More from the trip

Hello All:


I tried to make this post last night but had a lot of difficulty so I will try a shorter one this morning. 

We left the KOA east of Kansas City Friday AM and immediately had to make a detour because a tanker truck had exploded on I-70 and the highway was shut down in both directions all day.  We did some maneuvering and were finally able to get back on track.  (The driver of the truck had only minor injuries.)

From KC, we started down what used to be known as the Santa Fe Trail, the principal route for new settlers heading to, guess where, Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Unfortunately, the settlers were routinely massacred by the Indians in the area so US government met with the Indians in August of 1825 and signed a treaty to allow the white settlers safe passage.  This was after the government had sent out word to hunters to come to Kansas and kill as many buffalo as possible so the Indians would leave. (True story.)  Anyway, the mass massacre of the buffalo didn't work so the government promised to leave the animals alone if the Osage Indians stopped killing the settlers.  The treaty was signed in what would be later called Council Grove where the Council between the two parties was held in a Grove of trees.  The actual tree under which the treaty was signed survived until 1958.  The remaining stump, below, is a national landmark.

 

From Council Grove we went to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.  This used to be a huge ranch called Spring Hill.  It was owned over the years by several families with most of the acreage kept as original Kansas tall grass.  The National Preserve was founded in 1997.  Unfortunately, in June the tall grass is not that tall so we were too early to get the effect.  The ranger told us that in September, the grass in the high elevations will get to your waist but the grass in the lower elevations, which get more moisture, will be over an adult's head!  I would have liked to see that.  The main original home of the ranch has been preserved, below, as well as several of the out buildings.  All are made of limestone - including the outhouse. 

 

We stopped for the night in McPherson, Kansas - a pretty little town with a serious dedication to veterans.  The main square by the limestone Courthouse, below, built in 1894, has several monuments dedicated to World War I, World War II, and Korean War veterans, plus Viet Nam and MIA and KOA vets.  

 

From McPherson we left for Dodge City.  That was a lot of fun so I will make another post on Dodge and other sights later.

 

There are two things of note I would like to point out about Kansas.  First, while the state has the reputation for being flat, that is not true for the entire state.  Eastern Kansas is quite hilly - not Vermont hilly but hilly nonetheless.  Western Kansas is where we saw the flat land. 

 

Second, there is a lot of oil and natural gas under Kansas (in addition to limestone)!  We saw many planted fields with rigs pumping away.  We also saw one very large wind farm which makes sense because Kansas is also very windy. 

 

Anyway, I will try to make this post now and make another on Wednesday. 

 

Until then!

 

Mattie and Jim