On May 30, 1854, President Franklin Pearce signed the Nebraska-Kansas Bill, forming the territories of Nebraska and Kansas, opening them to settlement. The following year, the Kansas Territorial Legislature, who’s members were mostly pro slavery, named and set boundaries for counties in Kansas territory. Present day Wabaunsee County was then named Richardson after William Richardson, a pro slavery member of the Kansas Territorial Council. By 1859, the county had been settled predominately by Free Staters and the Territorial Legislature had changed to Free State control. It was then that settlers renamed their county “Wabaunsee” and selected the town site of Wabaunsee as the county seat.
On June 9, 2009 Wabaunsee County celebrated it's sesquicentennial in Alma, the present county seat. The day was filled with patriotism, reminisces, a look to the past, and toward the future. There were demonstrations, food, exhibits, and living historians helping to make it a memorial day. We were proud to play a part.
TIME CAPSULE OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER
In September of 1856, the steamboat Arabia was making her way up the Missouri River bound for Council Bluffs. Aboard the packet were 130 passengers, and goods to restock store shelves for sale to families on the frontier. Near present day Kansas City, at a place called Quindaro Bend, the Arabia hit a submerged log or snag, tearing a hole in her hull. Within 5 minutes, the boat sank. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, save for a mule tied on the deck.
In 1987 the Hawley’s, an enterprising Kansas City family, and friends located and excavated the wreck, which was now buried 45 feet below the surface in a farmer’s field. They began as treasure hunters, but the discovery of the Arabia turned them into historians, and museum curators, with their Steamboat Arabia Museum housing the largest collection of artifacts of its type in the world.
In September, 2009 George was a cast member in a segment of "Sunflower Journeys", a program roduced by the Washburn University PBS television affiate KTWU. The segment, called "The Bloody Benders", told the story of the Bender family, a family serial killers living in southeast Kansas in early 1870's. This is a photo album of the shoot.
To see the segment, click here .
Last Site Revision January, 2011
Icon Photograph Courtesy of Anna Surface
www.SurfaceandSurfacePhotography.com
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