jan 1, 1857 - Quindaro, Kanzas Territory.

Description:

Quindaro opens in 1857 to break the slave holder blockade keeping eastern free state immigrants from coming into the Territory via the Missouri river. Quindaroans join other abolitionist and free-state settlers struggling to make Kansas a Free-State. Within 6 months of Quindaro opening, all ports on the Missouri River were opened to eastern immigrants. Quindaro was a significant link on the Eastern Kansas Underground Railroad as well as a political force whose people and newspaper, The Quindaro Chindowan, edited by abolitionist John Walden and later Clarina Nichols, played crucial roles in bringing Kansas into the Union as a Free-State. The state motto, Ad Astra Per Aspera, meaning 'to the stars through struggle', described the early life and times of Quindaro. Quindaro's Red, White, and Black residents united to defeat slavery and their descendants remain in the area to the present day.