Lewis and Clark camped here on 4 July 1804, and named a nearby creek "Independence Creek" in honor of the country's birthday. The men all received a ration of whiskey to celebrate.
Today, this site preserves both the important Lewis and Clark history here, but also the Kanza Indian village that Lewis and Clark saw when they arrived (and when they came back through in 1806). The Kanza Indians were away at their summer buffalo hunting grounds at both times, so Lewis & Clark were left to wonder in their journal about this about the deserted Indian Village.
From the 8 Wonders of Kansas History website: (
visit link)
THE KANZA TRIBE
When white explorers and traders first visited the area that would become Kansas, they encountered a thriving Native American society. The Kanza Tribe, which controlled much of our current state, had its capital near the border of Atchison and Doniphan counties in what today is Northeast Kansas.
The Kanza's Independence Creek settlement was noted as the main village of the tribe as far back as 1673. By the time French explorer Etienne Veniard de Bourgmont arrived in 1724, it was considered an old village and the capital of the Kanza nation.
LEWIS & CLARK
When Lewis and Clark came down the Missouri River on their historic government-sponsored exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, they explored the Independence Creek area, home of the Kanza Tribe. Their famous landing there in 1804 occurred on July 4 -- Independence Day.
Ironically, both times the Lewis and Clark expedition visited the area (July 1804 and Sept. 1806), the Kanza would have been at their buffalo hunting grounds to the west. When the expedition came through here in 1804, Clark noted the size of the village and his questions about the village being empty in his journal.
INDEPENDENCE CREEK
Today, a recreated Kanza dwelling and a Lewis & Clark historic site are side by side near the point where Independence Creek flows into the Missouri River.
The historic Kanza dwelling was eclectic, using the most available building materials. Their early migration from the areas near the Great Lakes saw a change from primarily bark-covered lodges to those using sod as the primary covering. The recreated lodge at the Independence Creek site is one of these unique structures.
The Kanza lived in permanent villages, cultivated crops like beans, pumpkins, potatoes, melons and corn. Though fish, fowl and dog meat were important sources of food for the Kanza, they participated in the nomadic practices of other plains tribes. The entire tribe made two hunting trips to the hunting grounds each year, using buffalo and deer skins to construct tipis for shelter during the long expeditions to the high plains."