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2016 Officers & Board Members:
President—Larry Short
Vice President—Mary Conrad
Treasurer—Wes Huskisson
Secretary—Anne Mallinson
Historian—Sandy Slusher
John Atkinson
Richard Lawson
Dick Nelson
Ross Marshall
Contact Information
MRO President
Larry Short
3930 S. Jackson Dr #106
Independence, MO 64057
Home 816.912.1598
Cell 816.835.4397
Email: [email protected]
National Frontier Trails Museum
318 W. Pacific
Independence, MO 64050
Phone: 816.325.7575
OUTFITTERSOUTFITTERSOUTFITTERS
JOURNALJOURNALJOURNAL
April 2016April 2016April 2016
Santa Fe Trail Association
Santa Fe Trail Center
1349 K-156 Hwy
Larned, KS 67550
Phone: 620.285.2054
Email: [email protected]
SFTA Website: www.santafetrail.org
Follow MRO on Facebook
Partnership for the National Trails System
Meeting and Workshop
June 6-10, 2016
Stoney Creek Inn
10811 Bass Pro Drive
Independence, MO 64055
Details & Registration at:
www.pnts.org
Register now and join us for this important
workshop.
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Historic site signs installed
Our thanks to Rich Lawson who installed the his-
toric site signs at the Weinreich Ruts on the Santa
Fe National Historic Trail north of Marshall, Mis-
souri. This private property remains in the
Weinreich Family and is currently owned and be-
ing maintained by Eddie Weinreich. The ruts are
located north of Marshall on Missouri Highway
41 and west on County Road 275. Signs provided
by SFTA and placed by Saline County mark the
site along this segment of the original route of the
Santa Fe National Historic Trail.
Maps and directions to the Lafayette and Saline
County segments are available in a driving direc-
tion brochure published by MRO and available at
sites along the trail or by contacting a member of
the MRO board of directors.
New Kansas City Park
The Wieduwilt Swales located at 85th and Man-
chester in South Kansas City, MO are now official-
ly a part of the Kansas City Missouri Parks De-
partment. The transfer of monies and deeds took
place in January, 2016. This insures that these
pristine swales along the Santa Fe, Oregon, and
California National Historic Trails will be protect-
ed and available for enjoyment by the public for
many generations to come. The Wieduwilt Family
Photos courtesy of Rich Lawson
Photo courtesy of Larry Short
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Historic site and directional signs at Cave
Spring
New signs now mark the Cave Spring at the Barnes
Enclosure Historic Site. The signs provided by SFTA
through the National Park Service now give promi-
nence to this top rated park in the Kansas
City/Raytown area along the Santa Fe, Oregon, and
California National Historic Trails. The 40 -acre
park is owned by Jackson County Parks and Rec-
reation Department and managed by the Cave
Spring Association.
Upcoming joint meeting
On September 17, 2016 MRO will be hosting a joint meeting with
the Trails Head Chapter of OCTA, the Kansas City Area Historic
Trails Association, and other invited local historic groups and socie-
ties. The meeting will feature a program by Author Joy Poole who
will give a PowerPoint presentation about one of her newest books:
Over the Santa Fe Trail to Mexico: The Travel Diaries & Autobiog-
raphy of Dr. Rowland Willard 1825-1828.
Dr. Rowland Willard (1794-1884) recalled in his memoir that Glass,
subject of the Oscar nominated hit film, THE REVENANT,
(starring Leonardo DiCaprio), had…”large chasms upon right arm
and shoulder blade, the crest of which was wanting, also the upper
portion of the right thigh..”. Dr. Willard’s exam occurred in May of
1825, at Blue Springs, a well-known mountain man rendezvous site
on the Santa Fe Trail.
Please mark your calendars and invite your friends to this very spe-
cial program at the National Frontier Trails Museum, 318 W. Pacif-
ic, Independence, MO 64050 from 10 am to 12 noon.
Photos courtesy of Larry Short
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Arrow Rock Ferry Landing Historic Site
Rich Lawson recently installed the new National
Park Service historic site signs on his property at
the original site of the Arrow Rock Ferry Land-
ing on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. The
site is located just north of the town of Arrow
Rock and can be accessed from 2nd Street which
runs along side the Lyceum Theatre.
Rich has developed his property into a wonderful
site that enhances the telling of the story of the
Santa Fe National Historic Trail as it crossed the
Missouri River after leaving the town of Franklin,
MO.
You can learn more about the historic town of
Arrow Rock at: http://www.arrowrock.org/ Photos courtesy of Rich Lawson
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A Message from the President
It is an exciting time for the Missouri River Outfitters Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association as we
continue to move forward to telling the story and history of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail
through the addition of new National Park Service signs. These signs not only mark the many historic
sites along the trail that are located in our area of coverage, but they also mark the local tour route.
MRO and SFTA have worked in conjunction with OCTA to provide additional signs that now follow
the entire local tour route from the Upper Independence/Wayne City Landing on the Missouri River
southwest to the Missouri/Kansas State Line at New Santa Fe on 123rd Street. Local tour route signs
have now been ordered for Lexington, Missouri and installation will be completed soon by the Lexing-
ton Public Works Department.
I would encourage our members to attend the meetings for the Partnership for the Trails System that
will be held June 6-10, 2016 in Independence, MO. Registration information is located on the front
page of this newsletter. MRO will be one of the sponsors of this meeting/workshop.
If you have not renewed your membership for 2016, please do so today. We value our members!
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, concerns, or recommendations for events
and programs that you would like to have for our meetings.
Larry Short
President, MRO
The SFTA Last Chance Store, founded as part of the Santa Fe Trail Association in 1987 and operat-ed entirely by volunteers, offers books, maps, prints, posters, pins, music, and other items relat-ed to the Trail. You can also sign-up or renew your SFTA membership, or make a donation to the SFTA through the Last Chance Store.
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Bridging the Community
The official dedication of the Powder Mill Bridge will
be Thursday, June 9, 2016 at the site of the newly
completed pedestrian bridge which spans I-435 at
Bannister Road in South Kansas City, MO. The pro-
gram will begin at 10:00 am and feature many of our
local and national elected officials as well as mem-
bers of the National Park Service. This new span is
the longest pedestrian bridge crossing a major inter-
state highway in the United States that is solely dedi-
cated to the National Historic Trails.
Mark your calendars and plan to attend this major
event for our area. It is being held in conjunction
with the national meeting and workshop of the Partner-
ship of the National Trail System which is being held at
the Stoney Creek Hotel in Independence, MO June 6-10,
2016.
Joint MRO, Trails Head and KCAHTA meeting
On Saturday, March 26, 2016 a joint meeting was held by members of the Missouri River Outfitters
Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association, the Trails Head Chapter of the Oregon and California As-
sociation, and the Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association.
The meeting was held at Schumacher Station, two blocks east on Bannister Road from the new Pow-
der Mill Bridge. After a brief membership meeting by MRO, Lou Austin provided insight into the
process to build the Powder Mill Bridge. Attendees were then taken on a walking guided tour of the
newly completed pedestrian bridge which crosses I-435 at Bannister Road. The bridge will be formal-
ly dedicated on June 9, 2016 during the PNTS meetings and workshop in Independence, MO. More
details about this event is featured in the preceding article.
At the MRO membership meeting Wes Huskisson was elected as our new treasurer. The current of-ficers agreed to remain in their posi-tions.
Larry Short—President
Mary Conrad—Vice President
Wes Huskisson—Treasurer
Anne Mallinson—Secretary
The following board members agreed to continue to serve:
John Atkinson
Ross Marshall
Sandy Slusher
Dick Nelson
Rich Lawson
Photo courtesy of Lou Austin
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The Junior Wagon Master Program
Janet C. Armstead, Director
Junior Wagon Master Program
Santa Fe Trail Association
A vision of the National Park Service was to have
an activity booklet for families to do as they trav-
eled the Santa Fe Trail. The education committee
of the Santa Fe Trail Association was approached
with the idea. Through cost-share grants from
NPS, the committee set about on this big project.
After five years of rewrites and reconfigurations,
four booklets were developed for the following
age groups: Cavvy-ages 5-8, Freighter-ages 9-11,
Bullwhacker-ages 12-14 and Scout-ages 15 and
up. Various sites were selected along the trail
which were not on private property and were
likely to be open during prime daylight traveling
hours and an activity was created for each age
group for each site. Beautiful embroidered
patches were created for the four sections of the
trail: Eastern Terminus, Central, Routes, West-
ern Terminus. Sites were contacted and their co-
operation solicited. NPS created the patches and
printed the first printing of the Freighter and
Bullwhacker booklets. NPS has now transferred
this program to the SFTA under the umbrella of
the education committee.
This program would not work without the assis-
tance of the sites. Those sites working with us in
MRO are: Arrow Rock Historic Site Visitor Cen-
ter; Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Cen-
ter; Battle of Lexington State Historic Site; His-
toric Fort Osage; National Frontier Trails Cen-
ter; Steamboat Arabia; and the Mahaffie Stage
Coach Stop and Farm.
We, the education committee of the Santa Fe
Trail Association, are very proud of this project.
We are connecting with families from all across
the United States who vacation along our great
trail. These booklets cover over 900 miles of a
national historic site. Other national trails have
looked at our booklets, but as far as we know, the
Santa Fe Trail is the only entire trail covered in
such a manner.
Volunteers needed
MRO and the Douglas County Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association are co-sponsoring the
SFTA Symposium 2017 in Olathe, KS. We need volunteers to help during the event to man registra-
tion and information desks. This is a great way to participate in one of SFTA’s premier events and
meet fellow trail enthusiasts from along the Trail. Contact Larry Short for answers to any questions
and sign up to be a part of the event September 27-30, 2017.
Photo courtesy of Lou Austin
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MISSOURI RIVER OUTFITTERS
CHAPTER OF THE
SANTA FE TRAIL ASSOCIATION
Membership Application
Name: _____________________________________________________________________
Street: _____________________________________________________________________
City, State, ZIP: ______________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________________________________________________
Email: _______________________________________________________________
Dues: $10.00 per year
(Individual or Family)
Make check payable to:
Missouri River Outfitters
Mail to: Wes Huskisson
MRO, Treasurer
3008 E. 107th Ter
Kansas City, MO 64137
Correction from January 2016 Outfitters Journal
In the story on page 2 about the dedication, the word “replacement”
trail was used incorrectly. The newly installed trail along the west side
of Avila University is one of the many connector trails that are a part
of the KCMO Metro Greenway plan.
2016 Membership Dues
are payable now!
If you have not sent your
membership dues to the
MRO Treasurer, please
do so today!
Do not miss out on future
editions of the Outfitters
Journal and upcoming
programs.
Our members are im-
portant to us and we look
forward to seeing you at
future meetings and
events.
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Missouri River Outfitters
c/o Larry Short
3930 S. Jackson Dr #106
Independence, MO 64057
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 6-9, 2016, SFTA Board Meeting/Workshop, Lamar, CO
June 6-10, 2016, PNTS Workshop, Independence, MO
June 9, 2016, Powder Mill Bridge Dedication, Kansas City, MO
September 17, 2016, Joint meeting with Trails Head and KCAHTA, Independence, MO
September 22-24, 2016, SFTA Rendezvous, Larned, KS
December 4, 2016, Annual MRO Potluck Dinner, Lexington, MO
April 20-22, 2017, SFTA Board Meeting/Workshop, Council Grove, KS
September 27-30, 2017, SFTA Symposium, Olathe, KS
April 19-21, 2018, SFTA Board Meeting/Workshop, Site TBD
September 20-22, 2018, SFTA Rendezvous, Larned, KS
March 28-30, 2019, SFTA Board Meeting/Workshop, Site TBD
September 25-28, 2019, SFTA Symposium, St. Louis, MO
April 16-18, 2020, SFTA Spring Board Meeting, Site TBD
September 24-26, 2020, SFTA Rendezvous, Larned KS
2021 The 200th Anniversary of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail