Trading Post Museum

 15710 North 4th Street 
Pleasanton, Kansas 66075
(913) 352-6441

Year around Thursday & Saturday: 10 AM - 3 PM
May through October 
Wednesday - Saturday: 10 AM  3 PM

No admission charge, but donations are appreciated

Trading Post Museum Map

Trading Post Museum - Pleasanton, Kansas
Trading Post Museum
Trading Post Museum - Pleasanton, Kansas

The Trading Post Museum is located in the Trading Post ghost town, 4 miles north of Pleasanton, Kansas. The museum includes exhibits devoted to mid 19th Century history, the Marais des Cygnes Massacre and the Civil War Battle of Mine Creek. Trading Post is the oldest existing settlement in Kansas and was listed as "establishment de Choteau" on the 1825 Vandermaelen map that is on display in the museum.

Trading Post is near the site of the Marais de Cygne Massacre, which occurred on May 19, 1858. There is a memorial to those killed and wounded in the massacre at the adjacent Trading Post Cemetery. The Marais des Cygnes Massacre was one of the last significant acts of violence in Bleeding Kansas prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Pro slavery men from Missouri killed five free state men and wounded five others in a ravine near the Marais de Cygne River, 3 miles northeast of Trading Post.

Trading Post was also where Union troops fired on Confederate troops on October 25, 1864 in what become the Battle of Mine Creek several miles farther south. That battle was the only major Civil War battle fought on Kansas soil.

The small museum is packed with items in a manner that reminds me of an out of the way antique shop. I think some people would be through with the museum in a few minutes, while others could spend several hours exploring the corners and discovering items which interested them.

The Trading Post Historical Society is a great resource for visitors wanting to learn the history of this part of Bleeding Kansas.

The Trading Post Museum exhibits Indian flint and clothing, early weapons including a Bowie knife, bullets from the Civil War Battle of Mine Creek, and wide variety of early pioneer tools & household goods.

The Trading Post Museum in Pleasenton is open from 10AM - 3PM Thursday & Saturday year around and Wednesday through Saturday from May to October. The museum may be visited at other times by appointment.
 

Marais Du Cygne Martyrs Memorial - Trading Post, Kansas Marais Du Cygne Martyrs Memorial 

Trading Post Museum gallery
This is about half of the Trading Post Museum

Marais de Cygne Massacre diorama - Trading Post Museum
Marais de Cygne Massacre diorama

Kansas button making and pottery exhibit
pieces of pottery, pieces of the potters whelk and shells which were used for making buttons from the Marais des Cygnes River

Trading Post Cemetery - Trading Post Kansas
Trading Post Cemetery and Marais Du Cygne Martyrs Memorial

Trading Post Museum Map - Pleasanton, Kansas
Trading Post Museum Map

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