Winter Sunset on the Missouri River

On the Missouri Side , facing Kansas (where else).

Have a great Holiday. I do hope if you somehow found this blog, you've had half as much fun reading it as I have doing it !

Rick

See Ya in 2010

Pictures -St Joseph

Sacajawea guarding the Casino.

The Bullet hole at Jesse James house.

Outside of Jesse James House

A cockfighting ring broken up. They put these around the cock's legs.

Christmas decorations on a train


old time speakers

Unused Hang mans gallows.

The Motel is no longer there, but they kept the sign.

Pony Express stables

Pony Express -Eastern Terminus and a strange place

St Josephs,Missouri

Date of Trip: December 5,2009

Trip are now weather dependent, as I watch a beautiful snow fall out of my window. I have to think this is the last one of what has been an amazing year. Last week the Trails were the story,Independence,Missouri, the shoving off point for so many going west. I managed to cover Lewis and Clark,Oregon,Santa Fe,California and the Mormon Trail.About 35 miles north is St. Joseph, home town of Walter Cronkite,Jesse James and the eastern point of the Pony Express. The Patee House serves as a Museum for the city and I shall write of it shortly. One of the exhibits in the Museum is a newspaper article from from January of 1864,It announces Lincoln is running for re election and just below it a famed actor named John Wilkes Booth was in town and convinced to give a performance of Shakespearean monologues. Probably the first and not last time the two names will be linked.

We came from the Pony Express Museum. It's a nice,very interactive place were you can sit on saddles and pump water from a well into a horses trofe. Lots of maps of the Trail,artifacts and a D.A.R. Museum outside marking the stable. It is worth noting 2010 is 150th anniversary of the Express brief run.

Next was the Patee House which I thought was going to be the Pony Express office, which it was , but was so much more.

-Lincoln stayed there in 1859

-Mark Twain stayed there

-William Seward gave a speech from the balcony

-Military trials after the civil war occurred there

-An episode of "Ripley's Believe it or not not" was filmed there.Jack Palance was there and someone kept his cigar butts

-Walter Cronkite was there, as his father the dentist has artifacts in the museum.

-Next door you can find the house Jesse James was shot, which had been moved from it's original location, the sign out front says "See the Bullet hole" and we did.

Downtown is wonderful statue of a Pony Express Rider. I'll warn you if want to eat anything other Taco Bell or Hardees, you might be forced to eat at the casino.We did anyway. We have missed something else along the way. I'm going to fill the next entry with pictures from Patee house. The last picture taken at the casino is a beautiful sun set on the Missouri River. The leaves on the trees are going and I couldn't help but wonder how soon snow would cover the ground, Ice fill the river and wonderful is this was the last day of 2009 that the river would flow .

This is probably the last trip of the year, but don't worry. I sat down with a sheet of paper and came up with 19 trips,mostly in the state of Kansas that can all be done in a day. Last year was Bleeding Kansas for the most part, this year Trails ,who knows what will catch my eye in 2010. I went to Fort Leavenworth,far Western Kansas, saw such oddities as the World Largest Ball of Twine,a giant shovel,a Monument of the National Park System that told the story of my family history . In this, Lincoln's 200th Birthday , Steps were he spoke have been preserved, and a hotel where he stayed stands. Last year I was enchanted by the story of the Harvey Girls, this year I saw the way of life,Conestoga Wagons, that the trains ended.

Last year I remembered talking to a gentleman who said "If take a pins and stick in a map at Emporia,Kansas and draw a circle 200 miles around it, you will find more US History than almost anywhere in the Country." The 13 Colonies may argue that point but between the Labor Unrest of the Amazon Women in Pittsburg ,the Trials,The Homesteaders,Fort Leavenworth,Bleeding Kansas,Brown v BOE,William Allen White,Harry Truman,Dwight Eisenhower and so many others. He makes a good case.

We remember Hays House where Custer and Jesse James dined. We remember the choice Chicken Annie's or next door Chicken Mary's. We remember the Casino in St Joe with the statue of Sacajawea in front of it. We ate well,saw some amazing and frankly strange things.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We put away the GPS and the smart phone,give K-tag a rest, read all the brouchures I picked up and plan and plot for 2010. See you on the highways.....

Shawnee Indian Mission

Date of Trip:November 28,2009 ,last stop of the day.

Somewhere buried in the suburban landscape,where what city you are in seems to change block by block is the Shawnee Indian Mission.Originally a large tract of land it has been shrunk and shrunk to where it now only occupies a couple of buildings, you have to walk across a busy street to get to one of them.

The history of the site is enormous, from frankly teaching Indian Children the white ways, and that is covered in the film we saw to the meeting house of the bogus legislator of Bleeding Kansas fame. Because in October we visited the Mission in Council Grove and because Council Grove is a long more interesting than the burbs,I enjoyed Council Grove more.Maybe I was just feeling the ghosts of Pro Slavery leader Rev. Tom Johnson and his son about the place. It is a nice little piece of land. Note for National Park Stamp collectors, you can get a Trails stamp here.

Lewis and Clark Statue in Case Park.

I'll just say this may be not newest favorite place in Kansas City.Beautiful statue,beautiful park. A place where true happened.

On the Lewis and Clark Trail

Date: November 28,2009

Case Park-Kansas City,Missouri

The words of the corp of discovery speak for themselves.Top left/center you see where the Kansas River heads West.

Tuesday June 26,1804

from the journal of Patrick Gass:

We embarked and set out at five o'clock in the morning; passed a creek on the south side, called Blue-Water. This afternoon we had some difficulty in passing a sandbar, the tow-rope having broke; but by the exertions of those on board, the boat was brought to shore without injury. We encamped on the south side on a point at the confluence of the Canzan, or Kanzas river with the Missouri. It was agreed to remain here during the 27th and 28th where we pitched our tents and built bowers in front of them. Canzan or Kanzas, is 230 yards and a quarter wide, and navigable to a great distance. Our hunters killed 4 deer, and a young wolf, and caught another alive. In the afternoon of the 29th we again proceeded on our voyage, and encamped on the north side of the river.

Monday-September 15,1806

from the Journal of William Clark:

we set out early with a Stiff Breeze a head saw Several deer Swiming the river soon after we Set out. at 11 A. M. passed the enterance of the Kanzas river which was very low, about a mile below we landed and Capt Lewis and my Self assended a hill which appeared to have a Commanding Situation for a fort, the Shore is bold and rocky imediately at the foot of the hill, from the top of the hill you have a perfect Command of the river, this hill fronts the Kanzas and has a view of the Missouri a Short distance above that river.

Pictures National Trails Center

Poster of the Chicago-Alton Line.Note the detail of the map of the route on the bottom of the lounger all the way up to her head.


This is an amazing photgraph, I wish was available in post card.A wagon train and a steam train meet.A Clash of techonological advancement that made the wagon trains die off.

All Roads lead West

Date of Trip: November 28,2009

I posted on my facebook status "Wagons West Pics to follow" and then headed out about an hour and half East to Independence,Missouri. Long before Independence was known as the hometown of Harry Truman it was one of ,if not the most famous portages to the great trails of the 19th Century.Blacksmiths,traders,wagons and supplies were in abundance for those going west. Santa Fe,Oregon,California and the Mormon trail.It all starts here. Thousands flock to Independence to see the Truman Library and the home in a quiet residential neighborhood on Delaware Street. The town square is a classic,a large court house and shops. We came for the National Frontier Trails Museum.

Maybe a mile from the town square,identifiable by the Conestoga Wagon and the statue of Jim Bridger is the National Trails Musuem. For those interested in National Parks Stamps, you can get several there. One of the more interesting feature is several of the exhibits come with narration,diaries and journals of the tens of thousands who made it west. Most interesting is Horace Greeley's famous "Go West young man" quote. What is not told about this famous quote is apparently he thought anybody making the trek was foolhardly. That was my favorite audio clip.

The exhibits have everything from stuffed Beaver when telling of the hundreds of new species that Lewis and Clark catalogs and sent back to DC to a general store. Many maps and paintings dot the walls. Several prints are available in the gift shop. As I have said before my favorite exhibit in the Kansas State Historical Society is one of clock,dishes and other things the travelers were forced to set aside on the road.I saw more here,including the story of a chair someone picked up and kept the rest of his life.

A funny tale told is the exhibit of the stuffed rattlesnake, the card said that a solider in the Mexican -American War was bit by a rattlesnake and the doctor gave him "all the whiskey he could drink".Soon other began showing up with the same claims. The Doctor told them they could get any whiskey until after he treated the wound, most claimed to get better on the spot. Love a good story involving alcohol.

On the grounds is a restored train depot on the Chicago-Alton line that was moved about 3 miles.One of the people we were in the tour with wanted to know if Truman traveled from the station. I have included a picture from an advertisement that hangs on the wall ,the painting is of the actress Lili Langtree

Biography from Wiki :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillie_Langtry

Exciting Tallgrass Prairie News

When I went to Tallgrass for the first time last summer, the Ranger excitedly told us the Bison would be coming next year. The same information was given in September when I went. I pick up the paper this morning and they are here. Exciting News and a reason to return in the near future. To be sure there are Bison in Kansas already, farms near Salina and in Canton have Bison but it is a big deal to have them return to Tallgrass and roaming free in a National Park in Kansas

The story from the Capital Journal and some great pictures that were Top of the fold in the paper version of the Paper.

http://cjonline.com/news/local/2009-10-30/bison_return_to_prairie

Homestead National Monument of America

In the mist of Civil War in 1862 Congress passed the Homestead Act. On January 1,1863 anyone who signed up was given 160 acres of land to farm.If they stuck with it,they could keep the land.Why go to Nebraska if this is a blog about Kansas ? Fair question. Soon after the Homestead Act was passed, Timothy Smith came from Pennsylvania to Pott County Kansas, a few miles from Manhattan and began to farm. 5 Generations later, the writer of this blog sits at a lap top writing these words. The land near Manhattan is still in use.Someone in my the family has the paper signed by Lincoln granting the use of the land.

Last summer and this , I have seen the tales of Bleeding Kansas,the Drive Western,stood on a bluff and looked down at a river where Lewis and Clark explored.I have seen the Industry that has built the state,the politics that have moved the state and the nation. The moments were the hairs on my arm stand up have been many. The tour guide at the William Allen White explaining "6 Presidents have eaten at this table." Here we going to Beatrice,Nebraska the site of the Homestead land of Daniel Freeman, and I know his story is also my families Story. The story of the American Farmer braving locust,lack of knowledge in Farming. As many people who kept the land into the 6th and 7th generation many more failed.

Beatrice is maybe a half hour from Kansas, the Monument is 4 miles outside of town.It sits on 160 acres land Homesteaded by Daniel Freeman who made his claim on January 1,1863, one of the first if not the first to Homestead. We visited the Heritage Center.For cancellation fans, you can get 4 Stamps, one for the Monument, the Oregon Trail,California Trail and Pony Express.I had the best time talking with the Ranger about stamps, where to get them, how many we've had and hidden stamps.She found out afterwards if you go to the top of Long's Peak, you can get another stamp. She called and had them send her one.

The Film talks about the history of Homesteading including the fact it kicked Indians off their land. The Museum exhibits include Farm equipment, a wonderful display of Newspaper ads for Homesteading. It's very multi media with several videos,including a discussion about the last Homesteader in Alaska ,who got his land in 1980's.The centerpiece is a wind mill with rises above the upper level.

The grounds also include hiking trails,a restored cabin and a one room school house just off the property. In talking about the multi media , they are also on Facebook. I am now a Fan. The website talks about Fiddle festivals,high school ecology field trips and controlled burns.I had high expectations because of the link to my family history. I was thrilled to be there, thrilled it exists.Homesteading is an important story in Manifest destiny. The Bill signed by Lincoln opened by opportunity for many.60% of those who made Claims failed, 40% suceeded beyond the 5 years.

Council Grove in Pictures

Madonna of the trails and Council Oak

A dress made of newspapers used at a custume party in 1901, the Kaw Indian Mission.

The flag of the Vice President .Custer Elm

Custer Elm a 300 year tree that died in the 1970s. The ring.

Another Draft I never posted

Council Grove- A city that does it right

A town with population of 2,321 in 2000 boasts 24 Historic Sites. The first site we came across on 177 was the remains of an Elm tree where Gen. George A. Custer and his troops stopped to rest in 1867. From there the wonders continue, a stone erected in 1902 marks the site the Santa Fe Trail headed South west. A Restaurant in town Hays House has been in Operation since 1857 and boost the same General Custer and Jesse James as patrons. The restaurant is the oldest continuously operated this side of the Mississippi and is named after a relative of Daniel Boone who was the first white settler of the town in 1847.

East of the Neosho River with it's wonderful River Walk is an Oak tree where in 1825 where the Army negotiated with the Indians safe passage from the thousands of wagons heading west. Between the Oak tree remains and the River is a statue, The Madonna of the Trails, depicting a Woman and her children braving the trail and an 8 foot bronze statue of a Kanza Indian, The Guardian of the Grove.

The weather this summer has been wonderful and on the last September weekend, the Green has not given way to the brown grass, and this year I don't believe it ever will. A teenager sat fishing on the banks of the river.This is truly Kansas.

The Kaw Indian Mission is run by the State Historical Society, one of the student in the school was Charles Curtis, the flag of the Vice President hangs in the staircase. Curtis was Vice President in the late 1920's and was the first Vice President west of the Mississippi and the first Native American Vice President.A Book sold at the Mission tells the story of Curtis running away from the school and walking the 50 some miles to Topeka. The book, published in 1921 tells only of Senator Curtis.Curtis statue stands in the US Capitol. The Charles Curtis story takes us from a school for Indians to the White House, truly an American Story.

I keep going back to the William Allen White quote "What starts in Kansas,ends in History Books." Council Grove embraces it's history and a town so small had left it imprint on the country.

Pictures to follow

The National Parks- America's Best Idea

I hope anybody reading this blog has been watching all of or part of Ken Burn's latest masterpiece ,"The National Parks-America's Best Idea." With one episode to go,It has been a great series, with a few flaws. For as majestic as the pictures of Yosemite and the Grand Canyon have been, we have seen little if any of the Parks dedicated to preserving and explain our History,both the good and the bad. So the week of the series, I visited 2 National Parks, I have written twice about Tall Grass and in the middle of the week, I went to a National Historic Site,run by the Park Service that pass by sometimes twice a day on my way to work. This is probably the shortest distance I will travel in this blog, turning right on Adams , a few miles and a left on 17th street to the corner of 17th and Monroe. Maybe 5 minutes depending on how I hit the lights and traffic.

We find ourselves at a red bricked school house that opened with much fanfare in 2004.The old Monroe school, now the Brown v. Board of Education site. In the early 1950's the NAACP made headway in opening up the argument over Separate but equal facilities, this included bathrooms,restaurants,movie theatres and in some National Parks,camping area. In Topeka this meant 4 schools were opened for Blacks.Students had to walk miles out of their to attend schools,even when one was blocks away.

Brown is an accident of the alphabet,2o courts were bundled together for the Supreme Court to hear the case , the official title of the Case is "Oliver Brown,et. al v. ....." so Topeka gets the fame in the history books over people in South Carolina,Virginia and two other states. That being said the story of Oliver Brown is an amazing story,he attended school board meetings attempting to change the law, the school would hear none of it, even changing meeting time so he couldn't attend due to work.

The school contains two galleries ,a short film and a room to record your impressions. The galleries talk about the case, Jim Crow laws and the firestorm that proceeded the decision. For the most part I see school buses when I drive by, it does not contain the transcendent feelings you get at the Grand Canyon or Tall Grass.Yet it tells an important story.

Post script. Opps bad me, I left this as a draft. Ken Burns did briefly out that other National Parks,Mounments,Historic sites do exist,but he spent little time discussing it. That being said I watched most of the series.And it was fantastic, and caused me to do a little planning. We'll see if it comes off. Kansas has 5 spots under protection of the National Park service. Many more exist within a few hours drive, doable in day trips.

Fall on the Prairie