William Greiffenstein

William Greiffenstein was born in Germany in 1828. After moving to the United States he became an Indian trader. He moved to Wichita in 1869.

The following year he began buying land in the area. He then sold this land to people who wanted to establish businesses in Wichita. As a result of this activity Greiffenstein was considered to be the true founder of the town.

Primary Sources

(1) Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz (1947)

Last spring the Germans had constructed huge tents in an open space in the Lager. For the whole of the good season each of them had catered for over 1,000 men: now the tents had been taken down, and an excess 2,000 guests crowded our huts. We old prisoners knew that the Germans did not like these irregularities and that something would soon happen to reduce our number.