Parks' original landscaper had vision for garden, but he never saw it

Here is an interesting question to pose at your next garden party: What internationally famous Topeka citizen became known in his own lifetime as the Angel of the Rose Garden?

The story begins almost 200 years ago. In 1820, when Maj. Stephen H. Long explored the great midsection of the Louisiana Territory that the U.S. had purchased from France, an area that would eventually include Topeka, he named the region the "Great American Desert." It was, in his words, "almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence."

The myth of the Great American Desert was to survive, largely intact, even after settlers moved into the area in large numbers in the 1850s to farm the fertile river valleys and exploit the excellent water resources. The name of the region was eventually changed to the Great Plains, but the image of the desert never really went away. So in 1899, when the heirs of Guilford G. Gage donated 80 acres west of Topeka to the city for a park, it would have struck most folks back east as something outlandish, a real oddity, if they even heard about it. Gage Park was, after all, just 80 acres of Kansas prairie.

Desert, prairie, what's the difference? One thing was for certain: It was a treeless place. As Judge Otis E. Hungate would observe more than 30 years later, the area that was to become Gage Park had "not a tree or bush upon it" when he was a boy in Topeka. But, by 1899 the settlers of the region and their descendants knew quite well what their soil was capable of growing. And they hired a bright and enthusiastic botanist/landscape architect by the name of E.F.A. Reinisch to realize their park expectations.

E.F.A. Reinisch set to work on the prairie sod. He laid out parks and planted trees and flowers and shrubs. Years passed, and years merged into decades. Over a span of 30 years, Reinisch landscaped more than 400 acres with plant materials, built lakes for boating and swimming, created areas for picnicking and brought in exotic animals like alligators, monkeys and bears.

Gage Park in Topeka became a regional recreation center. Schoolchildren from Missouri and Nebraska and for 200 miles around were bought to Topeka on educational outings.

To anyone living in the region in the 1920s, the idea that Topeka was part of a great desert seemed patently absurd. E.F.A. Reinisch had proved as much by the miracles he had worked on the prairie soil. And yet, so powerful was the spell cast by Stephen Long's words that it persisted throughout the rest of the nation. The negative image was to surface again in full force when Reinisch wanted to build a rose garden.

The rose was one of Reinisch's favorite plants, and he envisioned a great garden in Gage Park where roses could be grown for beauty, demonstration and the horticultural sciences. But when he broached the subject, there was a chorus of critics who said that it simply could not be done. The harsh extremes of cold and heat on the prairie lands would never yield to the needs of the delicate rose. Reinisch knew they were wrong, and he wouldn't give up on his rose garden.

In December 1929, Reinisch died with his dream unfulfilled. One of his last acts was to stake out the rose garden he had always dreamed of nurturing. But he was unable to complete it.

In 1929, the idea of growing roses in Kansas seemed odd. It would seem even stranger today if a local garden club were to ask people to donate their savings to create a civic garden even as the nation plunged toward economic ruin in the wake of October's stock market crash. But the Topeka Horticultural Society did just that.

During a meeting of the Topeka Horticultural Society on Dec. 17, 1929, Thomas. F. Doran, a prominent lawyer, proposed a memorial rose garden to be dedicated to the memory of Reinisch. At that same meeting, Dr. Karl F. Menninger, recent founder of the Menninger Clinic and president of the Horticultural Society, appointed Doran to chair a committee to raise funds for that purpose.

Doran took an intense personal interest in the completion of the memorial rose garden and was the force behind the project from beginning to end. He spoke to individuals and to civic groups, he organized committees, and he organized the entire community.

Individuals made donations of up to $3,000. Businesses contributed in kind with sand and plant materials. School children contributed their pennies to the effort. When there still wasn't enough money, Doran poured his own savings into the project. When more labor was needed, he rolled up his sleeves and helped with the planting and assembly of the garden elements.

Doran raised the money and completed the construction of the Reinisch Memorial Rose Garden in less than six months. By the end of June 1930, there was a dedication ceremony during which one speaker, Judge Hungate, described Doran as "a human steam engine." In all, Doran's efforts raised more than $50,000 for the rose garden plus a separate rock garden with a pond.

In 1930, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine offered cash prizes totaling $2,500 for the best examples of civic beautification in the country. The competition, which was called the More Beautiful America Contest, was to judge permanent improvements made during the period between March 15, 1930, and Oct. 1, 1931. In March 1932, the magazine announced the winners. First prize for the most outstanding civic beautification project in America was awarded to the Reinisch Memorial Rose Garden of Topeka.

If you go down to the Reinisch Rose Garden in June, when the roses are in their fullest flower, you might wander toward the western rim of the garden where the elevation falls away. There, you will find yourself overlooking a lovely rock garden and pond with shade and benches where you can sit and reflect on your own thoughts while studying the cloud reflections in the water.

The rock garden and pond are named in memory of the man who built the memorial to Reinisch. Thomas. F. Doran enjoyed international acclaim during his own lifetime, and was celebrated in the newspapers and magazines of his day as the Angel of the Rose Garden.

GAGE PARK

Gage Park, between S.W. 6th and 10th streets west of Gage Boulevard, has many attractions, including:

- Reinisch Rose Garden, Doran Rock Garden and Hazel M. Von Rohr Victorian Gardens are from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

- Topeka Zoo, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas, with outside gates closed at 4 p.m. Admission: $4.50 ($3.50 seniors 65 and older; $3 children 3 to 12; free children 2 and younger and Friends of the Topeka Zoo members).

- Westlake: open for fishing 6 a.m. to dusk daily.

Mike Dixon, of Topeka, is a Master Gardener with K-State Research and Extension-Shawnee County.

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