Thursday, 22 April 2021
In last night's campground I saw at least 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers. Very nice.
 |
| today's route |
 |
| some detail |
I saw another Red-headed Woodpecker along the road. There must be a bunch of them here if I saw that many so casually.
I stopped at nearby Cameron, pop. 9,933, to pick up some groceries. Google insisted that, instead of going to the grocery store's parking lot, I stop at the Econo Lodge next door and walk across the grassy area between the two. It absolutely refused to recognize the existence of the grocery store's parking lot. Weird.
From Cameron it was only 35 miles to the center of St. Joseph. Along the way I saw a herd of sheep with some llamas (or alpacas or something similar) mixed in, cows, horses. I saw cropfields full of little purple flowers. I saw some off-white sheep with lots of little black lambs - very cute.
I heard an interview on the radio with 2 newly elected members of the Kansas City School Board, and the topic of charter schools came up. Someone who called in to the program drew a parallel between privatization of schools and privatization of prisons, suggesting that neither was a public good. I hadn't heard that comparison before.
Today is Earth Day. I remember my sister Louise being involved in a celebration for that first one in 1970 in Bryan, or more likely College Station.
St. Joseph
St. Joseph seems larger than its 2010 population of 76,780 - but that may be due to its large number of historic buildings and historic events. St. Joe was the last outpost for supplies for the wagon trains heading west. It was the eastern terminus of the Pony Express. And, as Wikipedia pointed out, it's the birthplace of Eminem and the death place of Jesse James. Or, as the city of St. Joseph put it, it's "where the Pony Express started and Jesse James ended."
I'll start, though, with the historic buildings.
 |
| Buchanan County Courthouse - the dome, made of glass and tin, is visible but the front is hidden |
 |
| Buchanan County Courthouse built 1873 in St. Joseph - the front but the dome disappeared |
 |
| St. Joseph City Hall, built 1926-27 |
 |
| close-up of the City Hall's Italian Renaissance Revival style |
 |
| not historic, but a peace officer memorial in front of City Hall - I was impressed with the detail |
 |
| unveiled 1940 - not particularly historic, but what it commemorates was, and it stands next to the park in front of City Hall |
The city is also packed with old, substantial church buildings.
 |
| Francis Street First United Methodist Church, built 1906 though the congregation itself began in 1857. |
 |
| The Dome, built 1899 originally as a church, now used mainly for weddings. |
 |
| First Presbyterian Church, its cornerstone was laid 1909 |
I passed a number of others that I couldn't get photos of: 1st Baptist, built 1895-1901; 1st Lutheran, built 1914, with dedication services in German, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian; 1st Church of Christ Scientist, built 1899-1906. And that was just the churches.
The section of town immediately west and south of City Hall is called Museum Hill Historic District with homes and other buildings illustrating every style used between 1860 and 1942, from Italianate to American Craftsman.
And though there's plenty of flat land, the city seemed to me built primarily on hills. Steep hills. They must have fun when it snows.
Not far from all of that was the museum for the Pony Express, including a rebuilt stables, across from a popular park with its own history lessons.
 |
| This mural across the street sums up the city's history. |
 |
| Pony Express Stables |
 |
| DAR monument |
 |
| This is their sign, with details below. |
 |
| what they did |
 |
| where they went |
 |
| There's that Freedom's Frontier again. |
 |
| side 1 |
 |
| side 2 |
Then there was more Pony Express info:
plus Civil War info:
 |
| local military situation |
 |
| and the local military |
 |
| no uniformity of thought in these parts |
This park was near railroad tracks and the railroad was very important to the city's history, so it's no surprise there'd be a train or 2 in the park. What was surprising to me is that one of them celebrated something I hadn't heard of - The 1949 Merci Train.
 |
| That's a box car behind the sign, though the one Missouri received is in Sedalia. |
I've learned the Merci Train was a response to the 1947 Friendship Train, which was brilliantly organized by journalist Drew Pearson. He saw signs that the Russian Communists might successfully woo the hungry post-war Europeans with gifts of food, so he conceived this train. It started cross-country from California, ending in New York, having been joined by railroad cars from every state - all filled with gifts of food and supplies. From New York they were shipped mainly to France and Italy, capping a remarkably successful venture. Two years later, France responded in kind with thank you gifts - thus, the Merci Train. It's a fascinating story, which you can read about at this link. http://thefriendshiptrain1947.org Here's a link with more information about the Merci Train, https://en.wikipedia.org/Merci-Train, though if you can decipher what's behind the chain link fence, the sign here in the park gives more information than I found online.
And what I want to know is, why can't today's journalists come up with something world-changing like this?
I met 2 women from Cleveland in this park, and we were talking about the virus (of course) and some stumbling blocks to getting the vaccine. One of them told me about a website called vaccinefinder.org, which is where she said she found the shots for both her in Ohio and her boyfriend in Colorado. Very helpful.
Back on the road
I crossed Contrary Creek, and I can't find any useful information about its name. All Wikipedia says is that it "runs in a different direction relative to other nearby streams." Which is right on the edge of useless to me. It's a tributary of the Missouri River, like all the other streams and rivers in this area, so exactly how different a direction ("relative to other nearby streams") can it go?
I was southbound on US 59, which ran alongside the Missouri for some distance - a view I appreciated. Farther south I saw signs that I was on the Lewis and Clark Trail, which makes sense since the whole point of their expedition was to travel the Missouri and any promising tributaries in search of a water route to the Pacific Ocean - and, after all, I was driving beside the Missouri.
Wikipedia says, by the way, that the Missouri is the longest river in North America. It runs 2,341 miles from the Rocky Mountains in western Montana to the Mississippi River north of St. Louis. They say that, though it is considered a Mississippi tributary, the Missouri is actually longer and carries about the same amount of water. Its watershed includes parts of 10 US states and 2 Canadian provinces. A pretty big deal.
Tonight's campground turned out to be a mixed bag. It was a somewhat uncomfortable campground, full of steep hills, impossible to see whether a dog was coming toward us until it was there, and a slightly surly campground host.
On the other hand, it had 3 large off-leash dog parks and Dexter made a new friend - an enormous dog named Walter. The people told me his breed but I'd never heard of it and don't remember it. Very nice dog and the 2 of them raced each other around the play area while Gracie lay on the grass and relaxed. The nice young couple with Walter were from Kansas City and said they'd just come up for the day. We had a pleasant, socially distanced chat, which more than made up for the grumpy park host.
No comments:
Post a Comment