Lake Lotawana

History

Lake Lotawana was conceived, purchased, built and developed by Milton Thompson, owner of nearby Highland Farms, the world's largest Hereford cattle breeding farm at that time (1927). He had previously developed nearby Lake Tapawingo, a lake community with retreats for wealthy Kansas City businessmen. Permission for the new lake was requested November 7, 1927 and surveying was completed June 13, 1928. The dam was completed in the fall of 1929 just before the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. An extended drought meant the lake did not fill completely until the Spring of 1935. Early land sales were slow due to the Depression. Lake Lotawana was named after a fabled Native American princess whose name meant "sparkling water". The legend of Princess Lotawana tells of her life in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In her legend, she was murdered on her wedding day by a jealous spurned suitor. The area of Sni-A-Bar creek that later became Lake Lotawana was used as a hideout and staging area by Quantrill's Raiders during the Civil War. This band of irregulars conducted raids against Union Army units and pro-Union and Abolitionist residents of Missouri and Kansas. There are accounts that they engaged in the Battle of Quantrill's Cove on August 13, 1862, where they defeated a Union Cavalry force under Major Emory L. Foster. Accounts of the incident are not clear, but this engagement was a spillover from the Battle of Lone Jack. This battle was supposed to have taken place near present-day Quantrill's Cove, near the west end of the lake. Quantrill's group also staged the famous and better known raid against Lawrence, Kansas, known as the Lawrence massacre on August 21, 1863. The brutality of the raid resulted in the Order No. 11 by Union Brigadier General…

Geography

Lake Lotawana is located at (38.926627, −94.253201). According to the United States Census Bureau, the City has a total area of , of which is land and is water. According to the Lake Lotawana website the lake has 600 acres of surface water and 27 miles of shoreline. The City originally had approximately 2.3 square miles of area. Two annexations in 2001 and 2004, respectively, expanded the City's boundary south beyond U.S. Highway 50. This included the 2200 acre Barber property, and the Foxberry and Oak Haven subdivisions. The City presently encompasses roughly 11.3 square miles.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,790
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,685
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,009
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  6,330
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,981
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,742
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  5,324
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,075