Sketching the 1916 Midland Trail Across Kansas

Sketching the Midland Trail Across Kansas: As I Found it a Century Later

David Douglass DeArmond

Sketching the 1916 Midland Trail Across Kansas: as I Found it a Century Later Copyright Š 2007-2014 by David Douglass DeArmond.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, reprinted in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from the copyright holder.

First printing: March, 2014 ISBN: 978-0-615-94880-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014900165 Published by: David Douglass DeArmond, Merriam, Kansas, U.S.A. Printed by: The Mennonite Press, Inc., Newton, Kansas, U.S.A. Printed in the United States of America v7G

Published in a 1915 issue of the New York Times was this map of a proposed route for the A.A.A.s trans-continental "Midland trail"

On the 4th of May, 1913 the New York Times reported that a motorist acting for the American Automobile Association was searching for transcontinental routes. Mister A.L. Westgard, Pathfinder for the A.A.A. had already set out several routes including one which ran through Kansas, called the "Midland Trail".

According to a map, (above) published in the New York Times on March 7th, 1915, Westgard's original route for the Midland Trail ran near the path of today's I-70.

An article by Anton L.Westgard in the March 1915 issue of Motor Magazine described the Midland Trail as an extension of the National Old Trails highway, crossing Kansas on good dirt roads, marked with yellow bands. He said it passed through Kansas City, Topeka, Ellis, Oakley and on to Colorado.

The route was still not firmly established. In 1916 a "Tour Book, The Midland Trail" was published by the National Midland Trail Log Book Company of Grand Junction, Colorado.

This 1916 guide book described a route generally well north of I-70, roughly along today's route 24. By the mid-1920s the road was somewhat re-aligned and called the National Roosevelt Midland Trail. The M.T. moved about. In the 1940's oil company maps showed route 24 running from Quebec and across the U.S.A. , entering at Detroit. It still crossed Kansas. This too was called the Midland Trail.

1

There was a book, the 1916 Midland Trail Tour Guide. This motoring guide had nearly 195 pages and was filled with concise (although not necessarily accurate or complete) driving directions. The log had no maps. What it would have been like to actually try to cross North America on those early roads with this as your guide is hard to imagine.

In towns the Midland Trail was sometimes marked. The National Midland Trail Association specified utility poles to be marked with two six-inch bands of orange with a sixinch band of black between余 however in Kansas the guide only mentions red stripes on "marked poles."

What were those roads like? Paved only in larger or more prosperous towns, and then with cut stones or bricks. Largely dirt roads. At times impassable? Yes. Here are the guides suggestions for equipment required, "tools for such repairs as may be made on the road, and a coil of soft iron wire, a good small shovel, an axe of small size, a light rope of steel wire 25 to 50 feet in length, a set of steel triple blocks and a steel pin an inch in diameter and three feet long, with a sharp point."

2

Anton L Westgards motor car used to research trans-continental routes

So, you'd need a very robust car in great condition. The ability to serve as your own mechanic. Plenty of parts including several spare tires. Wire to tie on loosened parts.

Equipment for digging out. An outfit for pulling the car out of deep mud or sand where no one can assist you. To follow the log's descriptions you would need a trip-odometer reading in the tenths of a mile and I'd toss in a compass. Oh yes, take along a carbide lamp, as flashlights were then in their infancy.

The guide had both east bound and west bound directions. This publication for brevity assumes the traveler is bound for California.

Curious? It's time to "hit the Trail."

Westgard, a 50 year old Norwegian immigrant cartographer, photographer and motorist was known as "The Pathfinder". He was appointed by the Federal Highway Administration to research appropriate paths for the trans-continental highways.

This was of great interest because of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.

Reality check: the Ford Model-T owners manual and several videos of starting, driving and maintaining the tin-lizzie are available on the internet.

This is a 1969 reprint of the 1916 Log Book.

I found mine on e-bay.

I'm a painter and I have painted in every county of Kansas, four or more times. There are one hundred and five counties. That's a pile of art. Tubs and racks full.

Looking for a way to show my work, the cost of framing and the horror of trucking it around led me to create DVD's.

As I finished editing the latest version of my DVD, I received an e-mail asking if I had painted in the towns mentioned in the 1916 Midland Trail Tour Guide. It is exciting to have a new project just handed to you when you are ready for it.

A Xerox of a few pages was sent to me and I started by listing everything named in the Kansas West-Bound Log, a section of the book.

The guide had chapters headed by introductory pages such as this.

Then I struggled, following the guide on modern maps... (the guide had no maps). There are misspellings, directions using land marks that no longer exist, few cardinal directions and beyond cities no street names.

There are gaps where the mileage's don't compute and a few well established towns are not mentioned.

Going through my records, I found paintings that did show many of the logs sites余 most were already on my art DVD's.

I live in eastern Kansas but an occasion came up where I had to drive to Denver and on the way home I painted a number of the sites. Then when I decided I needed more art a second trip west was done in conjunction with an art demonstration in Wilson, Kansas. Then several more short trips and collecting some photos to paint from too and... I "had 'er done." Enjoy!

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This triple strip map shows the general position of the 1916 Midland Trail route in relation to surrounding towns and today's route 24 and Interstate-70.

4

Westward bound, the map starts in the upper right with Kansas City, Missouri and ends on the lower left with Kanorado, Kansas

5

View north, 12th & Grand, Kansas City, Missouri

Set your odometer to zero: 00.0 Center of Kansas City, Grand Ave. and 12th St. This road is marked with 18-in. red bands and M.T. markers. Fair earth road. Go south with trolley on Grand Ave. 1.0 22d St. Turn left one block away from trolley one block and then right on McGee St.; curve left thru 4-corners, 1.8. 2.0, irregular four corners ; bear right onto Cherry St., which soon becomes Gilliam Road; 2.6 Hyde Park School just ahead; turn right; 2.7, end of street; turn left following Gilliam road; 2.8 Armour Boulevard; turn right. 3.3 end of street; turn left on Broadway; 4.0 fork; bear left and then right, still on Broadway. Meet trolley here.

6

Trolley leaves to left at 4.6. Now bear right on Westport Ave. .....

(Hyde Park School was renamed Longan School and subsequently a new building put up. Now it's Academie LaFayette.)

On the left is text quoted carefully from the 1916 guide. Don't expect to be able to follow this exactly. You need a sense of adventure & humor.

And on the right are my comments and some coordinates I believe are correct.

39-06-00.65-N x 94-34-51.51-W The "1916 Kansas West-Bound Log" guide starts in Kansas City, Missouri at 12th and Grand. From there it either runs into Johnson county or goes through Leavenworth county on an alternate route. The two branches reunite at the Kaw bridge in Lawrence, Kansas. The first branch described in the log is the route through Johnson county. (the Kansas river is commonly called "the Kaw")

View east at Westport & State Line roads, towards Kansas City, Missouri

.... 5.7 end of road; turn left with markers onto stone road. 6.9 end of road; turn right, following stone road and markers. 7.1, lefthand road; turn left, still following stone road; 7.3, caution not to pass 4-corners; turn right still on stone road. Go thru 4-corners at trolley crossing 9.7 (The left-hand road is Santa Fe trail to Emporia.) take right-hand road for Colorado, Utah or California destination...

(The trolley referred to is the Strang Line)

39-03-00.61-N x 94-36-28.73-W Dropping down Gilliam road, the Midland Trail, (hereafter often referred to as the "M.T.") jogged onto Broadway and then turned west on Westport road. It turned south on State Line road, (the intersection shown above) turned west into Johnson county on Ward Parkway and Shawnee Mission Parkway and then Johnson Drive.

That turn left would have taken the motorist along the Strang Line into today's old town Overland Park, Kansas.

7

...11.1 MERRIAM. R.R. crossing. Straight ahead upgrade. Pick up trolley here and follow it thru Shawnee at 12.4...

Johnson county was organized in August of 1855 and named for Rev. Thomas Johnson. In 1915 the population was about 18,300 and today the population is about 560,000.

39-01-20.15-N x 94-41-38.30-W Today you duck under I-35 before the R.R. grade crossing leading into downtown Merriam.

View east, I-35 passing over Johnson Drive, Merriam, (Johnson county) Kansas

39-01-19.07-N x 94-41-44.36-W The M.T. then ran up the hill and started shadowing the Hocker Grove Line, (Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka R.R.)余 a struggling trolley company that actually only went as far as East Zarah.

View east, on Johnson Drive at Carter St., Merriam, Kansas

8

View east, Johnson Drive, Shawnee, (Johnson county) Kansas

... 13.3, 4-corners; end of stone road; turn left with markers on good dirt road. Turn right with poles 13.5 and cross trolley 13.9. 14.0 end of road; Turn left with markers. Right-hand road; 14.1 turn right and then left at 14.4, noting the band markers. 14.5, 4-corners; turn right with marked poles. 15.3, 4-corners; turn left with marked poles; 15.5, right-hand road; turn right with marked poles; 16.5, end of road; turn left with marked poles; 16.7, right-hand road; turn right with marked poles, running onto rough stretch, 17.7; at 18.2 trolley on left; jog left and right across iron bridge, 18.6. ..

39-01-22.43-N x 94-42-55.99-W Ignoring Hocker's Grove, the M.T. passed through Shawnee along side the trolley. The route from there is lost due to development but south of Shawnee Mission Parkway the M.T. followed what is now called Midland Drive. If you turn off from Midland Drive onto today's Lawrence Road you shortly arrive at a park and beyond it at Mill Creek can see the abutments of the iron bridge.

9

39-00-30.93-N x 94-49-34.79-W Midland Drive shares the Mill Creek bridge with Shawnee Mission Parkway today. At Woodland Drive it turns away and becomes for a few minutes a charming, narrow road in woods余 suggesting what the earlier road traveled by the Midland Trail was like.

The path of the Midland Trail into Zarah, (Shawnee in Johnson county) Kansas

.....cross R.R. at Torah, 19.0, 19.1 going upgrade... (the name is actually Zarah) 39-00-25.92-N x 94-49-20.23-W The guide calls for Torah or Jarah but the village name was Zarah. The trolley company never managed to negotiate a crossing at the R.R. and so their tracks ended just outside town at "East Zarah." From the view sketched (above) the M.T. ran up the hill, turned right, (no road connecting now) onto Woodland Drive. A block north, at a filling station, it turned west again on todays Midland Drive.

10

View east along Midland Drive towards Woodland Drive, in Zarah, Kansas.

View east at 75th St. & Gleason Rd., Monticello, (Shawnee in Johnson county) Kansas

...Fork, part way upgrade, bear left; 19.7 end of road; turn right with marked poles. Caution for rough upgrade, 19.8. 20.3, end of road; turn left with poles curving right with road just beyond. 20.5, left-hand road; turn left with marked poles. 21.1, right-hand road; turn right with marked poles. 22.0, end of road; church on one side, cemetery on other. Turn left with marked poles...

38-59-33.69-N x 94-51-46.03-W Beyond the end of Midland Drive the M.T. dropped south to 75th street where it turned west again. It is not possible to drive across now because of barricades at Route 7.

Access 75th St from Rt 7 however and drive west to the Monticello United Methodist church on the north and Union Cemetery on the south side. Turn south onto Gleason Road.

11

View west in DeSoto, (Johnson county) Kansas

... Pass right fork, 22.6; 23.1, end of road; turn right with poles; good dirt road here. 28.1, curve right into road from left, cross iron bridge at 28.3, and go thru 29.0 DE SOTO. 29.1, 4-corners; turn left with poles for one block and then right at school house, still with marked poles. Turn left with road 29.6 and right at 29.8, following marked poles. 30.1, fork, bear left away from 12

poles. 31.1 right-hand road at foot of grade; turn right onto a winding road. 32.3, caution not to pass this point, but turn right. Poles come in at 32.8...

38-58-40.79-N x 94-58-04.58-W

From Gleason Road the M.T. turned west and went directly into DeSoto. In the central business district you would now find Grandpa's Old Ford Garage, a private garage dedicated to the old time automobiles such as navigated the Midland Trail. The route then worked its way south through the town and followed farm roads west past the future site of the 1940s Sunflower ammunition plant.

View southeast to the corner where the M.T. turned north toward the R.R. tracks

... 37.9, end of road; turn right and then left at cemetery for two short blocks. 38.0, 4-corners; stone church on near left; turn right for two blocks. 38.2, 4-corners; brick school house on far right; turn left.

38.4 EUDORA. Bank on near left; turn right; cross R.R., 38.5. 38.8, left-hand road; bridge

just ahead; turn left with marked poles. 38.9, right-hand road; turn right with marked poles.

Douglas county was organized in August of 1855 and named after Stephen A. Douglas. In 1915 the population was about 24,400 and today the population is about 113,000

38-56-48.31-N x 95-05-56.77-W Now in Douglas county, the M.T. turned briefly north in Eudora and after crossing the tracks ran west across the Kaw's flood plain towards Lawrence.

13

View west from 6th & Massachusetts streets, on the south banks of the Kaw, Lawrence, (Douglas county) Kansas

... 44.5, R.R. just ahead余 take right-hand road余 turn left with road crossing concrete bridge, 44.9余 cross R.R., 45.9. 46.2, jog left with road and turn right across R.R. onto Eleventh St. 46.8 LAWRENCE. Court house on near left.

Meeting trolley, turn right onto Massachusetts St. (see log from Lawrence to Manhattan)...

14

38-58-22.65-N x 95-14-08.16-W The M.T. entered Lawrence on the north side of the courthouse and went north on "Mass Ave" to the foot of the Kaw River bridge, (now twin bridges). At this point the alternate route from Kansas City through Leavenworth county rejoins and the M.T. turns west.

View south from 6th & Grand streets, Kansas City, Missouri

with odometer zeroed: 00.0 KANSAS CITY, (MO) Twelfth and Grand Aves.; ahead on Grand to Seventh St., 0.4; turn left on seventh to Wyandotte St., 0.6; right on Wyandotte one block to sixth, 0.7; on Sixth to Intercity viaduct (Missouri river on right) (toll, 15c); .....

39-06-22.77-N x 94-34-49.03-W The ALTERNATE route also started in Kansas City Missouri at 12th and Grand, but went north to 6th before turning west and over a viaduct that led into Kansas City, Kansas.

15

39-06-52.74-N x 94-37-56.29-W The Lewis and Clark Viaduct connects the twin Kansas Cities at the streets mentioned in the M.T. log.

39-06-52.74-N x 94-37-56.29-W Now in Wyandotte county, the M.T. can be approximated by driving State Ave. and then following Rt 40.

View east on todays viaduct, approaching the Kaw, from Kansas City, (Wyandotte county) Kansas

...off viaduct bearing right 0.9 to Minnesota Ave. 2.7 KANSAS CITY, KANSAS. Fifth and Minnesota; M.T.H., Albert Mebus, 713 Minnesota Ave. Ahead up Minnesota Ave. to 4.0, turn right, bearing left to 4.4, left over short viaduct; 5.4, 4-corners, turn right; 5.9, bear left down winding grade with poles; 8.3, cross bridge and over rolling country for several miles thru deep cuts in hilltops; this is all good gravel road and in excellent repair; 11.4, cross R.R.; 14.0, cross R.R.; 16.1 end of gravel; turn right onto fair earth road from this point to Topeka; 17.0 cross R.R.; ...

16

(the guide book frequently gives local contacts for advice; These individuals and organizations were called "M.T.H."s) .

View south at 9th & Minnesota, Kansas City, Kansas

View east on Leavenworth road, Piper, (Wyandotte county) Kansas

...17.1 turn left away from Piper on far right.

17.3, cross R.R.余 19.2, cross R.R.余 19.9, cross R.R.余 21.2, 4-corners余 ...

Wyandotte county was established in January of 1859 and named after the Wyandotte Indian tribe. In 1915 the population was about 111,100 and today the population is about 160,000.

39-08-34.82-N x 94-51-36.40-W The guide mentions passing west near Piper.

17

View south from 155th & Ripley, Basehor, (Leavenworth county) Kansas

...turn left thru Basehor, 21.3; 21.4, cross R.R.; 22.9, 3corners, turn right; 23.2, 4-corners; ....

18

Leavenworth county was organized in 1855. It was named for Col. Henry H. Leavenworth. In 1915 the population was about 39,800 and today it is about 35,800.

39-08-23.31-N x 94-56-18.64-W Now in Leavenworth county, at Basehor the M.T. turned south down today's 155th street and then jogged west to 158th street. I saw this model A roadster with fat white walls across the street and moved it mentally into the scene; since I could not see past the trash bins to sketch it's front I painted them too.

The Glenwood cemetery, 158th street, south of Basehor, (Leavenworth county) Kansas

...turn left past Glenwood school and cemetery, 23.7余 24.2, 4-corners, turn right余 ...

39-06-28.13-N x 94-56-45.02-W

Going south on 158th street and south of today's route 40, the M.T. guide names the Glenwood cemetery. There is no sign of a school however. From here the M.T. continues south to Evans road.

19

View west past the Edminster school, 198th & Evans streets, Edminster, (Leavenworth county) Kansas

... 29.1, cross R.R. at Edminster school余 30.9, cross R.R.余 31.6, 4-corners余 turn right. At flour mill, 32.1, turn left onto paving.....

39-06-06.08-N x 95-02-15.18-W

20

Turning west onto Evans road the M.T. found Edminster, about three miles east of Tonganoxie.

The Edminster school is mentioned in the guide book and is back in the trees, now a private residence. I met the owner and we discussed the Kansas City North-Western railroad that once crossed here. A lady came out of the brick house diagonally opposite from the school and said that her home had been a lodging house for railway workers. From here the M.T. continued west on Evans road into Tonganoxie.

View west from East 4th and South Main streets, Tonganoxie, (Leavenworth county) Kansas

.... and cross R.R. 32.2 TONGANOXIE. M.T.H. Lumber yard on right-E. C. McNerny. (at this point the log fills eight lines with praise for Tonganoxie) 32.5 At edge of town turn left after paving余 33.9, bear right along R.R.余 36.9, jog right and left,...

39-06-33.65-N x 95-05-04.85-W

From Tonganoxie the M.T. heads fairly straight towards Lawrence. It is shadowing the tracks of the Kansas City, Wyandotte and Northwestern R.R. on what today is Chieftain Road / routes 24 & 40.

21

View east on Reno road, Reno, Leavenworth county) Kansas

....then left around store thru Reno Sta. and along R.R. 余 37.5, bridge, and bear away from R.R.余 ....

39-03-00.70-N x 95-07-14.91-W

22

About half way to Lawrence the M.T. dodges into Reno, Kansas. The tracks have been torn up, (and shipped to Mexico) but I met a man in Reno who was able to show me where the grocery store, roadhouse and R.R. station had stood. The Reno Methodist church has been moved to a museum in Tonganoxie but the cemetery is in fine condition. Reno was a staging area for cattle trains and at one time had five hundred black residents. My informer has a funny story about hard drinking train crews that would allow their engine to run out of steam coming back north from Lawrence.