Blog /blog/stories/ Blog Fri, 17 Apr 2026 06:21:36 +0000 What did Kansas look like in 1776? /blog/stories/post/what-did-kansas-look-like-in-1776/ /blog/stories/post/what-did-kansas-look-like-in-1776/#comments /blog/stories/post/what-did-kansas-look-like-in-1776/ Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Kansas in 1776

If you were to time-travel to 1776, you'd find that when America declared independence, Kansas, like most states, wasn't part of the original 13 colonies. In fact, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, Kansas was under the dominion of the Spanish Empire. Yet the story of

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Bleeding Kansas: A Tour of the War before the War /blog/stories/post/bleeding-kansas-a-tour-of-the-war-before-the-war/ /blog/stories/post/bleeding-kansas-a-tour-of-the-war-before-the-war/#comments /blog/stories/post/bleeding-kansas-a-tour-of-the-war-before-the-war/ Fri, 15 Dec 2023 04:00:00 -0500

A small two-story wooden building, a grassy meadow, a quiet park, a wooded valley between hills; these spots today are relatively unassuming and even banal at first appearance, but there was a time when these places in rural Kansas were the center of national attention. I visited several major sites

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The Underground Railroad Network To Freedom /blog/stories/post/the-underground-railroad-network-to-freedom/ /blog/stories/post/the-underground-railroad-network-to-freedom/#comments /blog/stories/post/the-underground-railroad-network-to-freedom/ Mon, 31 Aug 2020 17:00:00 -0400

Kansas’ role in the fight for freedom is well established. The Bleeding Kansas moniker accurately describes the era in the state’s history where pro-slavery and abolitionist activists clashed. This time in the state was a predictor of the Civil War, showing that the decision to abolish slavery

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A Kansas player in the Civil War /blog/stories/post/a-kansas-player-in-the-civil-war/ /blog/stories/post/a-kansas-player-in-the-civil-war/#comments /blog/stories/post/a-kansas-player-in-the-civil-war/ Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:00:00 -0400

Fort Scott has a unique history that follows the growing pains of our country in the middle of the 1800s. The National Historic Site recently marked the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, but the history of the Army’s presence in the area stretches back to a time when the western edge

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