August 13

Just east of Quincy, IL  the corn was so bad because of the drought that it looked like corn usually does in October. It is just sad to see it so bad. Just west of Quincy and the Mississippi River we saw a farmer already combining his corn.

A different thing we saw was a field that had fence posts made of tree branches or limbs. You could see where some trees had been felled for some reason so I guess that the farmer just cut the limbs in a length that would work for posts. It would certainly save money.

I forgot to mention that yesterday we stopped at a rest stop and a man parked beside us started talking. He was from Waco, TX but had lived in Muncie in the early 1970's when he was the materials manager for the building of the new library on the BSU campus. It is really a small world.

Today we went to the Pony Express Museum in St.Joseph, MO. They showed a 15 minute video then we went through the museum. They really had a lot of things about the pony express such as how it worked, where they went, how things were at the time. It is rather amazing to think that the pony express only was in business for 18 months because we hear so much about it yet today. I guess the reason we hear about it is that it was frequently mentioned in the old western movies. They had an actual pole from the first telegraph to be put through the area. The telegraph was what put the pony express out of business.

We also went to the Patee House Museum. It is an excellent museum of the early west. They had transportation that included a restored stagecoach, a Maxwell car, an 1860 train locomotive, a horse-drawn hearse and more. In the communications area they had a large collection of telephones. I found a wall phone like the one I used to talk on. We couldn't talk that long though because we had a party-line we shared with other families. You also had to be careful what you said because anyone one the line could pick up their receiver and listen to what you said.

These are very tiny dishes that the girls, like Laura, used to play with when they were going on the Oregon Trail to their new home. They couldn't take any large toys because their was no room in the wagon. The plates here are about the size of a nickel. They were found when they dug up some of the land around the pony express building.

Katie, this is a jeep from 1952. It is an army jeep that was used in war. Later they started making them for all people to drive. The army had almost everything this brown color. Today Jeep makes many different vehicles in many colors.

Aaron, this is a real gallows that they would use to hang someone who had stolen cattle, killed someone, or done some other egregious offense. They said this one was made but was never used. They would lead the man to the platform then take the rope that is tied to the back wall and put it around his neck. The black lever with the red handle was then pulled and it released the floor causing it to fall open and the person to drop down and hang by his neck. It was rather gruesome but some times many of the people of the town would come to watch the hanging.

A long time ago women wore their hair very long and they would save the hair that fell out. They would then take that hair and make it into designs and put it in a picture frame. It looks like you took heavy thread to make the flowers. This picture was made from the hair of about 220 women. The different colors are because the women had different colored hair.

This is a pan that was used to pan for gold. They would use a pick ax to get dirt that they thought had gold in it and put it in the pan. Then they added water and swished it around. The gold would fall to the bottom of the pan because it is heavier than dirt, rocks and water then they would pour out the dirt and water. The rock to the right has gold in it.




St. Joseph is a town with many, many large ornate old houses. Many have been restored and look beautiful and are being lived in. Others need some work. The visitor's guide lists 19 museums in town including a psychiatric museum. The home that Jesse James lived in when he was shot is a museum. You can see the hole where the bullet lodged. We have yet to see the Missouri River and what is along that.