Independence

Independence.

1 City (1990 pop. 9,942), seat of Montgomery co., SE Kans., on the Verdigris River, near the Okla. line, in an important oil-producing area where corn and wheat are also grown. Light aircraft, motor vehicle parts, cement, and printing and publishing are important industries; natural gas is distributed. The town was founded (1869) on a former Osage reservation. It boomed with the discovery of natural gas in 1881 and oil in 1903.

2 City (1990 pop. 112,301), seat of Jackson co., W Mo., a suburb of Kansas City; inc. 1849. Its manufactures include machinery, building materials, apparel, foods, paper products, and ordnance. Soybeans, corn, and sorghum are grown, and there is dairying and natural-gas production in the area. In the 1830s and 40s, Independence was the starting point for expeditions over the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail

Bibliography

The classic work by F. Parkman, The Oregon Trail, actually concerns only the eastern part of the trail.
..... , and the California Trail. A group of Mormons settled there in 1831, and the city is the world headquarters of the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Independence was the home of President Harry S. Truman and is the seat of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, on whose grounds the former president is buried. Other points of interest include the old county jail and museum (1859; restored); the old county courthouse (1825; restored); and nearby Fort Osage (1808; reconstructed). Park Univ. has a campus in Independence.

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Independence

City (pop., 2000: 113,288), western Missouri, U.S. Settled in 1827, it served as the starting point for the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail and was a rendezvous for wagon trains during the California gold rush. Home of a Mormon colony (1831–33), it is now the world headquarters of the Community of Christ (formerly Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). It was occupied by Union troops during the American Civil War and was the scene of two skirmishes with Confederates. The hometown of Pres. Harry Truman, it is the site of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

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Independence

a city in W Missouri, near Kansas City: starting point for the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails (1831--44). Pop.: 112 079 (2003 est.)

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Independence

Bastille Day

July 14; French national holiday celebrating the fall of the Bastille prison (1789). [Fr. Hist.: NCE, 245]

Declaration of Independence

by delegates of the American Thirteen Colonies announcing U.S. independence from Great Britain (1776). [Am. Hist.: NCE, 733]

Huggins, Henry

self-reliant boy; earns money for toys. [Children’s Lit.: Henry Huggins]

Independence Day

Fourth of July; U.S. patriotic holiday celebrating the Declaration of Independence. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 990]

Maine

often thought of as the state of “independent Yankees.” [Pop. Culture: Misc.]

Mugwumps

Republican party members who voted independently. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 337]

Quebec

Canada’s French-speaking province has often attempted to attain independence from rest of country. [Canadian Hist.: NCE, 2555]

Tree of Liberty

symbolic post or tree hung with flags and other devices and crowned with the liberty cap. [Misc.: Brewer Dictionary, 911]

white oak

indicates self-sufficiency. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 178]