Kaw Valley Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide to Northeastern Kansas - Softcover

Shortridge, James R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0700603832 ISBN 13: 9780700603831

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 1988

Synopsis

This detailed guide to the backroads and small towns of northeastern Kansas charts a 350-mile loop from the Kansas-Missouri border west through the majestic Flint Hills. The mile-by-mile descriptions cover the following counties: Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, Osage, Wabaunsee, Pottawatomie, Jackson, Shawnee, Jefferson, and Leavenworth. Along the way, Shortridge's commentary on the history, economy, architecture, and demographics of the region provides a rich appreciation of the landscape and encourages lingering and thoughtful contemplation.

"Kansas perhaps needs a tour guide more than do many places," writes cultural geographer James Shortridge, "for the state is more generally viewed as a place to escape from than a place to visit." Illustrated with numerous maps and with charming pen-and-ink drawings by Antoinette Cook Smith, Kaw Valley Landscapes demonstrates that beyond the interstate highways of northeastern Kansas are ethnic enclaves, Indian reservations, sleepy rural towns, a variety of folk architecture, dramatic examples of the geological effects of glaciation--in short, "a fascinating local panorama of land and life."

"The starting point is easy to find, at the Kansas-Missouri border on I-70. It is an appropriate place because the Kansas River, whose valley is the subject of this book, here empties into the Missouri. The spot has added significance in that the viaduct over the Kaw is dedicated to Lewis and Clark. What better place," Shortridge asks, "for a modern exploring expedition to begin?"

Kaw Valley Landscapes is a revised edition of the guidebook originally published in 1977.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This detailed guide to the back roads and small towns of northeastern Kansas charts a 350-mile loop from the Kansas-Missouri border west through the majestic flint Hills. It ambles through ethnic enclaves, Indian reservations, and sleepy rural town, focusing, in turn, on folk architecture, geology, and history--in short, observing the local panorama of land and life.

About the Author

James R. Shortridge is a professor of geography at the University of Kansas. Among his other books are Our Town on the Plains: J. J. Pennell's Photographs of Junction City, Kansas, 1893-1922, Peopling the Plains: Who Settled Where in Frontier Kansas, and The Middle West: Its Meaning in American Culture, winner of the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0700603832
• ISBN 13: 9780700603831
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 256