2021-06-27: Geocaching and Sightseeing History in Gary and East Chicago Indiana

Hello again and welcome to our adventures. We're winding down our little side road trip while our "new to us" used American Eagle motorhome is almost ready to take delivery. On this day we explored the towns of East Chicago and Gary in northwest Indiana. East Chicago is my fathers hometown and we'll pay a visit to his childhood home. And over in Gary was the childhood home of a world famous celebrity. So join us as we grab some geocaches and take a look around at what remains of this town...

Our first geocache of the day was in South Bend, Indiana for Saint Joseph County. A virtual geocache (GCA525) was located at the LaSalle Landing Park. Unlike a traditional geocache, a virtual geocache doesn't have a container with a log sheet to sign. You typically have to gather some answers at the location and email them to the creator of the virtual cache to get credit for finding it. The coordinates bring you to this stone monument with the depiction of the French explorer LaSalle, the first white man to visit this region, passing from the St Joseph River to the Kankakee River in the late 1600's.

Next door in the now Riverview and Highland Cemeteries is another historical marker recognizing the Council Oak. It was here that three years after his first crossing, LaSalle met with the Miami and Illinois Indians to enter into a treaty to resist the aggressions of the Iroquois. After surviving two lightning strikes, the centuries old oak tree was eventually taken down by a tornado in 1990.

Also located within the cemetery was a famous resident well known in the sports world. Knute Rockne (GC276Q6) emigrated with his parents from Norway to Chicago at the age of five. After graduating high school, he worked at the post office for four years to save enough money to enroll at the University of Notre Dame. He earned All American Honors playing football for Notre Dame in 1913. After a few years playing professionally, he ended up back at Notre Dame. During his 13 years as head coach of the Fighting Irish, he achieved an astounding record of 105 victories, 12 losses, and 5 ties, as well as 3 National Championships. Rockne died in a plane crash in 1931 at the age of 43.

Driving over into Lake County, we arrived in Gary, IN. The first thing I see that I remember hearing about was the U.S. Steel plant. It was where my grandfather worked. Gary Indiana was named after Elbert Gary, a co-founder and longtime chairman of U.S. Steel. When U.S. Steel bought the land to build the factory, they also created the Gary Land Company to design and build a town for their workers. At its peak, the Gary plant was the highest producing steel plant in the world.

Near the entrance to the plant is the EJ&E 765 locomotive (GC1VPVD). The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern train engine was built in 1929 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. When the EJ&E railroad switched its fleet to diesel engines, U.S. Steel saved it from being scrapped. It sent it to northern Minnesota's Iron Range, where it moved iron ore and taconite bound for Gary Works and other steel mills. Retired and restored it now sits at a roadside park for all to enjoy.

Turning south down Broadway, we passed some of the abandoned buildings around town. With the 1970's came a declining steel market and massive layoffs. U.S. Steel has laid off nearly 30,000 employees. The population of Gary has gone from 175,000 in 1970 down to 69,000 in 2020. It's turning into a modern day ghost town with an estimated 13,000 abandoned structures around town.

One of those buildings was the Palace Theater. Built in 1925, it featured vaudeville acts, live stage shows, and motion pictures bringing in more than 2000 patrons every weekend. From the very beginning it was one of Gary's most popular entertainment venues. But as the city began to decline so did ticket sales. The final live show was performed on January 3, 1972.

I'm switching the next two stops in order for the story to flow better. Over in East Chicago, Indiana, my father grew up in this house on Vernon Ave. This 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 877 square foot house was built in 1930. My father was born in 1932. Along with his parent, I believe he lived here with his four siblings until he joined the Air Force.

He once told me, after returning from his 50th high school reunion, about this girl that once lived down at the end of the street. Her name was Katherine and she walked with a limp. Going to the same schools, they sometimes were in the same class. When she was 19, she married Joseph Jackson and they moved to this house Gary. Joseph became a crane operator at the steel plant where my grandfather also worked.

Joseph and Katherine had 10 children over the next 16 years. This house built in 1949 was just a 2-bdr, 1-bath, at 867sf would be a bit crowded for this large family. One of those children was international pop superstar Michael Jackson. After the family's "Jackson 5" musical group signed their Motown contract in 1969, Joseph moved the family away from Gary to California.

Again, it wasn't until 50 years after graduation at his high school reunion, while sitting around a table reminiscing with classmates about whatever happened to this person and that person, he learned about the girl who lived down the street.

While sitting at a stoplight in East Chicago, Indiana, this building at the opposite corner caught my attention. The Calumet Trust and Savings Bank was constructed in 1916. From what I could gather on the internet, it was abandoned at one time with a partially collapsed roof and water in the basement. But the outer walls and columns are still intact. If only I could have it lifted and moved somewhere else.

OK, back to heading out of town and picking up more geocaching counties. Taking I-65 south into Newton County, I stopped in the Roselawn Cemetery (GC2BE8R) for our next geocache. I didn't take the time to look around cause I wanted to keep moving.

In Jasper County, the next geocache took us to this old abandoned school house (GC8P79B). It was hard to get a decent photo with all the trees surrounding it. But from what my research has found is that it was called the "Newton Township School" and was built in 1923. It was closed in the early 1960's with the rural school consolidations. I couldn't find the geocache here for the school. But I did find another at a nearby stop sign for the county.

Still moving south on I-65, I was able to find a quick geocache (GC8QDK6) in Benton County as we barely passed through the corner of that county. A mile to the east and we're in White County and finding another quick roadside geocache (GC8QDK3).

We continued eastbound on US-24 into Carroll County. I stopped at Yeoman Cemetery (GC1FV19) for another geocache. There are just over 1000 internments dating back to 1844.

Our last geocache for the day was at the Davis Cemetery in Cass County (GC3KB5K). The Davis Cemetery has over 3000 internments dating back to 1836. From the Find-A-Grave website: "William was a soldier in the Revolutionary War serving a total of 70 months. He married Lydia Busson in NC, about 1781 and parents of 10 children. They began housekeeping in VA just over the NC line. When the war was over they moved to Warren County, GA, now Columbia County, and lived there 21 or 22 years. The family moved to Preble County, Ohio in 1805 and lived there until 1835 when they moved to White County, IN then to Cass County, IN. Children: Arron, Joseph, Mary, Newberry, William, Jeptha, Mahala, Diadama, Clementine, and Clarrisa."

 

That's it for today. We still have nearly two hours of driving to get back to Decatur. Thanks for joining us.

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.

2021-06-18: 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.

2021-05-30: Visiting the Notorious Bonnie and Clyde Hangouts and Graves in Dallas, Texas

Welcome back friends, geocachers, RV'ers, and fellow travelers. On this particular roadtrip adventure, we were passing through Dallas, Texas and decided to take a break from the driving. We set out to retrace some of the stomping grounds of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde with the help of a Geocaching Adventure Lab. The couple became national news figures as they traveled the mid-west from 1932-1934, with their criminal gang during the Great Depression. Just about everyone has heard the story or seen the movies. Now let's go visit some of their hangouts around West Dallas...

Clyde Chestnut Barrow was born in 1909 into a poor farming family in Ellis County, Texas, southeast of Dallas. The family moved to Dallas in the early 1920's as part of a wider migration pattern from rural areas to the city, where many settled in the urban slum of West Dallas. The Trinity River Squatter's Camp was the industrial slum along the river bank underneath where the current Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is now located. Back during the depression, the area you see below was a maze of tents, wagons and makeshift huts, in the mud, without running water, gas, or electricity.

While living in the squatters camp, the Barrow family collected and sold scrap metal from a mule-pulled cart. A drunk motorist hit and destroyed the cart and killed the mule. With the money awarded to them from the insurance claim, Clyde's parents built the Barrow Star Service Station in Cement City. The family lived in a shack attached to the back of the gas station.

Barrow was first arrested in late 1926, at age 17, after running when police confronted him over a rental car that he had failed to return on time. His second arrest was with his brother Buck soon after, for possession of stolen turkeys. Barrow had some legitimate jobs during 1927 through 1929, but he also cracked safes, robbed stores, and stole cars.

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born in 1910 in Rowena, Texas. Her father, Charles Robert Parker, was a bricklayer who died when Bonnie was four years old. Her widowed mother, Emma (Krause) Parker, moved her family back to her parents' home in Cement City, where she worked as a seamstress.

In her second year in High School, Bonnie met Roy Thornton. The couple dropped out of school and married on September 25, 1926, six days before her 16th birthday. Their marriage was marred by his frequent absences and brushes with the law and proved to be short lived. They never divorced, but their paths never crossed again after January 1929. After she left Thornton, Bonnie moved back in with her mother and worked as a waitress in Dallas. Bonnie briefly kept a diary early in 1929 when she was aged 18, writing of her loneliness, her impatience with life in Dallas, and her love of photography. Bonnie was still wearing the wedding ring Thornton had given her when she died. This is a photo of Bonnie's elementary school which still stands today.

Eagle Ford School

Clyde met 19-year-old Bonnie through a mutual friend in January 1930, and they spent much time together during the following weeks. Their romance was interrupted when Clyde was arrested and convicted of auto theft and was sent to Eastham Prison Farm in April 1930 at the age of 21. He escaped from the prison farm shortly after his incarceration using a weapon Bonnie smuggled to him. He was recaptured shortly after and sent back to prison.

Clyde committed his first murder in prison of another inmate, with a pipe crushing his skull, in retaliation for repeatedly sexually assaulting him. Another inmate who was already serving a life sentence claimed responsibility. In order to avoid hard labor in the fields, Clyde purposely had two of his toes amputated in late January 1932, either by another inmate or by himself. Because of this he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. What he didn't know however, his mother had already successfully petitioned for his release and he was set free six days after his intentional injury. He was paroled from Eastham on February 2, 1932, now a hardened and bitter criminal. His sister, Marie said, "Something awful sure must have happened to him in prison because he wasn't the same person when he got out."

On January 6, 1933, officers were staking out this house owned by Lilly McBride, sister of one of the Barrow Gang members. A shootout occurred around midnight and Clyde killed 52-year-old Tarrant County Deputy Sheriff Malcom S. Davis beside the front porch.

Now surrounded by a golf course, this is the Eagle Ford Road Bridge. Back in 1933, this area was known as the "Devil's Back Porch." This once isolated area of West Dallas was rarely policed and is where Bonnie and Clyde often were hiding out in their stolen cars. It was also a gathering place for their family and friends to come and visit with the wanted outlaws.

In May of 1934, a posse of six officers from Texas and Louisiana had followed the trail of Bonnie and Clyde to the Bienville Parish. The setup an ambush along Louisiana State Highway 154 south of Gibsland. At approximately 9:15 am on the morning of May 23rd, the couple came speeding down the road in a Ford Deluxe V-8 Sedan, Clyde's preferred stolen car of choice. The officers immediately opened fire and began unloading about 130 rounds towards the car. In the end, there where 112 bullet holes in the vehicle. Seventeen rounds found their way into Clyde's body and 26 into Bonnie.

The Belo Mansion was built in the 1890's by Colonel A. H. Belo, founder of the Dallas Morning News. The mansion was later leased to funeral home operators George Loudermilk and Will Sparkman. The body of Clyde Barrow's bullet riddled body was laid out in the parlor for public viewing. Approximately 20,000 people came from all over to file past and get a glimpse of this notorious outlaw's remains. Today, this building is the current home of the Dallas Bar Association and Law Review.

Even though it was Bonnie and Clyde's wish to be buried together, the Parker family refused. Clyde Barrow's funeral was at sunset on May 25th at the Western Heights Cemetery next to his brother Marvin where they share a single headstone. There's a geocache hidden nearby (GC7K52N).

Bonnie Parker was laid to rest the following day on the 26th in the Fishtrap Cemetery. Her body was later moved in 1945 to the new Crown Hill Cemetery in Dallas where you can also find another geocache (GC596A).

So that was our quick historical tour around Dallas, Texas and Bonnie & Clyde's stomping grounds and final resting place. One of these days when passing through Primm, Nevada, we'll have to stop by Whiskey Pete's Hotel and Casino to see the bullet riddled Ford Deluxe V-8 there on display.

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.

2021-05-29: A Weekend Roadtrip up to Oklahoma's Ouachita National Forest and the Talimena National Scenic Byway

Well we had a 3-day weekend, so I decided another quick geocaching roadtrip in the GeoJeep was just what we needed. After a little research I discovered the Talimena National Scenic Byway located up in southeast Oklahoma and the Ouachita National Forest.  There's geocaching, offroad Jeep trails, and lots of scenic views. So we drove up from Central Texas yesterday and today we went for a drive. Follow along as we explore what I called the "Blue Ridge Parkway" of the mid-west...

Starting out in the town of McAlester in Pittsburg County, our first geocache was at the Oakhill Cemetery (GC3Q1R1). There were well over 16,000 burials here dating back to 1863. East of town, closer to Richville, is the Carbon Cemetery (GC425CH). This one is a bit smaller with less than 200 internments and even fewer remaining headstones.

Taking the rural backroads of Highway 1 into Latimer County, we soon encounter the Higgins Hitching Post geocache (GC6N344) and two more at the Mountain Station Cemetery (GC74MF4, GC77XHN). These were near the Overland-Butterfield Stage Route. The cemetery's earliest grave dates back to 1859. Andrew Mackey was killed in a stage coach wreck on a return from a California gold field.

Passing by Buffalo Mountain, we drove up to the top for our next geocache (GC3D0EJ). I didn't find the cache cause I wasn't up for bushwhacking at the time. But it was well worth the drive up as this is a spot used frequently by hang gliders and the views are spectacular.

At the western end of the Talimena National Scenic Byway is the former Welcome Center. It was recently closed due to budgetary cutbacks. Peaking through the windows it looks as though it had only been closed for a few  minutes. Everything is still in it's place. So I found the geocache (GC8JVDN) and we were on our way.

The Talimena Scenic Byway is a 54 mile drive through the Ouachita National Forest from Talihina, Oklahoma (OK-1) to Mena, Arkansas (AR-88). Let's begin the drive and take on the scenic vistas.

It didn't take long to get to the first roadside pull-off and geocache at the Choctaw Vista (GC1GNDE). A few people parked and taking in the scenery. Lucky for us none were interested in the ammo can geocache in the woods.

A few hundred feet and across the highway is parking for the Choctaw National Trail and another geocache with a bit of historical value (GCVKB6). After a short 0.2 mile hike from the parking area, I got about as good a photo as I can get of this nearly 200 year old road, abandoned, forgotten, and being reclaimed by nature. The Fort Smith to Fort Towson Military Road was constructed by hand in 1832 by the U.S. Army under the command of Capt John Stuart of the 7th Infantry. It extends over 130 miles of rugged terrain through the Choctaw Nation.

The road was originally used to relocate the Choctaw people to their new home in Indian Territory and to move supplies and troops between Fort Towson in Oklahoma and Fort Smith in Arkansas. Robert E. Lee, General Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and other famous figures used the road. Travelers from Poteau, Wister and Talihina used the road until about 1930.

Our new roadside scenic view was at the Holson Valley Vista. Snapped some more photos and grabbed another geocache (GCXA75).

Next was the Panorama Vista, though with so many people at this stop I just wandered into the woods and grabbed the geocache (GCVKAG).

Soon after though there was another scenic vista and we once again stopped to view it. One legend has it that Deadman Vista got its name from many years ago when horse thieves were caught on a nearby trail. With justice swift back in those days, the thieves were hung from an oak tree in a nearby gap. Here's Candy taking pics at the scene and reading the historical markers.

This wasn't one of the scenic vista's, but after passing through here, I just had to have a photo. Drove a few miles to a spot I could make a u-turn. Then passed through again until I could find another spot for another u-turn. Then, safely parking off the road, I proceeded to take several photos. Oh, if only I still had my Corvette and traffic blocked for miles at both ends!

Upon reaching the north/south road of US259, we took a little side trip to the south. I like finding old abandoned sections of roads and bridges. And this "Lost Highway" geocache brought me right to one (GC34XWB). Safely pulling off onto the shoulder of US259 and taking a short hike along the old road alignment I found the old single lane bridge which crossed Big Cedar Creek almost completely reclaimed by nature.

A few miles further down US259 is the Pipe Springs geocache (GC40Z2M). Pipe Springs dates back to the 1920's when the Oklahoma-Rich Mountain Railroad built a fifteen mile spur from Page, Oklahoma to the new sawmill town of Pine Valley. The railroad workers drove a pipe into the ground to get water to supply their needs. It also provided clean fresh water to the loggers on the mountain.

So now to get back to the Talimena Scenic Byway, I could have just made a u-turn and gone back north on US259 and re-see what we just saw. Nope, we got to keep moving forward and discovering new things. Plus we got the GeoJeep! Right next to the pipe spring was this 2-track Jeep trail going east and reconnecting to Talimena. I can never remember to turn on the video for the entire trails,  but here's a short clip:

Back on the scenic byway, we make our way over to our next virtual geocache at the Kerr Nature Center (GCH896). But it was closed.

Moving right along down to the Sunset Point Vista. At this scenic view parking area there were two earthcaches (GC3R2NE, GCZ8ZT) and a traditional geocache (GC2JRG5). The earthcaches focused on the folds of the earth and the glaciers that were in this region. The traditional was a short hike up the hill where I took this photo looking back at the GeoJeep.

So the plan was to drive all the way across the Scenic Byway over to Mena, Arkansas. But it is already nearing 5:00 PM and we haven't even reached the Oklahoma-Arkansas State Line yet. After too more geocaches at the Kiamichi Valley Vista (GCTXYH) and Chaha Vista (GC8HT2Z), I decide that it's best to go ahead and backtrack to US259 heading south.

We arrive at the Three Sticks Monument virtual geocache (GC69F2). The dedication sign at Three Sticks says they symbolize land, wood and water. It recognizes U.S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr, U.S. Sen. Mike Monroney, U.S. Rep. Carl Albert, Gov. Raymond Gary and R.G. Miller for their contributions to conservation in southeastern Oklahoma. It's too bad the vandals have to put their graffiti all over it.

On the way to Three Sticks, we passed by this other monument so we backtracked to see what it was. Turns out there was also a geocache there too (GC20VE3). On Oct. 29, 1961, President John F. Kennedy and his entourage traveled to southeastern Oklahoma to dedicate a highway. US259 was a much-needed north-south thoroughfare, opening up that part of the state for commerce and tourism. It was an astounding moment in history; the president of the United States on hand for an Oklahoma highway dedication. The State of Oklahoma and the Knights of Columbus marked the occasion with this granite stone.

One final geocache (GC3DZWV) stop before making the trek back to civilization in search of dinner! Lenox Mission School established in 1853 by Dr. Simon L. Hobbs and wife as part of the Presbyterian Church mission. This is the site of the mission. The marker on the highway says that they started with 48 students. Nothing remains except for a small, fenced cemetery. Dr. and Mrs. Hobbs are buried in this cemetery.

That's our journey across most of the Talimena National Scenic Byway. I hope you enjoyed it and perhaps added it to your "To-Do" list the next time you're in SE Oklahoma.

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