In an effort to hold the overland trade that had begun to shift to Westport and other up-river towns, Independence, in 1849, built a railroad to Wayne City, three and one-half miles north on the Missouri river. The line was known as the Independence & Wayne City, or Missouri River railroad. The railroad passed through Sugar Creek valley, where the Standard Oil company's refinery is situated. This, it is supposed, was the first railroad constructed west of the Mississippi river. Wooden rails with a thin strip of iron were used for the track. The four-wheeled flat cars, drawn by teams of mules, carried both passengers and freight from the steamboat landing to Independence. The up-town terminus of the railroad was a two story brick depot. The project was not a success. The road was abandoned

in 1851 and the wooden rails were left to decay.

Independence has had superior educational advantages since about 1840. Several private schools and colleges have prospered at different times and gained some distinction in the West. H. D. Woodworth established the Independence academy in 1841. The school had a promising beginning, but a misunderstanding arose between the principal and residents of the town and the institution was closed after it had been in existence three years. Mrs. Gertrude Buchanan, a woman of culture and administrative ability, opened a school for young women in 1846 in the Presbyterian church. After one year Mrs. Buchanan transferred her school to David I. Caldwell. He needed more room and bought the Old Irish tavern on South Main street as an addition to the seminary. Prof. David J. Caldwell withdrew from the school in the spring of 1849 on account of ill health.

The Rev. W. H. Lewis, a Southern Methodist minister who had been president of the Monticello academy in Howard county, Missouri, and principal of a seminary at Jefferson City, Missouri, opened a school, in 1853, in the Methodist church on Rock street. A stock company was organized the next year and a college building was erected on North Liberty street. The school received the hearty support of the residents of the town and students came from various parts of Western Missouri. The school was at the height of its success when the Civil war began and the Rev. Mr. Lewis was forced to flee from Independence. In the war the school building was occupied as barracks and a hospital by Federal soldiers. The Independence high school was organized in 1857 by H. W. Miller and continued until 1871. A school with a boarding department was established in 1847 by Miss Bettie T. Tillery and continued until the beginning of the Civil war. W. A. and W. Buckner, formerly principals of the Bourbon Female college at Paris, Kentucky, spent $17,000, in 1869, in establishing a school in the west part. of town that afterwards was known as Woodland college.

Independence Female college was founded in 1871 by a corporation at an expense of $20,000. The school continued until December, 1898. St. Mary's academy was established in 1878 by Father Thomas Fitzgerald under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy. The public schools of Independence were organized September 18, 1866.

Independence has had several prosperous churches since the early years of the town. The Cumberland Presbyterian church was established in 1832, and the Christian church in 1836. The Rev. J. P. Hulse organized the Methodist Episcopal church, South, in 1835. The Methodist church was organized in 1867. The first baptism in St. Mary's Catholic church in Independence was performed by the Rev. Father Bernard Donnelly, February 11, 1849.

The first bank in Independence was organized in 1853 by Ulysses Turner and James T. Thornton. The institution continued in business until the Civil war. A branch of the Southern bank of St. Louis was established in 1856. After the war the branch became the First National bank and continued in business until 1879 when it was consolidated with the ChrismanSawyer bank. McCoy & Son organized a bank in the building that had been occupied by the old First National bank. The bank continued until 1898 when its affairs were liquidated.

The Independence Savings bank was organized in 1857, and later became known as Stone, McCoy and Company. Again the name of the firm was changed and it became known as Chrisman, Sawyer & Co. This company was incorporated, August 29, 1877, under the title of the ChrismanSawyer Banking company. Since the incorporation it has been a state bank. This is one of the oldest banking institutions in Missouri. The present First National bank of Independence is the outgrowth of the old banking firm of Brown, Hughes & Co., an early private institution. The first president of the First National bank was M. W. Anderson. The Bank of Independence, incorporated as a state institution, was opened for business, January 2, 1887. Dr. J. D. Wood was the first president.

Several conflicts occurred in Independence during the Civil war. The town was raided by Union cavalry in 1861, and was occupied by Union troops in 1862. W. C. Quantrell, the guerrilla, made a dash into the town in the spring of 1862. The Union garrison in Independence, under command of Lieutenant Colonel J. T. Buell, was attacked, August 11, 1862, by a Confederate force estimated at 600 to 800 men and the town was captured and 350 prisoners taken. General John T. Hughes was killed while leading a charge against the garrison. The town was reoccupied by Federal troops. Southern sympathizers were expelled, August 24, 1863. The town was occupied by General Sterling Price, October 20, 1864, and was retaken four

days later by General Alfred Pleasanton. General Lee's surrender in 1865 did not bring immediate peace to Independence. A law and order association, organized, July 14, 1866, was able to suppress violence and restore quiet.

A Baptist missionary, the Rev. Isaac McCoy, entered a tract of gov ernment land in 1831, four miles south of Chouteau's warehouse on the road that led from Independence west to the plains. The next year his son, John C. McCoy, established a store on the land. The business prospered and in 1833 John C. McCoy decided to become a town builder; he divided the land adjacent to the store into lots and called the settlement Westport. It is said that McCoy chose this name because the town was a port of entry into the great Western country. McCoy became a surveyor for the government in 1836 and sold his store to William M. Chick.

On the land purchased from the government by Isaac McCoy was the site of the village of the "Sauk" or "Saukee" Indians, the last tribal habitation in the vicinity of Kansas City. The Indian settlement was situated on a ridge one mile south of Bush Creek. A trail led from the Missouri river along the line of Prospect avenue, turning westward through the site of Westport to the prairies beyond. The Indians abandoned their village in 1824.

The Santa Fe traders adopted the custom, about 1837, of stopping at Westport to await the arrival of their goods at Blue Mills on the Missouri river. The prairie lands adjacent to Westport afforded excellent camping grounds. From Westport it was only four miles to the French settlement on the Missouri river, while it was eighteen miles to the Blue Mills landing. Pierre Roi, a Frenchman, built a road from Westport directly north to the French settlement in the Missouri river bottom. The traders taking advantage of the shorter distance, soon began having their goods landed at the French settlement rather than at Blue Mills.

The superior advantages of Westport as a business center soon attracted various classes of merchants, tradespeople and mechanics. The Indians living in the country west of town received large annuities from the government and they spent their money freely. The country adjacent in all directions was being settled. The freighters on the Santa Fe trail attracted blacksmiths and wagon makers. The demand for furniture other than the home-made kind of the pioneers brought cabinet makers to Westport.

The business houses of early Westport were situated, for the most part, on a little stream that flowed through town in the direction of the southeast, crossing the present Westport avenue at Mill street. Along the banks of the stream, inside the town limits and without, were a number of excellent springs that were convenient to the townspeople and travelers. One of the best known of these watering places was "Cave Spring," a fountain