August 4, 2014
We had an enjoyable visit in Nevada, MO for 3 days.
Here we enjoyed some history at Fort Scott, established in
1842. It was built with the intent of
being a permanent Indian frontier where soldiers kept the peace between
settlers and natives of the area. It was
named after General Winfield Scott where soldiers were train to fight on
horseback and on foot.
 |
| Layout |
Fort Scott soldiers fought in the Mexican-American War
between 1846 and 1848 serving in New Mexico and California.
 |
| Officers Quarters |
Fort Scott was also involved in the Civil War. During this time the state became known as “Bleeding
Kansas” because of the great deal bloodshed between the groups of pro-slavers,
free-staters and abolitionists. When the
fort was sold in 1855 because it original intent was not necessary and the
Civil War unrest reached Kansas, the barracks became divided. One of the former officer’s quarters was
turned into a hotel for free-staters.
Directly across the square in one of the barracks was turned in a hotel
for pro-slavery men. A lot of local strife erupted during this time. By 1859, hundreds were terrorized throughout Kansas
in the struggle over slavery.
 |
| Barracks |
After Lincoln was elected President and after the civil war
began, Kansas became 34th State and during the middle of the Civil
War, Fort Scott was re-established and enlisted Kansas’ first “Colored Infantry”. At the end of the war, Fort Scott was
closed.
 |
| Impressive stables |
In the 1950s a group of citizens fought for federal funding
to restore the fort. In 1978 it became a
national historic site. Many of the
buildings needed to be reconstructed but those buildings look and feel as authentic
as the buildings that actually survived.
It was quite an impressive feat and we thoroughly enjoyed our time
there.
 |
| Mike at the fort's well |
 |
| Town of Fort Scott |
 |
| Old church |
The town of Fort Scott is very quaint with many old buildings and churches.
 |
| Harry S. Truman's Birthplace |
We also took a trip down to tour Harry S. Truman’s
birthplace.
On July 31st, we headed to Mulvane, KS just south
of Wichita where we had 3 fun-filled days with Marty and Bill Crane, our neighbors during last winter down in Tucson. They were very gracious and allowed us to
park on the pad next to their garage where we had full hookups. I can’t remember the time I laughed so much
because of all the fun and jokes. While
there, we were FINALLY able to find the chair we had been looking for to fill the
“empty” spot in our rig. I have Marty to thank for this because I didn’t think
such a chair existed and she’s the one who spotted it for me. Thank you, Marty!!
 |
| Front Street Recreated |
Today we’ve concluded our visit at Dodge City where we visited
Boot Hill Museum and Cemetery. It’s said
that the term “give them the boot” referred to burying someone who died in a
shoot out. The museum is actually a
recreation of Front Street during the 1870s and 1880s where the likes of many a
shootout would be judged and convicted by Wyatt Earp with the help of his
sidekick Doc Holliday. There was even a reenactment
of a fist fight ending in a shoot out at high noon. I must admit it was very corny but fun to
watch.
Tomorrow we will “get out of Dodge” and resume our westward
journey. We’ll stop briefly in La Junta,
CO then onward to Strasburg, CO where Mike’s high school buddy lives.
We hope all our friends and family are well!
No comments:
Post a Comment