Week 44--June 21-27, 2020


This has been Jesse James week. We started off the week visiting the Jesse James Birthplace and Farm in Kearney, Missouri.

 Jesse James has been the subject of many movies over the years. One of the latest movies stars Brad Pitt as Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Tom Ford who is the man that killed Jesse James. Sensational publicity from newspapers and dime novels made Jesse's name a household word.
Jesse's remains were taken to the family farm and buried in the yard. His mother sat in her rocking chair and kept a watchful eye on her son's grave as grave robbing was a problem during this period in history.  Tourists flocked to the farm and Jesse's mother would sell rocks off of his grave for 25 cents-a-piece. When she ran out of rocks she would replenish her stock from the nearby creek.  Jesse's remains were later moved to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney next to his wife Zerelda (Nicknamed Zee).

We went with Elder and Sister Larsen.


















This is part of the original James' house that was built about 1822. Jesse's parents purchased the house and farm when they moved to Clay County in the 1840s.  The logs are original. Jesse James, son of a Baptist minister, was born here in 1847.
Jesse was 15 when the Civil War started. Union soldiers came to the farm looking for guerrillas. They beat Jesse trying to get information from him . This caused him to join Bloody Bill Anderson's guerrillas. His brother Frank rode with Quantrill's guerrillas.

This part of the house is called the Eastlake Cottage and was added in the 1890s. The kit for this part of the house was purchased from the east, shipped in, and built on site. 

 Many people owned slaves before the Civil War including the James family. This is a reconstruction of the slave quarters as it might have appeared in the 1870s and 1880s.

The furnishings in the one room slave cabins.  Generally several slaves lived in the same quarters.

The original pump on the well.

After the Civil War, Jesse and Frank James turned to a life of outlawry by robbing banks and trains. There first robbery was this bank located in Liberty, Missouri. It is the only remaining antebellum (pre-Civil War) building on the square in Liberty. It was the first daylight bank robbery in history.
During their years as bank and train robbers, The James- Younger Gang, stole $225,000 which in today's economy would be $11,000,000. No one knows where it all went.  You'd think that much money would lead to a lavish lifestyle or a cattle ranch, or something, to show where it went.

 Artists rendition of the Liberty Bank robbery.

 Tom by the vault in the bank. He wasn't trying to hold up the empty bank, his mask was a requirement to go into the museum.

Tom and Garnalee by the vault. We feel like bank robbers with our COVID-19 masks. 

The counter where the bank clerk would wait on customers. 

 The clock shows the time when the bank was robbed--2 pm on Tuesday, February 13, 1866.

Picture of Jesse inside the vault.

The case inside the vault that held the money. 

 This is a file cabinet. The drawers would pull out and they had a spring loaded frame in each drawer.

What is left of the original shutters on the bank window. The shutters made of heavy steel, would be closed at night to protect the bank from being robbed. It didn't prove to be a deterrent for a daytime robbery.

 We then traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri, to the home of Jesse and his wife, Zerelda. On the freeway we saw this vehicle with a load of carrier racing pigeons.

 The Jesse James Home sits next to the Patee House which was a luxurious hotel in 1882 at the time of  Jesse James' shooting. The family stayed at this hotel while the shooting was investigated. Jesse was shot by a member of his gang, Tom Ford, to collect the $10,000 reward offered by Governor Chittenden. 

Tom and the Larsens next to the Patee House.

The Patee House was also the headquarters for the Pony Express when it started on April 3, 1860 and ran until October 1861. This mural is painted on one the buildings in St. Joseph.

It would take a letter ten days to get to California via the Pony Express and would cost $5 per 1/2 ounce. We complain about the 55 Cents to mail a letter today.  The 2,000 mile trip means the rider would have to cover an average of 200 miles per day.

 Saddle of the Pony Express rider.

Today the Patee House is a museum of Western history. The stagecoach was the "Greyhound Bus" of the west in the 1860s, providing the only way to travel from city to city before the trains and automobiles replaced them. The coaches carried six to nine passengers inside with room for another six on top. The Central Overland Express left daily from the Patee House for that 2000 mile trip to California. The coaches floated on leather straps that often left the riders "seasick."
The box where the driver sat is more that six feet off the ground. This brightly painted original looks better than ever.

 Civil War Cannon.  The cannon balls were about the size of a baseball.












Each bank would print their own currency.

Walter Cronkite was born and grew in St. Joseph. This is the dentist office of his father Dr. Walter Cronkite.

Jane Wyman, former wife of President Ronald Reagan, was also from St. Joseph.

 1927 Studebaker "President" Limousine. Before they made cars, the Studebakers made carriages and wagons in St. Joseph.

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the first in the nation to extend as far west as St. Joseph. This is the last Hannibal steam locomotive.

 The boiler on the steam engine.

Railway mail car that was invented to speed the mail onto the Pony Express in St. Joseph for the rest of the trip to San Farncisco. However, the Pony Express went broke before the car was completed. The car was set up like a post office and the return mail was sorted while the train traveled from St. Joseph, Missouri to Quincy, Ohio.

 "Wild Thing" Carousel at the Patee House.














One of the suites in the Patee House. It was the most elegant hotel for miles around.

The other side of the suite. 

Display in Sedelia where the Missouri State Fair is held in August. 
 We traveled from Independence to Marshall to Sedelia to Warrensburg to Clinton to Harrisonville to Lee's Summit to Raytown doing missionary apartment inspections on Wednesday. We drove 234 miles that day.

A picture of the many fire flies we are seeing each night. They're difficult to photograph because the flash lasts only an instant.  Garnalee videoed these two and then isolated a single frame.

Week 43--June 14-20, 2020

We welcomed new sister missionaries on Monday. They will serving at Liberty Jail.

Pictured: Sister Galbraith, Sister Wilson, Sister Bates, and Sister Martin. 

It is Fire Fly or "lightning bug" season. We have tried to catch a picture of one but the flash of light is too short. Tom caught one and you can see the part of the body where the light flashes from. We have enjoyed evening walks appreciating the little flashes of light we see from them. We will say there is one and over there is one. It reminds us of when you go to the eye doctor and you have the test checking your vision with the flashes of light.

We spent a few days putting this puzzle together. It's a good thing we have two water the flowers at the Visitors' Center three days a week to give us something to do outside.  We regularly do indexing as we're sure many do.  Sunday devotionals from President Love are always inspiring.  This week's presenter was President Boyack of the Olatha Stake.  He taught us about how powerful a tool the Book of Mormon is.  Because we can now attend Church every three weeks, we aren't authorized to have Sacrament in our homes, so we just do our scripture study and CFM every day.  The Church has so many resources to keep us engaged and studying diligently. We love the discussions they have online.  Our favorites are: David Butler and Emily Freeman, Scot and Maurene Proctor, and Jared Halverson.

Week 42--June 7-13, 2020

On Sunday our Ward here in Independence met for the first time since March 15. We had 68 people in the congregation. It was mostly older people, single sisters and brothers, and the missionaries. The decision was made during the week that the Ward would be divided into thirds with each third meeting on rotating Sundays. We will go to Church again on June 28.

We drove to Warrensburg and Sedalia on Tuesday to do inspections at missionary apartments. When we arrived at the apartment of Sister Romero and Sister Wilcox we discovered Elder and Sister Larsen were also there delivering  beds for transfers later in the week as there would now be four missionaries in the apartment instead of two. If we would have known they were going to be there we would have turned the inspection over to them. However it was a wonderful drive and we were glad to be busy.
Twenty-five missionaries arrived on Wednesday, some were reassigned from other missions.  Sister Romero is from Perú and even though she's been here for 19 months, her country is closed and she can't go home.  She's hoping July 1 will allow her to return to her family.  Fingers crossed!

When we got home from Warrensburg and Sedalia we decided to drive the five mile Original Route for the wagon trains from Independence Square to the Missouri River where the wagons would cross the Missouri River as they headed west.

Things have started to open up in the Independence area. We decided we had better start going to some of the sights because when the Visitors' Center and Historic Liberty Jail open we won't have time to go sightseeing.

On Wednesday we went to Missouri Town 1855. This would have been a typical town in 1855 during an era of peace and prosperity before the Border and Civil Wars.

Tom and Garnalee are pictured sporting their masks and practicing social distancing.

The plants in the small flower bed attracted many beautiful butterflies.

Each building in the town, threatened with demolition and neglect, was painstaking dismantled and moved from its original location and reassembled to form Missouri Town 1855.

This is the Colonel's House. It represents the most popular style chosen by affluent Southern planters.

 A schoolhouse would have been built by the Colonel for his children. It would have been open to the other children in the town whose parents supplemented the teacher's salary. Attendance at school would have been irregular and depended on the work that needed to be done at home.

The school had six wood desks and a stove in the corner for warmth.

Tom stands next to the outhouse located behind the Colonel's house. Indoor plumbing hadn't reached this one yet.

The Larsens went with us.  It was good to be with them as her haven't seen much of each other since the pandemic started.

A worker's cabin was located behind the Colonel's house. It was amazing to see the tools used by those early wood workers.

Shown is a hat stand made by the worker.

An ice saw used to get ice from the Missouri River during the winter, along with various size augers to bore holes through the logs.

A variety of molding cutters.

 A lathe that was operated by pedal power.

The living quarters for the family was attached to the workers' shop.

A mercantile was needed to supply the needs of the town. Here farm families barter their farm produce for factory-made and imported goods such as sugar, coffee, textiles and hardware.

Tom in front of the General Mercantile.

 A three week old lamb had been rejected by its mother and needed to be bottle fed.

A ewe with a two week old lamb. inside the corral of the barn.

Heritage chickens in the chicken coop.

A very large, colorful rooster.

A three-hole outhouse.

The sheep and 16 new lambs are allowed to roam around the town each afternoon.

The Tavern/way station offered room and board for stagecoach passengers. It was usually a busy center for news and travel. The Tavern would have served as postmaster's office and likely loitering spot for townsfolk.

Tom in the "dogtrot" breezeway was a cool place to be on a warm afternoon.

The "dogtrot" separates the innkeepers' quarters from the the actual tavern, kitchen and servant's room.

The upstairs divides the men's sleeping quarters from the women's. This room was equipped with a single bathtub located between the beds.

The inside of the Blacksmith's house.

A trundle bed in the bed room.

The Blacksmith's wife's herb garden plot. The weed growing in the garden is mullin and the leaves could be used for tobacco.

The Blacksmith's shop.

 Tom inside the Church. the village church hosted various denominations and doubled as a gathering place for social and political functions.

Garnalee in front of a Settler's House.

Bedroom of the Settler's House with baby cradle beside the parents' bed.

 Large spinning wheel located in the bedroom.

Child's rocking horse.

 The backside of the Squire's House which reflected Southern building traditions and influence of Georgian architecture.

Tom walking to the Summer Kitchen which would have served as the first residence while the larger home was being built. This log building kept the home free from excess smoke and heat.

The large barn indicates the extensive farming operations of the Squire.

It was a gorgeous day and we really enjoyed the site.

On Friday we went to Fort Osage. Under the direction of William Clark, joint commander of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Fort was built in 1808 to serve several purposes. The Fort functioned as an outpost in the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase, housing soldiers to guard the new territory, and protected the United States Factory Trade House.
The model shows the original fort. the four corners are Blockhouses where the sentries were on guard duty. The large building to the back of the picture was the Officers' Quarters. The Soldiers' Hut is the V-shaped area. It housed 80 soldiers with 2 men sharing a bunk. They slept head to foot.

Fort Osage was built on a bluff of the the Missouri River. The fort was referred as the "Gibraltar of the Frontier."

"Costco" of the frontier, the Factory House.

The Factory House where furs were brought and traded for items from the Factory. Private traders resented the government's trade competition and lobbied Congress to end the Factory System. They were successful and the fur trade business was turned over to private traders.  A buffalo hide brought $3 while beaver pelts were worth $1.95/ pound and were a lot easier to carry.
This Factory House was built next to Fort Osage.

 The furs were brought here to be prepared for sale.

The kitchen of the Factory House.

 Garnalee enjoying the view of the Missouri River.

Garnalee on the breezeway at Fort Osage.

Tom coming from one of the Blockhouses.

"Soldier" at Fort Osage in front of the Officers' Quarters. The tuft across the top of his was made of bear fur and was to imitate what the British had on their hats. It also had the tail of white tailed deer on the side. The white band around the hat indicated he was military.

 Place setting in the Officers' Quarters. The eating utensils were very heavy. The utensils were made for men not for women.

We went to Fort Osage with the Larsens and Browns. We pause for a few cool minutes in the air conditioned dining room of the Officers' Quarters.

Pictured: Sister and Elder Larsen, Elder and Sister Harrington, Sister and Elder Brown at the dining table in the Officers' Quarters.

Tom is excited that his oak tree is actually growing.  Since last fall, he tired several times to get the acorns all over the ground to sprout and grow.  That meant there was always a baggie with moist soil in the refrigerator for up to four months to imitate winter months.  No luck.  It wasn't until all the senior couples were planting flowers at Far West that Elder Larsen said, "Look at this.  An acorn has sprouted.!" Mother Nature is obviously a better gardener than I am.  I told Elder Larsen of my many failed efforts, so he stuck the tiny sprout into a 3" plastic pot that our flowers had been in and gave it to me.  It's still alive and is finally growing.  Oak trees can grow in Idaho, so we'll see if we plant it here or take it home.