Road Trip Through History: The Gateway Arch

I must begin by admitting that it is possible to drive from Chicago to Springfield Mo in one day. I have done it alone and with My Own True Love many times. But when faced with the prospect of the drive this past Christmas we looked at each other and admitted that we were tired.…

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Road Trip Through History: Legacy of the Plains

The first thing we saw as we drove into the parking lot of the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gehring, Nebraska, was a half dozen Longhorn cattle that were milling around, while a man who looked nothing like a cowboy waved his arms and tried to shoo them back into their pen. It turned…

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Road Trip Through History:Empire, Wyoming and Black Homesteading

This barely counts as a “road trip through history” post. It is more of a “a historical marker sends me looking for more information” post. The historical marker gave the bare-bones account* of Empire, Wyoming—a short-lived community of Black homesteaders in Goshen County, near the Nebraska-Wyoming border. The marker ended with this sentence: “Empire remains…

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