DunlapThe small town of Dunlap is located along the eastern edge of the Neosho River valley in southeastern Morris County. This vicinity witnessed two important chapters in the history of Kansas (Hickey 1990). The final Kansa Indian reservation encompassed an area of 20 x 20 miles. The reservation was established in 1846 for a tribe of 1500 people. The reservation was reduced further to only 9 x 14 miles in 1859, the so-called Diminished Kansa Reserve. However, poor land, uncertain property boundaries, lack of government support, and encroachment by white squatters rendered the Kansa situation untenable. Under intense pressure, the remaining 550 survivors relocated in 1873 into Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Ground shot (left) and kite aerial photo (right) of restored stone walls of the main building of the Diminished Kansa Reserve. Taken in early spring shortly after prairie burning. About five miles northwest of Dunlap. Photos © JSA. Following the Kansa Indian departure, Benjamin "Pap" Singleton established an exoduster colony at Dunlap in 1878 (Hickey 1991). This was a precusor to the Great Exodus the following year, when some 20,000 southern Black-Americans emigrated to Kansas. The cheap "Indian land" at Dunlap could be purchased for $1.25 to $2 per acre. With only 40 acres of rocky land per family, the exodusters had little chance to succeed as farmers. Initially supported by charitable and missionary organizations, serious mistakes were made in distribution of land, and outside support disappeared during the 1880s depression. Left to their own devices, exodusters soon began to leave, and few traces remain today beyond their cemetery.The name Kahola is derived from an Indian word meaning spring water