To the editor:

One hundred and seventy years ago last April, Charles Robinson and two companions came up the Kaw River and selected a place to establish a town. In August the first 159 New Englanders arrived and Lawrence was founded.

About seven decades later, citizens decided to commemorate Robinson and the founders. Sadly, they misappropriated (stole) a huge red boulder from the Topeka area for the centerpiece of Robinson Park. A bronze plaque was fastened to the boulder, commemorating the founders.

Tribal Elders could have requested that the park be renamed for a native person or tribe with a new bronze plaque commemorating Indigenous people replacing the original. Instead they and the city wisely agreed to repatriate the boulder to land owned by the tribe, where a truly significant monument is being created. Now, the original plaque should be incorporated into an informational kiosk like the one at the Outdoor Aquatic Center, that would stand where the red boulder was, retaining the purpose of Robinson Park.

Alternatively, since the city abandoned the Union Pacific Depot as our Visitor Center, the magnificent “phoenix” sculptor could be moved to the place where the red boulder stood, with an adjacent kiosk describing Lawrence arising from the ashes of Quantrill’s Raid, and commemorating the many who were killed.

If there is some contractual requirement in the grant that made the boulder relocation possible and we must have a tie-in to an Indigenous person, let’s honor Billy Mills, an illustrious native son.

Graham Kreicker,

Lawrence