Big Muddy Speaker Series

Presentation by Travis Boley, Oregon-California Trails Association

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Where – Westport Coffeehouse Theater – 4010 Pennsylvania Ave. Kansas City, MO

6 p.m. – Social Hour
7 p.m. – Presentation. Presentation will be filmed – After 7 PM, Please enter through Green Room Burgers

PLUS – This presentation audio will be streaming live on KCDV.tv!
(See past videos here)

Presentation is FREE and open to the public!

Click here for flier (pdf)

For many pioneers headed west, the Missouri River served as the first leg in their journey to the Western Trails.  Travis Boley, Association Manager for the Oregon-California Trails Association, will discuss rethinking the Missouri River in terms of its unique status as a waterway that doubles as a National Historic Trail.

He is already engaged in creating a 40 mile hiking/biking trail in the shared historic corridor of the Oregon/California/Santa Fe Trail from Sugar Creek to Gardner. It will intersect with the Katy Trail Extension at 63rd and Blue Ridge Blvd. in Raytown, making it possible for hikers and bikers to easily access the Missouri River at the former Wayne City Landing near present day Sugar Creek.

But his grander vision includes opening up wide swaths of the Missouri River shoreline to allow similar non-motorized access to our metro area’s riverfront, including trails that connect the remaining historic sites from the Lewis & Clark Expedition and the old riverboat landings for the wagon roads. This concept would fully realize the idea that Congress established in the 1968 National Trails Act, which called for the building of “retracement” trails in such corridors to forever preserve these corridors.

A map showing the proposed trail connections bringing the Western Trail network to the Missouri River near Sugar Creek, MO.
Map courtesy of Independence Examiner.

Travis Boley is the Association Manager of the Oregon-California Trails Association. He has held this position since 2003. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of the Pony Express National Museum in St. Joseph, Curator at the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame (formerly in St. Louis), and Curator at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. He earned a BA in History from UMKC and a Masters in Historical Administration with an emphasis in Archaeology from the University of Kansas. He lives in Independence.

Directions

Westport CoffeeHouse – 4010 Pennsylvania Kansas City, Mo – www.westportcoffeehouse.com

The Westport CoffeeHouse is in the Westport entertainment area, midtown KC, south of downtown and north of the Plaza.  The main intersection is Westport Rd and Broadway.  From this intersection, go west on Westport Rd one block to Pennsylvania. Turn north (right).

OR you can get there from the intersection of Southwest Trafficway and Westport Rd.  Go east on Westport Rd to Pennsylvania. Turn north (left).

Westport Coffee House is approximately one block down on the west side of Pennsylvania.  Parking can be had either south of the coffee house in the large parking lot or just north of the coffee house alongside the building.  Enter through Green Room Burgers or Westport CoffeeHouse.