Clarina I.H. Nichols

Quindaro, Kansas

By Tony O’ Bryan, University of Missouri—Kansas City

When Kansas Territory was opened for settlement in 1854, a number of towns sprang up along the Missouri and Kansas Rivers and each attracted migration and commerce. Some settlements were predominantly proslavery, including Leavenworth, Lecompton, and Atchison, and others were Free-Soil, such as Lawrence, Topeka, and Quindaro.

Chindowan Newspaper Published in Quindaro

Wed, 05/13/1857

Like its home town, Quindaro, Kansas, the Chindowan newspaper draws its name from a Wyandotte Indian word, in this case meaning "leader." By this time the abolitionist town is established with some three dozen households, most of which are African American.