South Through the Sunflower State

13-18 September 2012

Managed to miss a storm front which had huge winds, rain and lightning/thunder and had beautiful driving weather south to Wichita, Kansas. The country is getting drier – I guess we are seeing the effects of this summer’s drought. We are starting to see lots of fields that have been harvested. This is a big change from Iowa and Nebraska where harvesting was just starting.

As we continued south, we toured the Homestead Act National Monument in Beatrice, Nebraska. This is a highlight of the trip for me since at least six ancestors in the Schaal/Purcell family tree homesteaded under the 1862 act or one of its predecessors and I got additional insight to what it was like for them to work to claim their land. The National Monument is located at the “first” homesteaded land from the 1862 Act. The government has restored most of the homesteaded land back to the prairie grass that would have been there back when the land was first claimed. And they had a log cabin on the property. Blew my mind that the family of 12 lived in that one room house, they must have spent as much time as they could outside since they would be standing cheek to jowl inside that little house. The introductory video offered a fairly balanced view of the Homesteading Act impact on both the Native Americans and the settlers.

We decided to spend a night near Marysville, Kansas so that we could tour the Pony Express Station No. 1.  Unfortunately, the museum itself was close to a garage museum (and you know my feelings about those by now). The building was interesting as it was the original one and we could see the inside where they kept the horses and gear.

Then we headed a bit west to Abilene, Kansas to tour the Eisenhower Presidential Museum and Library. This is the first Presidential Library complex that I have been to and I was impressed.  We saw a very nice introductory video, took a tour of his childhood home and visited a terrific museum containing visiting exhibits and artifacts from his life. Eisenhower was the first president that I remember from my childhood so it was fun to see pictures that I remember from earlier in my life, not to mention chuckling at the “modern” items that they displayed from his time in the White House. He and his wife are buried in the chapel on the grounds.

Behind the library grounds is a heritage museum with a 1901 carousel which we were able to take a ride on. It was a traveling carousel, not as fancy as others we have ridden, but still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I managed to lose the pictures from our visit to the presidential library when I was downloading them to the laptop. Still trying to find them, but for now, I don't have any to post.

Wichita wasn’t that exciting, especially since we were there on a Sunday and the quilt shop I wanted to visit was closed.  For that matter, most of the stores were closed, except for the big box stores, of course. Even the downtown area, which has been developed for tourists, was pretty much empty. So we took the day off and just relaxed around the trailer.

Visited the quilt shop as we headed out of town towards Oklahoma City on I-135 and bought some nice fabric for a table runner.  Heading south on the interstate, the land became much greener.  I am not sure if that is because of the nature of the land or if Oklahoma was not as badly affected as Kansas from the drought. When we got into Oklahoma City, we went to The Cattleman’s Café for a steak dinner and then took a sunset walk about the National Memorial.

Tonight, we are just outside Amarillo, Texas next to the Big Texan Steak Ranch.  Guess what we had for dinner?

A family of 12 lived in this cabin out on the Nebraska prairies.



The Homestead Act National Monument.

Osage oranges. The trees were commonly used in making living fences.

View of the first homestead under the 1862 Homesteading Act.  The land has been restored to prairie.

 



Pony Express statue in Marysville, Kansas.

The inside of Pony Express Station No. 1.  This was the first place where a rider could swith with the next rider and rest up until the mail came in the other direction.



Sunset from our campground near Seneca, Kansas.

A sculpture near the river park in Wichita, Kansas.  There were several outdoor exhibits on the Plains Indians.

A walking bridge in downtown Wichita.



The Oklahoma City National Memorial.



The chairs represent the 168 people who were killed in the explosion of the Murrah Federal Building. 

The water pool outlines the street in front of the Murrah Building, where the explosion occurred. The chairs are situated on the site of the Murrah Building.

The Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, where you can get your meal free if you can eat a 72 ounce steak in less than 9 minutes (the current record.)