Kaw Point

Kaw Point is the point where the Kansas River (Kaw River) terminates at the Missouri River in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City, Kansas. It is also where the Missouri River ceases its southerly course and turns to flow generally east through the state of Missouri to the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

Kaw Point
TypeUrban park national park
LocationKansas City, Kansas, U.S.
Coordinates
Area10 acres (4.0 ha)
Administered byNational Park Service
WebsiteOfficial website
Kansas City, Missouri skyline from Kaw Point

Kawsmouth is the confluence of the Kansas River and the Missouri River, south of Kaw Point.

History

Kaw Point is within the land originally claimed by Spain, then by France, until ultimately the United States bought it as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Lewis and Clark expedition party camped at Kaw Point from June 26[1][2]–28, 1804, on their way from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.

Captain William Clark wrote on June 27, 1804, that "the Countrey [sic] about the mouth of this river is verry [sic] fine."[1] The expedition's journals noted that the location would be appropriate for a fort, and teemed with deer, elk, bison, bear, and many "Parrot queets", the now extinct Carolina parakeet. It is the original reason for the location of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Lewis observed that the water in the Missouri was muddier than the water from the Kaw.[2]

At 94 degrees 36 minutes west longitude, Kaw Point defined Missouri's western border from Iowa to Arkansas when it became a state in 1821. South of the Missouri River, that longitude still forms the border between Kansas and Missouri. North of the Missouri River, the state of Missouri extended its boundary farther to the west in 1836 with the Platte Purchase.

Kaw Point became part of Kansas Territory in 1854 when the United States Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened the area for white settlement. In 1859, the city of Wyandotte, which included Kaw Point, was incorporated. Kaw Point became part of Kansas City, Kansas as part of the consolidation of 1886.

The National Park Service established Kaw Point Park, including Kaw Point and designating a Lewis and Clark Destination Site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

References
  1. Hillstrom, Laurie Collier (2016). The Lewis and Clark Expedition. Detroit, MI. p. 38. ISBN 9780780814172. OCLC 910987428.
  2. Elin., Woodger (2004). Encyclopedia of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Toropov, Brandon. New York: Facts On File. p. 193. ISBN 0816047812. OCLC 51900390.
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