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Confluent Cultures in Kansas City, Kansas

Wyandotte County Museum

Over 3,000 years ago, the area around Kansas City could be an unforgivingly wild place. The Wyandotte County Museum documents how Hopewell Native Americans lived in those days with a collection of ancient artifacts.

Located in nearby Bonner Springs, the museum houses over 75,000 artifacts, including items from the first recorded humans in the area to those from the 20th century.

“There are a lot of hands-on elements, photos and exhibits,” said Green. “It has one of the nation’s remaining Native American dugout canoes.”

The canoe belonged to one of the tribes that immigrated to Wyandotte County in the 19th century. Exhibits illustrate the complicated lives of those Native Americans with artifacts like the double-barrel shotguns used to protect the local tribes’ burial grounds from being destroyed.

Groups can view the museum’s horse-drawn steam pumper fire engine, replicated 1960s barbershop and other artifacts. The museum offers activities, such as the Trunk Program, which features a hands-on experience with material from a specific period and culture in Kansas City’s history.

Kaw Point Riverfront Park

To punish two young crew members for sneaking whiskey from the community barrel, the Lewis and Clark Expedition held its first court-martial at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. Today, the Kaw Point Riverfront Park chronicles this event and other stories from the expedition’s three-day stop there in 1804.

The Kansas City, Kansas, CVB can arrange a meeting for groups with a costumed Meriwether Lewis and William Clark not only to see their traditional garb, complete with replicated muskets, but also to listen to some firsthand tales from the famed explorers.

“Groups like to walk down to the river at the park,” said Green. “It’s very peaceful. They really enjoy the interpretive signs and learning about how Lewis and Clark came down the river here.”

The park retains its natural state with wooded trails, wildflowers and wildlife. Visitors can take a walk along the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail or stroll along the wheelchair-accessible boardwalk for views of both rivers.

For more information contact Visit Kansas City at 1-800-264-1563 or go to www.visitkansascityks.com.