Mount Mitchell is a big part of Kansas history and the Bleeding Kansas story.  It relates to the Underground Railroad and Territorial Kansas.  It is part of the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area.  In 1953, W.I. Mitchell generously offered the hilltop prairie to the Kansas State Historical Society to memorialize the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony.  There is a monument on the top of Mount Mitchell that has a brass plaque commemorating the colony.

The Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony became known in 1856 when the free-state colonists were armed with rifles in New Haven, Connecticut.  The colonists left New Haven and arrived in Wabaunsee.  They helped defend Lawrence from pro-slavery forces.  Dr. Joseph P. Root was a member of the colony, and was the first Lieutenant Governor of Kansas.

 

The hilltop is mostly in its pre-settlement condition.  Visitors can experience the sights and sounds of the territorial prairie landscape.

 

The Mitchell farmstead, just north of the hilltop, is recognized by the National Park Service's Network to Freedom Program as an authentic Underground Railroad Station.  Between 1857 and 1860, slaves seeking their freedom used a trail along the east side of the hilltop to flee north.

 

Stand on Mount Mitchell among the wildflowers and birds.  You can hear the bluestem in the wind and see the house where slaves were hidden, and you can take yourself back through history.

 

The Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie is located on the east side of highway K-99, at Mitchell Prairie Lane thre and a half miles south of Wamego or one half mile south of the Junction of K-18 and K-99.  It is five and a half miles north of the junction of I-70 and K-99.  Turn east at Mitchell Prairie Lane and bear left, following the dirt road up the hill a half a mile until you get to a mowed parking area on your left.  There is no park access from Mt. Mitchell Road.