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Business News
Independence, MO —
Saturday is the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Independence. Here’s a primer on what happened then and what’s happening now.
1. Come early. At 8:30 a.m., there’s an unveiling of five historic markers – the National Park Service calls them “interpretive panels” – at McCoy Park at the corner of Bess Wallace Truman Parkway and College. “It’s going to be a great day,” said Cori Day, Independence tourism director. The panels tell the stories of the short-haul railroad that ran through the park to the Square, former slave Hiram Young and his wagon-making business, the city’s role in the Santa Fe, California and Oregon Trails, the flavor of commerce that those trails brought the city in the decades before the Civil War, and the trails that led both west and east from the city. Suggestion: Walk to the park, or catch the shuttle from the parking lot at Truman Road and Main Street on the north edge of the Square.
2. The Confederates won. Seeking guns and munitions, they struck at dawn on Aug. 11, 1862. They quietly rode to the Square, tied up their horses and launched an attack on the jail used as a federal headquarters and another headquarters on the west side of the Square. (That jail, at Main and Truman, is today’s 1859 Jail and Museum.) The Federals held out, then surrendered or fled westward. Now the Confederates moved on a site three blocks to the west, at Lexington and Pleasant, where two federal cavalry companies and three provisional militia companies were encamped.
The Union side fell back to about where the Mormon Visitors’ Center stands today on Walnut. The Federals held out, then surrendered. About 50 people on both sides were killed, and dozens were injured. (The larger Second Battle of Independence – also called the Battle of the Little Blue – was in October 1864, leading to the Battle of Westport.)
3. Two options to ride and learn. Pioneer Trails Adventures, the folks with the mule-drawn tours of the historic part of the city, will have narrated, covered-wagon tours of the battlefield. Tours take about an hour and are at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (The “chuck wagon tour” at 4:45 is booked.) Tours are $30 in advance and $35 on Saturday. Go to www.pioneertrailsadventures.com or call 816-254-2466. Tours begin and end at the 1859 Jail, 217 N. Main St., and include a tour of the jail.
Saturday is the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Independence. Here’s a primer on what happened then and what’s happening now.
1. Come early. At 8:30 a.m., there’s an unveiling of five historic markers – the National Park Service calls them “interpretive panels” – at McCoy Park at the corner of Bess Wallace Truman Parkway and College. “It’s going to be a great day,” said Cori Day, Independence tourism director. The panels tell the stories of the short-haul railroad that ran through the park to the Square, former slave Hiram Young and his wagon-making business, the city’s role in the Santa Fe, California and Oregon Trails, the flavor of commerce that those trails brought the city in the decades before the Civil War, and the trails that led both west and east from the city. Suggestion: Walk to the park, or catch the shuttle from the parking lot at Truman Road and Main Street on the north edge of the Square.
2. The Confederates won. Seeking guns and munitions, they struck at dawn on Aug. 11, 1862. They quietly rode to the Square, tied up their horses and launched an attack on the jail used as a federal headquarters and another headquarters on the west side of the Square. (That jail, at Main and Truman, is today’s 1859 Jail and Museum.) The Federals held out, then surrendered or fled westward. Now the Confederates moved on a site three blocks to the west, at Lexington and Pleasant, where two federal cavalry companies and three provisional militia companies were encamped.
The Union side fell back to about where the Mormon Visitors’ Center stands today on Walnut. The Federals held out, then surrendered. About 50 people on both sides were killed, and dozens were injured. (The larger Second Battle of Independence – also called the Battle of the Little Blue – was in October 1864, leading to the Battle of Westport.)
3. Two options to ride and learn. Pioneer Trails Adventures, the folks with the mule-drawn tours of the historic part of the city, will have narrated, covered-wagon tours of the battlefield. Tours take about an hour and are at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (The “chuck wagon tour” at 4:45 is booked.) Tours are $30 in advance and $35 on Saturday. Go to www.pioneertrailsadventures.com or call 816-254-2466. Tours begin and end at the 1859 Jail, 217 N. Main St., and include a tour of the jail.
The Truman Trolley will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. One or two trolleys will leave from a stop across the street from the 1859 Jail every 25 to 35 minutes. In addition to the regular route past the National Frontier Trails Museum, the Bingham-Waggoner Estate, the Mormon Visitors Center, the Community of Christ Temple, the Truman Library, the Truman Home and Vaile Mansion, there will be a drive through the McCoy neighbhorhood. It’s $1, and you can step on and off all day.
4. Books and a show. Tom Jewett will be at the 1859 Jail from 10 to noon signing copies of his book, “Failed Ambitions,” a historical journal of a Union soldier who was in the battle. (Scandinavia Place, a couple of doors south at 209 N. Main St., has signed copies of other books, many by local authors, on the Civil War and such local history as the old “Neck” part of Independence.) In the afternoon, there are several events at the National Frontier Trails Center, 318 W. Pacific, across from the Bingham-Waggoner Estate.
A Civil War era fashion show and panel discussion is set from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Also, Jewett has a PowerPoint presentation about the writing of his book, and he will sign his book in the gift shop. There is a combo ticket for these events and the trolley. It’s $10 for adults, $6 for children. Buy tickets at the 1859 Jail or go to www.visitindependence.com
5. Quantrill? Yeah, he was here. Confederate forces in the battle included both regular forces that were, for the first time, joined by guerrillas under the command of William Clarke Quantrill. His men had scouted out Union strength in Independence before the battle. When it started, Union Lt. Col. James T. Buel made a stand in the two-story brick building – the McCoy Bank – on Lexington between Liberty and Osage. Quantrill pressed the fight for about and hour and a half and then had a wooden building set on fire to smoke out Buel and his men. It worked. Buel gave up by 9 a.m. and sent word to his men west of the Square to do the same.
This was a year before Quantrill raided, looted and burned Lawrence, Kan., killing close to 200 people. That led to the Union’s Order No. 11, which essentially depopulated the rural parts of Jackson County and all or parts of three others. The looting and destruction that followed are famously depicted in George Caleb Bingham’s painting “Order No. 11.” The war ended in April 1865. A month later, fleeing Federal authorities in Kentucky, Quantrill was shot. He lingered but died a month later. He was 27.
