The Civil War Muse

Stop 1 Battle of Westport Historical Marker

[Waypoint 39.013959, -94.529715]

This tour stop is located near the start of the Bloody Hill Trail which begins at the Kansas City Water Services Department (4800 E 63rd St, Kansas City, MO 64130). Park in the parking lot, walk east past the replica artillery piece (Tour Stop 18), and follow the concrete trail north to the park bench. You will return here later in the tour to visit other tour stops.

This historical marker commemorates why the Battle of Westport was an important part of our regional history. Some historians have labeled this battle, “Gettysburg of the West,” because of the number of combatants involved. But battles are not significant only because of their size but by the impact they had on outcomes in the war

Sixteen days after the battle Missouri voters went to the polls and elected a Radical Republican governor. They also elected Radical Republican delegates to a new Missouri State Convention that convened in January 1865 to consider the emancipation of Missouri’s enslaved people and to update the State’s Constitution. The convention freed all enslaved persons in Missouri on January 11 and wrote a new Constitution (ratified on June 6) turning disloyal Missourians into second class citizens.

Battle of Westport Historical Marker at Start of Bloody Hill Trail.

Battle of Westport Historical Marker Panel