Editing Marshall County, Kansas (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Kansas}}

The [[Oregon Trail]] crosses Marshall County. The infamous Donner Reed Party rested along the banks of the Big Blue river and lost one of its members, Sarah Keyes, who is still buried at Alcove Springs (located outside of Marysville). Many documented pioneer bodies are buried surrounding Alcove Springs.

In 1849 Francis James Marshall, from [[Weston, Missouri]], came to Marshall County and established a ferry service on the Big Blue River at "Independence Crossing."  A few years later Francis Marshall decided to stay on in Marshall County and make it his home. He moved his ferry business to an upper crossing now known as Marysville (the city is named after Marshall's own wife Mary).<ref>History of Kansas Vol. 2 By Andreas</ref>

On May 30, 1879, the "Irving, Kansas Tornado" passed through Marshall County. This [[tornado]] measured F4 on the [[Fujita scale]] and had a damage path {{convert|800|yd}} wide and {{convert|100|mi|km}} long. Eighteen people were killed and sixty were injured.<ref name="Sleicher1883">{{cite book|author=John Albert Sleicher|title=Leslie's|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUdaAAAAYAAJ|year=1883|publisher=F. Leslie}}</ref>

The Marshall County Historical Society resides in the county's historic courthouse, which is now a museum and research library.