Kansas Timeline

1857 James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok Meets William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
In 1855, at the age of 18, Hickok moved to Kansas Territory following a fight with Charles Hudson, which resulted in both falling into a canal. Mistakenly thinking he had killed Hudson, H...
1861 Jan 29 Kansas is the 34th State Admitted to the Union
Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861. About two hundred years earlier the French Jesuit priests, Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, were among the region's earli...
1861 Dec 26 Battle of Chustenahlah - Opothleyahola Flees to Kansas
The Battle of Chustenahlah was fought in Osage County, Oklahoma, (then Indian Territory) on December 26, 1861, during the American Civil War. A band of 9,000 pro-Union Native Americans wa...
1862 Aug 11 First Battle of Independence, MO - Confederate Dominance near Kansas City Strengthened
Description: On August 11, 1862, Col. J.T. Hughes’s Confederate force, including William Quantrill, attacked Independence, at dawn, in two columns on different roads. They drove through t...
1863 Aug 21 Quantrill's Raiders Pillage the City at the Lawrence Massacre
Description: In a supposed retaliation for a Union raid on Osceola, Missouri, Lt. Col. William C. Quantrill led a force of about 300 to 400 partisans in an attack on the city of Lawrence,...
1863 Oct 6 Battle of Baxter Springs - Quantrill's Raiders Massacre Union Black Troops
Description: After conducting many raids in Kansas, including the massacre at Lawrence, Quantrill decided to winter in Texas. Along with other partisans, he headed south on the Texas Road...
1864 Oct 25 Battle of Mine Creek
Description: About six miles south of Trading Post, where the Marais de Cygnes engagement had occurred, the brigades of Col. Frederick W. Benteen and Col. John F. Phillips, of Maj. Gen. A...
1869 Aug 23 James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok is Elected Sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas
In July 1869, Hickok was back in Hays and was elected sheriff and city marshal of Ellis County, Kansas, in a special election, on August 23, 1869. The county was having particular difficu...
1870 Jul 17 James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok Kills a 7th Cavalry Soldier in Gunfight at Paddy Welch's Bar
Unemployed, Hickok passed his time gambling, drinking, and occasionally working as a hunting guide. He quickly became bored and was considering taking work at the nearby Fort Hays as an a...
1871 Oct 5 James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok Kills Two Men During a Street Brawl
While working in Abilene, Hickok and Phil Coe, a saloon owner, had an ongoing dispute that later resulted in a shootout. Coe had been the business partner of known gunman Ben Thompson, wi...
1931 Mar 31 Transcontinental & Western Air Flight 599 Crashes, Killing 8
Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 599 was a Fokker F.10 Trimotor en route from Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 1931. It crashed ten miles south of Co...
1947 Apr 9 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward Tornadoes of 1947
The tornadoes began in Texas. Just after the White Deer tornado dissipated, the first tornado of this event formed five miles (8 km) northwest of Pampa, Texas. The series of tornadoes wou...