By 1850, Westport and Kansas City displaced Independence as an outfitting and starting point for traders, trappers, and emigrants heading west on the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. The town's greatest prosperity came between 1854 and 1860. During the Civil War, there were many skirmishes between pro- and anti-slavery groups in the area, and the Civil War's Battle of Westport was fought there in October 1864.Kirkman (2011). Unfortunately, after the war, trade fell off sharply and never recovered, and by 1899, Kansas City annexed Westport.
