Our Past Is Present May 7, 2018

May 7, 2018

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            For only 12 years between 1854 and 1866, approximately 30 steamers plied the Kaw River.  With the uncertainty of rises and flooding of the river, only three sternwheelers were successful in making the full trip of 243 river miles to Fort Riley.  They were the “Excel”, the “Financier Number 2” and the “Colonel Gus Linn”. 

            In those days, rivers were the natural roadways on which settlers and cargo were carried west as the frontier opened for settlement.  The three steamboats that made the difficult trip upriver to the Army Post previously had run trade on the Illinois River and returned there.

            The short period of only 12 years of steamboat travel on the Kaw provided its share of exciting events chronicled in the newspapers of the day.  Conquering the Kaw River was accomplished by steamboat men who took risks and knew their business. Adventures complete with Indians, the cavalry, gold seekers, jayhawkers and bushwhackers during the fight for a Free-State, enterprising merchants and farmers and brave women who nurtured their families on the frontier.  All contributed to this short, but colorful episode in early Kansas history, which brought people near to their future home in Geary County. 

            And… that is today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.  Join us tomorrow when we share more information about the C.L. Hoover Opera House.