Kansas City as Paris of the Plains

Here in the midwest we aren't sure about the moniker "Paris of the Plains"- We hear it tongue in cheek most of the time.  It's said with the same attitude as "What ya gonna do?" and "You've got that right."

We have a lively history here in Kansas City. I find it endlessly interesting to learn more about this city I find myself in.  We were apparently and obviously settled here because of a confluence of two giant rivers. The Kaw (Kansas) and the Mighty Mo (Missouri) meet here and early western trails claim this area as their beginning points.

This was once the edge of civilization, as we viewed it as Americans, in an age where people could still own other people as possessions. The history of this city - and how it sometimes came to be known as "Paris of the Plains" is long, confusing treacherous and difficult to explain to children or naive people.

This place is one of outlaw-ism. A place where anything goes. A place where a political machine kept the liquor flowing and breweries in production during prohibition. There was a lot about KC that made it different than other cities in the USA.  I urge you to learn about them.

Fast forward to 2013. There is a place in Kansas City called the Country Club Plaza. It was developed in the 1940s and has been the most upscale shopping area in KC since then.  It is south of downtown about 5 miles, and currently is a experiencing some controversy. This situation actually holographically defines Kansas City as it exists in 2013.  On the east edge of the Plaza (which is a misnomer, there is no grand meeting square) There is a fountain called "J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain" that serves as this zocolo meeting place in some forms.

J.C. Nichols was the real estate developer who built the Plaza shopping center.  They named the fount after him.  As well as cherubs wrestling fish, The fount features giant bronze sculptures of horses being tortured in battle, on hind legs writhing in determination and pain ~ in twisted agony. It is modeled off of a traditional European town fountain with a layer cake and parabolic sprays of water arching into the sky both inward and outward from the center.  It seems historically important, but is not. It only has nebulous legendary meanings with wispy,  ghostly attachments to KC.  It actually has no meaning.

This spot is arguably one of the most beautiful aesthetically pleasing vistas in our city.  In recent weeks it has become the site of an uncomfortable reality for America and Kansas City.  It is open, like all parks in KC, all night, and the rules are fair, they can be enforced fair.

Mercurial Paris presented the apple by Eris to decide which of 3 fair maidens is the most beautiful.  The result touched off a war.