MoKanOk

It's an old Egyptian work meaning "we drove a long ways today, from Missouri to Kansas to Oklahoma".  In the 16th century translation, the root word was "MoKanOkMo", since it implied a return trip to the point of origin, but the modern interpretation is of a one way trip.  OK, OK, I digress.

Donna's father was born in a little town in Kansas named Baxter Springs, so we embarked this morning on a journey to find some trace of the family.  Several years before Charlie was born, the family lived in Galena, KS, a few miles north of Baxter Springs, and a bit west of Carthage, so we started there.  Donna has received an address from a special friend who had done some research on her behalf, so we plugged that into the GPS and off we went.

Galena is located on a portion of the Kansas section of Route 66, so it was a pleasure to drive. We were happy to see the last remaining "marsh bridge" on Route 66 just north of Galena.

In Galena, the address we had turned out to have disappeared over the years.  The street still remained, but the location of the house was buried in underbrush.

A neighbor came out to see what we were snooping, and told us that she had lived on the street for the last 60 years.  Turns out that a church and an old folks home had purchased the acreage where the 700 block of the street was, and demo'd all the old houses for a parking lot.  The trees were left as a sound barrier of sorts.  You can see that the street just ends.

So off we went to Baxter Springs, KS.  This is the town Charlie was born in, but we didn't have an address or any other information.  We did find out that BS, KS, has a lot of history beginning in the pre-Civil War days, when it was on a military road between Ft. Leavenworth, KS, and points south in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).  There was a good spring in the area, and grass for horses, so it was a natural stopping place.  BS was also the site of Quantrill's attack on Ft Blair. On Oct 6, 1863, William Quantrill, a Confederate general and his men attacked the new fort. When the day was done, some 88 casualties had been recorded, mostly Union soldiers.  The event has come to be known as The Battle of Baxter Springs, and referred to as a massacre.  Quantrill's Raiders were mostly a motley crew of ner' do-wells that plundered and stole as much as they could.  This has colored what may have been a legitimate military battle.  Next Saturday will mark the 150th anniversary of that battle, and many events are scheduled in town for the weekend.  There will be a full re-enactment and historical re-creations all over town.

Baxter Springs has a well stocked Historical Center and Museum that was open this afternoon.  We visited and met with the volunteer who allowed us to go into the archives and look through files and old newspapers for news of Donnas family.  We looked at and were able to touch the crumbling pages of the town newspaper from the days just after Charlies birth.  While we didn't find an announcement of his birth, we did see that one of the local ladies had "held forth at last nights town meeting, and very little other business was conducted".  She must have been on a mission! It was fascinating to turn the pages of a newspaper that had been printed 110 years ago!

We left Baxter Springs heading south toward Commerce, Oklahoma.

The hometown of Mickey Mantle, and also on the original route of Route 66. This sign just inside the state border reminded us of the extensive native american influence in this area.

This must have been something like the settlers saw when they crossed the border into new lands.  The Quapaw, Shawnee and other tribes still own much of northeastern Oklahoma, and have several large gambling casinos on or near Interstate 44.  The reason for our visit to Commerce was to check out the area for Donnas cousins.  On a Sunday afternoon we weren't likely to see anyone walking down Main Street with a name tag, but we did do a bit of investigation, however without much success.

The original Conoco Gas Station from route 66 days is still standing, but no longer sells gas.

Across the street, another of the vintage buildings now sells cookies and ice cream!

Back on I44 East, it was 40 odd miles back to Carthage, MO.  We traveled on the Oklahoma Toll Road for a few miles, one of the only toll roads we've had to use.  75 cents for a 30 mile stretch wasn't too bad, but we saw on the sign that if we had been driving Nessie and towing James, the tariff would have been $13.75! The Toll Road goes all the way to Tulsa, OK, and is a fast way to travel.

Tomorrow we leave Carthage for parts unknown....We'll keep you posted.