"If a fugitive [fleeing the slave states] succeeded in crossing the line into Kansas Territory where there were strong antislavery communities, he or she could expect to receive assistance from operators on the Underground Railroad. This was a system by which Northerners helped escaped slaves to reach their goal of freedom. It was neither underground nor a railroad, but was so called because its activities were conducted in secrecy and because railroad terms were used in the conduct of the system. It consisted of networks of "stations" kept by "conductors" or "station keepers" who provided food, shelter, and wagon transportation from one station to another along the line of travel to freedom. Slaves were hidden in secret rooms, basements, attics, barns and other outbuildings. They were usually transported at night to avoid proslavery kidnappers. Communities that had active Underground Railroad stations in Kansas Territory included Mound City, Osawatomie, Garnett, Quindaro, Pardee, Lawrence, Vinland, Palmyra, Wakarusa, Bloomington, Clinton, Twin Mound, Kanwaka, Topeka, Holton and Highland." - Richard Sheridan, in Preface to Angels of Freedom by Martha Parker, edited by Christine Reinhard, 1999, pp. iv-v.