- Kaw Point
Kaw Point is the name given to the point where the
Kansas River terminates at theMissouri River in theWest Bottoms area ofKansas City, Kansas . Kaw Point is also where the Missouri ceases its southerly course and turns to flow generally east through the State of Missouri to theMississippi River at St. Louis.History
Kaw point was part of the land originally claimed by
Spain , thenFrance , until theUS bought it as part of theLouisiana Purchase . Following the Louisiana Purchase of1803 theLewis and Clark Expedition left St. Louis on a mission to reach thePacific Ocean . Lewis and Clark camped near the point on June 26-28, 1804.Captain William Clark wrote on
June 27 ,1804 , that "the Countrey about the mouth of this river is verry fine." The expedition's journals also noted that the location would be appropriate for afort , and that the area teemed withdeer ,elk , buffalo,bear , and many "Parrot queets," the now extinctCarolina parakeet . It is the original reason for the location of theKansas City Metropolitan Area .Sitting at a
longitude of 94 degrees 36 minutes West, Kaw Point was the basis for the state ofMissouri 's western boundary fromIowa toArkansas when it became a state in1821 . (Kansas entered the Union in1861 .) South of the Missouri River, that longitude still remains the boundary between Kansas and Missouri. North of the Missouri River, the state of Missouri extended its boundary further to the west in1836 with the Platte Purchase.Kaw Point became part of the
Kansas Territory in1854 when theUnited States Congress passed theKansas-Nebraska Act , which opened the area for white settlement. In1859 the city of Wyandotte, which included Kaw Point, was incorporated. Kaw Point became part of Kansas City, Kansas as part of the consolidation of 1886.Today, the point is known as Kaw Point Riverfront Park.
External links
* [http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=39.113979,-94.610395&spn=0.025106,0.057077&t=h&om=1 Kaw Point Satellite View]
* [http://www.lewisandclarkwyco.org/kawpnt3.htm Lewis and Clark in Wyandotte County Kaw Point page]
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