Kansas City’s interesting past is more often than not intertwined with controversial issues such as slavery and forced Indian removal. Without both these divisive subjects, Kansas City would have ceased to exist.
The move in the 1830s to the western edge of the United States was fueled first by Indian trade to newly relocated tribes, accessibility to cheap land and later the terminus of the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails leading west. A lot of these connections began in Westport and later the Town of Kansas where businesses catering to Native American tribes popped up practically overnight.
One business owner, Hiram Northrup, successfully bridged a personal connection with tribes while also profiting from them. He grew into a successful merchant, businessman and banker who was intimately connected to the Wyandot tribe.
Tragedy Surrounds His Early Life
Hiram Milton Northrup was born June 4, 1818 to Andrus Bishop Northrup (1795-1846) and Martha McHenry (1797-1820) in Olean, N.Y. His father’s family came from a large line of early settlers who came to America in 1637. His mother, Martha, grew up with her widowed mother who started a successful tavern in 1802 that also functioned as their home…