Editing Gardner, Kansas (section)

==History==
Gardner was founded where the [[Santa Fe Trail]] and the [[Oregon Trail|Oregon]]/[[California Trail|California]] Trails divided. The Santa Fe Trail sent travelers southwest through Santa Fe and Albuquerque toward Los Angeles and San Diego. The Oregon/California Trails bore west for a few miles before turning north toward the Kansas River valley, followed the [[Big Blue River (Kansas)|Big Blue River]] into present-day Nebraska, followed the Platte River west, and ultimately split in present-day Wyoming, Idaho or Utah.<ref>{{cite web |last=Crease |first=Craig |title=History of Gardner |url=http://gardnerkansas.gov/index.php/history-of-gardner/ |publisher=City of Gardner |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415080039/http://gardnerkansas.gov/index.php/history-of-gardner |archive-date=2014-04-15 }}</ref>

Gardner was founded as a [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|Free-Stater]] settlement in 1857. Settled primarily by emigrants from Massachusetts, it was named for [[Henry Gardner]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n133 134]}}</ref> then [[governor of Massachusetts]]. Four years after its establishment, it became the first community in Johnson County—and perhaps the first in the state—to experience an attack by [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces.<ref>[https://gardnerhistoricalmuseum.com/gardner-history/ Gardner History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821191859/https://gardnerhistoricalmuseum.com/gardner-history/ |date=August 21, 2018 }}, Gardner Historical Museum. Accessed 2018-08-21.</ref>

The first post office in Gardner was established in 1858.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:JO |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=11 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009124148/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3AJO |archive-date=October 9, 2013 }}</ref>