Stepping Back in Time
I wrote this on Friday, September 22, 2006
The Eagle View Inn B&B, Wamego, Kansas, is in a restored boarding house that used to sit over Boyd Blacksmith Shop. That site is now the Friendly Corner restaurant. The B&B is nicely done with four bedrooms each with a different name (Boyd, Sunflower, North View and Sweet Dreams). We are in Sweet Dreams which has a king sized bed and private bath. There is a nice kitchen, parlor, enclosed porch with hot tub and wicker furniture. The front parlor faces the main street of town with the Columbian Art & Culture Center. We have enjoyed walking around the town – the library, post office and city park. Located at one side of the park is the historical society’s museum highlighting the history of the town since the 1850’s. We saw the one-room school house that was functional until 1947, the one-room jail, the general store, the telephone company and the old mill that is still in use to grind corn and wheat into flour.
Today we traveled in Pottawatomie County searching for the property where Clayton’s great-great grandfather, James Lewis Rock, and his great-great-great grandmother, Rosana Forbis Rock Ferguson lived. He knew it was in Shannon Township near the town of Fostoria. We drove from Wamego north to Westmoreland the county seat where Clayton talked to a lady in charge of deeds. He was able to find Charles B. Rock’s record of a deed. He got directions and we drove out west of Westmoreland toward Fostoria and turned right at Shanuk Lane (gravel road) and drove almost a mile until the road was no longer gravel and quite muddy. Clayton walked about 400 yards from there and found the place. There is no house there just land with grass, trees, etc. Now he feels connected to that part of the family history. James Lewis and his wife and children returned to Kentucky but the other Rocks stayed on in Kansas and then moved further west to Colorado.
We drove through Fostoria, has few houses and businesses, on Route 16 through the small towns of Brian, Wheaton and ended up in Onaga where we had a late lunch at Lo’s Pizza and more. The chili dogs were delicious and service was great and friendly. The small town have some buildings that date to 1878 and was once a major train stop. We looked at the “Doughboy” statue which is a 1920 memorial to the 39 “boys” from Pottawatomie County killed in WWI. The names of those killed in WWII, Korea and Vietnam have since been added.
From Onaga we drove south on Onaga Road about 15 miles to the site where on the Oregan Trail crossed the Vermillion River. Louis Vieux owned the crossing business and charged a dollar for each outfit to cross the river. There at the site is a graveyard where many were buried due to death from cholera. The years of 1849, 1850 & 1852 saw several epidemics of cholera.
To travel the roads and see the sights of the area where people traveled in the 1800’s to find new land and begin new lives. The hardships they suffered, the lives lost (1 in 10 died along the way), the adventures remind me that I can’t relate at all. Riding in an air conditioned car that provides me with such comfort makes me realize that it must have been very difficult for those traveling in the heat, rain, etc., and walking such long distances each day and not being sure of whether the food would last until the next trading post.
The Eagle View Inn B&B, Wamego, Kansas, is in a restored boarding house that used to sit over Boyd Blacksmith Shop. That site is now the Friendly Corner restaurant. The B&B is nicely done with four bedrooms each with a different name (Boyd, Sunflower, North View and Sweet Dreams). We are in Sweet Dreams which has a king sized bed and private bath. There is a nice kitchen, parlor, enclosed porch with hot tub and wicker furniture. The front parlor faces the main street of town with the Columbian Art & Culture Center. We have enjoyed walking around the town – the library, post office and city park. Located at one side of the park is the historical society’s museum highlighting the history of the town since the 1850’s. We saw the one-room school house that was functional until 1947, the one-room jail, the general store, the telephone company and the old mill that is still in use to grind corn and wheat into flour.
Today we traveled in Pottawatomie County searching for the property where Clayton’s great-great grandfather, James Lewis Rock, and his great-great-great grandmother, Rosana Forbis Rock Ferguson lived. He knew it was in Shannon Township near the town of Fostoria. We drove from Wamego north to Westmoreland the county seat where Clayton talked to a lady in charge of deeds. He was able to find Charles B. Rock’s record of a deed. He got directions and we drove out west of Westmoreland toward Fostoria and turned right at Shanuk Lane (gravel road) and drove almost a mile until the road was no longer gravel and quite muddy. Clayton walked about 400 yards from there and found the place. There is no house there just land with grass, trees, etc. Now he feels connected to that part of the family history. James Lewis and his wife and children returned to Kentucky but the other Rocks stayed on in Kansas and then moved further west to Colorado.
We drove through Fostoria, has few houses and businesses, on Route 16 through the small towns of Brian, Wheaton and ended up in Onaga where we had a late lunch at Lo’s Pizza and more. The chili dogs were delicious and service was great and friendly. The small town have some buildings that date to 1878 and was once a major train stop. We looked at the “Doughboy” statue which is a 1920 memorial to the 39 “boys” from Pottawatomie County killed in WWI. The names of those killed in WWII, Korea and Vietnam have since been added.
From Onaga we drove south on Onaga Road about 15 miles to the site where on the Oregan Trail crossed the Vermillion River. Louis Vieux owned the crossing business and charged a dollar for each outfit to cross the river. There at the site is a graveyard where many were buried due to death from cholera. The years of 1849, 1850 & 1852 saw several epidemics of cholera.
To travel the roads and see the sights of the area where people traveled in the 1800’s to find new land and begin new lives. The hardships they suffered, the lives lost (1 in 10 died along the way), the adventures remind me that I can’t relate at all. Riding in an air conditioned car that provides me with such comfort makes me realize that it must have been very difficult for those traveling in the heat, rain, etc., and walking such long distances each day and not being sure of whether the food would last until the next trading post.
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6:51 AM
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