Orient Hotel

November 26, 2012, 7:35 am

Texas, Reeves County, Pecos

"Finest from Ft. Worth to El Paso." Saloon built 1896 of Pecos Valley red sandstone. Hotel opened 1907 by R.S. Johnson, owner. Headquarters for land promoters, salesmen, families of settlers in early years of Pecos Valley development.

Restored to House West of the Pecos Museum.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Pioneer Graveyard

November 26, 2012, 7:42 am

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Texas, Reeves County, Pecos

Earliest Pecos landmark. Started with burial of men in hazardous work of building Texas & Pacific Railroad, 1881. Used over 30 years by settlers in the Pecos Valley. First markers, of native red stone or wood, have now been lost or effaced in sandstorms and floods.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Goodnight-Loving Trail

November 26, 2012, 7:48 am

≫ Next: Route of Old Butterfield Stagecoach Road

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Texas, Loving County, near Mentone

Blazed from
the Fort Griffin-Dodge City Trail
through
New Mexico to Colorado
about 1860 by
Oliver Loving
1812-1867
first cattle trail driver from
Texas

(Exploration) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Route of Old Butterfield Stagecoach Road

November 26, 2012, 7:54 am

≫ Next: De Anza Expedition 1775 - 1776

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Texas, Loving County, near Mentone

Over these tracks passed the Butterfield Stage, 1858-1861, providing for first time in history a combined passenger and mail service from Atlantic to Pacific coast. Operating westward from St. Louis and Memphis, John Butterfield's company used 1,350 mules and horses and 90 Concord coaches and wagons.

Stages traveled rapidly, despite lack of real roads. A signal given approaching a station would assure food on table for travelers, and fresh horses ready.

Stations were 12 to 113 miles apart. Route changes were often made to obtain water. The passengers and crew wore guns. Indians liked horses, so to reduce the danger of Indian attacks, mules were used west of Ft. Belknap. Trip one way took 25 days - 7 consumed in crossing Texas, from near Preston (now under Lake Texoma) to Jacksboro, Ft. Belknap, Ft. Chadbourne, and El Paso. One-way fare for the 2,700 miles was $200.

This marks a 113-mile span, from Emigrants' Crossing (82 mi. S) to Pope's Crossing (31 mi. N), that on inaugural trip, Sept. 16-Oct. 12, 1858, had no team-change. Route ran parallel to Pecos River. By November there were 3 change stations in this area, one being Skillman's Stop (6 mi. N). Route was shortened in 1860, going by Forts Stockson, Davis and Quitman, west of the Pecos.

(Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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De Anza Expedition 1775 - 1776

November 26, 2012, 8:19 am

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California, Monterey County, Jolon

Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza by decree of Carlos III of Spain led an expedition to this site – The mission being to colonize the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the center of the marker is a circular motif, designed by Doris Birkland Beezley, of a rider superimposed upon a sun-like set of compass points, with the "De Anza Expedition 1775 1776" written above the rider.

(Exploration • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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The Osage and the Fur Trade

November 26, 2012, 10:55 am

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Missouri, Vernon County, near Fair Haven

Hunting and furs were already important factors in the Osage way of life and Europeans capitalized on this. By trading furs for articles manufactured by Europeans, both groups got something they wanted. While the Indians got kettles, axes, hoes, knives, and other durable goods, the Europeans got furs to sell and often became rich.

First Trade Monopoly and St. Louis
On July 6, 1763, the French governor granted an eight-year trade monopoly to Maxent, Laclede and Company, a New Orleans firm. On August [?], 1763, Pierre Laclede left New Orleans for Spanish Illinois with Auguste Chouteau, his family, and their workmen. They operated out of Fort de Chartes in present-day Illinois. On February 15, 1764, Laclede sent 15-year-old Chouteau to start work on the town that Laclede called St. Louis.

St. Louis quickly became the center of trade for tribes of the upper Louisiana Territory. It was here that tribes received annual gifts. The Indians were made to come to one place so the Europeans could control them. In 1768, Laclede's monopoly was discontinued and licenses were given only on a yearly basis.

Chouteau and Fort Carondolet
In the fall of 1793, Auguste Chouteau began work on a plan to control the Osage by building a fort near the Big Osage village. In April 1794, Chouteau and four Big Osage and two Little Osage chiefs traveled to New Orleans to explain the plan to Governor Baron de Carondolet.

In return for constructing a fort among the Osage at his own expense, Chouteau received a six-year trade monopoly. Chouteau's monopoly of trade with the Osage was no small matter. At the time Chouteau received his monopoly, trade with the Osage represented more than half of the entire fur trade out of St. Louis.

The fort was built in 1795 and named Carondolet in honor of the governor. At first, the presence of the fort had its desired effect. The Osage made peace with the Pawnee and Kansa tribes and began negotiations with the Commanches [sic]. But the peace did not last, and the Osage soon found themselves in conflict with other tribes and settlers.

Manuel Lisa Replaces Chouteau
Manuel Lisa, a St. Louis merchant, tried to establish free trade with the Indians. After failing to break trade monopolies, he petitioned the new governor for Chouteau's monopoly. He promised to relieve the government of the annual payment for militia, and also to build a flour mill. On June 12, 1802, the governor cancelled Chouteau's monopoly and gave it to Lisa.

Chouteau fought back by suing the government and Lisa. He eventually persuaded many of the Osage to move to Three Forks of the Arkansas near present-day Claremore, Okla. Here, he was out of range of Lisa's monopoly and continued his trade with the Osage.

After Chouteau abandoned Fort Carondolet in 1802, it was ransacked. When explorer Zebulon Pike ascended the Osage River in 1806, he noted that almost nothing was left of the fort.

Effects of Fur Trade on the Land
As the Indians became more dependent upon European goods, they had to spend more time obtaining furs to trade. Historians estimate that each year the Osage sold as much as 9,000 pounds of fur from bear, beaver, deer, and other animals. As more animals were killed, the animal population in the area began to decline.

In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike noted that large game was difficult to find in the vicinity of Osage villages. He reported that he had difficulty finding food for more than four days as he traveled toward the Osage villages and for three days travelling away from them.

In 1820, George Sibley wrote the following: "The game is very sensibly diminishing in the country which these tribes inhabit; but has not yet become scarce. Its gradual diminution seems to have had no other effect on the Indians, than to make them more expert and industrious hunters..."

(Environment • Exploration • Industry & Commerce • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 10 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Changing Life Styles

November 26, 2012, 12:40 pm

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Missouri, Vernon County, near Fair Haven

American Attitudes Toward The Osage
In March 1804, the United States took possession of the Louisiana Territory, almost doubling the size of the United States. This provided growing space for an expanding population. The Lewis and Clark expedition left that year to explore the Missouri River. The U.S. government rejected the trade monopolies of the Spanish and Lisa's monopoly with the Osage ended.

At first, the American attitude toward Indians was similiar to that of the French and Spanish. But attitudes changed rapidly around 1808. Although the authorities did not like the Osage raids on other tribes, it was the raids on the ever-increasing American settlers that brought about the wrath of the new government. This new attitude and the resulting policies changed forever the life style of the Osage.

Zebulon Pike
In the summer of 1806, Zebulon Pike ascended the Missouri and Osage rivers on his way to the Rocky Mountains and Mexico. On this trip, he returned several Osage Indians previously held captive and spent several days with the Osage. He left an account of this jouney and provided much information on the river and the location of sites relating to the Osage.

Osage Treaties
Another reason for Fort Osage was to help the Americans obtain the Osage lands. On September 12, 1808, 75 Big Osage and Little Osage chiefs and warriors came to a council arranged by Clark. The proposed treaty would provide a dividing line between the American land and the Osage hunting grounds. Two days later, the Osage agreed to the terms of the treaty.

The treaty collapsed when the Arkansas River Osage said they had no part in the treaty and others complained they did not understand it. The treaty was signed again on November 10, 1808, with the Arkansas River Osage ratifying it on August 31, 1809.

The Osage had been caught in a vicious circle. The only way to pay for the European goods they depended upon was to trade furs and skins. As they gave up land, they had less areas to hunt and game grew scarce. Raiding and warfare was a way of life for warriors, but victimized settlers filed claims against the government for losses. As the Osage obtained goods on credit and could not repay their debts, the government forced them to give up more and more land.

In 1825, the Osage ceded their remaining land in Missouri.

Fort Osage (Clark)
In May 1808, the U.S. War Department decided to establish a fort and trading post for the Osage. The fort, built along the Missouri River just east of present-day Kansas City, was named after General William Clark but was better known as Fort Osage. After its completion, Clark sent a message to the Osage telling them to abandon their villages and move to the fort.

One of the purposes of the fort was to confine the Osage to the western part of the state and make it more difficult for them to raid settlements in the eastern part of the state. Until now, the Osage had gone yearly to St. Louis to trade, but that would end with the construction of the new fort. Many of the Osage soon went back to their own villages. In order to trade with the Osage, a trading post was built on the Marais des Cygnes River. It was built under the direction of George Sibley, head of Fort Osage.

Harmony Mission
In 1819, the Osage began to request missionaries. These requests may have been an attempt to understand the white man and the way he seemed to control the world.

A mission party, soon named Harmony, left New York in March 1821. They established Harmony Mission in August on the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the location of the trading post under construction by Sibley. The mission included a communal building, schoolhouse, mill, and 10 houses. After many of the Osage moved to Kansas and Oklahoma, the mission closed in 1827.

A Way of Life Ends
After being pushed onto new lands several times, the Osage found themselves on a small reservation in Oklahoma. By the late 19th century, their hunting, warring, and nomadic life style was a thing of the past. Although they were once proud, daring warriors, they peacefully adapted to the new life style forced upon them.

(Native Americans • Peace • Politics • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Archaeology

November 26, 2012, 1:18 pm

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Missouri, Vernon County, near Fair Haven

The main source for information about the Osage Indians' daily life is in the ground beneath us. Like pages of a book, archaeology can reveal stories about who the people were and how they lived.

Information is revealed not only by the artifacts but also by its relationship with other things. For example, finding a single projectile point gives archaeologists a certain amount of information. But its presence among projectile points and chert waste in a small area tells archaeologists that the site was a hunting camp. On the other hand, dense debris and evidence of houses indicate a village. Past soil disturbance can be detected and reveal where post holes, hearths, roasting pits, and storage pits had been dug in the past.

As archaeologists dig, they destroy the part of the site they are excavating. But archaeologists record as much information as possible as they dig and keep careful records of what they have found. Without these records, the stories of the past would be lost forever.

1941
This site, known as the Brown site, was first visited by archaeologists in 1941. W.L. Brown, the landowner, had collected many artifacts from the site. Realizing the importance of the site, Brown had stopped plowing it. Dr. Carl H. Chapman and other staff members from the University of Missouri at Columbia started excavating the site in 1941. World War II interrupted those excavations.

1962
In 1962, Chapman mounted a large-scale excavation of the known Osage sites in this part of the state. About 9,000 square feet were excavated. In the center of this site, some pits and post holes were found where a house apparently had been located. A large excavation near the western edge of the site revealed pits, hearths, and post holes indicating two houses. One house was 42 feet by 19 feet and the other was 45 feet by 22 feet. They had two or three center posts, multiple hearths, and numerous pits in the house floor for storage.

1983
A small excavation was completed in 1983. These excavations were done to obtain evidence of bones and floral material for comparison with other historic Indian sites. This last excavation revealed a great deal of information about the plants and animals used by the Osage Indians in Missouri.

Help Us Preserve The Site
This village is a nonrenewable source. The artifacts on this site are like the pages of a book that tell a story. Removing an artifact is like tearing a page from that book, making it difficult to read. Removing artifacts is also against the law. This site was purchased for preservation. Please help us do that.

(Anthropology • Education • Man-Made Features • Native Americans) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Osage Sites in the Area

November 26, 2012, 4:21 pm

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Missouri, Vernon County, Fair Haven

The small area (about 12 by 10 miles) where Osage Village State Historic Site is located, contains almost all of the Osage sites and early French and American sites relating to the Osage in Missouri.

1. Osage Village Site
The site on which you are now standing is the earliest known Osage Indian village in western Missouri. It was the home of the Little Osage and the Big Osage from before the time of their first European recording until 1717 when the Little Osage moved north to the Missouri River. The Big Osage continued to live here until perhaps as late as 1775.

2. Late Big Osage Village Site
Located to the west is the only other Big Osage village site in the area. It was occupied from about 1775 until they moved from Missouri about 1823.

3. Little Osage Village Site
Located north of the Little Osage River, this site was occupied from the time the Little Osage moved back to the area (probably in the 1780s) until they also moved west to Kansas around 1823.

4. Fort Carondolet
Although the exact location of the fort has never been discovered, it is believed to have been located northeast of here. The fort was not occupied very long. It was built in 1795 by the Chouteaus and was abandoned in 1802 when Manuel Lisa was granted Chouteau's trade monopoly with the Osage. A number of houses were associated with the fort. The militia at the fort and others apparently settled in the vicinity of the fort. In 1806, Zebulon Pike noted 10 houses east of the original location of the fort.

5. Lisa's Post
Manuel Lisa built his post in 1802 about halfway between the Big Osage and the Little Osage villages and near the junction of the Little Osage and Marmaton rivers. Although Lisa's monopoly was cancelled by the Americans, he continued to trade with the Osage. By 1822, the post was still standing but had been abandoned.

6. Chouteau's Second Trading House
Sometime after 1808, Chouteau built a second trading house southeast of Papinsville. This appears to have been a relatively small operation, since Chouteau was already trading with a large number of Osage on the Arkansas River.

7. Osage Factory
In the spring of 1821, a trading post was built on or near the present site of Papinsville. The post was an extension of Fort Osage since the Osage had moved away from the vicinity of the fort. This trading post lasted only a few years until the Osage left the area.

8. Harmony Mission
Built in 1821 just northwest of present-day Papinsville, the mission consisted of several communal buildings, including a church, school, and grist mill, and 10 houses for the people of the mission. Like the Osage factory, the mission existed only a short time before the Osage moved west to Kansas.

9. Blue Mound
This large hill is said to be the burial site of a number of prominent Osage chiefs. The last one thought to have been buried here was Pawhuska (or White Hairs around 1824.

(Exploration • Industry & Commerce • Native Americans • Peace) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Oil and Gas

November 26, 2012, 6:23 pm

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New Mexico, Lea County, near Hobbs

A completion of the Discovery Well of the Hobbs Pool six miles south, April 12, 1929 focuses attention upon the potential of New Mexico as a major source of oil and natural gas. Steady development under the state conservation program, gradually moved New Mexico into sixth nationwide in oil production and fourth in gas production. While Lea County attained first place in the value of oil and gas production, these positions, achieved during the 1950's and 60's, were maintained as the decade of the 1970's opened.

(Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Farming History

November 26, 2012, 6:33 pm

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British Columbia, Greater Vancouver Regional District, Surrey

Preparing the Land
When John Stewart acquired this land in 1880, only basic land clearing had occurred. The blackberry bushes and hardhack marsh provided hospitable habitat for birds and small animals, but was not suitable for successful farming.

In the early years, neighbours worked together to share resources, labour and equipment. One of the early problems to be solved was bringing the rich lowlands along tidal rivers under cultivation. John Stewart referred to this effort as fighting “the Pacific Ocean with spades”. John Stewart, Harry Chantrell, William McBride and William Woodward worked together to dyke the north side of the river and to protect their land from tidal floods. These efforts, originating in the 1880s, were the beginning of dyking in Surrey.

Hay Farming
John Stewart grew hay, barley and oats. Large farms needed threshing machines to harvest the crops. Threshers were complicated, expensive to maintain and often weighed up to three tons. Farmers who could not afford a thresher often worked with neighbours to share the harvest workload. John Stewart’s threshing machine was used by the neighbouring farms.

From Field to Market
Threshing machines worked in the fields separating grain from chaff. The separated grain was bagged directly from the thresher and was ready for transport from the field to the market or mill. In the early years the Stewarts shipped their grain to market by steamer. A sling was used to load the heavy sacks onto boats at high tide. The grain was sold in Victoria.

In later years, the Stewarts sold hay directly from their own barns. The hay was loaded onto a wooden raft attached to a two-person rowboat on the north side of the river, and rowed to the south side, where it was towed to the barn and stored.

Local newspapers of the time record announcements of hay sales. Anyone needing fodder for their cattle could pick up it up at the farm. In 1903, 2,000 pounds of hay sold for $10.00, a sack of oats cost $1.08, butter was 30 cents a pound and eggs cost 20 cents a dozen.

Community Building
On the Stewart Farm, there was one farmhand who worked year round. At haying time, 10 to 15 additional men travelled from Vancouver to assist with the harvest. This harvest team would move from farm to farm until the crop was in.

This spirit of community extended beyond farm operations to community building activities such as the donation of land for schools, churches and community halls. John Stewart served on Surrey Municipal Council from 1884 to 1887 and from 1892 to 1894. He helped to establish the dyking commission, he assisted in building Elgin Hall and he was an elder in the Mud Bay Church. The Stewart Farm was the location of many summer socials and neighbourhood dances. The hospitality and generosity of neighbours was commonplace.

This building was originally used to store the Stewarts’ threshing machine.

(Agriculture) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Histoic McMillan Expediton

November 26, 2012, 6:40 pm

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British Columbia, Greater Vancouver Regional District, Surrey

A Trading Post on the Fraser
In 1824, James McMillian of the Hudson’s Bay Company and a party of forty-seven passed this shore on an exploratory trip from Fort George (Astoria) at the mouth of the Columbia River to the Fraser River. They were sent to find a suitable site for a new fur trading depot.

The expedition left Fort George on November 18, 1824 with three boats, travelled across the Puget Sound, continued up the coast, and entered this bay on December 12, 1824. After making their way up the Nicomekl River, the men portaged across to the Salmon River and followed it down the Fraser River.

Fort Langley, built in 1827, was the first permanent European post on what is today the coast of British Columbia.

Expedition Journal Excerpt
Monday, December 13, 1824 “... proceeded to the entrance of a small river up which they continued about 7 or 8 miles, in a very winding course ... immense flocks of plover were observed flying about the sand ... The navigation of the little river is very bad, after getting a short distance up it was often barred up with driftwood which impeded our progress, the Indians cut roads through it for their canoes yet they were too narrow for our boats. ... In the river nothing but thick willows are seen for some distance from the water, where the banks though low are well wooded with pine, cedar, alder, and some other trees. There are the appearance of beaver being pretty numerous in this river. Where we are now encamped is a pretty little plain.”

Journal of John Work, McMillian Expedition, quoted by T.C. Elliott in The Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. III, p. 217

(Exploration) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Butterfield Overland Mail in Missouri - 1858-1861

November 26, 2012, 7:05 pm

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Missouri, Morgan County, Syracuse

The George Shackelford Relay and Meal Station stood ½ miles south of Syracuse in Morgan County. In 1859, when the railroad reached Syracuse, it succeeded Tipton as Stage terminus. Civil War activity closed the terminus in March, 1861.

(Communications • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Kansas City Southern Locomotive No. 1023

November 26, 2012, 7:44 pm

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Kansas, Crawford County, Pittsburg

Locomotive 488 was built July 1906, in Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1925, it underwent major changes in Pittsburg, Ks. and changed to Locomotive 1023. Track was laid and locomotive was installed in Schlanger Park on September 17, 1955, after the city had purchased the locomotive from Kansas City Southern Lines for $1.00. The steam locomotive was the main mode of travel in the days of the Old Frontier.

(Charity & Public Work • Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Railroads & Streetcars) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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G.A.R. Memorial Building

November 26, 2012, 8:32 pm

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Kansas, Topeka

This tablet was erected by
the State of Kansas
to the memory of
Charles Henry Chandler
the designer of this building
State Architect
MCMIX - MCMXVIII

(Man-Made Features • Patriots & Patriotism • War, Spanish-American • War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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World War Memorial

November 26, 2012, 8:54 pm

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Kansas, Osage County, Lyndon

Dedicated to the
Veterans of the
Worlds War

(Fraternal or Sororal Organizations • Man-Made Features • Patriots & Patriotism • War, World I) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Dr. Ashbel Smith

November 27, 2012, 10:22 am

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Texas, Harris County, Baytown

Ashbel Smith was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1805. Recieved his M.D. degree from Yale in 1828, and came to Texas from South Carolina in 1837. He established a plantation called Headquarters on Goose Creek in 1840 and in 1847 purchased property adjoining his and a plantation home named Evergreen on Tabbs Bay, part of the San Jacinto Estuary. Dr. Smith kept the name Evergreen for the combined estates. This **** acre estate remained his home until his death in 1886. Dr. Smith's active life as physician, statesman, soldier and educator often took him away, but he always returned to Evergreen and his life as a farmer, rancher, scientist and writer.

Dr. Ashbel Smith served the Republic of Texas as Surgeon General 1837—39, Minister to England and France 1842—44, and Secretary of State 1845: worked to establish the Texas Medical Association 1853 and the Texas State Agricultural Society 1853: represented Harris County in the sixth, eleventh, and sixteenth Legislatures of Texas: formed the Bayland Guards 1861; was Colonel 2nd Texas Infantry Confederate Army; led the way in founding Prairie View State Normal School 1879, the University of Texas in Austin 1881, and the medical branch in Galveston. Served as first president of the University of Texas Board of Regents 1881—1886.

(Notable Persons) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Carnegie Free Library

November 27, 2012, 11:18 am

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Kansas, Montgomery County, Cherryvale

Entered as a
National Historic Place
August 1987

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle

November 27, 2012, 11:47 am

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Texas, Calhoun County, near Port Lavaca

(side 1)
Born in Rouen France November 22, 1643. Came to Canada in 1668. Founded a first settlement near Montreal. Led several expeditions on the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Illinois rivers. Completed the exploration of the Mississippi, 1682. On July 24, 1684, La Salle sailed from France to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. Landed at Matagorda Bay February, 15, 1685. There established Fort St. Louis. While on his way to Canada he was murdered near the Trinity River March 19, 1687.

(side 2)
A gentleman but not a courtier, a proud independent yet timid nature, an explorer of bold vision and untiring energy.

La Salle's colony on Matagorda Bay gave the United Statues its first claim to Texas as a part of the Louisiana Purchase.

America owes him an enduring memory for in this masculine figure she sees the pioneer who guided her to the possession of her richest heritage.
Francis Parkman

(Exploration) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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Veterans Memorial

November 27, 2012, 11:49 am

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Kansas, Montgomery County, Cherryvale

In memory of
those who served
our country

Dedicated
May 20, 1989

(Patriots & Patriotism • War, Korean • War, Vietnam • War, World II) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

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