She grew up in Pittsburgh and played professionally as a child. At age 15 she joined the John Williams' Jazz Syncopators, and eventually married John. In April of . . . — — Map (db m201583) HM
Olympic Gold Medalist Maurice Greene began running track at the age of eight. His passion for running and competition drove him to set world records. Considered the fastest person on earth, his explosive sprints won him the Gold in the 100-meter and . . . — — Map (db m200963) HM
Merle Evans left home at 15 and became a cornetist for the S.W. Brundage Carnival Band. He traveled throughout the United States and eventually became bandmaster of Jess Willard's Wild West Show. In 1919, Evans became circus maestro for Ringling . . . — — Map (db m201576) HM
The semi-nomadic Osage (Wazhazhe) Indians lived along the Osage and Missouri, hunted on the Great Plains and fiercely guarded their land. Women foraged and grew vegetables in summer village gardens. The U.S. Government took the tribe's land in 1808 . . . — — Map (db m200957) HM
World War II decorated Army Ranger and combat veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, Ralph "The Major" Houk received the Silver Star, Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He went on to spend 11 years with the New York Yankees and participated in eight World . . . — — Map (db m202133) HM
Champion auto racing star Rick Mears began competing at the age of 11 by racing slot cars. Soon he was racing dirt bikes, dune buggies and formula cars. He made his first Indy 500 appearance in 1978 and won that race in 1979, 1982, 1988 and 1991. . . . — — Map (db m201451) HM
Robert Dole has lived his life in service to his country. After completing his sophomore year at the University of Kansas, he joined the U.S. Army. He served five and one-half years in World War II before being discharged as Captain and war hero in . . . — — Map (db m201454) HM
Dubbed the "American Sculptor," Robert Merrell Gage expressed the American experience in his work, across a range of formats and materials. Gage studied sculpture in New York and France and was apprenticed to Gutzon Borgium for six years. His first . . . — — Map (db m200530) HM
American opera singer Samuel Ramey studied music in high school and in college at Kansas State University and Wichita State. After appearing at the New York City Opera, Ramey sang in Europe's great cities, including London, Paris, Vienna and . . . — — Map (db m202128) HM
Born near Lamira, Ohio on March 2, 1860, Susanna Madora Salter moved to Kansas with her family at age 12. She attended Kansas State Agricultural College, married a fellow student, and became a leader in the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union . . . — — Map (db m201448) HM
The Golden Mean is a ratio defined as the number Phi (1.618), discovered by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras. It is a self-mirroring ratio of approximately .6 to 1 that produces a harmonic, aesthetically appealing effect in art and design. . . . — — Map (db m202131) HM
Stillwell, Kansas resident and lifelong golfer Thomas Sturges Watson was born September 4, 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri. As one of the leading professional golfers in the world during the 1970s and 1980s, Watson won two Masters, one U.S. Open and . . . — — Map (db m202132) HM
At age 14, William Eugene Smith borrowed a camera from his mother to photograph planes and began his photography career. His celebrated work was seen in Newsweek, Life, Colliers, The New York Times and others. Smith sought to inspire viewers to act . . . — — Map (db m200410) HM
Walter "Big Train" Johnson grew from a farm boy into a Major League Baseball success. Following high school, Johnson pitched in the Idaho State League and signed with the Washington Nationals in 1907. His fastball barreling at locomotive speed . . . — — Map (db m200962) HM
As a teenager, Wilbur "Buck" Clayton played the trumpet at church. After high school, he traveled to California to become a jazz musician. At age 23, he took his own Clayton Band to Shanghai where they played for two years at the Canidrome Ballroom. . . . — — Map (db m201582) HM
The son of a doctor and a teacher, William Allen White grew up in Eldorado, Kansas. In college, he took a job with the Eldorado newspaper and later became an editorial writer for The Kansas City Star. In 1895, White purchased The Emporia . . . — — Map (db m200498) HM
Will Menninger pursued a career in medicine and psychiatry. He helped his father and brother operate the famous Menninger Clinic, a U.S. psychiatric and psychoanalytic center. Menninger emphasized preventative psychiatry and developed approaches to . . . — — Map (db m201447) HM
Playwright William Inge attributed his knowledge of human behavior to growing up in a small town where he knew people intimately. Educated at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, he worked as a drama and music critic after graduation. Tennessee . . . — — Map (db m200525) HM
Rock Island railroad machinists William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland, Kansas quit their jobs to work on the first rotary-winged aircraft. Their primitive helicopter had twin sets of blades that spun in opposite directions. Their . . . — — Map (db m200959) HM
Born August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, basketball great Wilt Chamberlain lowered over opponents with his 7'1" frame. Nicknamed "The Big Dipper," he played for the University of Kansas from 1955-1958. He led Kansas to the Big Seven championships in . . . — — Map (db m201586) HM
From Wichita and Dodge, Kansas, Earp served as Assistant Marshall of Dodge City where he was known for "laying down the law" and was involved in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. — — Map (db m200950) HM
Wyatt Earp became Deputy Marshal of Wichita, Kansas in April, 1875. Earp tamed the lawless town and tried to keep his peacemaking bloodless. In 1878, Earp became Assistant City Marshal of Dodge City, once known as The Fabulous Babylon. In August of . . . — — Map (db m200952) HM
Eighteenth and Central Ave. was the "end of the line" for the Riverview Cable Car serving Riverview Blvd. (now Central Ave.) The promoter, Col. David W. Edgerton & Associates, made his first revenue trip with the cable line on May 22, 1888. . . . — — Map (db m69398) HM
Just east of this marker, at a point where an old Indian trail led to the water's edge, Moses Grinter established the first ferry on the Kansas River. The year was 1831, and Grinter became the earliest permanent white settler in the area. His ferry . . . — — Map (db m46329) HM
Built by Moses R. Grinter in 1857 on the then Delaware Indian Reserve, this house was near the point where in 1831 he had begun operation of the first ferry on the Kansas River. For many years following its survey in 1837 the Fort Leavenworth - . . . — — Map (db m46338) HM
In memory of
Moses Grinter
who was sent here by the government in 1831 to establish the first ferry on the Kansas River. He operated a trading post for the Delaware Indian tribe until 1860, when it was closed. Delaware was the first post . . . — — Map (db m46340) HM
Kansas City University was founded by the Board of the Methodist Church in 1894, the cornerstone of Mather Hall being laid in 1896. It served the community with distinction, but was forced to close in 1933. The Augustinian Recollect Order had . . . — — Map (db m87463) HM
West Inscription:
Many battles punctuated the movement to establish and maintain Kansas as a free state during the Civil War period. The quest for freedom exacted a heavy toll and caused many the ultimate sacrifice including John Brown the . . . — — Map (db m86331) HM
Near this site was located the historic town of Quindaro, founded in 1856 as a port-of-entry for free-soil immigrants into Kansas. The principal founder was Abelard Guthrie, who named the town for his Wyandotte Indian wife, Nancy Quindaro Brown. . . . — — Map (db m69458) HM
Western University had its beginning in the Quindaro Freedman's School founded in the 1860s by the Reverend Eben Blachley, a Presbyterian Minister.
The Freedmen's School was intended to provide education for the children of escaped slaves and . . . — — Map (db m69459) HM
This plaque dedicated August 17, 1979 for his effort in establishing on this site the first Strawberry Hill Summer Concert on June 25, 1978, featuring the St. John C. C. [Catholic Church] Tamburitzans, a group devoted to preserving the Croatian . . . — — Map (db m69476) HM
In 1859, on this site, the
First Baptist Church
and
First African Methodist
Episcopal Church
of Kansas City, Kansas
were established in the
home of Mrs. Dinah Smith
by Rev. J. Strater and Rev. Buchanan
"How amiable are . . . — — Map (db m69483) HM
'In November, 1972, the citizens of Wyandotte County, Kansas, were good enough to elect me as the first black judge of the District Court in the history of the state, but today there are black judges of that rank and higher all over the nation, . . . — — Map (db m69396) HM
The pioneer of the Wyandot Indians to the Kansas Valley in 1842. The leading man and constant friend of the Indian. A devout Christian and a good Mason. He leaves the craft on Earth and goes with joy to the great architect. — — Map (db m69393) HM
Dedicated to the heroes who
fought and died for their country
Justice actuated their heroism
Liberty inspired their courage
"Let us resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain." — — Map (db m69382) WM
St. Mary's is the oldest Catholic parish in Kansas City, Kansas, established in 1858 as the Mother of God parish at Ninth and Ann Avenue. A second church was built in 1865 on land bought from Mathias Splitlog. The present church was begun in 1890 . . . — — Map (db m69461) HM
On this site in the old town of Wyandotte, James A. Cruise (1839-1873) and his wife, Margaret Kerstetter Cruise (1843-1915), built a small home about 10 years after Kansas became a state, in 1861. Mr. Cruise became the first Register of Deeds of . . . — — Map (db m69464) HM
Tablet 1
The Origins of the Wyandots
The story of the Wyandot Nations is both heroic and bitter. Once among the greatest of Indian tribes in northeast America, a warrior race whose influence reached from Canada to Kentucky, the . . . — — Map (db m72957) HM
Where the Kaw river joins the mighty Missouri in its sweep eastward, has witnessed many events of historical significance to this area, among them:
1804. Lewis and Clark, on their epic exploring trip assaying the new Louisiana Purchase, . . . — — Map (db m69478) HM
