But wait! There's more ...

But wait….there's more! We're not done with Kansas yet.

Impressions out my window …

Now let's do a little more reminiscing…who remembers the tv show "Gunsmoke"? You know, Marshall Dillon, Miss Kitty, Doc, Festus?

It was, again, one of the few shows we would watch as a family, even my dad. I remember him guffawing and my mom giggling over some antic or scheme that Festus had just come up with. The moral lessons seemed clear as well. Life could be hard and wasn't always fair, but if you worked hard and did what was right, you would be fulfilled and satisfied. (Of course, as I look back on it, I believe you had to be white too … 🙄 but I wasn't aware of that at the time) My parents worked nearly all the time to try and make ends meet. We never had a vacation or more than perhaps a Sunday afternoon drive or an occasional picnic at Hapgood Pond for "free time". I'm not sharing this to complain, but rather to explain how precious the memories are that I have of us together with my parents, unguarded and just laughing, so, of course, I laughed too.

You ask, reasonably, what does all this reminiscing have to do with Kansas???

Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, KS and many of the story lines were "broadly" based on its history.  So naturally Dodge City has all sorts of things to do and see and partake in relating to the "Old West" story and experience. There were museums, a structure that included a recreated late 60s - early 70s living room, complete with tv playing the show and all sorts of other info and paraphernalia, "Boot Hill Cemetery", recreated board sidewalk and storefronts, old West photography studios and shows.  They had one sign that advertised both "The Teachers Museum" and "The Wax Museum of Sharpshooters" (I think they were in the same building ??? Anyone else think that was odd??? Or maybe the teachers were creating verbal sharpshooters??? 🤔) They even had a waterpark named Long Branch Lagoon. (I thought that deserved some credit for the cleverness of the name. You know, Long Branch Saloon (Lagoon) tee-hee)

I'm glad we stopped. It was an odd mixture of unique interesting items, some really thoughtful displays in some of the museums juxtaposed against some pretty kitschy, tachy items.  For our country's history and for my personal history I'm grateful we took the time to see it.  I don't think it is a place I will need to visit again though. 

We had a dinner show, "The Wild West Show" to finish off the day in "Dodge City". We shared our table with three men from Michigan who were in Dodge City for a tractor/truck pulling contest. I, of course, asked all sorts of questions, I mean, what do I know about that??? Really, nothing. Apparently there is a circuit that people go on with their "vehicle" and compete, not only for bragging rights, but for money!  Real money! They have to tow the vehicle to the contest in a trailer. The vehicles aren't really made for driving … just pulling. Apparently they get like yards/gal not miles/gal. 😂  Who knew??? 🤷  It was quite interesting to talk to them, until they started talking about the engine, or torque or that kind of stuff … then my eyes would glaze over and start to roll back into my head 😂

the pioneers, a conestoga wagon exhibit

the demise of the buffalo and the ensuing effect on the indegenous people

a buffalo coat

Dodge City and the railroad 

The museum had an interesting display of barbed wire innovations. Looked like an art piece!

The marshal's office and …

jail!!! (For those who don't take the advice to "get out of Dodge")

A singer sewing machine ❤️❤️  (That was the kind of machine I learned to sew on)

Cash register in the general store 

The docs office. Doesn't appear to be a lot of progress from my pic of the apothecary in Williamsburg from 1760s …

The town "storefronts"

Forget "farm to table", this guy was way ahead of his time, he's got "life to death" with his, "Dry Goods, Groceries and Undertaker". 😂

The Longbranch Saloon

Uuh Ooh … looks like there going to be trouble in Dodge 

I knew it

Thank goodness the marshall is there to keep order.

Oh no! Looks like there's been an escalation in violence!

law and order, the old school way

The Wild West show included the cancan!

That night we stayed at another reservoir, Horse-Thief Reservoir. Again, in the middle of nowhere, quite a small campground. Very open and very few trees. The water seemed quite low. But it was beautiful. I got up very early the next morning and watched the sunrise. I know it will be hard for those of you who know me too believe … but I did.  It was so beautiful and the birds and frogs were all up and busy and quite loud. It was literally a symphony! 

The sun was setting as we arrived at our campsite for the night.

Sunrise at Horse-Thief Reservoir 

Our campsite. Sometimes when they don't have trees they build little shelters for the picnic tables.

We hopped on the road trying to see if we could ever get out of Kansas!

By mid-day we had made it to Colorado and stopped at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Oh! man, another moment (moment??? moment representing decades, an era, generations…) of our white ancestors "mistreating" yet another race of peoples, this time the indigenous people of "our" country. The massacre was on Nov 29, 1864. It occurred during the civil war. A group of Indians, many women and children, but also among them men and chiefs, had a truce with the US government. As the Indian wars were heating up, they requested safety in a fort, as was recommended to them. They were denied entry into the fort, but told they would be safe if they flew an American flag. That would show any attacking army personnel that this group of Indians supported and recognized the dominion of the US government.  There was a surprise attack by the US army. The Indians camped at Sand Creek could hear them coming, the horses' hooves reverberating in the air. The Indians put up the US flag and many teepees had the white flags of surrender. The military commander made the grave error, whether intentionally or truly by misjudgement, of telling his men it was just a trick and to attack. The US Army raced toward the teepees and in mass confusion brutally murdered the Indians in their homes and chased down any who tried to escape across the prairie. This attack was led by "a man of faith". 

the path to the massacre memorial

the memorial

If you enlarge the pic below, you can see the arrowheads left in tribute at the marker.

The Indians were encamped along the curve at the base of the bluff. When it rains there is a creek there.

The Indians really had no place to go when they were attacked. Some of the women and children tried to dig holes in the dirt of the bluff. These facts are known because two of the soldiers refused to take part in the slaughter and wrote detailed accounts which they sent to superiors in Washington. These letters and the resultant inquiry essentially ended the career of the commander in charge of the attack. It also ended the careers of the two soldiers, one of whom was killed a few years later by supporters of the Commander.

Ahem, I'm not sure if I would ever sit on that bench! Yikes!!

No matter what horrific things man does to his fellow man, the natural world and life prevail…

sparrow overlooking massacre site 

cool lizard

prairie coneflower

Can we ever learn to treat people of other races, other cultures, other preferred sexual orientations,  people who are just different from us with respect and honesty? 

We should be able to. It's not rocket science. I mean, there really is no reason why we can't do better.  I believe people are inherently good, rather than inherently "bad". But I do believe, no, I know, that the majority of people only learn what they are taught, formally or informally and that is why it is so important to preserve and learn from these historic sites. 

Will we ever learn? Well, I guess that is up to each and every one of us and the actions we take. I think we can, because, I, too, am a person "of faith". ♥️🙏❤️

Next stop: Parker, CO. Sisters, mountains and a real shower  ❤️❤️❤️