Kansas
City today embraces the early town of Westport, which was
built just east of the Missouri Line, not far from Independence.
Yet, while Independence boomed in the 1840s, Westport did
not. It wasn't until the 1850s that this river community
became an outfitter's boomtown.
Emigrant/Author
Francis Parkman:
"Whiskey, by the way, circulates more freely in
Westport than is altogether safe in a place where every
man carries a loaded pistol in his pocket."
The
Founding of Kansas City, Missouri
Overview of early Kansas City
