Since presenting the possibility in last Sunday's Kansan that a culvert beneath the Missouri Pacific railroad tracks was the tunnel  used to transport  slaves into free Quindaro, we've been deluged with calls disputing that theory.
 
     Many of those who called think the culvert is a culvert that was never anything but a culvert.  Again, we say, 'Who knows?

     We were inclined to agree that the carefully constructed passageway was not erected explicitly as an escape route for slaves.  But it's been there a long time, nonetheless.
 
    After a little more research on the subject of tunnels, the subject has grown more complex and answers more conijecturable.  But, we do have a few more related, stories and sidelights to add to the confusion.

     We feel safe in saying that this much is fact:

    A statue of  John Brown (with the inscription, "Erected to the Memory of John" Brown By a Grateful People), stands on the old Western university campus.

     A report published by Western U in 1930 says: "John  Brown lived in old Quindaro on grounds where the old school was built.  He established upon the Western university grounds one of the principal stations of his underground railroad (used to transport escaped slaves).  The tunnel part of this underground railroad still stands in good repair upon the school site."

     There was, without a doubt, a hole in the ground near one of the old Quindaro buildings.  This building, it would appear was a hotel - although some say it was a warehouse.

     This hole in the ground obviously extended beneath the building for some distance.  Too many persons claim to have been in the tunnel for its, erstwhile existence to be in question

     Quindaro was one of the earliest "free" territories in this area.  While Leavenworth was hostile to abolitionists, Quindaro accepted them and those who had been liberated.

         There was much boat traffic on the Missouri river on which Quindaro, was located, providing easy access to the young city.

     Take these facts, add a little imagination and you have perfect ingredients for a really good yarn.  But whether it is just a local legend has not been determined.

   It is apparent that the tunnel so often discussed has been destroyed.  If it ever had a north entrance, facing the river, it probably was destroyed when the railroad tracks were laid.

     There is substantial proof that the "hole in the ground" which would have been the south entrance of the tunnel is no longer visible.  Some say it was deliberately covered up to prevent explorers and curious children from entering its unknown depths.  Others say it was probably destroyed when pipelines were laid thru area in the 1930's.

     A curious explanation this "tunnel" was offered 1912 by a writer in a local publication. In quoting anonymous settler of original Quindaro, the article stated that "They have called it cave where the whites hid from the Indians.  Then they have .... called it a cave where the Indians hid from the whites.  If you look into  it you will find a tunnel."
 
    What was it actually used for?  "It was a plain every   day sewer" used by the owner of the hotel to carry refuse from the building down to the Missouri river, the writer concluded.