Trails Head Chapter History
The Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) was founded in Denver in 1982 and held its first convention in Independence, Missouri in 1983. Barbara Magerl, Kansas City-area historian and free-lance writer, began coordinating meetings and trail programs. In early 1986, the developing public interest coalesced with the formation of Trails Head Chapter, the third OCTA chapter.
From its beginning, Trails Head has promoted research and education with its members and the public. Early on, members already were researching Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trails since all three trails ran on the same routes in the Greater Kansas City area. In 1990, Trails Head sought to be both an OCTA chapter and a Santa Fe Trail Association (SFTA) chapter. The OCTA Board at first approved the request, but then rescinded approval. Soon thereafter, the Missouri River Outfitters of SFTA was formed. Trails Head has hoped to enhance awareness of trail issues by partnering with a wide variety of facilities and associations, including the Missouri River Outfitters of SFTA. The primary vehicles for spreading information about the area trails continues to be public talks, the chapter newsletters, trail treks, site tours, and the presentation of awards. If you wish to learn more details of Trails Head history, click on the headings below.
LOCATIONS OF ANNUAL MEETINGS
For years, Trails Head deliberately scheduled meetings in many different locations to try to reach a wide variety of audiences. Sometime after Trailside Center opened as a public meeting space at 99th & Holmes in Kansas City, Missouri, that Center became a convenient location to schedule Trails Head annual meetings. Trailside Center is owned by the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Historical Society of New Santa Fe is the managing partner.
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS
For the first 18 years of the chapter, the term of office for each Trails Head officer was for one year, and each officer could be re-elected for only one consecutive term. When the bylaws were amended in November of 2004, the secretary and the treasurer then could be re-elected for unlimited numbers of consecutive terms. When the bylaws were amended in 2018, all officer terms became two years. The president and vice president could continue to serve only two successive terms, which became a total of four years, not a total of two. The 2004 and 2018 bylaws both do say that officers shall serve until successors are duly elected.
In the listings that follow, the year given for an officer’s service is the year after the annual meeting, even though an officer’s term would have started at the end of the annual meeting late in the year.
BYLAWS
Trails Head bylaws were first adopted on November 10, 1988, almost three years after the chapter was formed. In 1990, President James Lee recommended a review of the bylaws. In 1991, President Bill Bullard appointed a Bylaws Committee to consider changes, but no amendments were recommended. The members first amended the bylaws on November 4, 2004. The bylaws next were amended by the board and presiding President Jean Coupal-Smith on November 3, 2018.
CHAPTER-SPONSORED TREKS & TOURS
In 1988, Trails Head began sponsoring treks following historic trail routes and/or going to significant historic places. At first, these treks were car caravans, although some of the early ones, such as a 1989 trek from Arrow Rock to Ft. Osage, used rented vans. Trails Head began to use rented buses in 1994, on a tour to Ft. Scott that followed the route of the Ft. Leavenworth to Ft. Scott Military Road. At times, Trails Head has sponsored a walking tour of a site or an area to which participants can drive to the location. Also some chapter gatherings have included a business meeting, plus the tour of a site or a tour within a building.
Listing of Trails Head Treks and Site Tours
Leaders/Guides of Trails Head Treks and Site Tours
When most of the earliest chapter-sponsored treks were car caravans, one or more guides talked to the participants at each stop. After treks switched to buses, then one or more guides not only talked at stops, but also talked as buses moved between sites. Over the years, some Trails Head programs have been held at historic sites and/or museums. Someone often has given a walking tour at those meeting places.
OCTA NATIONAL CONVENTIONS SPONSORED BY TRAILS HEAD
From 1983 to the present, the Oregon-California Trails Association has held a national annual convention. For many years, the convention was held in August, but that has varied with the passage of time. Some also have occurred in July and in September.
For published handouts, the 2012 Trails Head convention planners followed the same scheme of the 2000 Trails Head convention planners. A separate handout of tour maps with tour information was developed for tour participants. A different booklet, under the editorship of Trails Head members Pat Traffas and Craig Crease, includes articles on background information. This booklet, titled “Trails, Trials and Territories”, includes 21 two- to five-paged articles helpful to anyone wishing to understand the many facets of the trail era in the Greater Kansas City era.
If you would like to acquire the booklet “Trails, Tribes and Territories”, you may purchase from the OCTA online bookstore at:
https://www.octa-trails.org/product/2012-octa-convention-souvenir-booklet-lawrence-ks/
If you would like to acquire the 12-paged tour map booklet for the five 2012 convention tours (tour descriptions & maps), you may purchase from the OCTA online bookstore at:
https://www.octa-trails.org/product/2012-octa-convention-tour-map-booklet-lawrence.ks/
AWARDS PRESENTED BY TRAILS HEAD
In the earliest years of the chapter, Trails Head presented Certificates of Appreciation. Later this award came to be called “Award of Appreciation”, although the phrase “Certificate of Appreciation” has continued to be used at times, such as for local student winners of OCTA calendar contest.
In 2008, Trails Head also added two more awards, Meritorious Achievement Award for members who have been extremely active, and Distinguished Partner Award for a non-member person or entity that has partnered with Trails Head and other historic trail organizations in a significant way.
PARTNERING IN JOINT ACTIVITIES
From its beginning, Trails Head has partnered with many historical entities when scheduling programs and events. As other trail organizations also developed, Trails Head has made a particular effort to partner with those trail organizations through joint meetings, tours, and projects.
Trails Head not only has promoted historic trails with historical and trail organizations, but also with cities, counties, school districts, and more. This has resulted in a growing awareness of historic trails, and thus more and more entities have installed trail signage, markers, art, etc. As a result, the Oregon-California Trails Assn., at the 2014 national convention, presented Trails Head Chapter with the President’s Award, an occasional OCTA award, for the promotion of partnering in the Greater Kansas City area.
Due to the amount of partnering over the years, any attempt to make a complete list of all the partnered activities with Trails Head and other organizations interested in historic trails would be incomplete. Nonetheless, the following is an attempt to delineate many of the partnered activities to show the reality of the long-time stance of Trails Head partnering with others interested in historic trails.
Sometimes the Trails Head partnering has involved only one other entity. At other times, the partnering has involved three or more groups interested in promoting historic trails.
Trails Head was formed before Gateway Chapter. In the early years of Trails Head, St. Joseph OCTA members regularly participated in Trails Head activities. In fact, the first Trails Head vice president in 1986 was Rich Nolf, the then director of St. Joseph Museum.
In the Greater Kansas City area, the routes of the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trails ran together on the same routes. Thus, from the start, Trails Head members were interested in the Santa Fe Trail, as well as the Oregon and California trails. In 1990, Trails Head sought to become both an OCTA chapter and a Santa Fe Trails Association (SFTA) chapter. The Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) Board at first approved the request, but then rescinded that approval. Within months, Jane Mallinson, a member of both OCTA and SFTA, shepherded the creation of a chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association, with many members from the Kansas City area. This Missouri River Outfitters chapter continues to have a number of members who are also members of Trails Head.
Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association (KCAHTA)
Missouri River Outfitters (MRO)
Daughters of American Revolution (DAR)
Missouri-Kansas River Bend Chapter of Lewis & Clark Foundation
Friends of National Frontier Trails Museum (NFTM)
Douglas County Chapter of SFTA
Santa Fe Trails Association (SFTA)
Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA)
with Trails Head
Friends of National Frontier Trails Museum (NFTM) [originally called National Frontier Trails Center]
Missouri River Outfitters (MRO)
Missouri-Kansas River Bend Chapter of Lewis & Clark Foundation
with Trails Head
Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association (KCAHTA)
Friends of National Frontier Trails Museum (NFTM)
Missouri River Outfitters (MRO)
Daughters of American Revolution (DAR)
Santa Fe Trails Association (SFTA)
Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA)
with Trails Head
OCTA Kanza Chapter
OCTA Nebraska Chapter
Three OCTA Chapters (Kanza, Gateway, & Trails Head)
Four OCTA Chapters (Kanza, Gateway, Nebraska, & Trails Head)
3-Trails Corridor Partnership
Avila History Club
Western Historical Manuscripts Collection of Kansas City
Friends of Chicago & Alton Railroad Depot
Shawnee Indian Mission Historic Site
Long-Distance Trails Office of National Park Service
Consortium Partnered to develop Independence Landing Overlook
2002 through 2009— Independence Landing first was marked with one granite marker. Later, the overlook, on private land of Lafarge cement company, was further developed with interpretive markers, plantings, sidewalks, and parking lot. Numerous groups raised money and developed plans for this expanded mini-park. All those who provided expertise and/or money are listed below.
Lafarge North American, Inc.
Sugar Creek Business & Civic Club
Kansas City 150th Anniversary Legacy Fund
U.S. National Park Service
Independence Pioneers Chapter-Daughters of American Revolution
Missouri State Society of Daughters of American Revolution
Independence Young Matrons
Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission
Trails Head Chapter of OCTA
Missouri River Outfitters of SFTA
The Mallinson Family
Susan Julian Davis
Johnson County Kansas Heritage Foundation and Affiliates
In November 2014, initial plans were formulated to create a new organization to advocate for the preservation of Johnson County, Kansas heritage. This new group hoped to develop a new grants program to support preservation initiatives in the said Kansas county. By January 2017, JCKHF was registered with the State of Kansas. KCAHTA, MRO, and Trails Head were all members from the beginning. The following is a list of the JCKHF affiliate members.
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area
De Soto Kansas Historical Society
Gardner Historical Museum, Inc.
Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association
Leawood Historic Commission
Lenexa Historical Society
Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm Historic Site
Mid-America Nazarene University
Missouri River Outfitters Chapter (SFTA)
Monticello Community Historical Society
Museum of Deaf History Arts and Culture
Overland Park Historical Society
Olathe Historical Society
Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society
Stilwell Community Organization
Trails Head Chapter (OCTA)
Rendezvous with Many Trail & Historical Organizations
Trails Head President Pat Traffas, along with Ross Marshall, invited nearly 20 historical and trail organizations to the first rendezvous at the new Lone Elm Park in 2006. The purpose of these local National Trail Day events is to promote partnering in regards to historic trails.
2006 June 10—Trails Head hosted the first historic trail rendezvous at Lone Elm Park, in Olathe
2008 June 7—Trails Head hosted the second historic trail rendezvous at Lone Elm Park, in Olathe
2010 June 5—Trails Head hosted the 3rd historic trail rendezvous at Lone Elm Park, in Olathe
2017 June 3—Trails Head, MRO, and KCAHTA co-hosted the 4th historic trail rendezvous at Lone Elm Park, in Olathe
2018 June 2—Trails Head, MRO, and KCAHTA co-hosted the 5th historic trail rendezvous at Lone Elm Park, in Olathe