This month I took a short, hour and half drive out to Wamego, Kansas. Wamego is a town of 4,000 about a hour northwest of Topeka. The town is the home of the Wizard of Oz Museum and has totally embraced the notion that they are center of the Wizard of Oz universe. But first …
If you don’t know me personally or haven’t followed me long enough to figure this out, I am a God-fearing, flag waving, proud to be an American man. When the national anthem is playing, I will be standing at attention with my hand over my heart to honor the greatest country on earth. It is …
I have a bit of personal attachment to the Jesse James story because the house we built in Richmond, Missouri backed up to the cemetery where Robert (Bob) Ford was buried. Ford was the man who shot Jesse James in St Joseph. His tombstone reads, Robert Ford, “The man who shot Jesse James”. While in …
Cabin Creek is a small river in the northeastern part of Oklahoma. Today, the battlefield site is out in the middle of nowhere. In 1863, it was a prominent crossing along the very busy, Military Road, coming from Kansas into the Indian territory, which today is Oklahoma. Oklahoma would not become a state until 1907. …
The Huron Indian Cemetery, also known as the Wyandot National Burying Ground, is located at 631 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, Kansas. Wyandot and Huron are simply different names for the same tribe. The cemetery occupies a stretch of land between the 7th Street Casino to the south and the Kansas City Library to the east. …
Check out my latest column in the March 4th issue of the Johnson County Gazette. This month I look into Quantrill’s Raids of Shawnee. There is not a great deal of information out there about the raids, but I do my best to tell the story based on what we do know. The story is …
Check out my latest article in the January 28th edition of the JOCO Gazette. This month’s article takes a look at the history of Lenexa, which was originally going to be called, “Bradshaw”. Check out the article via this link at the JOCO Gazette. Click on image to read captions
Check out my latest column in the November 17 edition of the Johnson County Gazette. This article is entitled, KSD’s Luther “Dummy” Taylor, World Series Champion in 1905″ and recounts the life and Major League Career of Luther Taylor, an 1890s graduate of the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe. Includes some interesting facts about …
Lecompton is another town that has embraced its Civil War roots and markets itself to the outside world based on that image. The town’s slogan is “Historic Lecompton: The Birthplace of the Civil War, Where Slavery Began to Die.” Indeed, this very small town just a few miles northwest of Lawrence played a significant role …
Sneak Peek for the cover design for my second book, “The Border War Tour: A Traveler’s Guide to Civil War Sites on the Missouri/Kansas Border”. I’m pleased to announce that my second book “Border War Tour”, is being finalized and I expect a release date in the early spring of 2022. The images with this post …
