Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1905-10-21


ing, thick-leaved vines, Inhabited by |
owls and bats and infested with /
snakes and insects, their gray stone |
walls crumbling and falling down
from age and decay, says Perl W. |
Morgan, in the Kansas City Star, are |
the ruins of old Quindaro, three miles |
above Kansas City on the Kansas side |
of the Missouri river Like some flitt- |
ing mirage of a stormy, almost forgot |
ten period, these old ruins are grim
reminder of a future great metro
polls that, for the brief period of its
life. was the most promising town on
the Missouri river above ST. Louis.
The history of Kansas contains no
chapter more pathetic than that which
tells of the rise and fall of some of
the early towns. They exist to-day
only in memory or as ruins that
stand as monuments to the misplaced
judgment of brave and loyal men.
Their aim was to lay the foundation.
on Kansas soil. for the great city that
some day would he the gateway for
the tide of humanity and commerce
that was to forever flow from east to
west and from west to east And there
were nine of these -gateways" scat
tered like beacon lights along the
Missouri shore in Kansas. They all
flourished for a time in the territorial
days of the sos. Then in the early
days of statehood in the COS they fell,
one by one, as victims in the tragic
conquest of development before those
rival towns with which chance and
fate seemed to deal more kindly. Atch-
ison, Leavenworth and Wyandotte
survived. The latter becoming a
part of Kansas City, Kas., shared the
good fortune which the railroads
brought to Kansas City, Mo-, and the
gateway" was builded at the place
where the Kaw, flowing through
Kansas Joined the Missouri river.
And this brings back the story of
old Quindaro. What kind of a town
was it? Ask some of the men who
were there in the palmy days; there
are a few of them left. An old steam
boat captain whose name has escaped
me, once said of old Quindaro:
"She was the rippinest, snortinest
thing that ever happened-while her
paddles were workin', an they want
no bloomin' side-whee1er a-goin' to
catch her when she was a-throwin'
soap suds. But she struck snag
an that was the end of her.
He was about right. A lot of Free
State boomers started Quindaro. The
| towns of Kansas City, Leavenworth
and Atkinson were considered pro-
| slavery ports. The Free State people
| wan.ed a port of entry" of their own,
for the emigrants from the East who
were flocking to Kansas, SO they start
ed Quindaro. The land was purchased
from some Wyandotte Indians and in
| December, 1856, o. H. Bassett, a
surveyor, staked out the townsite. 1t
had long frontage on the river where
the rocky shore afforded a permanent
harbor that would not be affected by
the shifting sand that so often chang
| ed the channel. 1t ran back across
| the stretch of bottom land and up the
| jagged bluffs for an average distance
of three-quarters of a mile. Three
months after the townsite was laid
out big four-story stone hotel, the
| largest in the country, was opened.
1t had forty-five guest rooms, and it
was full all the time and guests were
sleeping on the office floor and in the
halls. The boom was on Free State
| people were coming with a rush. They
| were men of means. They put money
into the town. Big stone business
blocks and warehouses went up on
the levee and frame dwellings were
builded on the hills, many of them
| with the front ends standing on stills
| Great stocks of merchandise were
brought to the place and a large trade
was established with the interior.
Churches were erected by the Metho-
dists and Congregationalists. A stone
school house was also erected and
the largest saw mill in Kansas was
started up. 1t had a capacity for max
ing 5000 feet of lumber. There was
a big wood yard along the levee, and
the e2terprisinsg town company threw
in an extra cord with every cord
bought for a steamboat. Along with
the advancing civilization came q
newspaper, the Chin-do-wan, published
by j. M Walden. The name signified
81 eader," and it was well-named. By
midsummer of 1857 Quindaro had
every other city on the river well
nigh off the map. Shares of the town
company's stock were popping out Of
sight. Speculative values in real estate
were CORRESPONDENCE high They had
auction sales of lots, and the lot:
brought $3.50 to $1,000, according te
location. The town was named in
honor of Mrs Quiniaro Guthrie, wife
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