We Travel to St. Joseph for the Day

Yesterday was a "travel day," that is a day when we moved to a new campground - this one was Basswood Resort in Platte City, MO.  We drove 284 miles across Missouri, around Kansas City and went north a short distance.  Well that is what everyone in the caravan did except us.  When we started our engine the engine light came on - oh no!!  After some fussing and discussions with other members of the caravan, Ken ended up calling our road service and talked with a technician.  He arranged for us to go to a Cummins dealer in St. Louis to see if they could help us.  Our tailenders, Dan and Patty Johnson, followed us to be sure all went well which was very nice of them.  A very caring service man took immediate care of us and after spending time determined the problem was one he couldn't deal with as it was a chassis problem that Freightliner would have to fix, BUT he did check things out and told us he felt we'd be safe to continue on as long as the light stayed off.  Since it had turned off while we drove there it was determined we could head to Platte City.

Our travel directions had suggested a two hour stop at the Arrow Rock State Historical Site to enjoy the exhibits but we chose to by pass that since we were already running 2 1/2 hours behind everyone else. So short of a quick lunch stop and a stop at WalMart to get a few groceries.  Everyone was glad to see we made it. Us too!!!!!

Then this morning we boarded a bus for a trip into St. Joseph.  Our first stop was at The Pony Express Museum (in the original stables for the Pony Express)

which gave the complete history of its short life - only 18 months.  This is the memorial to the very first run with lots of people cheering on the other side of the door.

The trip was made from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California in ten days for $5.00 per 1/2 ounce letter though later the price dropped to $1. It followed this route with a stop in Salt Lake City.

It begin here for several reasons, one being that is where the telegraph line ended.  It also was the end of the train run that could bring the mail from the East coast. Unfortunately Indian problems that resulted in the destruction of several Relay Stations that then had to be replaced at great cost finally brought it all to an end because of bankruptcy.

The riders were young ranging in age from 11 to 26.  One of the Pony Express riders was Buffalo Bill Cody so there was an additional display about him and his life as he had a long history of interaction with St. Joseph.

We then continued up the road a couple of blocks to the Patee House Museum, a former ultra-fancy hotel built in 1858

where the headquarters were for the Pony Express.

This was a sample of one of its rooms for visitors 

The hotel now houses one of the top ten western museums in the country with a myriad of displays including a Streets of St. Jo exhibit that includes store fronts for many of the places of businesses in the late 19th century and early 20th century.  One of the businesses is the Cronkite Dental Office where Walter Cronkite's father and grandfather had practiced.

Other displays covered just about every aspect of life with a slant toward how St. Joseph was involved.  It was intriguing to see how many different businesses and activities have a history there. One of them is Quaker Oats that came into being there.  Many of us were surprised to see how many different "free" items were put into the famous round containers. Note on the top shelf the "toy oats" and on the next shelf down the "crystal wedding oats" and on the bottom shelf the tea cup and saucer pictured on the box.  Later in the day we drove by several of the mansions homes of former business people in the area including the home of the Quaker Oats founder.

  Transportation west was also headquartered here as St. Joseph was the start point for all of the major trails like the Oregon and Mormon trails and later the gold diggers.  As a result there were many businesses supplying all of their needs including of course stage coaches and covered wagons.

Right next door to the museum is the home where Jesse James was staying with his wife and two children when he was killed by a fellow robber looking for reward money and promised freedom for nabbing him.

This is the parlor as it was when he was shot while planning a bank robbery with two fellow robbers one of whom shot him when he turned his back to straighten a picture.

Our next stop was at this lovely home turned into a restaurant - Luna's - for a fantastic lunch.

Following that a step on guide joined us and gave us a tour of part of the city itself which is filled with lots of beautiful old mansions - many of which have been restored or are in the process

We also got down to the waterfront for views of the Missouri River and two different spots where the Lewis and Clark Expedition had stopped - one in 1804 and one on the return in 1806.  At that time there wasn't much there. At that time the journals of the men referred to it as St. Michael's Prairie.  It was here they met an old friend on their return trip and got some of the news of what had happened in the past two and a half years along with the news that most everyone assumed they were all dead.

Our last stop was at the Glore Psychiatric Museum that chronicles the history of mental health treatment showing many of the treatments used. 

On our way back to the campground we were able to watch a video about the Pony Express that had been given to our group by the museum.