He rode to the center of Johnson County, and staked two quarter sections of land as the town site.

[citation needed] He later described his ride to friends: "...the prairie was covered with verbena and other wild flowers.

"[citation needed] Purportedly, Barton asked a Shawnee interpreter how to say "Beautiful" in his native language.

[7] Rising tensions across the nation over the issue of slavery led to numerous clashes between abolitionist settlers and neighboring slave state Missouri.

The oath was deemed invalid in November 1862, since the guerrillas were not considered legitimate enemy military units.

[9][10][11] Kansas militia continued to occupy the Olathe military post through the rest of the Civil War.

The Mahaffie House, a popular resupply point for wagons headed westward, is today a registered historical site maintained by the City of Olathe.

The staff wears period costumes, and stagecoach rides and farm animals make the site a favorite among children.

Visitors can participate in Civil War re-enactments, Wild West Days, and other activities.

[citation needed] After the construction of the transcontinental railroad, the trails to the west lost importance, and Olathe faded into obscurity and remained a small, sleepy prairie town.

The result was tremendous residential growth as Olathe became a part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

[citation needed] Olathe is bordered by the cities of Lenexa to the north, Overland Park to the east, De Soto to the northwest, and Gardner to the southwest.

[17] Olathe has a humid continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers.

The minimum temperature falls below freezing (32 °F) an average of 102 days per year, but rarely drops below 10 °F (−12 °C).

Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 5.44% of the population; 26.1% were of German, 11.0% Irish, 10.7% English, and 9.6% American ancestry.

Olathe's commercial and industrial parks are home to many companies, including Honeywell, Husqvarna, ALDI, Garmin, Grundfos, and Farmers Insurance Group.

Although Farmers Insurance is based in Los Angeles, California, Olathe has more of its employees than any other city in the United States.

Johnson County maintains an airport in Olathe, Johnson County Executive Airport, which is located on about 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land with a 4,100-ft (1250-m) runway, parallel taxiways, and a federal contract air traffic-control tower.

[42] Olathe is the home of MidAmerica Nazarene University and the Kansas School for the Deaf (established in 1861).

Darren Sproles is a former running back in the NFL, who played for the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Buddy Rogers was an American actor who played the leading role in Wings (1927), which won the first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1929.

The actor was married to film legend Mary Pickford and won an honorary Oscar in 1986.

Charles Miller was a saxophonist and flutist for the multicultural California funk band War.