Day 3 - Harry and the Oregon Trail

We awoke in Independence, Missouri, and since local museums did not open until 9 a.m. we were able to sleep in a bit and have a relaxed breakfast. Independence is famous for two things: Harry Truman and being a jumping off point for the westward wagon trains. Phil stopped to say hello to the former President at the town square, and then we drove by the Truman home. Harry was a farm boy who married Bess Wallace and her in-town money. It took him nine proposals but she finally said yes,  to her parents' chagrin, and Harry got to live in a fine home until his death.

 

Phil and Harry

 

Home of Harry and Bess Truman

The Trails Museum in Independence has a number of informative displays about the Santa Fe, Oregon and Mormon Trails that began in Independence and other nearby Missouri towns. Mary and I never had thought about how brief a period of time was involved with the wagon trips west - really only about 25 years until the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869. And, these trips involved only about 400,000 people. Knowing how difficult the journey was, we wondered what the people who set out in 1867 or 1868 would have said. Perhaps, why were we so stupid not to wait a year and take the train? Next door to the museum was a restored 1879 train depot of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, which ran from Chicago to Independence.

Independence Train Depot

Our museum tour complete, we set off on the Oregon Trail ourselves. However, the trail is now four to six paved lanes each way and is called Interstate 70 - much easier travel than walking alongside a wagon, especially with air conditioning. We stopped for lunch in the Flint Hills region west of Topeka. I recalled reading of William Heat Least-Moon's travels about this rolling countryside in "PrairieErth." The Warbling Vireo singing near our picnic table added a nice touch.

A few miles further west the hills give way to the flat, dry plains that we always associate with Kansas. With the wind blowing 20-25 mph, we felt for the plains folk who lived out here, especially during the Dust Bowl of the thirties. In central Kansas, we saw our first wind turbines. We did not see any more until we reached Colorado the next day and wondered why there are not more out here.

 

Kansas Wind Turbines

However, we also wondered about the impact of these turbines on bird migration through the central flyway, as the Kansas field was only about 40 miles from Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. We stopped a few miles down the road in dry and dusty Hays, Kansas, and turned in early in anticipation of our visit to Cheyenne Bottoms the next morning.