April/May - Ground Words Communications

Transcription

Adventures West
/ History and Heritage Travel
Where
Legends Linger
Ready to rediscover the West—to truly examine its evocative,
enthralling mystique? Let history be your guide.
The hottest trend in travel is “heritage” travel—tracing one’s route so as to experience a
region’s history firsthand. And no place is hotter for heritage travel enthusiasts than
the West. With that in mind, we have compiled a catalog of unforgettable historical
stops—or starts, really—to get you going on a tour you’ll never forget.
Old Trail Town, which lies in
Cody, Wyo., has 26 vintage
buildings for visitors to
explore.
4 8 April - May 2009 Americancowboy.com
Arizona:
Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly
To the Navajo, Canyon de Chelly (pronounced SHAY)
was an impregnable stronghold and a bountiful sanctuary, home
to Spider Woman and four other gods as well as a rich orchard of
3,000 peach trees. Much of that changed in 1864, however, during the final phases of the bitter Navajo war. Ordered to round
up the Navajo and send them to the bleak Bosque Redondo reservation in New Mexico, Kit Carson had been leading troops in a
long chase of the Navajo since that fall. Indian fields and homes
were burned—part of a so-called scorched earth policy—and in
January, Carson began the final assault, entering the Navajo’s
last stronghold. Over 16 days, Carson’s troops destroyed homes,
water holes, flocks of sheep and, yes, even that entire peach orchard. The freezing, starving Navajos surrendered—except for a
few hundred who held out at Fortress Rock—and were forced on
Before You Go: Read Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American
West, the Spur Award-winning history of Carson and the Navajo by
Hampton Sides (Doubleday, 2006).
While in the Area: Monument Valley, site of many John Ford-John
Wayne Westerns, is about a three-hour drive north. Closer to Chinle,
check out Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site near Ganado.
The Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock is a great place to learn
more about the Navajo war and Navajo culture.
For more info:
www.arizonaguide.com
www.nps.gov/cach
Americancowboy.com April - May 2009 4 9
photo courtesy wyoming tourism (left); Arizonaguide.com
The architectural ruins known as The White House are one
of the draws to beautiful Canyon de Chelly, in Arizona.
the deadly “Long Walk” to Bosque Redondo,
where they remained prisoners until the survivors returned home in 1868.
Today, like the Navajo, remote and magnificent Canyon de Chelly endures, and is
much more than a tragic symbol of the Indian
wars. The national monument near Chinle,
about 76 miles north of Interstate 40 on U.S.
Highway 191, still sustains the Navajo. It’s
also a photographer’s paradise (Edward Curtis and Ansel Adams captured its beauty).
Thunderbird Lodge in Chinle offers Navajoguided jeep tours. Horseback riding (by prior
arrangement), camping, hiking, history, and
rock-art viewing are also available in the park.
—Johnny D. Boggs
San
Diego
California:
Miles of Missions
For more info:
www.visitcalifornia.com
www.californiamissions.com
Over a 54-year period, from the mid 1700s until the ing the famous Pacific Coast Highway. In California there are
early 1800s, Spanish padres established a series of 21 missions
that stretched more than 600 miles along California’s picturesque Pacific coastline from San Diego north to Sonoma. Mission San Diego de Alcala was the first of the Spanish Missions.
Known as the Mother of the Missions, it was founded by Father
Junipero Serra on July 16, 1769. Originally the mission, along
with the Spanish presidio, was on a coastal hill overlooking
Old Towne San Diego— itself a popular tourist destination today—before being moved five miles inland to its present day
location. More than 200 years later, travelers still visit many
of the missions—San Juan, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, and
San Francisco among them.
No trip to visit the missions would be complete without cruis-
three distinct sections of note: Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, the Central Coast, and, of course, the San Francisco Bay
Area and the Redwood Empire—each offering a unique experience united by one all-American Road. —Keith Ryan Cartwright
Unbeatable Eats: If you’re starting in San Diego and heading
north, be sure to enjoy breakfast at Cora’s Coffee Shoppe, just a few
blocks south of the Santa Monica Pier. Unless it’s Sunday, in which
case you’ll want to continue on your journey a few miles north for
an opportunity to experience the brunch served at Duke’s in Malibu. Overlooking the ocean, with dolphins known to make their way
past the window seating, Duke’s has an affordable all-you-can-eat
menu that is beyond compare.
Alberta:
Fort Whoop-UP
For more info:
www.travelalberta.com
www.albertasouthwest.com
ern corner of Alberta is quickly becoming
a hotbed of lawlessness as the Blackfoot,
Blood, and Piegan Indians do business
with American whiskey traders at a location aptly nicknamed “Fort Whoop-Up.”
Ironically, at that same time a well-educated Scot by the name of James Alexander Farquharson Macleod was hard at
work trying to bring order to the area. The
Dominion of Canada had signed its confederation in 1867, and its government was
keen on settling the still-wild North West
Territories. Shortly thereafter Macleod,
a North West Mounted Police (NWMP)
Assistant Commander, led two contingents to establish the first permanent
police post in western Canada. From this
post, built on an island on the Old Man
River west of Fort Whoop-Up, Macleod
settlers, signed historic treaties with the
established Indian tribes, and, later, welcomed 4,000 men into the area to build
the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Today the area is rife with Canadian history, including Fort Macleod and the First
Nations Interpretive Centre museum, all
lying in the shadow of the majestic Canadian Rocky Mountains. —Tracey Feist
While you’re in Alberta: Southwest of
Fort Macleod is the town of Cardston, the
beginning of Alberta’s Cowboy Trail. Officially known as Highway 22, this 435 mile-long
historic trail tracks northward along the
eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.
Don’t Miss the Greatest Outdoor Show
on Earth, The Calgary Stampede, July 3 to 12,
2009.
photos courtesty visitcalifornia.com (top) / travelalberta.com
The year is 1874, and the southwest- and his men opened the Canadian west to
Texas Tourism
Colorado:
Striking it rich
in Silverton
The Durango and Silverton Narrow
Gauge Railway still conveys passengers between the two old mining
towns, through the spectacular
scenery of the San Juans.
The prospectors that ventured over the Molas Pass
While in Silverton: The Ute Indians called the 14,000-foot San Juans the Shining Mountains and, along with 5 million acres of undisturbed forest, the area truly is a storybook setting. To see it all, travel the 236-mile San Juan Skyway, designated a scenic byway by the Department of Transportation.
For more info:
For a good soak: Don’t miss the Wiesbaden
www.colorado.com
Hot Springs Spa and Lodgings in nearby Ouray.
www.silvertoncolorado.com
Their therapeutic waters offer medicinal healing
www.swcolo.org
qualities. www.wiesbadenhotsprings.com
photos courtesy colorado Tourism
in the San Juan Mountains down into the Silverton, Colo.,
area in the 1880s must have thought they hit the jackpot—in
Silverton
more ways than one. Not only was the area pretty as a postcard, it lay rich in what would be nearly $300 million in gold
and silver. Gold Rush Fever had hit Colorado in 1859, and
many of those “Fifty-Niners” (named after the peak year
of the rush) expanded their mining efforts into the rest of the territory. By 1874,
Silverton was becoming a hub of mining activity, with many ready to stake their
claim along the Animas River. The little town nestled in the majestic San Juans in
the southwestern corner of Colorado also caught the eye
Hot springs in Ouray
of the railroad companies. By July, 1882, the Denver and
Rio Grande Railway had completed its line between Durango and Silverton. Building this railroad was no easy
feat, as Silverton sits at 9,318 feet above sea level—3,000
feet higher than Durango.
Within 12 months, Silverton was a bustling town of
2,000 people with 400 buildings, two banks, five laundries, several hotels, and a whopping 32 saloons, all within
a three-block stretch. Today you can take a 3-hour ride on
the vintage, steam-operated, coal-fired Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway and step down in the middle
of Silverton. You can bear witness to Silverton’s wilder
days at The Grand Imperial Hotel, where Sheriff Bat Masterson left a bullet hole in
the back bar. If your stay in Silverton gives you the fever to explore other history-rich
Colorado mining towns, consider trips to Leadville, Cripple Creek/Victor, Central
City, and other quaint relics of a colorful past. —Tracey Feist
Co Tourism
An old river boat lies docked at
Lewiston, Idaho.
Idaho:
Tracks of the Explorers
Explorer Meriwether Lewis was chagrined when he learned
Native Culture: Twelve miles east of Lewiston, the Nez Perce National Historical Park
houses artifacts, clothing, and lore, and offers film showings of Nez Perce history. Lewis
and Clark historians should visit the Sacajawea
Fountain in Lewiston and travel up the ClearwaFor more info:
ter River.
www.fs.fed.us/hellscanyon
Wild Things: To spot a wolf pack travel to small
www.lewistonchamber.org
town Winchester, about 25 miles southeast of the
www.wolfcenter.org
Salmon River.
traveloregon.com
photos by JOANN ROE
from the Nez Perce Indians that the Lewis and Clark Expedition
could have crossed the Rockies directly from what is now modernday Missoula to Lewiston, Idaho, without too much trouble. Likely
he didn’t appreciate the gorgeous scenery of the Salmon River
Lewiston
country through which he struggled on horseback, after deviating
far south, then over the Continental Divide and north. Following
his route by car on mostly paved roads is a different story.
Central Idaho still is remote, with few towns. Near Horse Prairie Ranch southwest of Dillon, Mont., where Lewis first sighted a terrified Nez Perce
youth, you’ll cross the Divide and wound through
country still so rugged that it could be deemed
wilderness. Single-lane at times, the roads (purchase a local map) can be claustrophobic, flanked Hell’s Canyon,
Idaho
by sheer cliffs and timber.
The Salmon River today is known for rafting
trips that raise your hair. Poor Lewis tried to run
the river at first, thinking it was the Snake that led
to the Columbia River. He is quoted as abandoning river travel in favor of horses, because the river was “rapid and sholey.” The Nez
Perce and modern fishermen know it to be teeming with salmon and steelhead. Then
and now the country is so wild and roadless that animals are pretty safe.
Lewis was almost right. The justly named Hell’s Canyon of the Snake River forms
the north-south border with Oregon, west of the Salmon River wilderness. A tourist
boat out of Lewiston thrills visitors through part of Hell’s Canyon. The scenic trip
will make you wonder how the few ranches along the Snake managed to get cattle to
market. —JoAnn Roe
A stagecoach on the streets of
Old Cowtown, in Wichita.
Kansas:
Captivating Cowtown
In 1873, with Wichita the Kansas terminus of the
Chisholm Trail, darned thirsty cowboys up from Texas shook
off the dust in a bunch of bars located along the boomtown’s
Chicago Street. A few days off the trail, the expectable pleasures of the flesh having run their course, improvisational
cowhands instituted “The Running of the Doves,” a Sunday-afternoon athletic competition wherein saloon girls barrel-rolled into wagons for transport down the river. At
the designated starting line, the ladies would strip, their garters and petticoats tossed
amid wagers being made, and the goose-bumped speedsters would race back to the taverns, accompanied by cowboys shooting and shouting from the wagons.
The Dixie Lee Saloon Girls of contemporary Wichita have eschewed unprotected jogging in favor of historical re-enactments of bet-free can-can dances in Fritz Snitzler’s
Saloon. The ladies dance just down the street from the Wichita and Southwestern Railroad’s depot as a nearby apothecary sells medicinal berries and Presbyterians gather in
the city’s first church—each the re-enacted, painstakingly documented province of Historic Old Cowtown Museum.
Here’s the official Web site’s take: “You’re in Old Cowtown,
where you’ll experience the dramatic clash of Victorian ideals
and economic realities.” Cultural clashes aside, at Wichita’s Historic Cowtown Museum you’ll find 26 lovingly recreated buildings that house period furnishings, art objects, clothing, machinery, tools, and considerable folderol amid the fauna of everyday
pioneer life—Percheron horses and milking Shorthorns and
Light Brahma chickens by the dozen. Wichita’s Cowtown will lay
One of Old Cowtown’s
long ago life on the Kansas prairie unforgettably in front of you.
cowboys at work.
—John Brown
photos courtesy GREATER WICHITA CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
Wichita
Concentrated Culture: Expect friendliness, education, and entertainment up and
down this particular stretch of the Arkansas (here pronounced Ar-KAN-zuz) River. The
Wichita Art Museum (the state’s largest art museum
For more info:
with masterpieces from Cassatt, Homer, Hopper, and
www.visitwichita.com
Russell) is a few blocks away, as is Botanica, the Wichita
www.travelks.com
Gardens, with thousands of seasonal blooms.
Virginia City, Mont., has kept the past alive.
montana: Bozeman’s Road
photos courtesy DONNIE SEXTON/visitmontana.com
In the 1860s, shortly after the discovery of
gold in southwestern Montana, John Bozeman
surveyed a route that would bring gold seekers
Bozeman
and pioneers into the region that would become
Montana Territory. Bozeman’s Road started at
the North Platte River in Wyoming, struck north
across the Powder River Basin through territory
held by the Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Crow tribes, and followed the Yellowstone upriver to cross present-day Bozeman Pass and turn southwest toward the diggings at Alder Gulch. The gold rushers in 1862 organized Bannack City as the first territorial capital in Montana. Soon there were other gold finds and the nearby towns of
Virginia City, which became the second territorial
Old livery stable in
capital, and Nevada City bulged at the seams.
Nevada City, Mont.
If you visit this area of the state today, you’ll be
able to walk streets that seem little changed from
those days. Bannack is a State Historical Park,
while both Virginia City and Nevada City are Montana State Historical Sites where original buildings—in some cases with original furnishings—
are part of the scene.
Another major route to Montana’s gold camps was along the Missouri River as
steamboats hauled passengers and freight to Fort Benton, dropping off both to be
hauled overland to new communities. The Grand Union Hotel in Fort Benton has
been restored and is a good place to stay or dine as you explore along the Missouri.
In 1875 Montana’s state capital moved from Virginia City to Helena, where it remains
today. Inside the capitol you can view original C. M. Russell artwork. You can see additional work by Montana artists at the Montana Historical Society. —Candy Moulton
The Meade Hotel
in Bannack City,
Mont.
Beyond the gold towns: Take in historic sites associated with the Indian wars,
including the Little Big Horn Battlefield,
near Crow Agency, and the Nez Perce battlefields at the Big Hole near Wisdom and at
Bear’s Paw near Choteau. For another side
of Indian life, visit the Blackfeet reservation
at Browning with its excellent Museum of
the Plains Indian and North American Indian Days held July 8-12, or attend Crow Fair,
held each August at the Crow Agency.
For more info:
www.browningmontana.com/
museum.html
www.fs.fed.us/npnht
www.visitmt.com
An original Pony Express cabin
near Gothenburg, Neb.
Nebraska:
The Old Glory Blowout
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody had already
established his presence on stage in theatrical performances and on the pages of dime novels when he
launched a new, bold program: a spectacle that featured fearless horseback riders, daring stagecoach
drivers, and carefully choreographed “fights” between soldiers, settlers, and American Indians. He birthed his Buffalo Bill Wild West
Show in 1882 to celebrate North Platte’s “Old Glory Blowout.” The town needed a celebration—an extravaganza—and Bill Cody was the man they knew could pull it off.
The “Blowout” organized at North Platte took place at Columbus just outside Omaha, a confluence of the West: a site that had Sioux to the north, Pawnees to the south,
the tracks of wagons over prairie land, and the steel rails of the transcontinental railroad. Cody’s Wild West Show was so well received that he put together a company
of cowboys and Indians and toured across America and Europe. Cody easily merged
these disparate characters as he had experience with both. He’d ridden for the Pony
Express (you can still see original structures used for that service at Rock Creek Station and at Gothenburg), and he worked along the cattle trails (in Ogalalla you can
visit a recreated Front Street and Cowboy Museum). He fought Indians, and served
with the North brothers (Frank and Luther), who organized the Pawnee Scouts and
provided essential services to the frontier military. Today you can experience the
“Indian War” period by visiting Fort Hartsuff or Fort Robinson. When his Wild West
show was in its heyday, Cody returned to Nebraska and his Scouts Rest Ranch—Now
Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park—at North Platte. —Candy Moulton
Paniolos on the Big Island
photo by CANDY MOULTON
North Platte
For additional information: While you’re traveling from Cody’s Ranch in North
Platte, to the site of his Indian fight with Yellow Hand near Crawford, take in sites along the
Oregon-California Trail including Ash Hollow and Chimney Rock, and visit the Museum of the
Fur Trade in Chadron. In early spring you can enjoy a great cacophony of sound during the
Crane Watch at Kearney when tens of thousands of sandhill cranes flock along the North
For more info:
Platte River. Hot summer days are best spent
www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks
at the lake, and Nebraska has several options—
www.furtrade.org
including Lake McConaughy and Lake Ogalala
www.visitnebraska.gov
State Recreation Areas.
Mark Twain’s desk is on display at the Territorial Enterprise Museum in Virginia City,
Nev. The museum features 19th Century
newspaper printing technology.
Nevada:
Comstock
Country
Circumstances surrounding the
PHOTOs courtesy tRAVEL NEVADA
birth of Nevada’s Comstock Lode and
Virginia City are tangled in legend. One
story says the thriving boomtown that
would spring up
there got its name
when a drunk and
Virginia City
homesick miner
spilled a bottle of
whiskey and tearfully christened the
place “Virginny.”
But there’s no
disputing
that
Mount Davidson
and the Virginia
Hills would yield some $400 million
in silver and gold between 1859 and
1878, making it one of America’s richest
strikes. Originally in Utah Territory, the
Comstock discovery was the impetus
for the creation of Nevada, ensuring
Union access to the mined treasure to
help finance the Civil War. Until the
1880s, Virginia City was a thriving metropolis, where saloons outnumbered
banks and churches combined by a factor of ten. Among the town’s many accomplishments during its heyday was
the rising popularity of Mark Twain,
who wrote for the Territorial Enterprise
newspaper. Numerous advances in
mining technology also resulted from
developments in Comstock shafts and
stopes.
Today, Virginia City shows off its
colorful history with museums, underground mine tours, Victorian mansions, and commercial establishments,
including the Bucket of Blood Saloon
and Piper’s Opera House along the
boardwalks of the once-notorious C
Street. You’ll find a thriving “ghost
town” perched on the side of a mountain 23 miles from Reno and 15 miles
from Carson City. —Rod Miller
Also in the neighborhood: While traveling Highway 395 between Carson City and
Reno, stop off in the Washoe Valley and visit
Bowers Mansion. Built at a cost of $300,000
in 1863 with wealth from Comstock mines,
the home is now operated by the Washoe
County Parks Department and is open for
public tours.
Thirty-five miles west of Carson City on
Highway 50, then 8 miles south on Alternate
Highway 95, is Fort Churchill State Historic
Park. Crumbling adobe ruins are all that’s
left of a U.S. Army fort built in 1861 to protect
settlers and emigrants from Indian attacks.
Telegraph lines from California terminated
at Fort Churchill; messages arrived there
from the east via Pony Express and were forwarded to the West Coast by wire.
St. Mary’s in the Mountains, in Virginia City,
is currently undergoing restoration and will
reopen later this year.
For more info:
www.virginiacity-nv.org.
www.parks.nv.gov/fc.htm
www.travelnevada.com
The remains of an old mission
church stand at Pecos National Historical Park in New
Mexico.
New Mexico:
The Gettysburg of the West
PHOTOs Courtesy newmexico.org
The turning point of the Civil War—well, one of
them anyway—occurred 1,800 miles west of Gettysburg,
Pa. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant weren’t there, but the
Glorieta Pass
Battle of Glorieta Pass not only stopped a Confederate invasion, it also helped inspire The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,
the 1966 Western starring Clint Eastwood.
In February 1862, General Henry H. Sibley led a force
of about 2,500 Confederate soldiers from Texas into New
Mexico, intent on gaining control of the Colorado gold
fields. After reaching Santa Fe, Sibley ordered an advance expedition of 200 to 300
men over Glorieta Pass on the Santa Fe Trail near the village of Pecos. On March 26,
Colorado volunteers attacked the invaders at Apache Canyon. The next day, both
sides waited on reinforcements, and the battle resumed on March 28, pitting 1,100
Confederates against 1,300 Yankees. Union troops were forced to retire, and the
Rebels seemingly had a victory until Major John Chivington—who two years later
would lead the infamous Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado—destroyed the Confederate supply train. The Rebels limped back to Santa Fe, and eventually retreated
back to Texas.
Much of the battlefield is preserved at Pecos National Historical Park, which offers Ranger-guided van tours of the battlefield (call (505) 757-7241 for dates, times,
and reservations). A folk-art monument has been erected on northbound Interstate 25 near the battlefield, and Santa Fe’s living history museum, Rancho de Los
Golondrinas, puts on a Civil War battle reenactment, New Mexico style, in May.
Sure, casualties were far from the horrific numbers back east, but The Battle of Glorieta Pass earned a spot in history as “The Gettysburg of the West.”
—Johnny D. Boggs
New Mexico’s Pecos Wilderness
Where To Eat: You’ll never taste a better green chile cheeseburger than the
vegetarian’s nightmare at Santa Fe’s Bobcat Bite. Just down the road from Glorieta,
Frankie’s at the Casanova in Pecos offers
giant pancakes with blueberries or roasted
piñon nuts.
New Deal: The New Mexico History Museum opens May 24.
For more info:
www.newmexico.org
www.bobcatbite.com
www.frankiesnm.com
www.nmhistorymuseum.org
Bishop Mule
Americancowboy.com April - May 2009 61
The Custer House at Fort Lincoln
On-a-Slant Indian Village
Frontier Village in Jamestown, N.D., is a collection of old frontier
buildings and also home to the National Buffalo Museum.
NOrth Dakota:
Sitting Bull’s Resting Place
photos by CANDY MOULTON
Jamestown
Among the first incidents between the military
and the Sioux in North Dakota were the battles fought
in 1863 when Sitting Bull, along with other Sioux forces,
clashed with frontier army troops commanded by General Henry Sibley near Dead Buffalo Lake and Stoney
Lake. Six years later, when federal survey teams identifying and marking the border
between the United States and Canada reached the area, they also met Sitting Bull,
but this time the Indians simply sought information about whether the topographers
had seen any buffalo. Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford on July 19, 1881, signaling what seemed the end of conflict between Northern Plains Indians and the frontier military. He was killed in an altercation at his home in 1890.
Today the chief’s final resting place, Sitting Bull Burial State Historic Site at Fort
Yates, is among several important historic sites clustered in the region. To support
the expansion into the West, the military established several posts and forts in North
Dakota that remain as sites you can explore. Fort Totten, near Devils Lake, served
the topographers and railroad surveyors, and later became an Indian school. Fort
Abercrombie, near Fargo, was the first permanent military post in North Dakota
and functioned as a gateway to the region. Fort Abraham Lincoln became a base for
military and railroad expansion proponents. Of course much earlier Lewis and Clark
had camped with the Mandans at their village along the Missouri, while Fort Union
became an important fur trade post. Take in the historic sites around Jamestown including the Frontier Fort and Wildlife Museum. —Candy Moulton
For additional information: Theodore Roosevelt made a name for himself in
the charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War, and he sank some roots
in western North Dakota. His ranch near
Medora is now Roosevelt National Park, a
refuge for wild horses, and you can attend
the Medora Musical, which recreates some
of the Roosevelt history.
On the wide Missouri: Knife River Villages National Historic Site, On-a-Slant
Mandan Indian Village, Lewis and Clark sites,
Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center, North Dakota Cultural Heritage
Center, and North Dakota State Railroad
Museum.
For more info:
www.fortlincoln.com
www.medora.com
www.ndtourism.com
Bradford Dog Tote
Guthrie, Okla., has the largest urban
historic district in the nation: 400 city
blocks of Victorian-era architecture.
Oklahoma: Victorian Splendor
In Oklahoma, how the tale is told is as im-
portant as the story itself. Attorney and gunfighter
Temple Houston, Sam Houston’s youngest son,
wanted to show a Woodward jury just how fast a
true gunman could draw and fire as he defended
his client of murder. Suddenly, in the middle of his
summation, Houston drew both pistols and fired into the jury box. He was shooting
blanks of course, but the jurors did not know that. They leaped out windows and doors.
Houston immediately asked for a mistrial since the jury was no longer sequestered.
Though the youngest of the Western states, Oklahoma is best at telling its tale as
demonstrated by the world-class National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
in Oklahoma City and the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, which will soon be home to
more than 3,700 items from the historic 101 Ranch.
But if there is one place that cries for a must-see it is the entire town of Guthrie,
Oklahoma’s former capital. As the largest urban historic district in the U.S., Guthrie
has 2,169 original frontier and Victorian buildings covering 400 city blocks.
Along the south end of downtown Guthrie is the Blue
The Publishing Museum
Belle Saloon, the state’s oldest bar, where Houston, Heck
in Guthrie, Okla.
Thomas, Bill Tilghman, and others were served drinks by
bartender and soon-to-be Western film star Tom Mix. Everything has been kept intact in the Blue Belle, including
photos from when Theodore Roosevelt visited the watering hole and a life-size diagram illustrating all of Mix’s
wounds and injuries. —Mike Coppock
photos courtesy travelok.com
Guthrie
64 April - May 2009 Americancowboy.com
Additional gems: North Central Oklahoma has the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show
and Museum with items from the days
when Pawnee Bill and his partner, Buffalo
Bill Cody, wowed audiences. The J.M. Davis
Arms and Historical Museum holds one
of the largest gun collections in the world.
The Fort Sill National Historical Landmark
and Museum not only does an excellent
job telling of the
racial conflict
that bloodied the
Southern Plains,
but is the site
for the graves of
Geronimo and
Quanah Parker.
For more info:
www.pawneebillranch.com
www.guthrieok.com
www.travelok.com
Featherlite
The town’s “crowning glory,” the Jackson County
Courthouse, became the Jacksonville Museum.
photos courtesy JACKSONVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Jacksonville, Ore., has a corner on
quaintness with its well-preserved
historic district.
Oregon:
Britt’s Legacy
You have to wonder how on earth Swiss immigrant
Jacksonville
Peter Britt ever heard of remote Jacksonville, Ore., 30 miles
from Medford, Ore., but here he came pushing a wheeled cart
full of photographic and art equipment in the early 1850s.
Film wasn’t even invented yet. In those days, photographs
were produced as daguerreotypes or on glass plates. You
couldn’t make a living at photography at that time, but a gold
strike was at fever pitch. Britt bought a
string of mules to prospect and to haul
in other prospectors’ supplies from
the port of Crescent City, Calif. With a
steady income, he started painting life
in Southern Oregon and even sold a few
of his works. He bought a better camera,
switched to photography, and made a
decent living. He built a fine house on
a hill overlooking the town that, once
gold played out, continued to thrive.
Today Britt’s images of the gold town
and its residents are displayed in the
Jacksonville Museum. An entire room is
dedicated to artifacts from his life.
Jacksonville, with its vintage brick
buildings, restaurants, B&Bs, and oldtime wagon rides, was named to the National Register of Historic Landmarks.
The Victorian Britt home became the
center of culture, was acquired by the
Oregon University System, and—after
the home burned in 1960—is a county
park where the Britt Festivals of Music
are held. —JoAnn Roe
Raft or ride: The famous raft trips on
the Rogue River just north of these towns
cool off summer visitors, while a winter ski
area thrives on a mountain pass toward
California. Medford is the jumping off place
for Crater Lake to the northeast and ocean
beaches to the west. The annual Oregon
Classic Quarter Horse Show draws a thousand competitors each summer.
For more info:
www.sohs.org
www.orshakes.org
www.visitmedford.org
www.traveloregon.com
South
Dakota:
Black Hills
& Beyond
In 1875 topographical engineer
Valentine McGillycuddy wedged a tree
into a crevice and used it as support to
climb up the granite face of Harney Peak.
Following him to the top of this highest
point in the Black Hills were Henry Newton, a geologist, and astronomer Horace
Tuttle. The three, members of the Black
Hills Expedition, were some of the first
visitors to the Hills, there to explore and
map the area while also determining the extent of gold
Black Hills
that had been located the
previous year by members
of an Army expedition led
by Lt. Col. George Custer.
Ultimately
McGillycuddy drew one of the first maps of the
region that had long been a favored territory of the Sioux. The Black Hills Expedition confirmed the gold reported the
previous year by Custer’s party, setting
off the first wave of gold seekers. The
Black Hills continue to attract visitors
ranging from folks intent on visiting Mt.
Rushmore to those seeking to drive the
Peter Norbeck Memorial Scenic Route
(SD 87, 16, 89), which includes part of
Custer State Park, the Needles Highway,
and winds through beautiful Black Hills
scenery. A visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial or the Journey Museum in Rapid
City are good places to learn about the
native people in this area, but for a more
sobering experience travel to the Pine
Ridge Reservation and visit the Wounded Knee Memorial. For a
sense of the gold rush head
to Deadwood, which retains its boom-town atmosphere, or ride the Black
Hills Central Railroad’s
1880 Train between Hill
City and Keystone. —Candy Moulton
Explore beyond the hills: Take in the
historic sites around Pierre, including the
Verendrye Monument, Lewis and Clark sites,
and the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center, South Dakota Discovery Center, and the
State Capitol. Or drive through Badlands National Park or Custer State Park.
For more info:
www.journeymuseum.com
www.crazyhorse.org
www.nps.gov/bad
www.travelsd.com
photo courtesy SOUTH DAKOTA TOURISM
The Crazy Horse
Memorial rises from
the Black Hills of
South Dakota.
The bronze sculptures of The
Crossing mark the site where the
Chisholm Trail crossed Brushy
Creek. A large, flat round rock
in midstream was the drover’s
landmark, and the namesake for
Round Rock, Texas.
texas: Where Rangers Trod
photos courtesy DAN COLLIER / ROUND ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
You have to admire a law enforcement
agency with the credo, “No man who is in the
wrong can stand up to a man who is in the right
and who just keeps a-comin’ ”. We could cite examples all day long: the captures of John Wesley
Hardin, Billy Thompson, and Bonnie and Clyde,
Round Rock
to name a few. Or an incident at Round Rock,
Texas, on July 19, 1878. That day saw the infamous
Sam Bass gang enter a downtown store to buy tobacco. Sheriff Caige Grimes, who approached the
group, was shot and killed. Texas Rangers—already on the trail of Bass—struck at once, and in
the ensuing gunfight Bass was shot up and died soon thereafter. It was in innumerable incidents such as this that the Rangers put their stamp not just on Texas history and culture, but on the Old West as well.
You can visit this same downtown site and even witness a recreation of the gunfight at the annual “Sam Bass Shootout,” held during the city’s July 4 Frontier Days
Celebration. It’ll put you smack on the historic Chisholm Trail, because the “Round
Rock” that gives the town its name is still there too, marking a low-water wagon
crossing that the Chisholm Trail drovers took in fording Brushy Creek. For more on
the Rangers, see either of the museums devoted to their history: the Official Texas
Rangers Museum in Waco, and the one housed in the Buckhorn Saloon in San Antonio. At either, you’ll find plenty of history to track down elsewhere in the Lone
Star State. And in doing so, you’ll find plenty to inspire, if you just keep a-comin’.
—Jesse Mullins, Jr.
WHILE YOU’RE ’ROUND ROUND ROCK:
Take in Austin, part of the same metro
area, and be sure to visit the state capitol,
the Driskill Hotel (built in 1886), and the
Congress Avenue Bridge, where, from midMarch to November, more than a million
Mexican free-tailed bats roost by day and
take to the skies at dusk in swarms so heavy
that they show up on weather radar.
For more info:
www.buckhornmuseum.com
www.txasranger.org
www.traveltex.com
Bradford John Wayne
With a golden spike, the United States was linked by rail at
Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869. The event is re-enacted
every year here at the Golden Spike National Historic Site.
Utah: The Golden Spike
It took an act of Congress to finally connect the rails on the
United State’s first transcontinental railroad. The eastbound Central Pacific and westbound Union Pacific, each competing with the
other in pursuit of mileage-based government funds, passed each
other in the windswept hills north of Utah’s Great Salt Lake and
kept laying parallel grade for 250 miles.
Splitting the difference, Congress determined that the meeting
of rails would occur at Promontory Summit—the midway point
of the parallel grades—on May 10, 1869. Railroad officials staged a celebration and
drove a ceremonial Golden Spike to mark the completion of one of our country’s
most significant accomplishments, then packed up and left the place to the sagebrush, seagulls, and salty breezes.
You can still feel the isolation of the West’s wide-open spaces with a visit to the
Golden Spike National Historic Site, 35 miles north of Promontory Summit, where
the silence is interrupted only by the whistles of giant locomotives—working replicas of the “No. 119” and “Jupiter” engines that faced each other way back when. May
10 each year, as well as each Saturday and holiday during the summer months, the
behemoths steam into place to commemorate the driving of the Golden Spike. Other
activities are on the calendar periodically. A year-round visitor center features multimedia programs, gift shop, and museum exhibits. Don’t expect to find the original
Golden Spike in Utah, however. It’s on display at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts
Center in Palo Alto, Calif. —Rod Miller
photos courtesy TRAVEL UTAH; UTAH STATE HISTORY ARCHIVES
Promontory
Summit
Also in the neighborhood: Some 45 miles east across the mountains along U.S. Highway 89/91 is the verdant Cache Valley, home of the American West Heritage Center. Along
with a working historical farm, you’ll find living history exhibits related to the Shoshoni Indians, Mountain Men, pioneer settlers, and more.
Roam with the Bison: See Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake, between Ogden and Salt Lake City, 7 miles west of I-15 Exit 332. See a free-roaming buffalo herd, and the
historic Fielding Garr Ranch, once one of Utah’s largest cattle operations.
The 1869 driving of the Golden Spike
An old freight car is among the artifacts at
the Golden Spike National Historic Site.
For more info:
www.nps.gov/gosp
www.travelutah.gov
www.utah.com
There’s a Bavarian feel to Leavenworth,
Wash., which is on the old Barkerville Trail.
Washington:
The Barkerville Trail
sible. In 1856, a rompin’, stompin’ gold rush was going on
at Barkerville, 300 miles north of the Washington TerriLeavenworth
tory border in British Columbia, and Ben Snipes wanted
a part in it. He figured meat on the hoof would make him
more money than digging for gold. Gathering a herd of
102 cattle from around his Yakima ranch, Snipes and
an Indian friend drove them up and sold them for $125
apiece. He hurried home, gathered and bought more cattle, and headed north again.
This time he lost days re-assembling his herd after they stampeded when two camels
raised up out of the grass at Osyoos Lake—refugees from some earlier drover’s unwise attempt to use them to transport supplies.
The Barkerville Trail roughly follows the north/south Columbia River, and then
the Okanogan River (Okanagan in Canada). By driving Highway 97 today you roughly
parallel that trail. At the Yakama Nation Museum and Cultural Heritage Center in
Toppenish, Wash., you can catch up on eastern Washington Indian history and gorge
on buffalo meat and Yakama fry bread. Snipes crossed the Columbia close to the present site of Wanapum Dam. North of Wenatchee, Wash., visit the Rocky Reach Dam to
learn about the geology and history of the mighty Columbia River. On the fertile plateaus above farmers sent their grain down chutes to the waiting river steamers bound
for markets in Portland, Ore. Deviate 22 miles west from Wenatchee to Leavenworth,
Wash. Once a hub for the Great Northern Railway, the town now sports a Bavarian
feel. In the evening, visit the Grand Coulee Dam east of Bridgeport, Wash., to see a
history-themed laser light show that dances on a cascade of water flowing over the
dam. —JoAnn Roe
WHAT ELSE TO DO? Take the Barkerville
Trail (Highway 97) to visit 57-mile Lake
Chelan. See Fort Okanogan, Northwest Fur
Company, then Hudson’s Bay Company
post near the confluence of the Okanogan
and Columbia Rivers. At Okanogan town
the Historical Society Museum showcases
the frontier photography of Frank Matsura. In August the Omak Stampede and
Suicide Race attract world-class cowboys
and cowgirls.
The Omak Stampede Indian Encampment
For more info:
www.yakamamuseum.com
www.okanoganhistory.org
www.tourism.wa.gov
photos courtesy experiencewashington.com (top); JOANN ROE
When you are 19 years old, anything seems pos-
Colorful Cody, Wyo., is home to the Buffalo Bill Historical
Center (five museums in one) plus a lot more.
Wyoming:
Where the Past is Present
PHOTOs Courtesy TRAVEL WYOMING
Cody
Mary Jester Allen is virtually an unknown in the an-
nals of Western history, but this niece of Buffalo Bill Cody
made a gesture that is worthy of her uncle’s name when she
took steps to erect what is now the Buffalo Bill Historical
Center. In 1917, Allen, drawing upon $5,000 and Cody’s own
memorabilia, invested her holdings in what would eventually become the $50 million BBHC—a complex that today is
as big as six football fields and holds five museums.
It’s not for nothing that the town that serves as the eastern gateway to Yellowstone
National Park bears the name “Cody.” The frontiersman who once lived here also,
in his own time, parlayed his Wild West Show earnings into investments in coal, oil,
hotels, and publishing, and even lobbied Congress to open a new entrance—that
eastern entrance—into Yellowstone National Park—all for the purpose of bringing
economic growth to the town that bears his name. Though the little town of Cody is
home to only 8,800 full-time residents, it opens its arms to nearly 1 million visitors
each year. Every summer night, from June 1 to August 31st, you can watch an amateur
performance at Cody Nite Rodeo.
If you visit in September during Rendezvous Royale and Cody High Style, you’ll
encounter the best in all things Western: art, fashion, design, and furniture. The week
ends on a high note with the largest funding event for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, the Patrons Ball. In any case, Cody, Wyo., embodies the spirit of the West by keeping it alive, all while preserving Buffalo Bill’s persona in perpetuity. As they say, the
past is always present in Cody Country. —Tracey Feist
72 April - May 2009 Americancowboy.com
While in Cody:
Start your stay in
Cody with a Trolley Tour, offering
the best of Cody
in an hour’s time.
You might choose
to overnight at the
famous Irma Hotel. Named after
William
Cody’s A Yellowstone geyser
youngest daughter, Buffalo Bill had
two suites and an office in the hotel for his
personal use.
For more info:
www.bbhc.org
www.wyomingtourism.org
www.wyoming.gov
www.yellowstonepark.com

April/May - Ground Words Communications

Transcription

Similar documents

1994 - 2000 - . . 1846 . . . Location: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll

Baby Shower Packages - Children`s Museum of Phoenix

TAC Update 2/19/16

PIONEERS AND DRIFTERS, COWBOYS AND INDIANS

HP-U-505 MSI.indd

Memberships from Coast to Coast and Everywhere In Between

Arnhem Open Air Museum Holland in one day!

Saturday, June 16th 2:00 to 5:00 pm Tickets: $15

Future Vilnius

Family Fun Day - Coastal Discovery Museum