Brian Burnes
Stories by Brian Burnes
A Better Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City | Part III
Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. The engagement on the Big Blue Battlefield was pivotal in the larger Battle of Westport, an October 1864 clash that effectively ended organized Confederate military operations in Missouri. As the years receded,…
A Better Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City | Part II
Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. In the mid-19th century, overland trail teamsters driving wagons west sometimes followed a branch of the Santa Fe Trail out of Independence, using the shortcut to reach fields where the animals used…
A Better Big Blue Battlefield | Part I
Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. It was cold for late October in Kansas City. In 1864 Lt. Patrick Henry Minor, then leading an artillery battery against Confederate forces, would die the following March, from what likely had…
Historic Earthquakes Accounts Guide Modern First Responders
On December 16, 1811, a U.S. Army officer stationed in the soon-to-be-established Missouri Territory woke just after 2 a.m. reacting to what he described as a “great agitation”, an earthquake. Several of the officer’s guards, he soon wrote to a friend, “could scarcely keep their feet” during the shaking, which he said lasted about eight…
David and Beulah Bulkley and the Creation of City Union Mission
David and Beulah Mulkey turned their lives upside down to create the City Union Mission, which marks its centennial serving the downtrodden in September.
After Blowout Loss, How Can Stadium Issue Be Revisited?
Despite a blowout loss at the polls, political veterans say the Royals and Chiefs can come back with detailed, transparent stadium plans.
Kansas City Royals and Chiefs Flirt With ‘Options’
It’s not hard to find examples of big-time professional sports franchises leaving Kansas City for greener pastures. Could the Royals and Chiefs be next?
When it Comes to Stadiums in Kansas City, History Repeats
Before Truman Sports Complex was built, a domed stadium was considered in the Crossroads. Decades later, the Kansas City Royals want to build in the Crossroads.
U.S. Army Base Renamed to Honor Black World War I Hero
A Louisiana U.S. Army base once named for a Confederate general today bears the name of Henry Johnson, a Black World War I U.S. Army hero with Kansas City ties.
Nichols’ Folly: A Century of the Country Club Plaza
The Country Club Plaza, as it marks its centennial, is at a crossroads. J.C. Nichols' iconic district is seen both as private property and public trust.