Today turned out to be a whirlwind of a day full of pleasant surprises and warm connections with some truly fascinating people. Bright, sunny skies accompanied us the entire day without even a hint of rain, and the Kansas prairie was just wonderfully scenic and inviting.
Our very first adventure was with Dorothy of OZ fame, and we finished up with the notorious Dalton Brothers outlaw gang who, when just in their twenties, decided to knock over two banks at once in unsuspecting Coffeeville, Kansas, and, as sometimes happens, bought themselves a one-way ticket to Boot Hill when the townsfolk turned out to be smarter than the gang had anticipated.
We got started early with the Land of OZ museum, which promised to include Dorothy's Kansas house, as it was located in the same town as our evening camp, Liberal Kansas. We were a bit skeptical of the attraction as some visitors had given it rave reviews, and others definitely had not.
I was more interested in the fact that the museum next door to OZ was named for the famous Spanish explorer of 1541, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. You may have heard of Coronado sometime in your life as he is the one who searched in vain for the lost seven cities of Cibola. Cibola was supposed to be comprised of fabulously wealthy native cities where the streets were paved with gold. His expedition, which included hundreds of soldiers and Native American guides, lasted two years and traversed some 4,000 miles of the American West. In the end, no cities of gold were found, and Coronado returned empty-handed and in debt. Since I have been a student of treasure tales since I was a youngster, I figured I couldn't go wrong with Coronado.
My expectations were immediately heightened as we pulled up to park, as right across the street stood a statue of Coronado in a thoughtful setting and amidst well-tended landscaping. After photographing the statue, we stopped at the adjacent visitor center to talk about what we should see in Kansas and enjoyed a good deal of personal attention from the resident volunteer. We discovered that the visitor center map, upon which people were encouraged to place pins in their home towns, held NO pins from Carson City! In fact, only two other pins could be found in the whole state -- one in Elko and one in Ely. We were amazed to see that no one had visited from Las Vegas, where the majority of Nevadans live, let alone anyone from the western part of the state.
Moving on we headed for what promised to be the Cornado Museum, located in a beautiful Italianate-style mansion just across the street. Unfortunately, once we arrived at the museum we soon discovered the museum was devoted mostly to life in Kansas and had nothing to do with the struggles of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. Oh, well, we made the best of it, and the resident ladies, who insisted on granting our every request for information and assistance, made the visit all the more pleasurable.
Once we had finished every nook and cranny of the museum, a youngster of about 16 volunteered to give us the official tour of the Wizard of OZ building and Dorothy's house. Though Concetta and I remained skeptical for a time, the charming guide who first led us on a tour of Dorothy's house, then walked us step by step down the yellow brick road (inside a large metal warehouse), really gave all she had to her performance. Everything from the lethal, witch-killing house, to the 3-D image of OZ himself, was just as it should be. We were told that one woman coordinated the construction of OZ and the work was performed in six short months.
Granted, if you're taking kids through the OZ recreation they are going to be thrilled beyond measure. Still, it turned out to be quite a pleasant experience for us, too. Some of the art work was indeed better than others, but the overall effect of the fairy tale come to life is just very, very impressive. I would not hesitate to recommend stopping to anyone with children in tow, and I would not discourage adults from stopping, especially if you're interesting in the recreated "Dorothy's House" that they say is an exact replica of the movie house. We found it charming as well as educational as we encountered a number of furnishings in the house that we had not seen before.
As you might guess, it took all morning to finally roll out of Liberal. Our next stop was Meade, Kansas, named for the famous military genius who defeated General Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg. Our plan was to roll on toward Meade, have lunch there or somewhere scenic along the road, then visit the house in Meade where the Dalton Brothers lived before they decided to "one up" the James gang and try robbing two banks at once. Here's what Wiki says: "Bob Dalton had ambitions. He would, he claimed, beat anything Jesse James ever did—rob two banks at once, in broad daylight. On October 5, 1892, the Dalton gang attempted this feat when they set out to rob the C.M. Condon & Company's Bank and the First National Bank on opposite sides of the street in Coffeyville, Kansas. They wore fake beards, but one of the townspeople recognized them.
The gang specialized in bank and train robberies. During the attempted bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1892, two of the brothers and two other gang members were killed; Emmett survived and was captured, tried, and convicted. He was paroled after serving 14 years in prison.
The oldest brother Frank had been a Deputy U.S. Marshal, but was killed in 1888. In 1890, Gratton "Grat", Bob, and Emmett turned to crime after not being paid as lawmen. Their middle brother William M. "Bill" Dalton also had a career as an outlaw, but he rode with the Wild Bunch. The gangs were related through their mother to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James. The Daltons were active later and independently of the James-Younger Gang."
I was especially anxious to see the Dalton "hideout," really just the family home, in Meade because in October of 1969, while I was driving east to begin my enlistment in the Naval Air Corp in Chicago, Illinois, I stopped at the Dalton family home. I really, really wanted to see if things had changed at all after all these years. Turns out things HAD changed. In 1969 all you could do was photograph the exterior of the house and I don't believe a tour was offered. Now, not only can you tour the house, but the "escape tunnel" that ran from the house to barn, which was located down-slope toward the creek. The tunnel has been refurbished and opened to the public so you can enter the tunnel at the visitor center and pop out in the house basement fifty feet away. The tale goes that the gang could more easily sneak into the barn under watchful eyes then they could the house. It all sounds a bit fishy to me, but then it still makes a good story.
Just inside the door of the visitor center we met Mark Ferguson, the manager/curator of the Dalton Hideout Museum. I happened to ask Marc a question about the 1920s brick landmark building that the town of Meade was enthusiastically tearing down on main street. Well, THAT was a topic near and dear to Marc's heart for sure. From that moment on he and I became fast friends. We talked for at least twenty minutes about the destroyed building and all it's history going back decades. From there we branched out into history and historic preservation in general, as well as a half dozen other topics in history that we both enjoyed. Meanwhile Concetta was off on her own, viewing the displays, and waiting patiently for her talkative husband to run out of steam.
Concetta and I did manage to tour the visitor center museum, the escape tunnel, and the Dalton family home nearby before leaving. But as we left I told Marc that of all the docents that spend their time bringing history to life for visitors, he certainly is by far the best I've ever seen. We traded business cards, shook hands, and said goodbye. But someday I hope to run into him again.
While touring the Dalton House we chanced upon a couple who somehow or other fell into talking to us about vacations, and from there into motor-homing. I know Concetta was rolling her eyes, but I was off again on one of my favorite topics. The couple had been considering buying a rig, but didn't really know who to talk to about the experience. After the quarter hour we spent together acquainting them with our current trip and our other adventures cross the country, I think they may just be sold on the idea. I hope they give it a try as it's just the very best way to see America.
The balance of the day was spent in some very pleasant traveling from Meade to Dodge City, Kansas. We chose Route 23 north from Meade as the docents at the Coronado Museum thought we'd encounter the fewest number of 18-wheelers that way. Well, we did see a few, and doing so was a tad unnerving at times since Route 23 is so narrow and flanked by soggy, deep ditches. But the vistas were just magnificent with the green, rolling countryside bordering both sides of the road, the forests of snow-white wind turbines, and the tiny red-roofed farm houses keeping us company.
At one point we encountered a massive swath of the most yellow flowers we had ever seen, and it was something of a challenge to switch course and access a muddy dirt road for a camera angle. Once again I had to climb onto the roof of the RV to get my shot.
I would have liked to have chosen another road to get a better angle on the shoot, but that road was even more muddy and Concetta was against it. Roadside America is so very fascinating that if one stopped to shoot everything that came along, one would never get anywhere. Even so, I encourage you to go out and see for yourself. We wish you Happy Travels.
No comments:
Post a Comment