The Oregon Trail Journal

June 15 – I had a surprisingly decent breakfast at the Radisson hotel--eggs, crisp bacon, yogurt and muffin. We traveled to Steamboat Arabia Museum (Waypoint: GC3270) where I found the answer to the Virtual Cache. We saw an interesting film and toured the museum which featured more than 200 tons of goods salvaged from the fully-loaded steamboat that sank in 1856 on the Missouri River. I photographed “Frozen Charlotte” and asked two guides for the story. Copies of the doll were sold in the gift shop. I also photographed the Arabia’s anchor and the snag that sank the great white Arabia. I saw the skeleton of the mule that drowned – Lawrence (of Arabia).

We went to Lewis & Clark Historic Park at Kaw Point. The Lewis & Clark expedition arrived here at Kaw Point on June 26, 1804, concluding another daily struggle against the powerful current of the Missouri River. Captain William Clark wrote in his journal that “our tow rope broke twice & with great exertions…we Came to and Camped in the Point” above the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas (Kaw) Rivers. They continued their journey west on June 30, 1804. I saw the High Water Mark on a tree about six feet from the ground.

We ate a picnic lunch at the Shawnee Methodist Mission, established in 1839 for the instruction of Shawnee, Delaware, and other Indian children. It was also a popular overland trail campground. We saw the five-story Kansas State Capitol in Topeka from afar. It was in Topeka--after about eight days on the trail--that emigrants encountered their first real river crossing, the Kansas River. After 1842/1843 they were able to cross by ferry at the price of $1.00 per wagon. We passed silo paintings by area artist Cindy Martin at the Oregon Trail Nature Park near St. Marys, Kansas (see photo).

We stopped at the Red Vermillion Crossing/Vieux Cemetery/Cholera Cemetery (Waymark Code: WM1RMV). This was the site on the Red Vermillion where Louis Vieux, of Pottawatomie Indian and French ancestry, established a toll bridge over the river in 1847. We stopped at the Vieux Cemetery where members of the Vieux family and other early settlers were buried, crossed the bridge over the Red Vermillion, and walked a short distance to the cholera cemetery. In the spring of 1849, a large wagon train camped on the east side of the creek was struck by cholera, which left 45-50 emigrants dead within a week. The emigrants would heat the water which was contaminated to make coffee but did not understand that to kill bacteria they needed to boil the water.

We drove to Manhattan “The Little Apple” to the Comfort Inn. We ate dinner at the Little Apple Brewing Company. I had a restless nights sleep.