Three Trails from Westport Landing -- Kansas City MO
N 39° 06.820 W 094° 34.957
15S E 363174 N 4330583
One of a series of National Park Service interpretive signs along the Riverfront Heritage Trail in downtown Kansas City MO.
Waymark Code: WMGPJK
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 03/28/2013
Views: 2
One of a series of National Park Service interpretive signs along the Riverfront Heritage Trail along the Missouri River in downtown Kansas City MO.
The sign reads as follows:
[Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail and California Trail symbols]
THREE TRAILS FROM WESTPORT LANDING
[painting of the area in the 1850s with this superimposed quote]
"We presume not less than 300 wagons have left Kansas this spring for the Plains, most of which have gone to Santa Fe . . . The trade between this point and NM is rapidly increasing. Already not less than 1,500,000 lbs. of freight for that country has been landed here and shipped for its destination, and there is much yet to arrive from St. Louis."
Kansas Public Ledger, May 1857
Since 1821, traders on the Santa Fe Trail had brought their goods by steamboat as far up the Missouri River as possible before departing on foot and wagon for Santa Fe. Landings continued to move farther and farther west along the river, and by the 1830s Santa Fe traders disembarked here at Westport Landing -- just before the river's northward bend.
Thousands of Oregon-bound emigrants and California gold-seekers also disembarked here before going west. Leaving Westport, travelers heading to Santa Fe, Oregon, and California followed the same trail until they crossed the state line and split off at the trail junction west of present-day Gardner, Kansas.
Westport Landing remained the primary jumping-off point for trade and emigration until the outbreak of the Civil War, when trail traffic moved north to Leavenworth. Before long, the Landing, which had borne the weight of freight and emigrant dreams, became obsolete.
All three trails have been designated as National Historic Trails by Congress. Learn more about the National Trails System and these three trails at www.nps.gov/nts" [end]
Group that erected the marker: National Park Service
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Riverfront Heritage Trail
2nd and Main St
Kansas City, MO
64105
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