A Soldier's Story: Captain Napoleon Bonaparte Blanton


Captain Napoleon Bonaparte Blanton was born in 1829 in Polk County, Missouri. He enlisted in government service while young and, in his early twenties, would lead government wagon trains along the Santa Fe Trail.  Captain Blanton left the wagon trains in 1854 and settled near Lawrence, Kansas, along the Wakarusa River, building and maintaining a toll bridge across the Wakarusa. He would resettle in the Humboldt area to become a town founder. 

As a member of the 4th Kansas infantry, he was mustered into US Army service during the Civil War; he served through several border skirmishes and in Washington, DC.

After returning to Kansas, the railroads commissioned him to survey and lay out a trading post in SE Kanas. He would lose the coin toss for the town's name but still be integral in the creation of Coffeyville, Kansas (read about it here).

Captain Blanton next moved to Abbyville, Kansas, where he presided over a land company.  Finally, in 1903, he moved to Witchita, Kansas. 

Captain Napoleon Bonaparte Blanton died on April 29, 1913, after being struck by a car.  He would be the city's first auto-pedestrian fatality.  He rests at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas

* Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here*

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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to her travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

Her online photography gallery can be found at shop.takethebackroads.com

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Location: Polk County, MO, USA

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