Kansas - Day 29 - Tallgrass Prairie

Pomona State Park, Vassar
Thursday, 29 October 2020

today's route - I ended
not too many miles from where I started

On the road
The first part of today's trip was on local roads - 1000 Rd., 950 Rd., 550 Rd.  They were a lot like some of Texas's Farm-to-Market roads - intended to move people and product around a rural area.  

I saw a sign saying I had reached a place where the Santa Fe Trail had crossed.  At the same corner was a historical marker that I found somewhat interesting.  I didn't stop for a photo (no place to stop on these roads without risking an accident) but found it online.   https://www.hmdb.org/globe-historical-marker

I passed a decent-sized herd of cows that were cocoa-colored - not common around here, I think.

I passed through the town of Overbrook (pop. about 1,000), where a large mural said:
   Don't Overlook Overbrook
   A Santa Fe Trail Community

I passed a house that I suppose was a farmhouse, i.e. the house on a farm owned by the farmer, but it looked more like a fancy resort house.  It was perched on a hill, made of brick, and had multiple levels and a triple-deck deck.  It must have cost a fortune and seemed very out of place.

Not too many miles later I passed another farmhouse that looked exactly like I think a farmhouse should look - Victorian style, wood, with a large covered front porch.

As I drove along US 56, I saw a hawk hovering in the air over the road and noticed it was intently staring at a spot on the road ahead of me.  I couldn't see anything on the road, let alone something worth staring at.  I worried that the hawk might have tunnel vision and not see me coming and would suddenly dive and hit me instead, which would certainly kill it.  Fortunately, that didn't happen.

I saw another near miss - this time by a Meadowlark.  A semi was coming toward me on the road and somehow the Meadowlark slipped in front of both me and the semi, which actually involved a little maneuvering because we were nearly alongside each other at the time.  I don't know how that bird made it through without getting hit.

I heard on the radio that Missouri doesn't allow early voting anywhere in the state.  Their version of early voting is to vote absentee, which they don't allow just anyone to do.  You know, with all the problems we've had in this year's election - Texas allowing just one place per county to drop off early votes; polling places in every state closed because of lack of workers; mail-in ballots not being delivered nationwide because of the head of the US Post Office fiddling around with the machinery and worker schedules resulting in greatly slowed mail service; limits on when early ballots can be received to count (as if the USPO didn't have its thumb on that scale); lawmakers in Florida refusing to allow felons to vote despite a statewide referendum saying they could; lawmakers in many states requiring types of ID that are difficult for impoverished voters to obtain; not to mention gerrymandering by states without an impartial apportionment body; and so on - I'm beginning to think we need some national regulation of minimal voting practices that comport with the Constitution.  Otherwise, voters have to bring individual lawsuits in many many individual places to correct practices that have the effect, even if not the intent, of limiting voter participation.

Just this year, the Missouri Legislature passed a bill requiring absentee voters to get a notary's signature on the envelope.  They said it was to prevent voter fraud, and I'm sure it's just coincidence that they passed it in a presidential election year, after the pandemic started, and had nothing to do with the difficulty poor people might have in even finding - let alone paying for - a notary.  

In the town of Scranton (named after the town in PA), I passed a school building with the sign: "Be Kinder Than Necessary."

I came to Historic Burlingame, the Kettle Corn Capital of Kansas, they claim.  They had a slogan of "Where Santa Fe Trail Meets Rail."

I heard on the radio that Independence, MO, is home to the Midwest Genealogy Library, the largest free-standing public genealogy library in the country.  They offer access to their materials for free for those with a local library card - but they'll also honor the library cards of folks from other parts of the country.  They say they have a lot more material than Ancestry.com, and they don't charge for their service.

By this time I was a long way away from any NPR station and another station bled into my reception.  I heard someone say we're living in the final period of time before the Rapture.  I thought folks had already gone through these supposed Rapture times - the ones where some poor fools got rid of all their possessions because they were convinced they were going to be beamed up to Heaven (I think I have that right).  Given the hardships they must have gone through after that debacle, I'm stunned to hear preachers are trying it on again.

All day I passed large herds of cows and grazing lands, huge croplands, and hills all over.  This really isn't the way I expected Kansas to look.

It was a good thing there wasn't a lot of traffic on the roads I traveled today because the wind was so strong it kept blowing me around the road.  It was a little scary at times, especially when I'd notice I had the steering wheel turned to the side as if I were fighting a skid.

Finally I started to see some blue sky.  I'd been glad of the precipitation, just for the novelty of it if nothing else, but the gray skies were a little depressing at times.

Council Grove
I hadn't intended to come here - I mean, it wasn't a planned destination - just a place where I'd change from one highway to another.  But we were all ready to stretch our legs so I stopped at a park here.  I hadn't expected to find some history too.

Council Grove depot

a closer view

Also at this park were some other historical buildings.

Sylvan Park Depot

detail from photo (left)

the side view looks really different than the front

the calaboose

the reconstructed hoosegow

From there I drove past the Council Oak, and the reason for its name may well be the reason for the town's name.   http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/council-oak  And if you want more information about the Santa Fe Trail in Kansas, this link offers quite a bit.   https://santafetrail/ks

I felt like I'd already been in town, since this park was surrounded by houses and businesses, but I learned differently when I went a little farther down the road.  There's a whole town with a regular downtown area that includes this amazing building.

Farmers and Drovers Bank

detail of the bank

This bank was founded here in Council Grove in 1882, and that fancy building was erected 10 years later, with the addition another 10 years later.  After seeing all that stuff about ancient oaks and original train lines, I just didn't expect to see such fanciness.

On my way out of town, I ran into some road construction, and the workers had 3 or 4 jackhammers going at the same time.  I hope those folks had ear plugs.

For the next 17 miles, I was headed due south and the wind was at my back.  After fighting it for so long, it was a relief.  All too short a period.  

On the map, the road I was taking south, K-177, looked like it would be a main road, but it wasn't any wider or straighter or had any more shoulders than those little 550 Rd.'s.  But it's labeled as an America's Byway, and I guess it does give a good picture of rural Kansas.

Lots of hills and lots of grasslands.  I noticed that the tops of some of the grasses were silver in the sunlight, and with the wind blowing them, they're really pretty.

I passed the Mashed O Ranch, only the "o" was lying on its side and looking more like this - ᴑ - only a little flatter.  Wonder what the story behind that name is.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

I came here because I was sorry I'd missed part of this same preserve in northern Oklahoma.  Unfortunately, I didn't learn much here.

part of a sign at the visitor center

another part of the sign

close-up of the sign (left)

more of the sign

and still more of the sign

There was a very small visitor center, but I'd forgotten my mask and the wind was really blowing and I was cold and I decided this was enough.  I'd certainly seen plenty of grass today, though I don't think it was the tallgrass this preserve is concerned with.  The odd thing is that there wasn't any land near the visitor center that looked any different from the grasslands I'd been passing.  On the other hand, they'd mapped out some trails intrepid folks could follow, as well as words of warning.  This sign seemed the most interesting, and I wondered if there were signs like this at Yellowstone and all the places people seem to be having trouble with bison lately.

Back on the road

A detour almost made me lose my way, but I ended up where I wanted anyway.  In this case, it was the town of Emporia, which has nearly 25,000 residents.  They claim to be the founding city of Veterans Day and, from their explanation, it sounds reasonable.  In 1953, someone in Emporia thought Armistice Day should be changed to Veterans Day, and that's what the city celebrated that year.  Then a congressman from KS, also an Emporia resident, took the idea to Congress, which agreed, and Pres. Eisenhower (also from Kansas, though not Emporia) signed it into law.  The US celebrated Veterans Day for the first time in 1954.

Aside from that, I thought Emporia was a very attractive city.  It also claims the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

I saw cows lying in fields, almost hidden by the grass.  Which means they were lying in some pretty tall grass.  I'm attaching this Wikipedia page because it has a photo of what I guess is the tallgrass they're preserving.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Tallgrass-Prairie  What the cows were lying in wasn't as tall as what's in this photo.

In Osage City I passed an establishment with this sign:

   God Cares

   Ribeye Sale

I swear.

Marilyn's Place - Family Restaurant and Pub had a sign in front saying it was closed, quarantined until Nov. 6.  It urged people to stay safe.  For the life of me I can't understand these folks who keep believing this virus doesn't exist or is no big deal.

All day long I saw hawks and Meadowlarks everywhere I drove.

Tonight's state park, like all the others, had strange signs.  This one said "Campgrounds" plural but then showed arrows going in 3 different directions without saying which campground was in which direction.  WHO MAKES THESE SIGNS!  (Sorry.  Little temper tantrum.)