Woke up at our B&B along the Katy Trail. Had a big breakfast of eggs and bacon (while Aron had pancakes made with added M&Ms). Off we went the other way on the Katy Trail to check out a big tunnel left over from the railroad. Near the tunnel was a wildlife refuge area with a hunter's blind put in so you could watch the birds undisturbed.
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MO: bridge on the Katy Trail
 IMG_2780 MO: Arthur Luehrmann at a train tunnel on the Katy Trail |
Dear Journal,
Today I had a breakfast of 3 M+M pancakes and went to an interpretive center in Arrow Rock. It had a really cool exhibit on making/extracting salt at a salt lick. Then we went to a trading fort called Fort Osage and learned how to shoot with a paper cartridge and about the factory system. See next page for badge. After that, we, instead of swimming, (we were to tired) so we had dinner and fell asleep.
Aron
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MO: wildlife refuge just off the Katy Trail
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MO: Aron Cowen and Martha Luehrmann at wildlife refuge just off the Katy Trail
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Arrow Rock, MO: Arthur and Martha Luehrmann at the Arrow Rock State Historic Site
Off to Arrow Rock Historical Site, so named by the Indians and by the French (Pierre Fleche) because the rock of the bluffs made particularly good arrowheads. It had a nice little visitors' center where we watched a film, saw an exhibit of settler equipment, another of a stuffed keelboat, and a wonderful quote from an Indian Chief regarding freedom.
We then walked a bit through the village to see historic homes, and drove around them up high on the bluff.
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Arrow Rock, MO: stuffed keelboat
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Arrow Rock, MO: a wonderful quote by an Osage Chief the French called Le Soldat Du Chene
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Arrow Rock, MO: Osage Chief the French called Le Soldat Du Chene
Off to Fort Osage - a gorgeous US trading fort on a bluff over the Missouri near Sibley, MO. It is a fully restored trading fort with a palisades, gun towers, barracks, blacksmith forge, trading post, and carpentry shop. There are people there in the dress appropriate to the 1850s using the old tools and doing jobs appropriate to the time. One soldier showed us how to load a gun with gunpowder and shot, tamp it down, and shoot. Another traded Aron with some furs (of deer, beaver, otter, muskrat, fox, badger, skunk) for gunpowder, cornmeal, shot, whiskey, tools, etc).
The carpenter and his assistant were making an axe handle while we were there and they played a trick on the soldier and hid his sword. They also told us tales of other doings on the post.
We drove down (we could've walked) to the Missouri river and watched a boat being launched.
Oh, by the way, the soldiers bunked in double and triple bunks and two to a bed (while one was on duty the other could use the bed.)
On to dinner and our motel in Atcheson, Kansas.
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Fort Osage near Sibley, Missouri: trapper with a flintlock rifle
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Fort Osage near Sibley, Missouri: Aron Cowen trades pelts for meal and tools and gunpowder while Arthur Luehrmann looks on
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Fort Osage near Sibley, Missouri: Aron Cowen watches the carpenter make an axe handle
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the Missouri near Sibley, MO