Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president
A discussion of pioneer trails, focused on Kansas and specifically Jefferson County, prompts the inquiry "When did Europeans first come to Kansas?"
The Jefferson County Historical Society Newsletter Editor, John Bowser, Issue 1, Volume 14, reveals the following information in a news article devoted to old trails in Jefferson County.
Apparently when the first European appeared is unknown. Although Francisco De Coronado reached Central Kansas in 1541, it is doubtful that he reached Eastern Kansas, including the area now known as Jefferson County. According to records, probably the first white man to set foot in that area was Etienne Veniard de Bourgmont, a young French army officer who spent several years with the Missouri Indians from 1712 to 1717. He explored the Missouri River near the site of Yankton, S.D., and in an account of the people along it, wrote "Upstream is a smaller river, which flows into the Missouri, called 'Riviere d' Encanze' (Kansas) and a nation (Indians) of the same name, ally and friend of the French. Their trade is in fur."
He was enthusiastic about the land's beauty and marveled at the variety and abundance of animals. At that time, the Kansa Indians had a village on the west bank of the Missouri River near the present town of Doniphan in southeast Doniphan County. In 1724, more than 50 years before the American Revolution, Bourgmont led a party to the Kansa and Padouca tribes. His purpose was to make peace between the Indians and promote the fur trade.
Bourgmont's party came first to the Kansa village on the Missouri. From there, accompanied by a large throng of Indians headed west to hunt buffalo, they went southwest to the Kansas River (near present Rossville). This route would cross the northwest corner of Jefferson County, probably upstream from Valley Falls. Severe illness forced Bourgmont to return to Missouri to recuperate. He came back in the year to complete the mission.
Peace was made with the Padoucas, probably somewhere in present Saline or Ellis counties.
The late Milton Reichart, Valley Falls Historical Society member, contributed an article on Bourgmont's route to Central Kansas in the Summer Issue (1979) of "Kansas History," quarterly journal of the Kansas State Historical Society.
The Valley Falls Historical Society Museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21.
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