2021-06-21: Driving Through History Along the Lincoln Highway in West Virginia and Pennsylvania

Welcome back family, friends, RV'ers, Jeepers, Geocachers, and fellow travelers. On this Day 2 of our little road trip in the GeoJeep while the motorhome is getting serviced, we're continuing eastbound on the Lincoln Highway / US-30 through West Virginia and Pennsylvania. We're picking up new geocaching counties to complete our map. And made an unexpected and unplanned stop when we passed the entrance of the September 11th Flight 93 National Memorial. So join us as we drive through history.

Leaving Ohio this morning and crossing over the Ohio River, we entered the northern tip of West Virginia and a needed geocaching county. Located in Hancock County was the World's Largest Teapot (GC21926). You can read the full history of the Tea Pot on the geocaching page, but here's a summary. It was originally constructed as a hogshead barrel for Hires Root Beer in Pennsylvania. In 1938, a pottery store owner named William Devon purchased it and moved it to Chester, WV. Here he added the handle, spout, a tin exterior, and a glass ball knob for a lid. Several ownership changes and locations later, it was last restored in 1990 and placed at it's current location at US-30 and Highway 2. Now whether or not it really is the largest teapot, I couldn't tell ya. Because I've also seen one in Texas making a similar claim.

Crossing over into Beaver County, Pennsylvania now and getting closer to Pittsburg, I had no interest in driving through the big city. And US-30 just happens to go through the middle of it.

So in the town of Harshaville I turned south on Highway 18 and headed towards the Racoon Creek State Park. There we went on a short hike for a virtual geocache (GCFF06) at some old CCC buildings and an earthcache at the Frankfort Mineral Springs and Falls (GC1K7NZ). Those copper color stains on the rocks are where the spring waters come out through the rocks.

With all the trees, shade, and spring water, I think the temperature down here was probably 10-15 degrees cooler. It was a beautiful area. This is Candy and her granddaughter taking pics of each other.

I continued south down to I-70 east to bypass the big city. I then pick back up on the Lincoln Highway southeast of the city in Westmoreland County. The next geocache was called the Giants of the Lincoln Highway (GC2XHWZ). The "Giants" are the oversized roadside attractions created to advertise businesses to the numerous automobiles traveling the Lincoln Highway, such as the giant teapot I wrote about earlier. This one here was an oversized gas pump statue. The 1940's Bennett Gas Pump is 25 foot high and weighs over 4900 pounds. This Giant was installed at the future site of the Lincoln Highway Experience. The students chose the gas pump design because the installation site is the former home of Donato’s Filling Station (1930s-1940s).

Continuing our way eastbound, the original plane was to drive non-stop through Somerset County as I had already had that one completed on my geocaching counties map. But as we were driving along there's a sign that says "Flight 93 National Memorial." Two seconds later as we passed by the entrance it finally hit me to the significance of Flight 93. U-Turn!

I'm sure we're all familiar with the tragedy that happened on September 11, 2001. So I'll just describe the photos. Above is the view from the memorial looking out towards the crash site.

The next photo below is from the crash site looking back towards the memorial at the top of the hill.

Next photo highlights the panel of names of the passengers down the one side of the sidewalk. Todd Beamer is the passenger who spoke those famous words "Let's Roll" before they took on the hijackers.

A closer look up the hill towards the memorial.

Below: The Tower of Voices is a 93-foot-tall musical monument about halfway between the Lincoln Highway and the landscaped memorial of Flight 93. Forty chimes represent the voices of the 40 courageous passengers and crewmembers who took a vote to come together and fight terrorism on that flight. There is no other wind chime tower in the world like the Tower of Voices.

After an hour and a half at the Flight 93 Memorial, it was time to get back on the road.

Bedford County is next down the road and the town of Schellsburg is on the list. Centuries before the Lincoln Highway, this old trading route passing through here was used by the Indians crossing the rugged mountains. As settlers began pushing west, the British Army made improvements to the trail in 1758 during the French-Indian War and it became the Forbes Road.

A German immigrant named John Schell settled in the valley in 1798. A few years later in 1806 the old Historic Church (GC8XJ1E) was built and the first burial outside the church. It wasn't until 1860 when Peter Schell, the son of John Schell, formed the Chestnut Ridge and Schellsburg Union Cemetery (GC8XJ11) was created. The town of Schellsburg was chartered and became official in 1908.

 

A few miles down the road and we turned north on I-99 heading towards Connecticut. The next county to the north is Blair County. My last geocache of the day was in Altoona, PA. Out in front of the Veterans Administration building is the Vietnam War Memorial which also includes a replica of the Wall. The Wall was also a virtual geocache (GCG5X5).

Well it's just after 7 PM and it has been a long day. Time to go find some dinner and a place to crash for the night. It was a great day with that historical unexpected stop. Time to get some rest and looking forward to tomorrow.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-06-20: Road Trip on the Historic Lincoln Highway US-30 East Through Ohio

Today is Day #1 of our road trip from Indiana to Connecticut and back to Indiana. We followed along the historical Lincoln Highway / US-30. We spent today driving across Ohio. There were plenty of geocaches to find, history to discover, cemeteries and old churches, and the original red brick road. So hop on board the GeoJeep and let's go for a ride.

Our first geocaching county stop was one of my favorites. A quick find at the Glenn Presbyterian Cemetery (GCRYA9) to fill in the map for Van Wert County, Ohio. I didn't spend any time walking through it and nothing caught my attention so a quick park and grab and on our way.

Passing through the southwest corner of Putnam County, I run up to the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Fort Jennings. There I find another quick geocache (GC7PTFR) to fill in that blank spot on the map. I noted a couple of graves there of veterans who were killed in combat during WWI and another in WWII. Just up the road was this historical marker at the location of the original Fort Jennings constructed in 1812.

Returning to the original Lincoln Highway / US30 alignment heading east through Allen County, I stop at this historical marker for my next geocache (GC28P2K) near the town of Gomer. Crossing the Ottawa River was this bridge built in 1927 by the Allen County Engineer's Office. It served locals and travelers alike for 75 years until it was removed and replaced in 2002.

I dropped south a couple of miles into Hardin County and the town of Dunkirk, Ohio. There wasn't much to see there other than the signs signifying the earliest alignment route for the Lincoln Highway from 1915-1918. It was also the location of my geocache (GC3D6BM).

Over into Wyandot County and the town of Upper Sandusky are my next two geocaches. The first was next to the Wyandot County Museum. The 1895 one-room schoolhouse (GC4MR4Z) was donated and relocated to here in the 1960's. Early in the 1970's it was restored, electric lighting and heat was installed. Looks like it was getting a new paint job when we had stopped by for a visit.

On the other side of town we made another quick stop for a geocache along an old section of the Lincoln Highway that still had the original red brick road surface (GC87GCE).

Driving further down the highway, before leaving the county, I spotted this old church with a historical marker out front and wanted to stop for a closer look. Traveling preachers began visiting this area of German settlers in the 1830's. The first log meeting house was built in 1845. This church building was constructed in 1861 and was known as the Salem Congregational Church. The bell and tower were added in 1906. While I was here I looked up and discovered there was a geocache here too. (GC1DP9D) Found it!

Oh, I haven't mentioned this in a while, but do you know what the difference is between a cemetery (below) and a graveyard (above)? A graveyard is a burial place outside of a church.

The next stop was in Crawford County for two geocaches at the Oceola Cemeteries #2 (GC2R99C) and #3 (GC1BHWR). Nothing caught my attention so just a quick photo and finding the caches.

We passed through Richland County because I already had that one completed. The next county needed along the Lincoln Highway was Ashland County. It was a quick stop for a geocache at the Zehner Cemetery (GC4GGKC). Then I skipped Wayne County and moved on into Stark County.

The Massillon Cemetery has over 15,000 burials dating back to the early 1800's, including several Civil War Medal of Honor Veterans. The Massillon Cemetery superintendent’s residence was constructed in 1879 of locally quarried stone. It served for a century as both the sexton’s family residence and the cemetery office; now only the office.

Near the entrance to the cemetery is this memorial statue honoring those who have served in the Civil War. Erected in the 1870's to centralize the location of the veterans. Many of those already buried and scattered throughout the cemetery were relocated around the statue.

Of course while I was here I found three of the numerous traditional geocaches (GC5YCV0, GC6V59K, GC7QGX4) that were hidden as well as completed the 5-stop Adventure Lab. There was a lot of history located at this cemetery. And many of these mausoleums built into the side of this hill made it look like a Hobbit community.

Before exiting the east side of the county near the town of Robertsville, I veered off of US-30 onto the old original Lincoln Highway alignment to grab another geocache (GC1WPE4) along a section of the old red-brick pavers which formed the roadway.

A few miles further down and another geocache (GC2388C) later, the original 1928 narrow bridge was replaced in 2002 with a wider modern bridge. The old red brick was reused to form the barrier walls of the new bridge.

While reaching for this geocache in the guardrail, I twisted in just the wrong way that it pinched a nerve in my back. Now it is hard to even get in and out of the Jeep. So the last cache planned for the day in the last county needed along the Lincoln Highway will just have to go unfound. Time for dinner and a hotel to rest my back.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-06-19: Visiting the Fort Wayne in Indiana and Finding a Prince in a Cemetery

Hello again everyone. You may recall from my last blog post that we were in Indiana to purchase our motorhome. It was being sold on consignment so there were some things that needed to be taken care of as well as a full cleaning and detailing. After looking it over and getting all the paperwork in order, that afternoon we drove up to Fort Wayne, Indiana to grab dinner and check out the old fort.

It wasn't until now when I started writing this blog that I discovered that this fort is a re-creation of the third and final version of the old Fort Wayne. And that it isn't even in it's original location. The original site of the old fort is in downtown where the city's Fire Station #1 is located. The only remains that exist is an old well with a commemorative plaque on it.

The history of Fort Wayne goes way back to the Miami Tribes in the late 1600's. The area originally known as the village of Kekionga was settled near the confluence of the St Joseph, St Mary's, and the Maumee Rivers. Frenchman Jean Baptiste Bissot began visiting Kekionga in 1702 and later built the original Fort Miami in 1706. It was part of a line of forts and trading posts spanning from Quebec to St Louis.

France ceded the territory to Britain in 1760 after the French and Indian Wars. However a short time later in 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion, the native tribes regained control of the region and the British abandoned the fort. It wasn't until 1772 that Britain would reestablish a friendship with the tribes and reoccupy the fort.

After the Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Britain ceded the area to the newly formed United, American General Anthony Wayne established Fort Wayne in 1794. General Wayne had pushed the tribes out of Ohio to the west and built a new fort to replace Fort Miami. He made a treaty with the Native Americans to end the fighting and promised they would have the lands west of the fort. This is the reason why the region west of Ohio was called Indiana.

A few more photos of the recreated Fort Wayne.

After the fort, we went over to the huge Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne to find a whole bunch of Geocaches hidden there. (GC941RY, GC99RBT, GC977G5, GC977FP, GC977H5, GC941TN, GC93Y7J, GC1HJK1, GC977GR) There are over 67,000 internments at the Lindenwood Cemetery which was established in 1859 and covers 175 acres. Among the permanent residents are politicians, athletes, veterans, and even a notorious bank robber from the Dillinger Gang.

However, there was one headstone that caught my attention. I took the photo and now researching for this blog I find the rest of the story. To long to repost here, but about a child named Prince Kaboo from a small village in West Africa. Captured by a neighboring tribe and held for ransom, he escaped, made his way to a missionary and eventually to America. A fascinating story of faith that I hope you follow these links to the Find-A-Grave website and the GodReports website to read the full story.

So that was the rest of our day today. While they work on the RV this week we're gonna take a road trip to Connecticut and back in search of a haunted cemetery. Join us as we go and see what other interesting places we discover on our adventures.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-06-18: Summer Road Trip to Buy Our "New-to-Us" Home and Geocaching Through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana

So here we are on this Day 3 of our 5300+ mile summer road trip from West Texas to Indiana to Connecticut, back to Indiana to Florida and ending in NE Texas. The main reason for this roadtrip is to look at and hopefully purchase our "new-to-us" home-on-wheels. Along the way, we'll be picking up as many new geocaching counties as we can and seeing some of the sites along the way. So hop on board the GeoJeep and let's go see what we can find.

Well we didn't quite make it out of Missouri yesterday. We stayed the night in the town of Sikeston in Scott County. We were going to have dinner at the famous Lambert's, where they throw the fresh rolls out to you. But we weren't up for the long lines and over an hour wait! So we came back this morning to grab the geocache (GC2JC3X) for the county and take some photos.

Driving east on US-60, we crossed over into Mississippi County. We stopped for a quick geocache (GC4KW34) in Bertrand for the county and kept moving.

Further down the road I spotted this roadside historical marker and had to stop for a photo. "Rev. Owen Whitfield with the support of local landowner, Mr. Thad Snow, and 1500 black and white sharecroppers camped here in harsh January weather several days in 1939 to protest the plight of Boot Heel sharecroppers. The event received national attention. Owen and Zella Whitfield met with Pres. Roosevelt and ultimately received his support for the cause. This community has dedicated January 10 as Thad Snow - Owen Whitfield Day."

My next three geocaches were all in one corner of a park. There was a virtual geocache (GC710E) and two earthcaches (GC1A369, GC1A36F). Fort Defiance State Park is right at the corner of Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky as well as the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. It is also the lowest elevation point in Illinois.

On November 14, 1803, Lewis and Clark landed here with their Corps of Discovery party. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore and survey the recently purchased Louisiana Territory, their six days here was one of the longest stops made by the expedition. Their stay allowed Captain Meriwether Lewis to teach Captain William Clark how to navigate using a compass and a sextant. Because the 3rd Principal Meridian begins at the mouth of the Ohio River, astronomical observations at this point were crucial.

Above: nearly 175 million tons of goods are shipped via the Mighty Mississippi River each year. Below: Candy and her grand-daughter down at the southernmost point of Illinois and the convergence of the two rivers. The Ohio River is entering from the left. The Mississippi River enters from the right-rear and continues down to the far right.

Our last stop for today was just a few miles away in a town called Cache, Illinois (GCR01C). I can't find out much info on the community of Cache, IL other than it was laid out in January 1904. Found a newspaper article in April 1927 suggesting the town was flooded out. Then a few decades later the Cache River was rerouted to empty into the Mississippi River instead of the Ohio River. Whatever happened to the town, this bridge isn't singing anymore.

While researching the town for this blog, I came across some articles for a cemetery called "Seven Mile Graveyard" located between Cache and Cairo. The Find-A-Grave website had 7 memorials listed, but no photos. I came across another 8 newspaper articles of people that were buried there and added those memorials. Then I came across a more recent article of the cemeteries demise:

Excerpt from the Southern Illinoisan, April 30, 1999:

"The cemetery was incorporated in 1853. In 1878, many people who died in a yellow fever epidemic were buried there. By 1921, the cemetery was overgrown and unkempt. In 1955, the land was purchased and the cemetery was bulldozed and turned into a pasture, a piece of history turned to dust and memory."

So sad. Perhaps one day someone can further research local records and discover the location of the cemetery. Maybe even more names of those long forgotten souls can be discovered and added to the Find-A-Grave website. And if just one descendent can make that genealogical connection, even better!

Well we still had about 430 miles of driving to get to Decatur, Indiana by tonight. So the rest of my planned geocaches had to be bypassed. That's NOT something I like doing either. Tomorrow morning we go check out our potential new-to-us home-on-wheels!

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2021-06-17: Summer Road Trip to Buy Our "New-to-Us" Home and Geocaching Through Texas, Arkansas and Missouri

Hello Friends! Well some of our regular readers may recall that the primary reason that we are able to go on so many geocaching roadtrip adventures is because we work in construction. We travel from project to project across the country and had to find short term rentals in each town to live in while there working. My wife has been traveling and working with me for about two years now, though this last solar project we just completed near Fort Stockton, Texas she didn't work on it.

When we arrived in the nearby small town of McCamey at the beginning, the choices for rental accommodations were old rundown houses from the 1940's. My wife took one look and decided she'd stay with her daughter in Killeen, TX for the duration. Now that it has completed, I have three weeks before starting at the next location in North Texas. So what to do but go on a roadtrip to Indiana where I found our "new to us" home to buy! Finally after a year of looking... a wish comes true!

 

My last day on the project was a Tuesday. I had packed up everything in the Jeep that morning and I made the 5-hour drive to Killeen after work that evening. On Wednesday, Candy and I packed as much as we could into our little 2-door Jeep for us as well as her teenage grand-daughter who rode along with us on this roadtrip adventure.

So we left Central Texas and our first stop wasn't until Texarkana, Arkansas or is it Texas? Or Arkansas? Actually it IS in both! The courthouse sits right on the state line. Now that's a divided court and was a virtual geocache, now archived (GC829D).

After 450 miles of driving, we stopped at a hotel in South Hot Springs, Arkansas for the night. Waking up Thursday morning and checking out, we grabbed a quick geocache (GC1KGXN) right there in the parking lot before hitting the road.

But not before taking a quick drive into the historical Hot Springs National Park and Bathhouse Row. Hot Springs, Arkansas, gets its name from the naturally 143 °F thermal spring waters found here. Flowing out of the ground at almost one million gallons of water each day. Native Americans called this area “the Valley of the Vapors,” and it was said to have been a neutral territory where all tribes could enjoy its healing waters in peace. Spanish and French settlers claimed the area in the mid-1500s. In fact, famous explorer Hernando de Soto was the first European to visit Hot Springs in 1541.

While it is true that President Grant designated Yellowstone as the first "National Park" in 1872, it can also be said that Hot Springs, Arkansas was technically the first national park when President Andrew Jackson designated Hot Springs a "Federal Reservation" in 1832 for public use. Hot Springs didn't officially become a National Park until 1921.

Bathhouse Row has evolved over the years from it's rustic beginnings to the modern spas of today. In the 1830's, Hot Springs earliest facilities were make shift shelters perches over individual springs. Later elaborate Victorian bathhouses flourished along the avenue. But those wooden structures were susceptible to rot and devastating fires. The present mix of Spanish Mission to neoclassical architecture date from 1911 to 1939, the Golden Age of bathing.

Medicinal bathing peaked in 1946 and many of the traditional bathhouses have closed or converted into the modern spas. Traditional bathing remains at the Buckstaff Bathhouse. The National Park Service has landscaped many of the exercise paths that were considered essential to good health. Like earlier visitors, you can still stroll the brick Grand Promenade behind Bathhouse Row or hike mountain trails throughout the National Park.

Walking among the shops there on the row, I spotted an iconic Zoltar fortune teller machine made famous from the 1988 movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks. Hmmm, what should I wish for?

Also spotted this restored antique Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Not sure about those white tires though!

And then there's this statue standing outside of Diablos Tacos and Mezcal restaurant. Still too early for lunch so just took a photo.

While walking down Bathhouse Row, we did find three geocaches and completed an Adventure Lab. Along with what I've already shared with you, they also highlighted Hot Springs history with Babe Ruth and baseball (GC2ZDMJ), the cemetery (GC3JFJ9, GC92RGD), and Al Capone and organized crime in the 1930's.

Time to get back on the highway heading north. Since I've already gotten the geocached counties along the way from previous trips, I tried to make up some time and skipped a lot of the geocaches I had picked out. Got back to I-30 into Little Rock to US-67 towards the northwest.

When we get to the town of Walnut Ridge, I make a right turn onto US-412 eastbound. It didn't take long before I thought it was a big mistake. CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC!! My next target cache was still over 40 miles. While waiting for the lane to open back up to proceed, I thought I'd check the nearby geocaches. What do I see but a new geocache hidden on my birthday (June 11), published on the 13th, and STILL yet to be found four days later! I guess it was just waiting for us to pass by! I knew exactly what it was just from name "Dollar Skirt" (GC9CMGQ). Found and stamped the blank log sheet! WOHOO a First-to-Find! Thanks for construction traffic!

Then we crossed over into Dunklin County, Missouri and made a quick roadside geocaching stop for the county (GC3ABN5). Next door in Pemiscot County we found a very large geocache with a LOT of favorite points (GC1REX7) to complete the "heal" of Missouri.

Also in the town of Hayti was this restored one-room schoolhouse. The Hayti school building was built in 1874 and was used until 1895. There was a geocache there too but we couldn't find it, as well as several previous geocachers too. It has since been archived.

Jumping onto I-55 northbound a few miles into New Madrid County, we soon exit into the town of New Madrid, Missouri. There were three geocaches on my to-do list in town to be found. The first one was at the Byrne-Howard Cemetery (GC2M4Q4). The cemetery was established in 1833 with the burial of Morgan Byrne. He was joined by his wife Jane just two years later. This small cemetery has acquired 29 permanent residents between 1933 and 1947.

We also stopped by the Hunter-Dawson State Historical Site (GC47ZVN). William and Amanda Hunter owned a successful dry goods business in New Madrid as well as a floating store selling goods up and down the Mississippi River. They built their antebellum mansion with Georgian, Greek Revival and Italianate features popular during the period. The mansion took nearly a year to build and was completed in May of 1860. Unfortunately William died in 1859 before the house was completed.

In 1874 Ella, the Hunter's youngest daughter, married William Dawson. Upon Amanda's death in 1876 Ella and William moved into the mansion. Dawson served three terms in the Missouri State Legislature. In 1884 he was elected to the US House of Representatives. In addition, he served on the planning committee of the 1898 World's Fair in Chicago.

The home did suffer damage during the Great Flood of 1937. (There is a spot in the house where you can see the water mark on the wall.) Descendants of the Hunter family occupied the home until 1958. In 1966 it was purchased by the city of New Madrid. A year later the city donated the site to the state to use as a state historic site. The home now stands as a testimony to the grand lifestyle of the successful businessman prior to the Civil War.

Speaking of the Civil War, while the Union troops occupied New Madrid, the Confederates controlled passage of the Mississippi River just around the bend upstream on a large island in the middle of the river. This prevented supplies from reaching New Madrid or any Union troops further south. In March of 1862, Colonel Josiah Bissell, commanding the "Engineer Regiment of the West," surveyed land north and east of New Madrid. Bissell found swamps and bottomland inundated with early spring floodwaters and suggested to Brigadier General John Pope cutting a canal from north of the island going west into New Madrid allowing steamboats and other ships to bypass the Confederate forces. Pictured below is a submergible saw used to cut down trees below the waterline allowing boats to maneuver through the thick swamps.

Island #10 in the Mississippi River

Backing up a bit for earlier history, New Madrid was the first American town in Missouri. Founded in 1789 by George Morgan, Princeton graduate and Indian trader, on the site of Francois and Joseph Le Sieur's trading settlement. Named for Madrid, Spain, the town was to be an American colony. Morgan was promised 15 million acres by the Spanish ambassador, eager to stop U.S. expansion with large land grants. In 1800, Spain traded the territory back to France in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. After trying to regain control of Saint-Domingue (the present Haiti), where a slave rebellion was underway, Napoleon gave up on his North American colonies, agreeing to sell this territory to the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

And finally, the New Madrid Earthquake (GC1DRVR), made up of a series of monstrous and lessor shocks, which began December 16, 1811, and continued for over a year. One of the great earthquakes of the world because of severity and length it caused little loss of life in a thinly settled region. Some of the shocks were felt as far of 1100 miles.

So that's it for today. Tomorrow we see a little more of Missouri before getting into Illinois and Indiana.

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course by clicking the "Follow" button to the right. And there's also my main website at AwayWeGo.US for the complete index of my traveling adventures going back to 2005. But also by using one or more of your favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Twitter, GETTR, Instagram, and TruthSocial. These all link directly to my profiles. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.