The Bonner Springs City Library will be the host of “The Santa Fe Trail and the Civil War,” a presentation and discussion by Leo E. Oliva at 6 p.m. April 21 at the library, 201 N. Nettleton Ave., Bonner Springs.
Members of the community and the surrounding area are invited to attend the free program. Contact the library at 913-441-2665 for more information. The program is made possible by the Kansas Humanities Council.
During the Civil War, events at both ends of the Santa Fe Trail contributed to the war’s outcome while the Plains Indian Wars grew in intensity.
This presentation will introduce key conflicts along the Santa Fe Trail, including significant but largely forgotten battles in New Mexico and the period of accelerated conflict that ended with the destruction of Plains tribes as they had existed for over a century.
Leo Oliva is a historian with a research focus on 19th-century Kansas. He is the author of Soldiers on the Santa Fe Trail, six books for the Kansas Fort Series, and a founding member of the Santa Fe Trail Association and Fort Larned Old Guard.
“Few people know that important Civil War battles occurred west of the Kansas-Missouri border. Kansas was a major cause of the war,” observed Oliva, “and engagements on the Santa Fe Trail contributed to Union victory and destruction of the Plains Indians.”
“The Santa Fe Trail and the Civil War” is part of the Kansas Humanities Council’s Humanities Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and discussions that examine our shared human experience—our innovations, culture, heritage, and conflicts.
The Kansas Humanities Council conducts and supports community-based programs, serves as a financial resource through an active grant-making program, and encourages Kansans to engage in the civic and cultural life of their communities.
For more information about KHC programs contact the Kansas Humanities Council at 785-357-0359 or visit online at www.kansashumanities.org.
For more information about “The Santa Fe Trail and the Civil War” in Bonner Springs contact the Bonner Springs City Library at 913-441-2665 or visit www.bonnerlibrary.org.