I recently completed a year-long term in Kansas with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and I have lots of new information to share. In this series, I will be sharing all the insights and experiences that I gained while living in the Sunflower State.
MARAIS DES CYGNES
As mentioned in the above intro to all of the TTILIK caches, I spent time with the USFWS in Kansas specifically at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge which is located outside of the city of Pleasanton in Linn County.
Marais des Cygnes is a French word with a loose translation of ‘marsh of the swans’ and is pronounced as ‘mare-da-seen’. The refuge protects one of the rarest ecosystems present in this country: hardwood bottomland forest. Only 20% of the original extent of this type of habitat remains intact. What makes this ecosystem even more rare is the location and the forest composition. When speaking on hardwood bottomland forests, the attention is typically placed in areas like the Louisiana bayou, Mississippi Delta region, or even our very own Great Dismal Swamp, not Central Eastern Kansas. Also, bottomland forests usually contain a mixture of cypress, gum, and pine trees. The Marais des Cygnes region consists of more hickory and pecan trees.
The history of the area is often overlooked but played a key role in the making of this country. The violent confrontations that took place in the Kansas Territory prior to the American Civil War started began on the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River. On May 19, 1858, several horseback Border Ruffians from Missouri crossed the state line, raided the small town of Trading Post, led the men of the town out to a grassy field and proceeded to open fire on the captured group. Five were killed, five were seriously injured, and one escaped unharmed. These actions are known as the Marais des Cygnes Massacre and is considered the beginning of ‘Bleeding Kansas’.
On October 25, 1864, action from the Civil War came to Linn County again. The Battle of Mine Creek, which was part of the larger raid attempt by Major General Sterling Price to capture major Union cities west of the Mississippi River, was the largest cavalry engagement in the Western Theatre. After failing to capture Kansas City, Sterling and his men retreated southward toward Arkansas in need of a resupply. Union forces caught up to Sterling and captured nearly 1,000 Confederate soldiers at the conclusion of the battle which ended Confederate presence in the Western Theatre. The war would end a few months later in 1865 at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.