On November 14 1838 jackson county for the second time in five months began the process of auctioning the Gabriel Prudhomme family farm as auctioneer George Tait prepared the podium forbidding by laying planks across the fencing of a livestock pen 14 of the men gathered to bid on the property decided they would have better luck securing the land if they pull their resources.

They called themselves the town company and bought the farm with a bid of $4,220 the company's intent was to plot the land and sell the tracks and creating a Wesport's landing the money was promised to be paid with ten percent interest within the year The Prudhomme heirs finally received their money in 1843 five years after the auction 13 years after their father Gabriel Prudhomme was killed in a bar room brawl William Sublette the leader of the town company was a fur trapper that spent months at a time in the unsettled west he was the first to prove the Overland Trail could be navigated by wagon and thusly open the oregon trail to immigrants going west he retired from the fur trade in 1836 moved to st.

Louis and spent the rest of his life as a businessman farmer and politician a native of Alexandria Virginia William Chick his wife Anna Eliza and their three children moved to Missouri to pursue a life of farming on the land owned by Anna Eliza's father.

The family originally settled in saline county but moved further west in 1826 when their farm and house were destroyed by flooding.

The Chick family finally settled in westport in 1836 William purchased his two-story mercantile from John Calvin McCoy and ran it with his wife and nine children after the town company purchase William closed his store and move to his new property he became the area's first postmaster.

He accepted mail addressed to Kansas, Missouri.

Today you can send mail from the William M. Chick post office located in Kansas City's northeast side as a teenager William Gillis spent four years on the sea practicing as a ship carpenter then as a young man of 18, Gillis began working as a carpenter for william henry harrison.

William Gillis thought very highly of the ninth president of the united states and often referred to Harrison as a mentor and a hero.

During the 1820s Gillis began training with american indians in southern Missouri the Delaware tribe was so fond of Gillis they made him an honorary member when they were forced to move north to the new Indian Territory in 1831 Gillis moved with them he settled in what would become kansas city's west side continuing to trade with the American Indians and farming his land Gillis built Kansas City's first hotel, financed its first newspaper, and died one day after driving the final spike in the Hannibal railroad bridge the first bridge to cross the Missouri River and establish kansas city as a major rail center of the United States after the land purchase the 14 men met in the log cabin near the levee the cabin belong to one eyed Ellis.

Ellis acted as a justice of the peace in the area being a third party whenever signature was needed near the levee he also made money illegally by selling homemade fire water to american indians for Coon skins the first order of business was choosing a name for the new town several names were given to debate.

Rabbitville and Possum Trot were a couple.

Town company partner Abraham Fonda demanded they use the name Port Fonda after being voted down unanimously it is said that Abraham left town the next day never to return after much debate the men decided on the moniker the town of Kansas legal problems and constant fighting within the group kept the land mostly vacant for eight years however the onset of the mexican-american war saw the tide began to turn, the united states began using the levee to offload military supplies and sending them to the seventy nine thousand troops via the Santa Fe Trail in 1849 former westport resident John Center struck gold in California The California Gold Rush had begun and more than 40,000 people pass through the area by wagons, oxen, and supplies for their journey West the town of kansas was becoming a city