"In casting about for a picturesque name for the new city, he was able to suggest Mrs. Guthrie's Indian given name of 'Quindaro,' a common Wyandotte word, meaning a 'bundle of sticks' and interpreted by the adage, 'in union there is strength.' "

Annals of Quindaro:
A Kansas Ghost Town
by Alan W. Farley

Kansas Historical Quarterly
Winter, 1956 (Vol. 22, No. 4)

"Before Their Time"
by Andy Pierce, dramaturg

"Why one town should live and another die; why one should flourish continually and another's glory fade in a day are problems which often vex the wisest."  With this statement William Cutler began Quindaro's entry in the History of the State of Kansas (1883).  At Quindaro's founding in 1857, the town stood to rise in prominence and prosperity, securing its place in history.  The territory was situated on Kansas's side of the Missouri River, which promised river-traffic commerce.  Plans proposed a railroad through town, while Quindaro Free-Staters were already running an underground railroad.  Decades later, when Cutler published his history, Quindaro was scarcely a distant memory.  In 1983 papers were signed to turn the area into a city landfill. Perhaps a more pertinent question is why history remembers one town and marginalizes another.

One of the reasons Quindaro struggled to thrive could have been what historians called "town building madness."  Financially, Quindaro had strong prospects.  When the town opened its port on the Old Muddy, it was inevitable that commerce would follow.  Richard Cordley, a Kansas minister and abolitionist, wrote in his journals, "It is very common to hear it said that 'enterprise creates cities.'  It would be much nearer the truth to say that cities create and attract enterprise."  With so much in its favor, why wasn't Quindaro able to succeed?  Ultimately, the cause of Quindaro's financial downfall is also what should secure the town's place in history – its belief in equality.

"Quindaro was conceived during the darkest hour of the Free-State cause in Kansas territory..."  Pro-slavery settlers were controlling the ports in Atchison and Leavenworth, making commerce and abolition difficult tasks.  Quindaro was founded as a free port for both endeavors.  The town was named after one of its founders, Nancy Quindaro Brown.  Brown was part of the Wyandot Nation and was married to American citizen Abelard Guthrie.  The proposed location of the new town was on mostly Wyandot-owned land.  The Wyandots supported the beliefs of the town's founders and, with Guthrie overseeing negotiations, sold them their land.  The town was given Brown's Wyandot name, Quindaro, which means "strength in union.";  So, in 1857, a town was founded by white settlers, on land provided by Native Americans, with the mission of aiding black men and woman en route to freedom. 

It is said in the play, "'Strength in Union.' Ultimately, an idea big enough to save a nation." But Quindaro existed during a time that did not accept such ideas, only the town refused to accept this fact. Black citizens voted in Quindaro elections more than a decade before the 15th Amendment protected that right in America.  People of the town schooled black and white children side by side, almost a century before Kansas would see the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.  Most did not tolerate such progressive ideas.  Pro-slavery fighters forced commerce away from Quindaro's port. They went as far as to tell travelers the town didn't exist.  When the Civil War began, it was the Union side that left the town for ruins.  Ideas frighten people, but actions cause them to react, and Quindaro was active from the day its ground was broken.

Had it not been for the town's pro-abolitionist actions, Quindaro might have grown to rival Kansas City.  "They only lived before their time and three miles up the river," wrote Cordley.  Instead, Quindaro sacrificed its own well-being for what the majority of its citizens saw as a more important cause.  At a time when Quindaro could have financially prospered, it took up a fight other Kansas cities were unable to continue.  Although the town's prosperity was fleeting, Quindaro's achievements were vast.  For those reasons, Quindaro should be remembered as more than a footnote.  Quindaro's glory, its history, should never fade.