Joan and Keith's Travels: MOVING ON WESTWARD

Welcome

Join us as we continue our Lewis & Clark

Rivers West Trip!

May 27 - Travel Day

Today we traveled to Platte City, MO

While in route, we stopped at Arrow Rock, MO

For generations, the Arrow Rock bluff was a significant landmark on the Missouri River for Native Americans, explorers, and early westward travelers. This flint-bearing, high limestone bluff first appeared on a 1732 French map as “pierre a fleche,” literally translated as “rock of arrows.” Archaeological evidence shows that for nearly 12,000 years indigenous cultures used the Arrow Rock bluff as a manufacturing site for flint tools and weapons.
Following the War of 1812 and the subsequent peace treaties with Indians in 1815, large numbers of immigrants from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia began pouring into the fertile “Boone's Lick Country,” so named for the salt spring or “lick” across the river.
In the 1820s, the earliest travelers on what became the Santa Fe Trail crossed the river on the Arrow Rock ferry and filled their water barrels with fresh water at “the Big Spring” before heading west. In 1829, the town of Arrow Rock was founded on the bluff above the ferry crossing. Originally named Philadelphia, the town's name was changed in 1833 to coincide with the better-known landmark name, Arrow Rock.

Many citizens prominent in state and national affairs were closely associated with Arrow Rock including Dr. John Sappington of quinine fame and George Caleb Bingham, Missouri's preeminent artist of the mid-1800s. While at the visitors center, Joan was looking at the entries in a ledger book made by Dr. Sappington and found what appears to be an entry for a "Coonrod". Third entry from the bottom. A relative? Who knows!!

Local Courthouse serving Saline County

We Stayed at Basswood RV Park

May 28

Today we toured Kansas City

Known as the city of fountains.

This was just one of many located throughout the city!

Our bus took us up to

Clark's Lookout - Case Park

This is where the Kansas River joins the Missouri River

What a view up here!

Next Stop
The National World War I Museum

The land of General Pershing
This museum is a must see and is truly amazing!

It contains so many items that one could spend an entire day here.

Time for lunch!

Kansas City families have been making memories at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant for decades.

Order your food by telephone (located at your table)

and it's brought to your table by an overhead train.

Amazing!

Get ready
Our order is on the tracks headed our way!

The train actually drops the box on the tray for your table.

Then the arm lowers your basket down to your table.

With headquarters in Kansas City, Mo.

privately-held Hallmark Cards, Inc.

creates products sold in more than 40,000 retail stores across the U.S.

and in 100 countries worldwide.

Hallmark was founded more than a century ago by a teenage entrepreneur with a couple of shoeboxes of postcards under his arm and the American dream in his heart. Today’s Hallmark is a $4 billion business with greeting cards and other products sold in more than 40,000 retail stores across the U.S.

Joyce Clyde Hall - Founder

This actually was a pretty cool place to see.

There were many displays depicting Hallmark's involvement in TV, software, cards and of course many Christmas decorations.

This is the entire "Eskimo" frosty friends collection.

Joan has many of these pieces.

Next stop on this busy day was

The Steamboat Arabia Museum

The Arabia was built in 1853 around the Monongahela River in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Its paddlewheels were 28 feet (8.5 m) across, and its steam boilers consumed approximately thirty cords of wood per day. The boat averaged five miles (8 km) an hour going upstream. The boat traveled the Ohio and Mississippi rivers before it was bought by Captain John Shaw, who operated the boat on the Missouri River. Her first trip was to carry 109 soldiers from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Pierre, which was located up river in South Dakota. The boat then traveled up the Yellowstone River, adding an additional 700 miles (1,100 km) to the trip. In all, the trip took nearly three months to complete.
In spring of 1856, the boat was sold to Captain William Terrill and William Boyd, and it made fourteen trips up and down the Missouri during their ownership. In March, the boat collided with an obstacle, nearly sinking. Repairs were made in nearby Portland. A few weeks later the boat blew a cylinder head and had to be repaired again. The rest of the season was uneventful for the boat until September 5.

Sinking

On September 5, 1856, the Arabia set out for a routine trip. At Quindaro Bend, near the town of Parkville, Missouri, the boat hit a submerged walnut tree snag. The snag ripped open the hull, which rapidly filled with water. The upper decks of the boat stayed above water, and the only casualty was a mule that was tied to sawmill equipment and forgotten. The boat sank so rapidly into the mud that by the next morning, only the smokestacks and pilot house remained visible. Within a few days, these traces of the boat were also swept away. Numerous salvage attempts failed, and eventually the boat was completely covered by water. Over time, the river shifted a half a mile to the east.The site of the sinking is in present-day Kansas City, Kansas, although, as described below, many of the remnants have been removed to a museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

In the 1860s, Elisha Sortor purchased the property where the boat lay. Over the years, legends were passed through the family that the boat was located somewhere under the land. In the surrounding town, stories were also told of the steamboat, but the exact location of the boat was lost over time.
In 1987, Bob Hawley and his sons, Greg and David, set out to find the boat. The Hawleys used old maps and a proton magnetometer to figure out the probable location, and finally discovered the Arabia half a mile from the river and under 45 feet (14 m) of silt and topsoil.

The owners of the farm gave permission for excavation, with the condition that the work be completed before the spring planting. The Hawleys, along with family friends Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell, set out to excavate the boat during the winter months while the water table was at its lowest point. They performed a series of drilling tests to determine the exact location of the hull, then marked the perimeter with powdered chalk. Heavy equipment, including a 100-ton crane, was brought in by both river and road transport during the summer and fall. 20 irrigation pumps were installed around the site to lower the water level and to keep the site from flooding. The 65-foot-deep (20 m) wells removed 20,000 US gallons (76,000 l) per minute from the ground. On November 26, 1988, the boat was exposed. Four days later, artifacts from the boat began to appear, beginning with a Goodyear rubber overshoe. On December 5, a wooden crate filled with elegant china was unearthed. The mud was such an effective preserver that the yellow packing straw was still visible. Thousands of artifacts were recovered intact, including jars of preserved food that are still edible. The artifacts that were recovered are housed in the Steamboat Arabia Museum.

On February 11, 1989, work ceased at the site, and the pumps were turned off. The hole filled with water overnight.

Joan and I actually had a chance to visit this museum last year

This years visit was truly special

as we met and talked at length with

David Hawley!

Joan with David Hawley!

Below are pictures of some of the items

that have been recovered, restored and put on display.

This is another MUST see museum if you are ever near Kansas City. It is a "WOW" factor for sure!

Please visit their site!

http://1856.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arabia-Steamboat-Museum/245114431278

May 29

Today was a day to decide what optional activities

we wanted to do on our own.

We chose to do--

A visit to Independence!

We traveled through Independence by---

YUP - Two wagon trains pulled by mules!

Our guides were really great!
They really knew their history of Independence.

We all had a great time!
Janet was given a front row seat!
She really wanted to drive the team.

Diana sitting up front in the other wagon!

Below are pictures of some of the customers enjoying the ride and sites.

Harvey & Jean

Diana & Steve

Rodney & Tonia

Jackie & David

Gary & Jan

One cannot visit Independence without seeing

the sites of president
Harry Truman!

Joan and Harry both look happy to be in Independence.

So - We had to try it out!

A real old fashion Soda Fountain!

YUP
That is a
Banana Split!
It Was Good!

We lucked out and got a tour of the courthouse where Harry Truman's office
was located and the courtroom.

This clock is located in his office at the courthouse.

Below are pictures of the stain glass that are in the courtroom over the bench.

Independence is.....

More pictures taken in Independence as we traveled around by wagon

This is the old courthouse in Independence.

Wedding Day - Harry & Bess Truman

Bess Truman's house where Harry and Bess Truman lived.

Lewis Bingham Waggoner Estate

The Bingham-Waggoner Estate is recognized today as one of the most significant historical sites in western Missouri because of its role in the history of the area and the people that lived there. Plotted in 1827 on that super highway west called the Santa Fe Trail, the Estate played an important part in our region's history.

Of the many colorful owners, characters and residents of this now legendary home, the most famous is the artist and politician George Caleb Bingham. Bingham had some very strong feelings about the Civil War -- particularly the war as it played along the western border. He soon became an active opponent of the military government and the infamous Order No. 11. The execution of this merciless act by government troops caused chaos and death. While residing at the Estate he painted one of his most famous works, "Order No. 11".

George Caleb Bingham

George Caleb Bingham, famous 19th century American artist and Missouri politician, was one of the home’s most distinguished residents.
He and his family moved to the estate shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Bingham maintained a studio at his residence in Independence, a log-and-clapboard building to the northwest of his home. (Thought to be one of the first buildings built by earlier owners.) Bingham used this building as his studio. It was in this studio, Order Number 11 was painted.
The military proclamation officially known as Order Number 11 was issued in Kansas City, Mo. In August 1863, Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr. commander of the District of the Border required all persons living in Jackson, Cass, Bates and Vernon counties, excepting only those residing in certain areas near large towns, to leave their homes within fifteen days. The violence manifested itself chiefly in border raids by "Red Legs" and "Jayhawkers" who consistently plundered and committed violent aggressions on Missouri towns. The military order issued by Ewing was intended as a retaliatory measure after a particularly bloody raid was made from the Missouri side by guerrilla William Quantrill and his band on the town of Lawrence, Kansas. Bingham strenuously resented the order and appealed personally to Ewing’s superior officer, Gen John M. Schofield, to have it rescinded, but to no avail. When he was told the order would have to stand, he reportedly warned Schofield, "If God spares my life, with pen and pencil, I will make this order infamous in history." The painting Martial Law, or The War of Desolation, better known as Order Number 11 was the result. There are two versions of the picture. In 1868, he made arrangements with John Sartain of Philadelphia to have "Martial Law" reproduced as an engraving. Upon publication, the engraving caused much furor and was denounced from the pulpit as being too sympathetic to the Confederacy and its cause. In March 1870, Bingham finished his second version of Order Number 11. The second, painted in the spring of 1870 shows minor changes in details and pose and costume. The second version is better known since it was the one used by Sartain to produce the large engraving commissioned by Bingham. It soon became one of the most publicized pictures of the day.

In 1879, the Waggoner family -- well-known millers of flour -- purchased the Estate. They became nationally known for their "Queen of the Pantry Flour," considered the very best in baking and cake flours. George Gates, grandfather of Bess Truman, became a partner in the mill and the name became the Waggoner-Gates Milling Company. Three generations of the Waggoner family occupied the home for almost 100 years.

Jim Bridger was born in Richmond, Virginia. He began his career in 1822 at the age of 18, as a member of General William Ashley's Upper Missouri Expedition and had a significant role in the ordeal of Hugh Glass. He was among the first white men to see the geysers and other natural wonders of the Yellowstone region. In the winter of 1824-1825, Bridger gained fame as the first European American to see the Great Salt Lake (though some now dispute that status in favor of Étienne Provost), which he reached traveling in a bull boat. Due to its salinity, he believed it to be an arm of the Pacific Ocean. In 1830, Jim Bridger and several other trappers bought out Ashley and established the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, competing with the Hudson's Bay Company and John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company for the lucrative beaver pelt trade. In 1843, Bridger and Louis Vasquez built a trading post, later named Fort Bridger, on the west bank of Blacks Fork of the Green River to serve Pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
In 1835 he married a woman from the Flathead Indians tribe with whom he had three children. After her death in 1846, he married the daughter of a Shoshone chief, who died in childbirth three years later. In 1850 he married Shoshone Chief Washakie's daughter, with whom he had two more children. Some of his children were sent back east to be educated.