Last updated: January 16, 2023
Place
Minor Park
Quick Facts
Location:
Red Bridge Road, Kansas City, Missouri
Significance:
Emigrants first river crossing; visible trail swales
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
6 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Picnic Table, Playground, Restroom, Trailhead, Water - Drinking/Potable
A map of Passport and Places to Go locations for National Historic Trails.
Emigrants heading west from Independence encountered their first river crossing at Minor Park, a preview of the many water crossings to be negotiated on their long journey west. Here, wagon trains crossed the Blue River by fording, since the first bridge across the river wasn't constructed until 1859. Numerous emigrants wrote about or mentioned the crossing in their diaries. Once the fording was done, the wet wagons then had to be pulled up the hill directly across from the river. The wagons muddied, eroded, and rutted the trail as they climbed this rise. These ruts, and thus the route of the historic trails, are still visible today in Minor Park in the form of trail swales.
Emigrant Remarks
On May 8, 1846, Virgil Pringle,
"went 12 miles to the Blue and encamped, it being too high to cross. Another wagon capsized at the encampment. . . . No injury to persons or property." The next day his party, "crossed the Blue soon in the morning."
Site Information
Location (Red Bridge Road, Kansas City, Missouri)
The swales can be reached by driving a paved road. The 235-acre city park also offers interpretive exhibits, a playground, and multi-use trails.