Abstract:
Atchison is a city rich in historic interest. The city was the first in Kansas to have either a bank or a railroad, as well as several other "firsts" in the history of our state. While man has undoubtedly occupied the Atchison area for thousands of years, the known history of the region began just a few hundred years ago with the arrival of the Kansa Indians. These Indians figured prominently in the visits of many of the early explorers who journeyed to Kansas. Atchison was founded in 1854, by a group of men from Missouri. The city became the headquarters of the proslavery forces that were determined to establish Kansas as a slave state. Atchison became in a few short years an important commercial center. 3y the late 1850s steamboats were delivering large amounts of goods and passengers to the town for transportation to the West. Because of its location at the great bend of the Missouri River and its steamboat trade, Atchison became a prominent overland freighting terminus. The city became the "Gateway to the West," carrying on a tremendous trade with the mining camps, military forts, and settlements to the West. The coming of the railroad era forced Atchison to shift its attention from water to land transportation. "Railroad fever" spread to the Midwest as the towns along the Missouri River raced to secure railroad connections. Atchison developed into an important railroad center. During the 1870s, 80 to 100 freight and passenger trains arrived and departed daily. But in spite of its early success, Atchison failed to become the "Great Railroad Center of Kansas." This paper traces the development of Atchison to its rise as one of the most important cities in early Kansas history. The exploration, growth, and development of the city figures very prominently in, and parallels, the evolution of the state of Kansas.
