History of the Kansas City metropolitan area
The history of the Kansas City metropolitan area started in the 19th century as Frenchmen from St. Louis, Missouri moved up the Missouri River to trap for furs and trade with the Native Americans. The Kansas City metropolitan area, straddling the border between Missouri and Kansas at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, was a strategic point for commerce and security. Kansas City, Missouri was founded in 1838 and defeated its rival Westport to become the predominant city west of St. Louis. The area played a major role in the westward expansion of the United States. The Santa Fe, and Oregon trails ran through the area. In 1854, when Kansas was opened to Euro-American settlement, the Missouri-Kansas border became the first battlefield in the conflict in the American Civil War.
Countryside, Kansas
Countryside was a half-mile-wide residential area in Johnson County, Kansas, USA, which was incorporated by its residents as a city on July 2, 1951 under Kansas Law. In a special election on December 3, 2002, residents voted to consolidate with the surrounding city of Mission, Kansas, in which the houses and streets had originally been built in the unincorporated Mission Township of Johnson County beginning in 1937. Countryside, as a city governmental entity, ceased to exist on January 15, 2003, however the originally founded Countryside Homes Association, Inc. neighborhood remains active.