On the road again....

[91W350]

The boys and I went over to check out the deuce crushing that is going on in Junction City. We skipped the Interstate and took the scenic route. After driving through New Cambria and wondering if the old stone barn had anything to do with the Butterfield Overland Dispatch.

Smoky Hill Trail Route: Old West Kansas Trails: Kansas Heritage Group

The BOD went right through Salina, we have nothing to show for it though. I suspect New Cambria has a church and stone barn left over from those perilous days of Kansas history.

We rolled on towards Abilene and as we got into ****inson County, I hit the back roads. It was brisk today, cold with wind to drive it in. Like the non-planning dummy that I am, I left home with an almost dead camera battery.

We stopped at a couple of old grave yards, then we rolled north to stop at Lamb's Point. I hap-hazardly found Lamb's Point a few years ago. I noticed a marker and turned around to see what it was. Once I read the hisorical marker, I had to go straight to the ****inson County Historical Society to try to learn more. There is not much to be learned. Apparently the courthouse fire in the late 1800's took care of the old history here. Internet searches are pretty poor as well.

"A marker at the site of Lamb's Point, one-half mile east of Detroit, ****inson county, was dedicated June 14, 1946, with Charles M. Harger of Abilene, former president of the Kansas State Historical Society, giving the dedicatory address. Lamb's Point, named for William Lamb, was the seat of the county government for a time in the late 1850's, and was a stopping place on early stage lines. The memorial was erected by the ****inson County Historical Society and members of the Lamb family. "

You can also find reference of it being a post office from 1828 to 1961, interesting as well as it was gone in 1946. Kansas was not annexed as a state until 1861, so 1828 is really early history for us. Anyway, it is a neat monument to visit...

 

[91W350]

I see that after the site resized the marker, it cannot be read. I will translate if anybody is interested...

Onto Chapman! The Chapman Tornado really changed the scenery in the south end of this town. The old stone church is gone!

Tornado Levels Chapman, KS

Anyway, the main reason for rolling into Chapman was to visit Indian Hill and the BOD swales. You can visit the trail here and see the ruts left by the stages and wagons, 150 years ago. It is a neat place to visit and the boys had to investigate. It is also just west of the tornado path and the site of the city's cemetery. The route left Ft. Riley just east of here and headed west into the plains, for some reason they routed over this hill, on the N. side of the Kansas River.

 

[91W350]

We motored into Junction City and on down to the salvage yard. He has one complete Deuce that he was willing to sell. I checked the fuel tank and it looks mossy. The oil was over full and the truck appears to be a compilation of several trucks. It does have a drop side bed and the owner says it runs super. I read that as ran super as it has settled into the dirt here and was buried in an ocean of salvage vehicles. The vehicles have been crushed now, so the deuce could roll out of here, providing it will run. This is below the flood plain and I suspect this one has set in some deep water. I decided to pass and look for a better truck.

 

[cornrichard]

Cool road trip photos, What caused the county name to be edited? I plan to look up that trail and get a little history lesson.

 

[91W350]

The boys were getting restless and we took the scenic tour of Junction City. If you have not been there, they have some fantastic limestone buildings. The boys were pretty wound up after having the junk yard dog running around their Blazer, so we stopped at the Geary County fishing lake to burn off some energy. The Blazer is pretty close to where McVeigh mixed up the bomb that hit Oklahoma City's Murrah Building. I let the boys romp for a few minutes, while I soaked up the gravity of that act and the ironic beauty of this place.

 

[91W350]

Cool road trip photos, What caused the county name to be edited? I plan to look up that trail and get a little history lesson.

LOL!! It is D I C K inson County, wow, home of Abilene....

 

[91W350]

We left the Geary County Lake and head over to Rock Springs 4H Camp. I wanted to get a photo of the M1009 close to the water wheel at the spring house. The boulders were gone from the low water crossing and I thought "Alrighty then!" As I headed to the crossing, there it was, the sign that said Rock Springs Ranch vehicles only please.... So I passed, not wanting to set off alarms anytime a military vehicle rolled in here in the future. It is a neat place to visit and has great history. We did stop at the nearby concrete arch bridge to grab a photo of the M1009 on the bridge. The bridge was built in 1925 and will serve a century easily, if they can stand to leave it alone! We had a lot if these in Kansas in the 60's, now it is getting hard to find one!

From there we follwed the Lyon Creek Road down to Lyona, a beautiful spot, one I have stopped at many times over the years. This is pretty country for Kansas and the history is dying fast. What a shame to drive through this area and see all the limestone barns and houses falling into disrepair.

 

[91W350]

We headed home from there, but I remembered a huge cottonwood tree. I had not visited it for a long time and way back in the early 80's, I took a photo of my blue Toyota FJ40 in the ditch in front of this tree. It had trunk on both sides of my Toyota. It was a towering monster then, this last 20 to 25 years has been rough on the old cottonwood....

We drove through the limestone houses, churches and barns in the area. I actually drove in circles for about two hours, refreshing the old memory banks. I used to have an ice cream route in this county and was pretty familiar with the county at that time. This are is worth the visit... We passed on a lot of eye candy today because the camera battery was dead. My apologies... Glen

 

[southdave]

91 you travel like I do used to drive my ex nuts lol
thanks

 

[91W350]

My wife loves it, she used to ask how I learned all this cool Kansas history. After being with me for 15 years, she knows how I learn it. Go to an area, spend a day or two goofing off and talking to the locals, it is amazing what they can share. Glen

 

[southdave]

Yeah that why she my ex lol, I have the gift or curse, depends on how you see things, to attrack dogs and crazy poeple lol I consider it gift. My ex thought it was an annoyance. I love to meander around see the sights talk to total strangers, maybe if I am lucky help some one out.

 

[maxim]

A couple of CCKW's in SE Nebraska. An old Diamond T holding up a sandstone building in Burr Oak Kansas. A freshly delivered 5 ton for the local Fire Dept.

 

[91W350]

Sweet! That Diamond T would look sweet on a 5 ton chassis!

Dave, that is my way of life.... I would love to do what those guys on Pickers do. Not so much to buy and sell, but to meet all of those junk hoarders. I spotted a M817 today, it has been there for years. I need to go talk to that guy. Today the driver's door was open, blowing in the breeze...

 

[91W350]

The boys and I had to go to the bank to get some fuel money, to the post office to send out some coins, to the CO-OP to get some fuel and planned to go out someplace and run. While fueling, I saw a distantly related cousin and asked him about letting the dogs run on a property he recently bought. He gave me the green light, so off we went. It is close to town, but is also my kind of place. There is a lot of dying history here!

The boys had to check out the barn, I suspect catching wind of many creatures, present and past. We walked right into the middle of a huge covey of quail and they busted out all around us. It was cool!

This is dying Kansas history, I am betting if many knew about all that old decorative tin siding out there, it would have been long gone. It is about 3/8ths of a mile into a section that does not have any other structures.

The owner has grown into a pretty large commercial farmer here in this area. There is evidence of his large farming operation and there is a lot of evidence of another man's failed dreams of prosperity. I found some items of old and some new plastic trash. I also found a lot of paintball spots that my nephew, son and his friend are undoubtedly responsible for.

I suspect this was a dairy barn at one time as there is a section with a cement floor and gated feed bunks. The barn looks like it fell victim to a wind storm on the north end, the trees that have been allowed to grow around the edges of the barn might be the only thing that let it stand up against the wind.

While at the post office, we ran across this really cool marked Bull dog, being a sucker for dogs, I had to get a couple shots of this guy!

Anyway.... I thought I would share a little of my day... Glen