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