[1] A separate Western Association was formed in January 1894 with clubs in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri – with a team in faraway Denver, Colorado, added in 1895.
One had eight teams in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Indiana; it folded after only one year.
The other loop, confusingly located in the same geographic area, was the former Interstate League; it reverted to its original identity in 1902.
[1] Originally the Missouri Valley League, it existed for 42 years during that half century, suspending operations during both world wars and for one season (1933) during the Great Depression.
1888 Western Association - schedule St. Louis disbanded June 20; Sioux City began play July 4 and later disbanded; Minneapolis moved to Davenport August 25 1889 Western Association - schedule 1890 Western Association - schedule Des Moines (31-52) moved to Lincoln August 1.
1899 Western Association - schedule President: Thomas Hickey Quincy (3-10) moved to Dubuque May 19.
A new team in Webb City, Missouri formed and joined the league.
New teams in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and Pittsburg, Kansas formed and joined the league.
New teams in Joplin, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, formed and joined the league.
1921 Western Association Chickasha beat Fort Smith 4 games to 3 for the championship.
1923 Western Association The team from Ardmore, Oklahoma joined from the Texas–Oklahoma League.
1930 Western Association The Maud team moved back to Muskogee, Oklahoma.
The Independence Producers played the first Night game in the history of Organized Baseball.
[2] Ponca City defeated Springfield in a one-game playoff for the first-half title.
1936 Western Association Ponca City won the title over Joplin 5 games to 2.
1938 Western Association New teams in Fort Smith, Arkansas and Salina, Kansas were formed.
1939 Western Association Ponca City moved to St. Joseph, Missouri.
1942 Western Association The two teams with the worst records of the previous year, Carthage and Salina, folded.
1948 Western Association The Hutchinson Cubs moved to Springfield, Illinois on July 21.
1949 Western Association Springfield moved back to Hutchinson again, changing their name and losing their affiliation.
This season, St. Joseph had the best winning percentage in the history of this incarnation of the league.
Perhaps coincidentally, Leavenworth had the worst winning percentage in the history of this version of the league in the same year.
1950 Western Association' Leavenworth, who ended the previous year with the all–time worst winning percentage in this incarnation of the league, folded.
Fort Smith moved to Enid, Oklahoma and a new club from Springfield, Missouri joined.
1951 Western Association Springfield folded, and a new team started up in Fort Smith.
1953 Western Association Salina folded, having made the playoffs only once in its seven years of existence.
1954 Western Association After having changed its name and finishing with the worst record in the league the previous season, Fort Smith folded.
The Western Association prospered during the minor league baseball boom that followed World War II, with its clubs in Topeka, Kansas, and St. Joseph, Missouri, drawing over 100,000 fans and most of its eight clubs tied to major league farm systems.
But the bust that followed in the early 1950s, caused by the Korean War, the advent of television, and a retrenchment in MLB farm systems, also buffeted the WA.
It finally disbanded after the 1954 season, its champion Topeka club, a Chicago White Sox affiliate, drawing half the number of fans the team had drawn during the late 1940s.