THIS WEEKS SUNDAY SHOWCASE FEATURE IS KATHERYN HAIGLER... Kansas City, Missouri was first incorporated in 1850. The territory straddling the border between Missouri and Kansas at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers was considered a good place to build settlements.
Exploration and settlement
The first documented European visit to Kansas City was Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, who was also the first European to explore the lower Missouri River. Criticized for his handling of a Native American attack of Fort Detroit, he had deserted his post as commander of the fort and was avoiding the French authorities. Bourgmont lived with a Native American wife in the Missouri village about 90 miles east near Brunswick, Missouri, and illegally traded furs.
In order to clear his name, he wrote "Exact Description of Louisiana, of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment of a Colony" in 1713 followed in 1714 by "The Route to Be Taken to Ascend the Missouri River." In the documents he describes the junction of the "Grande Riv[iere] des Cansez" and Missouri River, being the first to refer to them by those names. French cartographer Guillaume Delisle used the descriptions to make the first reasonably accurate map of the area.
The Spanish took over the region in the Treaty of Paris (1763) but were not to play a major role in the area other than taxing and licensing all traffic on the Missouri River. The French continued their fur trade on the river under Spanish license. The Chouteau family operated under the Spanish license at St. Louis in the lower Missouri Valley as early as 1765, but it would be 1821 before the Chouteaus reached Kansas City, when François Chouteau established Chouteau's Landing.
After the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark visited the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, noting it was a good place to build a fort.
In 1833 John McCoy established West Port along the Santa Fe Trail, three miles away from the river. Then in 1834, McCoy established Westport Landing on a bend in the Missouri River to serve as a landing point for West Port. Soon after, the Kansas Town Company, a group of investors, began to settle the area, taking their name from an English spelling of "Cansez." In 1850 the landing area was incorporated as the Town of Kansas.
By that time, the Town of Kansas, Westport, and nearby Independence, had become critical points in America's westward expansion. Three major trails -- the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon -- all originated in Jackson County.
On February 22, 1853, the City of Kansas was created with a newly elected mayor. It had an area of 0.70 square miles and a population of 2,500. The boundary lines at that time extended from the middle of the Missouri River south to what is now Ninth Street, and from Bluff Street on the west to a point between Holmes Road and Charlotte Street on the east.
Civil War
The area was ripe with animosity as the Civil War approached. As citizens of a slave state, Missourians tended to sympathize with the southern states. With Kansas petitioning to enter the Union under the new doctrine of popular sovereignty, many from the area crossed into Kansas to sway the state towards allowing slavery, at first by ballot box and then by bloodshed.
Bird's eye view of Kansas City, Missouri. Jan. 1869. Drawn by A. Ruger, Merchants Lith. Co., currently located at the Irish Museum and Cultural Center in Union Station
During the Civil War, the City of Kansas was in the midst of battles, almost all of them victories by the Union. The Battle of Independence in August 1862 stunted a Confederate advance into northern Missouri (settled by pro-slavery Virginians), and the October 1864 Battle of Westport effectively ended Confederate efforts to occupy the city. However, a successful raid on nearby Lawrence, Kansas, led by William Quantrill forced General Thomas Ewing to issue General Order No. 11, forcing the eviction of residents in four counties, including Jackson, except those living in the city and nearby communities and those whose allegiance to the Union was certified by Ewing.
Walnut St., Downtown Kansas City, Mo. 1906
Post-Civil War
After the Civil War, the City of Kansas grew rapidly. The selection of the city over Leavenworth, Kansas, for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad bridge over the Missouri River brought about significant growth. The population exploded after 1869, when the Hannibal Bridge, designed by Octave Chanute, opened. The boom prompted a name change to Kansas City in 1889 and the city limits to extend south and east. Westport became part of Kansas City on December 2, 1897.
Kansas City, guided by architect George Kessler, became a forefront example of the City Beautiful movement, developing a network of boulevards and parks around the city. The relocation of Union Station to its current location in 1914 and the opening of the Liberty Memorial in 1923 gave the city two of its most identifiable landmarks. Further spurring Kansas City's growth was the opening of the innovative Country Club Plaza development by J.C. Nichols in 1925 as part of his Country Club District plan.
Pendergast era
At the turn of the century, political machines attempted to gain clout in the city, with the one led by Tom Pendergast emerging as the dominant machine by 1925. A new city charter passed that year made it easier for his Democratic Party machine to gain control of the city council (slimmed from 32 members to nine) and appoint a corrupt city manager. Several important buildings and structures were built during this time, to assist with the great depression-- all led by Pendergast, including the Kansas City City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse-- both added new skyscrapers to the city's growing skyline. The machine fell in 1939 when Pendergast, riddled with health problems, pleaded guilty to tax evasion. The machine, however, gave rise to Harry S. Truman, who quickly became Kansas City's favorite son.
Post-World War II sprawl
After World War II, the city experienced considerable sprawl, as the affluent populace left for suburbs like Johnson County, Kansas, and eastern Jackson County, Missouri. However, many also went north of the Missouri River, where Kansas City had incorporated areas between the 1940s to 1970s. The population of the urban core significantly dipped, while the city as a whole gained population.
The sprawl of the city mainly took shape after the "race riots" of the Civil Rights Movement in Kansas City. At this time, slums were also beginning to form in the inner city, and those who could afford to leave, left for the suburbs and outer edges of the city. The post-WWII idea of suburbs and the "American Dream" also contributed to the sprawl of the area. As the city continued to sprawl, the inner city also continued to decline.
In 1940, the city had about 400,000 residents; by 2000, the same area was home to only about 180,000. From 1940 to 1960, the city more than doubled its physical size, while increasing its population by only about 75,000. By 1970, the city had a total area of approximately 316 square miles, more than five times its size in 1940.
The future for sprawl in Kansas City is uncertain. Johnson County has continued to sprawl at a constant rate, and Clay County, Missouri, also has begun to sprawl once more. However recent revelations in urban planning have slowed sprawl and focused instead on the inner city, existing infrastructure and housing, as well as reviving the city's formerly blighted downtown. Uses of the New Urbanism style of planning is now also occurring in some of the most prominent suburban projects.
Notable Kansas City residents
- Manute Bol Former NBA Star (1986-1995), moved to Kansas City in 2007
- Don Cheadle Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor
- Chris Cooper, Academy Award-winning American film actor, graduate of Southwest High School, born July 9, 1951
- Joan Crawford, movie actress (born elsewhere but raised in Kansas City)
- Walter Cronkite, born November 4, 1916 in St. Joseph, MO, and his family moved to Kansas City, MO where they resided from 1917 until 1928. Cronkite returned to Kansas City and worked as a sports announcer for KCMO (AM) in 1936. He joined Kansas City's United Press in 1937 and became one of America's top reporters for coverage of World War II
- Jean Harlow American film actress and top sex symbol of the 1930s
- Clarence M. Kelley F.B.I. Director was born in Kansas City and later was chief of police there
- John Kander American composer of a series of musical theatre successes as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb
- Ewing Kauffman American pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner
- Pat Metheny, jazz guitarist and composer, born August 12, 1954
- Calvin Trillin, American journalist, humorist, and novelist, graduate of Southwest High School, born December 5, 1935
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 318.0 mi² (823.7 km²). 313.5 mi² (812.1 km²) of it is land and 4.5 mi² (11.6 km²) of it (1.41%) is water.
Kansas City is often imagined to be flat like Chicago, Manhattan or Dallas, but in fact it has many rolling hills. Much of urban Kansas City sits atop 100-200ft bluffs overlooking the rivers and river bottoms areas. Kansas City proper is bowl-shaped and is surrounded to the north and south by limestone and bedrock cliffs that were carved by glaciers. Kansas City is situated at the junction between the Dakota and Minnesota ice lobes during the maximum late Independence glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch. The Kansas and Missouri rivers cut wide valleys into the terrain when the glaciers melted and drained. A partially filled spillway valley crosses the central portion of Kansas City, Missouri. This valley is an eastward continuation of Turkey Creek valley. Union Station is located in this valley
Climate
Kansas City lies near the geographic center of the contiguous United States, at the confluence of the second largest river in the country, the Missouri River, and the Kansas River (also known as the Kaw River). This makes for a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa) with moderate precipitation and extremes of hot and cold. Summers can be very humid, with moist air riding up from the Gulf of Mexico, and during July and August daytime highs can reach into the triple digits. Winters vary from mild days to bitterly cold, with lows reaching into the teens below zero a few times a year. Spring and autumn are pleasant and peppered with thunderstorms. WE LOVE YOU KATHERYN HAIGLER 
I was born in Kansas in shhhhhh(1964) OUCH! I had a wonderful set of parents and a good natural dad. Things were not always perfect, there was a lot fighting in our blended family. We were blending children from three marriages and never did we agree!
We all survived and for most of us, friendship developed in our adult lives. In my family I lived with, I had two older half sisters and a younger step brother and sister.
In my natural dads home, I had two older half brothers, two older step brothers and a younger half sister. Some of us talk but this family grew up without the Lord and their lives were not as nice as ours.
I went to college a couple of years but never could narrow it down to one major so I went to work. Now I am self educated and always learning.
I married a wonderful man in 1985, 4 1/2 years later we had our first son JD, then 18 months later, Bobby, 2 years later Daniel and 3 years later Adriane our daughter.
We have homeschooled our children from the beginning with focus on learning to learn. We have always tried to give them the tools for problem solving and knowledge instead of learning by rote. Our children's employers give us good reports on their abilities so I know we have done something right!!
In 2000 we moved to Nebraska for a better life away from the big city. We live on 14 acres with 4 dogs, numerous cats, 60 chickens, 4 ducks, 2 geese, 2 rabbits and 6 turkeys. Not to mention all the critters in the woods! (we don't want to know what they are necessarily)
I have been a marketer since about fourth grade. I started with girlscout cookies, seeds, greeting cards then graduated to A.L. Williams life insurance, avon, Beauty Control, and a variety of health products. I have learned something from each company and enjoyed my time with them.
I have come full circle back to health products and a healthy lifestyle. Our Jerky direct team here on Adland is incredible. We have fun and fellowship and make a little money on the side. Sharon Lee and Linda Harvey are great leaders with a lot of leaders under them.
Visit me at http://JerkyQueen.Com
A wonderful Adlander Shelly Ferguson, did the page for me!
I just added EcoQuest to my list of companies. I have a wonderful Aunt and Uncle who travel the world giving health seminars that re-introduced me to Eco. I recieved my first 5 machines on Wednesday and already have them spoken for. I am getting great results with mine. My freshair unit has 5 ways to purify my air!
For more information please stop by http://www.ecoquestintl.com/liveessence
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/talk2katheryn/default.aspx