Editing Ottawa, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Ottawa, Kansas (circa 1865-1900).jpg|thumb|left|Main Street, circa 1865–1900]]

===19th century===
The name derives from the [[Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma|Ottawa tribe of Native Americans]], on whose reservation the city was laid out. In the spring of 1864, title to the land was obtained from the tribe through treaty connected to the founding of [[Ottawa University]], the Ottawa having donated 20,000 acres of land to establish and fund a school for the education of Indians and non-Indians alike. The word Ottawa itself means "to trade".  In 1867, the Ottawa tribe sold their remaining land in Kansas and moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.<ref name="toto">Dixon, Rhonda. [http://www.ottawatribe.org/history.htm "The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704180226/http://ottawatribe.org/history.htm |date=July 4, 2008 }} ''Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma.'' (Feb 16, 2009).</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JroyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hegFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6612%2C4399216 |title=What's in a name? Key elements of area history |work=Lawrence Journal-World |date=November 28, 1997 |access-date=April 28, 2015 |author=Carpenter, Tim |pages=3B}}</ref>

[[File:Bird's-eye view of Ottawa, the largest city of its age in Kansas, 1872 - looking south-west LOC 99443775.tif|thumb|left|[[Panoramic map]] of Ottawa from 1872 including inset images of Union School, the Ludington House, C.W Hamblins Block, and [[Ottawa University]] building]]
On the last day of March 1864, J.C. Richmond built the first non-Indian settlement in the new town, at the corner of Walnut and First streets.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/franklin/franklin-co-p5.html#OTTAWA_P1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030116034106/http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/franklin/franklin-co-p5.html#OTTAWA_P1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 16, 2003 |title=William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas |publisher=A. T. Andreas, Chicago, Illinois |author=Cutler, William G. |year=1883 |pages=Franklin County, part 5, Ottawa, part 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC |title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume 2 |publisher=Standard Publishing Company |author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson |year=1912 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC/page/n413 423]}}</ref>

[[File:Old Depot Museum (2).JPG|thumb|right|[[Old Depot Museum]] built in 1888 (photo from 2008)]]

===Flooding===
Ottawa has a history of [[flood]]ing because of its location straddling the Marais Des Cygnes river. The area's first recorded flood was the [[Great Flood of 1844]].  In 1928, a flood crested at 38.65&nbsp;feet and killed six people. Other flood years include 1904, when water crested at 36 feet and ran to a man's shoulders in the Santa Fe depot;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.franklincokshistory.org/themes/events/disasters/floods/1904-flood/ |title=1904 Flood {{pipe}} Franklin County Kansas History Portal |access-date=March 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616221654/http://www.franklincokshistory.org/themes/events/disasters/floods/1904-flood/ |archive-date=June 16, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 1909, cresting at {{Convert|36.3|ft|m}}; 1915, cresting at {{Convert|31|ft|m}}, and 1944, cresting at {{Convert|36.5|ft|m}}.{{citation needed|date=March 2010}}

However, it is the [[Great Flood of 1951]] which is the most famous. It was about five inches higher than the 1928 flood. The flood of 1951 affected much of Missouri and Kansas and 41 people died. One-third of Ottawa was covered because of this flood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Charlie Perry, C.A. |title=USGS - Kansas Big Water |url=https://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/presentations/flood.1951.html |work=ks.water.usgs.gov |language=en}}</ref>

It is unlikely Ottawa will suffer major damage due to a flood again thanks to a series of levees and pumping stations built by the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] in the 1960s, which is part of a larger system of flood systems to regulate the Marais Des Cygnes River to the [[Missouri River]]. The levees built along the river are inspected on an annual basis to insure their quality.{{citation needed|date=March 2010}}

===20th century===
In 1943, German and Italian prisoners of [[World War II]] were brought to Kansas and other Midwest states to help solve the labor shortage caused by American men serving in the war. Large [[internment]] camps were established in Kansas: [[Camp Concordia]], Camp Funston (at [[Fort Riley]]), Camp Phillips (at [[Salina, Kansas|Salina]] under [[Fort Riley]]). [[Fort Riley]] established 12 smaller branch camps, including Ottawa.<ref>[http://www.gentracer.org/powcampsKS.html List of Prisoner Of War (POW) Camps in Kansas]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kansastravel.org/campconcordia.htm |title=POW Camp Concordia - Concordia, Kansas}}</ref>