Our Current Projects

QUAD PROJECT UPDATE

The project to digitize the Lee Kroh Quads, and subsequent upload to www.kansas memory.org, should be completed by mid-February! This project was inaugurated by KCAHTA upon the passing of co-founder Lee Kroh in February 2019. Lee had expressed his desire to somehow provide opportunity for public access to his volume of materials and research regarding the historic frontier trails. His efforts evolved from mapping the route of the Frontier Military Road between Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Scott. Lee followed that effort with the task of mapping the historic route of the Santa Fe Trail between Old Franklin, MO and Santa Fe, NM, plus territorial roads in the Kansas City region.

For his mapping project, Lee referenced GLO survey data of the mid-1800s, old maps, and other reliable historical data, then transcribed the data onto USGS Topographic Survey Maps (QUADS). The Quad digitization project is being conducted in agreement with the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka, with the photographic services and processing conducted through its archival and photographic specialists. KCAHTA commends the KSHS staff for maintaining project schedules considering the challenges from the   2020 pandemic and unforeseen health issues of a project staff member. In addition, this photographic digitization effort by KSHS was the largest it had ever undertaken!

When the digitized Quads become available online, KCAHTA membership shall be notified with guidelines on how to access the files at www.kansas memory.org. This information will also be made public to as broad an audience as can be generated!

This project is made possible through funding by generous contributions from KCAHTA membership! Thanks again to KCAHTA’s project team of Bob Courtney, Lila Aamodt, Craig Voorhees, Ross Marshall and chair Gary Hicks.


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      You can make a donation to the KCAHTA - Kroh Quad Digitization Project - click on the tab above.
KCAHTA - KROH QUAD DIGITIZATION MAPPING PROJECT

We have a wonderful opportunity to get Lee Kroh’s trail maps digitized and make his information available to the public!
KCAHTA Executive Committee is committed to do it!
However, it is not free and we still need donations to make it work.

The digitization is being done by the Kansas Historical Society using a very professional photographic process.
The cost is appoximately $2600

The good news is that we are very close to our GOAL!

            Please consider a tax-deductible donation: send a check to or make your online donation by using the button above:
                                                                   Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association
                                                                              5400 Johnson Drive, Suite 275
                                                                                Mission, Kansas  66205-2911
  
Your membership and support of KCAHTA projects is greatly valued and integral to our ongoing mission!!
We don’t want to miss this opportunity!

Bob Courtney
Chair, KCAHTA Archives Committee
KROH DIGITIZATION PROJECT

With the passing of Lee Kroh in February of 2019, materials of his personal estate were gifted to KCAHTA by the Kroh family and subsequently transferred to the newly established Lee and Dorothy Kroh Collection of the KCAHTA Archives contained at the Mabee Learning Commons of MNU. Of great significance in the Kroh Collection are (342) U.S.G.S. maps. The Quads were utilized by Mr. Lee Kroh for the purpose of reference and mapping the historical trails and roads of the 1800s era as noted below:
• Complete historic route of the Santa Fe Trail between ‘old’ Franklin, Missouri and Santa Fe, NM, including alignments of the optional ‘Mountain Route’ and ‘Cimarron Routes’.
• Segments of the congruent Oregon- California Trails in the Kansas City region.
• Historic Fort Leavenworth to Fort Scott Military Road (including portions which traversed through Johnson County, Wyandotte County and Leavenworth County, Kansas regions of the general Kansas City area).
• Miscellaneous territorial roads in the region of the Kansas City area.

All 342 of the Quads have been grouped by historic trail routes according to associated trails and State Quad indexing. Each Quad has been numbered sequentially from 001 through 342 to correspond to the sequential pattern of a trail’s routing and state Quad indexing. A complete master listing of the Quads has been developed which correlates to the Quad trail route groups by state. Each of these tasks were undertaken by KCAHTA members Robert Courtney (Chair, KCAHTA Archives Committee), Ross Marshall, Craig Voorhees and Gary Hicks.

The entire digitization project is made possible through the VERY generous donations of our KCAHTA membership!! KSHS estimates the cost of the Quad digitization project at approximately $2,600. As of the date of this publication, approx. 90% of the funds have already been raised! All who have donated will have their names listed as funding supporters on www.KansasMemory.org of this digitation project. We still need donations!
Once the digitization is complete, along with the application of the metadata, and uploaded to www.KansasMemory.org, KSHS shall submit its billing to KCAHTA. This project is an opportunity for ALL KCAHTA members to participate through your funding support!!!

Through the professional photographic services provided by KSHS, the digitized Quad files and associated ‘materials’ shall be incorporated on www.KansasMemory.org website for continuous storage, hosting and public access. The collaborative digitization effort of KCAHTA and KSHS included the following activities:
Photographic digitization of U.S.G.S. Quadrangle Maps (Quads) from the KCAHTA archives at the Mabee Learning Commons on campus of the MidAmerica Nazarene University located in Olathe, Kansas. Based on information provided by KCAHTA, the KSHS provided a cost estimate to photographically digitize the Kroh Quads allowing for an additional five U.S.G.S. Quadrangle State Index Maps. (note: The Quad originals are now archived at the Mabee Learning Commons on the campus of MidAmerican University in Olathe.

Processing, development, formatting, and application of metadata associated with the digitized Quad files is to be hosted on the KSHS website (www. kansasmemory.org).
The www.KansasMemory.org website is sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society as a database of primary resources of Kansas history and heritage.

It is anticipated that the Quad digital files shall be available for public access by the middle of this 2020 year. 

Gary L. Hicks, President

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