Asset

Date of ingest: 30 March 2026

Description: A television program produced in 1976 by Channel 8 at Emporia State University (then Emporia Kansas State College) documenting the local Bicentennial Wagon Train in Lyon County, Kansas. The national Wagon Train was organized as part of U.S. Bicentennial celebrations. Wagon trains from all 50 states traveled across the country to arrive in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1976. The Bicentennial Committee of Lyon County organized a wagon train that began its journey in Americus, Kansas, on April 25, joined a train coming from California in Council Grove, Kansas, and went on to Allen, Kansas, before returning to Emporia on April 27. This program was filmed in Emporia, Americus, Dunlap, Council Grove, Bushong, and Allen, and features interviews with Lyon County residents including wagon train coordinator Dan Zumwalt. Emporia State began broadcasting on Channel 8, available locally through Emporia Cablevision, in 1968. Programming included televised courses that could be taken for credit, original documentaries, and sports.