Time Travels: Quindaro at the Crossroads

Dr. Kevin McPartland takes the stage at the River Garden on Tuesday, October 13, for Time Travels: Quindaro at the Crossroads, a talk presented by the Rock Island Bridge. It's a single hour, 6 to 7 PM, and it's free.

McPartland will be telling the story of Quindaro, a Missouri River boomtown founded in the 1850s by Free Soilers and members of the Wyandot Nation. It rose right at the height of the Bleeding Kansas struggle, a time when the territory was torn apart over whether it would enter the Union as a free or slave state. For a few years, Quindaro became a crossroads for people on the move: abolitionists, women's rights advocates, runaway enslaved people, and migrants all seeking a new life on the edge of the frontier. Then, almost as quickly as it had grown, the town collapsed within five years.

It's a local story that hits a lot of the big themes of the era—the fight over slavery, the role of the Wyandot Nation, and the way these frontier towns could boom and bust in the blink of an eye. If you've spent any time around the city and wondered about the history that happened just up the river, this is a good place to start.

The talk is at the River Garden, part of the Rock Island Bridge at 1799 American Royal Drive, Kansas City, MO 64108. It runs from 6 to 7 PM on Tuesday, October 13, and admission is free.