On February 14th visitors to the Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Park south of Wamego discovered that the hilltop monument to Captain William Mitchell and the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony had been toppled and destroyed. The nine-foot-tall limestone monolith had been erected in 1956 by the Kansas State Historical Society during the centennial year of the colony’s arrival in Kansas Territory. Its placement had been one of the stipulations of the property’s transfer to state ownership by Captain Mitchell’s son Will three years earlier. Another stipulation of the gift was that the property would become a state park dedicated to Mitchell and the abolitionists of the Connecticut Colony.
After her brother’s death, Maude Mitchell, daughter of Captain and Mary Mitchell, contracted with Joe Beaudet of the Manhattan Monument Company to erect the marker. She accompanied Beaudet and his crew to the top of the hill expressing to him that she hoped the state would create the park she and her brother had envisioned. She died the following year.
For many reasons, the state never developed a park, and in 2002 the historical society began plans to return the property to Will Mitchell’s heirs. Local residents, now known as the Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards, contacted the Mitchell family and received their permission to pursue the property’s transfer to local control so that they could create the park their grandfather had envisioned.
The Kansas Legislature made the transfer in April of 2006 and since that time the Prairie Guards have raised over one million dollars to develop the Park. Its size has grown from 30 to 164 acres. Construction of a new main entrance and parking area at 29000 Mount Mitchell Road began last July and is expected to be completed in time for the Guard’s 11th annual Mitchell Farm and Prairie Celebration on June 22nd.
Other improvements include the installation of water, power, and WIFI connectivity, and a restroom as well as an accessible path to the swales of the Topeka Fort Riley Road, used by the westernmost route of the Underground Railroad. An interpretive kiosk will inform visitors of the many stories associated with this landscape. It will begin with the ancient Permian seas that created the Flint Hills topography, the appearance of a glacier that brought Sioux quartzite boulders to the area, the first indigenous people to live here, and continue to the present day.
The bronze plaque from the toppled monument has been salvaged and will be incorporated into a new monument that will also acknowledge the many donors who have fulfilled Will Mitchell’s dream to create a park that honors the pioneers who made Kansas a state free from slavery.
The Prairie Guards are currently working with the Kansas Department of Transportation and local officials to include a bike/walking path as part of the final phase of Highway 99’s reconstruction. The trail will run from the Miller Family Nature Preserve south of the Kansas River Bridge to the northwest corner of the Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Park at the junction of Highways K99 and K18. This route is included in the Flint Hills Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Master Trail Plan and will connect Mount Mitchell with the Kansas River National Water Trail and the Great Plains Gravel Route.
According to cell phone data, Mount Mitchell received 3,220 visitors in 2022. The majority of visitors came from Pottawatomie, Riley, and Wabaunsee Counties. Tax-deductible contributions to assist in replacing the destroyed monument or for other improvements to the park can be made by check to Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards, PO Box 136, Wamego KS 66547 or click here to make your donation!
The board of the Prairie Guards is pleased to announce that Phase Two of our Education Expansion Project, also known as the Mount Mitchell Development Project, is well on its way to completion. The infrastructure improvements to the former Mitchell farmland we purchased in 2019 include a new entrance and access road from Mount Mitchell Road, a new parking area, and for those with mobility issues an ADA trail to the remnants of the historic Topeka Fort Riley Road. The 300-foot-long retaining wall of local limestone is a work of art that blends the parking area seamlessly with the prairie.
As with most construction projects, we ran into several “unforeseen conditions” that have put us over budget and strained our bank account. All the major undertakings of this phase of the Park’s development; the road, parking area, retaining wall, ADA trail, kiosk structure, and basic water, electrical, and internet hook-ups: work totaling close to $200,000 have been paid for thanks to generous donations over the past two years. We give special thanks to the Miller Hammond and HHM Charitable Funds whose contributions enabled us to pay off our mortgage and begin this second phase of infrastructure improvements.
We hope that our participation in the Wamego Match Day on October 5th and the Emporia Match Day on November 14th will help us raise funds to finish the following components of the project:
Final utilities installation $32,000
Porta-potty site preparation $5,390
Interpretive kiosk signage design and hardware $18,500
Stabilization of Connecticut Colony monument $3,000
Entrance sign $13,100
Entrance gate $4,500
Re-seeding disturbed areas $3,500
6 Fireproof benches $7,500
Foundation repair to the Mitchell Barn $8,000
Previous contributions have enabled us to expand the Park from 45 acres to 164 acres. We’ve saved more prairie from commercial and residential development, converted 100 acres of cropland back to its original prairie, and we will now be able to double the length of our trail system.
I hope you will consider helping us complete this new entrance into the Park and its accompanying infrastructure. We’ve located it in such a way that it will provide visitors with a unique prairie experience even if they cannot leave the parking area. It will accommodate school/tour buses, provide handicapped parking, and allow easy access for all to the historic features of the property. Signage in the new kiosk will tell the many fascinating stories associated with Mount Mitchell.
Many donors have helped us create this wonderful prairie Park now enjoyed by folks from all over the world. We are extremely grateful to them. If you are able, please help us finish this work.
This year we again have an anonymous donor who will “Double Match” your contribution. Online contributions can be made between 12 AM and 11:59 PM on October 5th at WamegoMatchDay.com.
The 10th Annual Mitchell Farm & Prairie Celebration will celebrate springtime and paying off the mortgage on the recent expansion of the Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Park. The purchased acreage expanded the historic tallgrass prairie Park from 45 to 164 acres.
The event will be held on Saturday, June 3rd from 10 am till noon at the Park and the privately owned Mitchell Farmstead located at 29213 Mount Mitchell Road, Wamego. The farmstead’s log cabin was a station on the Underground Railroad from 1857 to 1861. Both the Park and Farmstead are recognized sites of the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom Program commemorating the Underground Railroad.
Last July, the ruts and swales of the Topeka Fort Riley Road, the farmstead, and the Park were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Historic District.
Saturday’s event will feature tours of the historic log cabin Underground Railroad station and docent-led wildflower walks at the Park located at 29377 Mitchell Prairie Lane, Wamego. The prairie is expected to be in full bloom after recent rains.
A box lunch will be served at 12:30 at the Beecher Bible & Rifle Church in Wabaunsee. Following lunch at 1:30, Courtney Masterson, Executive Director and Ecologist of Native Lands Restoration Collaborative will speak about prairie restoration efforts in Eastern Kansas.
Mount Mitchell is located 3 & ½ miles south of Wamego or 5.5 miles north of I-70 on K-99 The Mitchell Farmstead is located at 29213 Mount Mitchell Road, Wamego Wildflower walks will start at the east end of Mitchell Prairie Lane off Highway 99 The Beecher Bible & Rifle Church is located at Elm & Chapel in Wabaunsee, off K 18
The Wamego Match Day was a great success. We raised just under our goal of $25,000. Thank you to all who contributed! For those who still wish to contribute to Phase Two of our Park development plan our focus has moved to the Emporia Community Foundation Match Day on November 14th. The money we raise will be used for the Park improvements discussed below.
This year we again have a “double match.” An anonymous donor wishes to match all contributions in Memory of Dr. Tom Eddy, professor of biology at Emporia State University and recipient of the 2021 Flint Hills Discovery Center Friend of the Flint Hills Award. Tom was a beloved educator who sang the praises of tallgrass prairie and the Flint Hills for over 50 years including in our Mount Mitchell brochure.
With your help we have transformed a nationally recognized historic site into an educational outdoor museum and natural recreation area enjoyed by visitors from near and far year-round. Our 99-acre landscape restoration project is demonstrating how to convert marginal crop ground into re-created prairie. The Park is being utilized by educators from local school districts and homeschoolers.
The Park and the Mitchell Farmstead are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district. The National Park Service has recognized the Park and Farmstead as official Network to Freedom Sites commemorating the Underground Railroad. The Park is also a major feature along the Native Stone Scenic Byway, and it is a Star Attraction of the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area. Recently it was honored to be included in the U.S. Civil Rights Trail as an “auxiliary site” to the Brown v Board of Education National Historic Site. It is also a candidate for inclusion in the Kansas African American History Trail.
Our vision is to become a National Commemorative Site or National Monument dedicated to those who sought their freedom on the Underground Railroad and those who helped them. Our long-range plan calls for acquiring the Mitchell Farmstead and converting the house into a museum, the stone barn into an Educational Center, and the tenant house will be used for a resident Park Manager.
Emporia Match Day is an opportunity to fund Phase Two of our Education Expansion Project. Your donations will be used toward completing the following improvements:
2022-23
A new Park entrance off the all-weather Mount Mitchell Road which will lead to a new parking area closer to the historic trail ruts and tall grass
Expansion of our trail system by two and a half miles
Park Entrance signage and gate
Perimiter fencing
Bringing water, power and internet (for security) into the Park
On the horizon
We will build an accessible trail that leads to the remnants of the historic Topeka Fort Riley Road for those with mobility issues
An additional interpretive kiosk in the new parking area
Creation of a “Kansas Prairie Poetry Trail” along the expanded trail system
Checks made out to the Emporia Community Foundation dated November 14, 2022, can now be sent to PO Box 136, Wamego, KS 66547. The attached donation form should accompany your check. Online contributions can be made from 12:00 am through 11:59 pm on Match Day 11/14/2022 at https://www.emporiamatchday.com
On behalf of the Board of the Prairie Guards, I want to thank everyone who has helped us achieve our successes. We hope you continue your support. The best is yet to come.
Michael Stubbs, Christy Crenshaw, Bruce Waugh, Michelle Crisler, John Hund, Kathryn Mitchell Buster, Christian Bishop, and Brian Peterson
The Prairie Guards have again received generous challenge grants from the Miller/Hammond and HHM Charitable Foundations! Their gifts totaling $50,000 will retire our mortgage and the match we raise will be used as matching funds for additional grants that will allow us to bring water and power into the Park, double the number of trails, build a new access road from Mount Mitchell Road to a new parking area, and build an ADA compliant trail to the ruts and swales of the Topeka Fort Riley Road, once used by freedom-seekers on the Underground Railroad. These improvements will also create the setting for a future Visitor’s Interpretive Center. Gifts to the Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards will be doubled between now and the end of November! This includes funds generated from our participation in the Wamego Match Day and the Emporia Community Foundation Match Day Emporia Community Foundation Match Day on November 15th.
So far, we have received $15,000 toward this match. Please help us reach the finish line and get the land paid off so that we can continue to develop this wonderful community asset.
ADDITIONAL GOOD NEWS!
If all goes well, the Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review will soon approve the Mitchell Farmstead and the Park for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as the Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Historic District.
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The Prairie Guards have again received generous challenge grants from the Miller/Hammond and HHM Charitable Foundations! Their gifts totaling $50,000 will retire our mortgage and the match we raise will be used as matching funds for additional grants that will allow us to bring water and power into the Park, double the number of trails, build a new access road from Mount Mitchell Road to a new parking area, and build an ADA compliant trail to the ruts and swales of the Topeka Fort Riley Road, once used by freedom-seekers on the Underground Railroad. These improvements will also create the setting for a future Visitor’s Interpretive Center. Gifts to the Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards will be doubled between now and the end of November! This includes funds generated from our participation in the 
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