Too Long in the Wind

March 2010

The gift

Rex Getz, magician, with his souvenir of Pawnee Rock.

[March 31]   Once upon a time, there was a father from Pawnee Rock who sent a birthday package to his only begotten son. It was a heavy parcel and cost a mint to mail. The son opened the package and found a wooden toilet seat. He lifted the lid and came face to face with himself. The father had fastened a mirror to the bottom of the seat.

The son was aghast. After a long moment he told his wife that his father must have wanted to him to remain humble.

You have to wonder what in the Pawnee Rock water encourages grown men to foster their excretory fetish.

This past week, I was digging through photos from the 1970s and came across a shot of Rex Getz, a magician who drove from Hoxie to present a magic show at the behest of the Pawnee Rock Lions Club. Perhaps you attended the show in the school gym; many of our townspeople did.

And how did the good men of the Lions Club reward Mr. Getz? They gave him a turd. They first painted it gold and glued it to a piece of wood, but a cow patty is what it is.

To his credit, Mr. Getz received the gift humbly.

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Hats, stamps, and caution

Hat Day in first grade, and the one with McGruff (the dog) is fourth grade.

From a newspaper photo: "Postmaster Doug Smith and rural mail carrier Toni Stimatze give the Pawnee Rock 1st graders a tour of the Pawnee Rock Post Office Friday Morning. The students have been studying community helpers included in the new whole language reading curriculum. Patty Campbell, a Larned stamp collector, also visited the class and presented a program on the history and collectability of stamps. The 1st grade students from left, Jerry Wilson and Amber Hartle by Toni, Toby (last name illegible), Desi Staggs, Tanner Gross, Casey Crone, David Werner, Kody Henry, Trevis Smith and Josh Castaneda."

[March 29]   Desiray Leiker sent some charming photos as well as a note yesterday following up on a piece that addressed my own tour of Pawnee Rock south of the highway.

"I do have to laugh as I read Dec. Article about the south side of town, where I was raised after my dad Randy Staggs and Jeanette Staggs moved. The lady out of the trailer probably was my mom checking on my brother Kristopher Staggs, who we all know hasn't always been an angel.

"The south side was always quite no doubt creepy," she wrote, and mentioned a house hidden from view and a certain trailer.

"I was told never to walk that way. I used to walk to the river at 13 to clear my head. And at the time gander at Casey Crone.

"No doubt Pawnee Rock used to be full of life. I was visiting not too long ago and realized the south side is even smaller than it was in 2000. Of course everyone's left. With the few exceptions. I never had a fear in Pawnee Rock. My mother feared the highway strangers."

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L.R. French Mercantile ad

[March 29]   I'm not generally a fan of lists of prices from years gone by. Often there is no corresponding information about family income, and thus we have no idea whether Mother's China Oats really is a bargain at 33 cents. About the only thing we can be certain of is that the merchant, following the laws of business, is charging as much as he thinks the market will bear.

Still, after a shopping trip to Safeway this past weekend, during which I was invited to pay $1.29 for a green pepper, $3.99 for a dozen eggs, and 79 cents a pound for bananas, I came to the conclusion that the old prices look pretty attractive.

The prices in this Pawnee Rock Herald advertisement came from the L.R. French Mercantile Co. store. The date was March 22, 1928, with Easter around the corner -- so smart shoppers knew to get in line to "order that Easter Suit."

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Wrapping up the week

[March 26]   Larry Mix, of the Santa Fe Trail Research site in St. John, sent this note yesterday:

"Talked to Ed in Ulysses last night about his Oval Signs he has and found out that the sign we believe is the one off of the Pawnee Rock school is sign #6 on our sign page. This is what I have about it:

"In November 2004 this sign was put in an auction house in Kansas and sold to someone in Cedar Crest, New Mexico. The auction house would give no information on the new owner. This sign was first bought at a garage sale in Pawnee Rock, Kansas by an antique dealer in Pawnee Rock. He put it in his shop and then it was sold to a gentleman from Gem, Kansas who sells items over the internet. He then sold it to Ed Dowell, Ulysses, Kansas on November 17, 2002. Where the sign once hung is unknown."

Once in a while we must give Kansas State its due. Last night's NCAA tournament basketball game against Xavier was a mighty victory for the Wildcats. But tomorrow is another day, and last night's game won't mean a thing when they play Saturday against Butler.

If you are going to wish Elgie Unruh a happy 84th birthday, this is the perfect day to do it.

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A record of good times

A record on the Edison label had "Way Out West in Kansas" on one side and "The Prisoner's Song" on the flip side. Barb Schmidt sent these images of a record once owned by her father, Paul Schmidt, Class of 1929.

[March 25]   When I reprinted the Pawnee Rock High School news from March 1928 yesterday, I hardly expected to receive proof that the songs listed there were really heard by our parents and grandparents.

Sure, we've seen old photos and movie scenes in which teeny-boppers -- whatever they were called eight decades ago -- gathered around a piano or big-horned record player and sang the night away. Now we have an artifact.

Yesterday, Barb Schmidt sent photos of a record as well as the fruit of some research into the lyrics known in the halls and homes of old Pawnee Rock.

Here's what Barb wrote:

Yes, our 1928 Rockers really were listening to those songs and attached is proof: a copy of the front and back of my dad's (PRHS '29) Edison Diamond Disc recording of "Way Out West in Kansas" (the alleged favorite of voc-ag teacher Claude Wright), with "The Prisoner's Song" (pupil Bennie Smith's fave) on the flipside. Edison records were made only in the 1920s, are very heavy and a quarter-inch thick. They had to be played on an Edison phonograph machine as they were incompatible with Victrola's phonograph machines, so I have never had the pleasure of hearing either side of this marvelous old record.

That's probably just as well as the lyrics to both songs are a bit, well, dated. "Way Out West in Kansas" lyrics can be found at a National Institutes of Health website, warning parents that, "[d]espite the humor intended by" the lyrics, "domestic violence is a very real problem."

As for "The Prisoner's Song," here are the depressing lyrics:

Oh, I wish I had someone to love me,
Someone to call me their own.
Oh, I wish I had someone to live with
'Cause I'm tired of livin' alone.

Oh, please meet me tonight in the moonlight,
Please meet me tonight all alone,
For I have a sad story to tell you,
It's a story that's never been told.

I'll be carried to the new jail tomorrow,
Leaving my poor darling alone,
With the cold prison bars all around me
And my head on a pillow of stone.

Now I have a grand ship on the ocean,
All mounted with silver and gold,
And before my poor darlin' would suffer,
Oh, that ship would be anchored and sold.

Now if I had the wings of an angel
Over these prison walls I would fly,
And I'd fly to the arms of my poor darlin',
And there I'd be willing to die.

Country music legend Vernon Dalhart recorded "The Prisoner's Song" for both Edison and Victrola machines in the mid-1920s. Dalhart's records of this song sold more copies than probably any other song in the 1920s. Some estimates run in the millions of copies sold. But the lyrics sure don't pep me up. How about you?

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High School Notes, 1928

Advertisers on the high school page included these two fine medical operations in Larned.

[March 24]   Those of a certain age might remember how high school yearbooks and newspapers contained the wit and wisdom of daily life in classes -- clever sayings, jokes, and a lot of stuff that, read later, makes you realize you had to be there to understand what was so funny.

And then there are the students' favorite songs -- or the songs that their friends and enemies wanted to pin on them. How many of them have you heard of? (In my case, only "Show Me the Way to Go Home.")

In March 1928, such material found a home in the town's newspaper, the Pawnee Rock Herald.

Typewriting

Thursday, March 15, Neil Bowman took a speed test and was thought to have made fifty words a minute. His paper was sent in and they will know later. If he did make fifty words a minute he will receive a silver medal pin. Delmar Chapman made a certificate for thirty words a minute on a Remington.

Their Favorite Songs

• So Tired -- Buzz Houdyshell.
• Crazy Words, Crazy Tunes -- Dallas Williams.
• Sweeping the Cobwebs off the Moon -- Eldora Unruh.
• Tin Pan Parade -- Seventh Graders.
• I Love Me -- Virgil Unruh.
• My Man -- Isabel Johnstone.
• Way Out West in Kansas -- Mr. Wright.
• Sleepy Time Gal -- Barbara Huffman.
• No, No, Nora -- Robert Miller.
• The Prisoners Song-- Bennie Smith.
• That Certain Party -- G.R. Leap Year Party.
• Moonlight and Roses -- Mary Unruh.
• Missouri Waltz -- Alfred Boyd.
• Three O'clock in the Morning -- Keith Houdyshell.
• Sweet Marie -- Lester Abbott.
• Tie Me to Your Apron Strings -- George Svatos.
• Last Night on the Back Porch -- Esther Carothers.
• Show Me the Way to Go Home -- Bert Devine.
• Schooldy Sweethearts -- Doris and Red.
• Smiles -- Jessie Hixson.
• What Does It Matter? -- Elmer Geil.
• My Girl Friend -- Donley Unruh.
• I Love My Baby -- Mr. Gilbert.

(In case you are wondering about "Tie Me to Your Apron Strings," here are the lyrics:

Tie me to your apron strings again
I know there's room for me upon your knee
Bring back all those happy hours when you kissed my tears away from day to day
I thought that I was right but I was wrong
Please take me back tonight where I belong
Sing a cradle song to me and then won't you tie me to your apron string again)

In a composition about cork Doyle Foster says, "It is used to make individual legs."

The sixth grade is studying Kansas in Geography now. Each pupil makes ten questions to ask on the lesson each day. Galen, "What are the two main races in Kansas?" Arthur H. "Automobile races and dog races."

Track season

Track season opened Monday March 12, throughout the high schools of Kansas. As soon as the weather is permissable the boys of the high school and junior high will be training for track. Mr. Adams and the boys are expecting to have a good team. For this year there is as much material as there was last year. Last year the county track meet was voted against and there will be no county track meet this year.

The track schedule for 1928 has not been made but the plans are to have triangular and dual meets if the scheule can be made that way. Though our school is small, many boys are interested. The events the boys are going out for are as follows:

• Dallas Williams, dahses and high hurdles
• Willard Wilson, dashes and broad jump
• Bert Devine, dashes
• Bennie Smith, dashes and mile run
• Roy Robinson, dashes and low hurdles
• Donley Unruh, low and high hurdles
• Don Kennison, high jump
• Chester Unruh, high jump
• Virgil Unruh, high jump and half-mile run
• Wendell Smith, shot put and discus
• Neil Bowman, broad jump and discus
• Alfred Smith, mile run and half-mile run

For tennis the following boys are working: Bert Devine, Galen Houdyshell, Neil Bowman, Dallas Williams, and Edgar Duncan.

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The wind and wisdom

A tumbleweed in the wind-driven snow near Pawnee Rock.

[March 23]   You and I know the posture of someone between late fall and early spring: walking to school or out on the farm with our hands in our pockets, head bent down against the wind. We didn't grow up in the breezy part of Kansas without learning self-protection; it was adapt or die.

The wind, as you remember even if you are long gone from Barton County, is always present -- except for those occasional crisp days memorable for being at the bottom of a cold snap. In fact, sometimes the wind was our friend because it carried the promise of air that had to be less cold.

This is what we knew without thinking. We got our clues from the swaying of grasses and upper branches and from the dust rising in the fields, from the color of the sky and the smell of the air. After growing up, some of us moved away, and the knowledge became less useful and we had no way to pass it on, the way our parents had modeled it for us. Living in warmer climates or in a forest, our own children didn't lose their heritage of winter survival skills; they never had them in the first place.

So it pleased me last month on one of my trips between Fairbanks and Eagle River when my 13-year-old, Sam, announced that at our next stop, at a pullout in Broad Pass, he wanted to go for a walk on the tundra. From inside the car, the expanse of white did look inviting, and he was feeling competent because he had just been in Fairbanks at 30 below.

I let him wander out a bit wearing a baseball cap and no gloves. He found the drifted snow deeper than he expected, and he met an invisible and unfamiliar foe -- the wind.

The spruces were too stalwart and the grasses and dwarf willows too frozen to be flexed by the currents moving freely through this funnel in the Alaska Range, so Sam hadn't caught any visual clues about the wind. He did fine for a few dozen steps, but then the chill became overpowering and he headed back to the car. Sam was turning red fast, although he didn't complain and he posed for a couple of photos -- hero shots on the tundra.

When Sam first headed into the wild, I was almost a good dad but I held my tongue and didn't make him dress appropriately. I could have warned him about the wind, but the only way he would learn how to deal with it was to protect his own hands and hunker down.

The next time Sam sets off on a winter adventure, he will (I hope) be better dressed. And when he reads about blizzards around the Little House on the Prairie or endures one of my stories, he will understand in his nose, hands, and heart a little more of what it meant to be a kid in Pawnee Rock.

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Today in the local news, 1928

Advertisement in the Pawnee Rock Herald for local phone service, March 22, 1928.

[March 22]   Back in the wild days before the Great Depression, there was no news like local news -- and the greater the detail, the better. This was before all the homes had phones, and gossip just didn't get around as fast as it does now. The newspaper served that public purpose.

Normally, I'd say that most people have a higher sense of privacy these days, but with cell phones and text messages and Twitter and Facebook it seems that we're headed back toward the day when every last burp was recorded for the public record.

The following newsy tidbits are from the Pawnee Rock Herald of March 22, 1928.

Mrs. Margueritte Flick remained all night with Miss Doris Brady last thursday night, on account of the bad roads.

Several from this community, including Bert Bowman, Dan Dirks, Fred Fry, Ina Fry and Merle Smith, were shopping and visiting in Larned Tuesday.

Ross Bowman returned Tuesday evening from Wichita where he has been for a couple weeks. Ross also visited the springs near El Dorado, while away, and drank the waters for the benefit of his health.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dring were in Great Bend Monday.

Mrs. John Goatley went to Great Bend Tuesday to visit her husband who is in the hospital there.

Bert Devine, Roy Robinson and Dallas Williams were in Larned Tuesday afternoon.

John Goatley underwent an operation at the Great Bend hospital last Monday. He hopes to be able to come home the latter part of the week.

A. Dring is able to be down town again after being confined to the house for several days with the flu.

Mrs. Siebert of Escondido, California, is here visiting her son, Carl Unruh and family, east of town.

Antone Schmidt, east of town, has had the flu, and was thought to be doing nicely, but he had a relapse this week and is pretty sick again.

E.R. Brock and N.N. Converse attended the Barton County Democratic Convention which was held in Great Bend Saturday night.

Mrs. Maurice Miller and daughter Corrine went to Great Bend Saturday evening on the train. They visited until Tuesday with Mrs. Miller's parents.

Miss Ella Bennell of Ingalls came in Tuesday morning to take the position of music instructor in the schools. This position was left vacant by the resignation of Miss Meek. Miss Bennell graduated from Bethany College the first semester this year. [Miss Meek's 1928 PRHS yearbook photo is at left. She did not attend the celebration of fellow teacher Esther Carothers' secret marriage to Lester Zieber.]

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KU vs. Cinderella

[March 22]   The Jayhawks have blown another fine basketball season by losing early in the NCAA tournament, and as much as I hate to say it, I'm not surprised. They seemed lackluster all season against smaller opponents. It's entirely appropriate that Northern Iowa put an end to the efforts of No. 1-in-the-nation KU.

I couldn't help but admire Northern Iowa. The Panthers played like our high schoolers did when we went to those mixed-class tournaments in Dodge City. The Braves and teams like ours were unintimidated by the Larneds and Dodges and Hoisingtons, although there was an undercurrent of fear when the big-city and Bogue teams had a black kid (and you know that "black" wasn't the term used to describe him).

So I will cheer for Northern Iowa and hope they end up playing our cow college, Kansas State, in the tournament semifinals. And when KU's alumni association sends me a request for more money to buy better players, I might instead send the money to Cedar Falls. KU has a basketball juggernaut, but Northern Iowa plays as if it's fun.

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Mrs. Franklin's career

[March 19]   I wrote back to Glenda Franklin -- as I hope you did -- with thanks for being a good teacher. I asked about her school years and how she chose first grade, where she taught me.

To accompany her note, I copied some photos of the "Junior High One" and "Junior High Two" from the 1921 Pawneean yearbook from Pawnee Rock High.

Here is what Mrs. Franklin wrote Thursday, her 96th birthday:

I graduated from high school around 1925, because I skipped a year in grade school. I was in 8th or 9th grade in 1921. I'm sorry that I am not certain about the exact year(s).

I taught all grades in Hoisington, then at the one-room school across from the Franklin farm (where I met Jesse at a cake walk and school program, all because Ab Welch said that Jesse ought to date that school marm). He did, we married, and had a wonderful life together. I taught two years after our marriage at that country school. Then I went back into teaching in 1952, teaching two years at Radium, before teaching third, second, and finally first grade -- my favorite age and year to teach at Pawnee Rock, until I retired around 1977.

I think it's a lot more sensible to write letters than to use that electric machine. So, if anybody wants to get in touch with me, my address is:

Mrs. Glenda Franklin
200 West Cedar
Hesston, Kansas 67062

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Happy 96th Birthday, Mrs. Franklin

[March 18]   It may be Glenda Franklin's birthday today, but I got a great present yesterday when she wrote to say hello. Mrs. Franklin was my kind first-grade teacher at Pawnee Rock, and she later was one of my Mennonite Sunday school teachers.

Here is what she wrote. (The photo of Mrs. Franklin was provided by Laramie Unruh.)

Dear Leon,

I am Mrs. Glenda Franklin, the daughter of Harry and Lena Unruh. My husband was Jesse Franklin and our daughters are Jeanette Frederick and Ruth Epp. I have five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

Tomorrow is my 96th Birthday. I am not computer literate, but my daughter, Jeanette Frederick (class of 1960) and her husband, Dick, from Emporia originally and from Bryant, AR, now are visiting me and showed me the web site. If anyone wants to reach me they can write to me at Jeanette's and Dick's e-mail address at rpfrederick1@juno.com.

I taught first grade at Pawnee Rock for many years. I live in my own apartment in a retirement village near Ruth, who is a retired kindergarten teacher. At 90 I finally stopped teaching children with poor reading skills how to read in the summer as a private tutor.

I would love to hear from my former students.

Mrs. Franklin

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Esther Carothers Zieber's photo

[March 18]   Barb Schmidt, our resourceful pal in Seattle, figured out where to find a photo of Esther Carothers Zieber, whose secretive marriage in 1928 was detailed yesterday.

She had sent me several images from the 1928 Pawnee Rock yearbook, The Combine, so she knew where to find Esther.

Here is what she wrote:

Hi, Leon:

Enjoyed your "Hidden Love" story. Esther (Carothers) Zieber and 3 of the guests at her March 7, 1928, wedding announcement party are pictured on the attached page from the 1928 PRHS annual. Esther is in the center, and her friends Jessie Hixson, Isabelle Johnstone, and Harriet Blazier can also be seen. The story you ran said Mrs. Nelson Gilbert also attended the party; the PRHS yearbook says Nelson Gilbert was the school superintendent. (See the full yearbook page in the Gallery.)

I'd love to see a photo sometime of Esther and Lester Ziebert together, if any of your readers have one to share.

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Hidden love

[March 17]   Wouldn't you love to know the story behind this story, which appeared March 22, 1928, in Pawnee Rock's hometown weekly, the Herald?

Announcement Party

An announcement party of unusual interest was held at the home of Mrs. P.H. Unruh last Saturday evening, March 7th, in the form of a six o'clock dinner.

The guests found their places at the table by novel shamrock place cards. Tiny white envelopes were fastened to each place card, and excitement reigned supreme when the guests discovered the cards inside the envelopes announcing the marriage of Miss Esther Carothers and Mr. Lester Zieber, on January 21st, 1928.

It was a complete surprise to nearly everyone present and it was some time before the ladies could overcome their excitement enough to do justice to the three-course dinner served by Mrs. Unruh. Cocktail, chicken pie, mashed potatoes, creamed peas, asparagus tips, salad, olives, pickles, brick ice cream, cake and coffee composed the menu. The St. Patrick's Day idea was carried out in the dinner and decorations in a most unique manner.

Those present were: Mrs. Lester Zeiber, Mrs. W.M. Zeiber, Mrs. Cliff Quincey, Mrs. W.M. Lewis, Mrs. M.E. Foster, Mrs. C.F. Wright, Mrs. H. Nelson Gilbert, Mrs. P.H. Unruh, and the Misses Ruth Case, Jessie Hixson, Harriet Blazier and Isabelle Johnstone.

The following story also appeared on the Herald's front page that day. Upon reading it, one might think the newspaper was kissing the shoes of a big advertiser, but I don't think I've seen a single ad for the Zieber Nursery.

I don't know Esther's age, but Lester would have been about 30 years old when they were married. After high school, he went to Manhattan and attended the Agricultural College, which we know now as Kansas State.

Zieber--Carothers

The announcement, last Saturday, of the marriage of Lester Zieber and Miss Esther Carothers, which took place some time ago, came as a big surprise to their friends here.

They very quietly slipped away to McPherson Saturday January 21st, and were married by Rev. Cotton, pastor of the Presbyterian church of McPherson.

After the ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Zieber drove to Newton where they remained until Sunday when they went to Wichita for a few hours visit with Mrs. Zieber's father. They returned to Pawnee Rock Sunday evening.

Mrs. Zieber, who is a daughter of D.W. Carothers of Wichita, has been a valued member of the local high school faculty for five years. Her school work has been exceptionally successful and she is very popular, not alone with the students and the other members of the faculty, but also with the people of the community. She is a charming young lady with a pleasing personality and Mr. Zieber is to be heartily congratulated on his choice.

Mr. Zieber, who is associated with his father, W.M. Zieber in the Nursery business, has lived in Pawnee Rock the greater part of his life, and everyone knows his sterling worth and up-right character. He is a veteran of the World War, having served in the 35th division. The community contains no more highly respected citizen than Mr. Zieber.

Lester and his wife are making their home for the present at the W.M. Zieber home and Mrs. Zieber is continuing her school work. After the close of school they plan to start housekeeping in a home of their own.

The best wishes of the community are extended to Mr. and Mrs. Zieber.

More about the Ziebers

• Lester Zieber's business
• Lester and Esther's early home, maybe
• Maybe you knew the Zieber house
• Sixth-grade teacher
• Photo of Wilson Zieber

Lester, Esther, Wilson M., Armetta, and Elias Zieber are buried on the eastern edge of the Pawnee Rock Cemetery's old section.

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Harold Ritchie dies

[March 16]   Harold Newton Ritchie Sr., a member of the Pawnee Rock High School class of 1956, died March 11 in Hutchinson. He was 71 years old.

Mr. Ritchie's funeral was Monday, and he was buried in the Pawnee Rock Cemetery.

He was a construction superintendent. He came from a large family and is survived by five brothers -- James, Stanley, William, Dennis, and Virgil -- and three sisters -- Christenia, Sondra, and Jeanne. In addition, he is survived by sons Harold Jr. and Mark Allen and daughters Linda, Brenda, and Candice.

He was born Nov. 27, 1939, in Versailles, Mo., and the family lived for a while at Fort Larned before coming to Pawnee Rock. At his death, he was a resident of St. John.

(Photo and full obituary)

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Bobby Wycoff: A Celebration of Life

[March 15]   Pat Croff, Bobby Wycoff's sister, sent her brother's funeral program from California. She wrote:

"It was a beautiful memorial. Bobby touched so many, many lives!

"The Methodist church is quite large and there was standing room only."

Also, Kerry Benefield of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat wrote an obituary that mentions his years in Pawnee Rock.

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The nearly invisible plaque

[March 15]   Ed Durall sent this note:

I was interested in the discussion of the Santa Fe trail plaque. Attached is a close-up of the corner of the old high school. There is an oval object attached there. I went to school for six years in that building and have no memory of that plaque, but as the picture shows,it certainly was there.

By the way, in the story of the homecoming picture, you refer to 1950 in the text, but the caption of the picture says 1954. Think anyone but me would notice?

[Thanks, Ed. I fixed the caption.]

Ed

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Bob Wycoff has died

Last year, Bob Wycoff sent this photo of his family's home in Pawnee Rock.

[March 12]   Bob Wycoff, who grew up in the small house in the northeast corner of Rock and Santa Fe and moved on to the Navy and eventually to a teaching career in California, died March 1.

Bob graduated from Pawnee Rock High School in 1947. He is survived by his twin, Billy, and sisters Patty, Vera, and Vena.

Bob was one of our first Friends of Pawnee Rock.

A mention of his death appeared in the Larned Tiller and Toiler and was sent to us by Janice Schmidt. Patty has written to say that she is sending more information about Bob's life.

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Hello, Alan Mead

[March 12]   Alan Mead was a year ahead of me in school, and he lived in the big house in the southwestern corner of Houck and Santa Fe until his family built a new place just south of there on a lot where a bunch of us youngsters previously played football.

Here's what he wrote Thursday:

I just found out about your web site and wanted to tell you that I have richly enjoyed "perusing your musings" and wandering through your photos. It brings back such warm memories of my youth and reminds me of a simpler time when city limits defined my playground and mothers, blocks away from my own home, were as apt to get after me as sternly as my own mother would -- and then call her to let her know what her son had done. Of course, when I returned home there was an additional serving of discipline waiting for me! What a time! What a town! There were things Pawnee Rock couldn't offer that other larger cities could, but I wouldn't trade my time growing up in Pawnee Rock for anything. Truly a community where neighbors cared for one another and could always be counted on for anything from a cup of sugar to a short-notice babysitter!

I remember your dad being involved with different things when I was as a youngster, but didn't really get to know him until he worked with us (Meco Construction) in the late seventies. His carpentry skills were second to none, and I learned a great deal from him simply by watching. I thought that I was a pretty fair carpenter, but I soon realized that his years of experience and knowledge had my piddly skills unmercifully beaten. It didn't seem to me that Elgie worked very fast, but when the day was over he had accomplished a large amount of work- proving that he not only knew how to work his trade, he knew how to work smart! I truly hope that he is doing well.

As for my wife and me, we have been married for thirty-one years, have three daughters, and are spoiling five grandchildren. I work in McPherson, KS for a major pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Our home is in Lindsborg, just fourteen miles north of McPherson. (I know that as a Kansas boy you are familiar with the area).

Keep up the excellent work, Leon. I look forward to catching up on the things I haven't yet seen on your site, and enjoying the daily additions you have in store.

Once a Brave always a Brave, Alan Mead

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Something to fix on the Rock

Pawnee Rock State Park's pavilion and monument.

[March 11]   Visitors to Pawnee Rock State Park know of the damaged area in the middle of the pavilion's roof; if I remember right, vandals burned a tire there and the heat overcooked the top of the concrete, which was poured in 1920.

One visitor, Bill Zimmer of Heizer, proposes a solution:

"The top floor of the Pawnee Rock pavilion needs a bag of concrete patch squeegeed into the developing problem -- not my problem, but would take only a few minutes and $$. Local direct action rather than getting the state hist. society involved, you know. A bonding/adheasive agent first, before the patch, but I don't know about these things.

"I live south of Heizer and like to bike to the Rock and the hills around the area."

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Tracking down a Santa Fe Trail sign

Paul Schmidt photographed doors at the Pawnee Rock school in 1952.

[March 10]   Barb Schmidt used her sharp mind and her dad's photos to make a bit of Pawnee Rock history visible. She sent some photos and this e-mail. Following it is a note from Larry Mix of the Santa Fe Trail Research site.

Here's what Barb wrote:

Recently you posted on pawneerock.org a couple photos of PRHS football players my dad (Paul Schmidt) took in fall 1952. The same day dad took those photos, he also took the two photos I am sending you now. One is a scratchy photo of a set of entry doors at the old Pawnee Rock High School building (with dad partially reflected in the window, showing off his best farmer's overalls!).

The other is a clear photo showing one of the Santa Fe Trail "oval signs," a topic you have covered in the past. For example, in your July 9 and 16 and August 2, 2007, blogs, you reported on the oval sign Gary Trotnic bought at an estate sale in Ellinwood and then sold on ebay to a buyer in New Mexico (thanks for posting a photo of Gary's sign in your Gallery 31 -- also, thanks for including a search engine on your huge website!).

I believe the oval sign my dad photographed in 1952 was mounted on a corner of the old PRHS building. If you look at the 1950s photo of the old high school in your Gallery 77 (sent by Ed Durall) and focus on the corner of the building about a third of the way from the left edge of the photo, it looks like an oval sign is hanging on the bricks. If you look at the oval sign my dad photographed in 1952, the sign is hanging on bricks similar to the bricks in the photo of entry doors to the school building that he took the same day.

Thanks to your earlier postings, I was led to Larry and Carolyn Mix's website for more information on the history of the Santa Fe Trail oval signs and learned:

"The Oval Santa Fe Trail Markers were placed on or near schools located along the Santa Fe Trail in 1948, by the American Pioneer Trails Association with Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. . . . The Association provided a plaque for every school along the Santa Fe Trail and suggested a dedication program for November 16, 1948. Students were to conduct the ceremony and give the addresses. They were encouraged to dress in pioneer costumes for the occasion."

I wonder if any of your older readers remember anything more about the oval sign that appears to have hung on the PR high school building?

Or recall the "dedication program," if there was one? Or dressing up in pioneer costumes?

Or perhaps someone has a copy of the 1948 PRHS yearbook and could check to see whether it has a photo or other information about the arrival of the oval sign?

And whatever happened to the PRHS Santa Fe Trail oval sign in later years?

Maybe there is a clue on the Mix website, which reports that "an antique dealer in Pawnee Rock" bought such a sign "at a garage sale in Pawnee Rock," then put it in his antique shop and sold it to a buyer who "then sold it to Ed Dowell, Ulysses, Kansas on November 17, 2002." The "PR sign" was sold again in November 2004 by a Kansas auction house to an unidentified buyer in Cedar Crest, New Mexico (slightly east of Albuquerque). Perhaps this sign was the PRHS oval sign?

And is there any chance the New Mexico person who bought Gary Trotnic's sign lives in Cedar Crest and bought both signs? (Probably not, but I can't help but wonder.)

Larry Mix responded:

Sure looks like the same building to me that the sign is hanging on. Thanks for think of us and sending us the photos.

I quote from your email: "Maybe there is a clue on the Mix website, which reports that "an antique dealer in Pawnee Rock" bought such a sign "at a garage sale in Pawnee Rock," then put it in his antique shop and sold it to a buyer who "then sold it to Ed Dowell, Ulysses, Kansas on November 17, 2002."

This is the logical story for the sign that is in your photo. Thanks again for thinking of us and using our site!

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Little feet begin a big journey

Dana Hines' birth certificate shows earnest little footprints.

[March 9]   Dana Smith Hines, who shares a timeline with me very closely, found her own birth certificate from St. Joseph Memorial Hospital.

She wrote:

"This set of my little fresh footprints shows no clue of the path they will take in life. Imagine that -- not a step yet taken at this point! Today, my feet have tread many miles, endured both happy and sad journeys, but still hold me up, thankfully!

"Here's to St. Joseph Hospital, which gave us this great remembrance of our first days on this earth.

"My certificate, like yours, was attached to a magazine which was full of articles about caring for the new baby! It's lots of fun to thumb through and read the articles and look at the advertisements. I'm thankful to have been born in that era -- makes me nostalgic!"

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It looks like Patty McCurdy

The Pawnee Rock High School homecoming queen and her court in 1950 (left to right): Charlie Aldrich, Merrilee Keely, Ralph Fry, Patty McCurdy, Lawrence Bright, Vivian Welch, Carol Stansbury, Lynn Welch, Frances Schultz, and Johnny Woelk.

[March 9]   Ed Durall, Pawnee Rock Class of 1954, did some research after seeing some photos in our collection:

"I was looking through the picture galleries and I can make an identification.

"In gallery 93 are two pictures from the 1950 basketball homecoming. One is of the whole court and one is of the kiss. I believe the "unidentified girl" is Patty McCurdy. I identified her from the pictures of the seniors in the 1950 yearbook."

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My life in one day

[March 8]   I woke up and went back to sleep. That was a mistake.

My second-sleep dream -- obeying the phantom logic of unconscious problem solving -- involved girls I had gone to high school with. I do not know why they came to taunt me now when so many of them ignored me 35 years ago, but the end of the dream left me in a sweat without even a remembered hug.

Now as then, I was but a moment's diversion in the hallway, and I grumped my way around the cabin.

For lunch yesterday, I burned my pizza.

I went on to do what I had promised myself as a weekend project -- look through cardboard boxes of Pawnee Rock stuff that sister Cheryl had rescued when Dad and Betty were going to toss it out a few years ago when they sold their place.

Deep in one box was a yellow plastic bag of the sort we get when we buy a stack of postcards. In it were a letter from me to Dad, a couple of my Pawnee Rock Informer newspapers from 1968 and 1971, a uncashed $10 check I wrote him in 1987, the 1908 fundraiser booklet Echoes of Pawnee Rock, a church history, the 1973 Lions Club contract with the Harlem Queens basketball team, and my high school graduation program. And there was my long-lost 1972-73 Macksville High School yearbook, in which I was pictured for all my activities during my sophomore year. The photo of the band includes the girls who took me on their little joyride earlier in the day.

The big, unexpected discovery was tightly encased in what looked like Saran Wrap. It was my birth certificate, and it was scorched.

The embossed certificate -- sporting my tiny inked footprint in the upper left corner -- was packaged with what looked like a promotional magazine from the hospital. Had there been a fire at home I didn't know about? Had the papers been tossed into Dad's woodstove at the shop and then rescued at the last moment in a fit of recognition or regret?

I held the package in the window light, suddenly fearing that I'd find a lie in the facts on which I had based my life. But my birthplace matched what my folks had told me, as did the minute, hour, day, month, and year of my birth. I read it again to be sure.

I wrote to ask Mom what she knew about the certificate, and she replied:

"It's very possible that a birth certificate was included in some sort of magazine-like gift from the hospital. That seems to recall a memory for me. This would have been kept with your baby book. I have no idea how it might have been scorched. I don't know if this is an official birth certificate, or if it's official when it is filed in the state office. Anyway, it must have been a shock to see it handled in such a disrespectful fashion."

Well, yes. However, . . .

I am grateful that Dad, at one time an indiscriminating keeper of things, protected pieces of my life during the years when I was too heedless to do that myself. What he really saved, I suspect, is partial answers to questions that come uninvited.

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History on the move

[March 5]   Larry Mix, who started the investigation into the Daughters of American Revolution monument on our share of the Santa Fe Trail, has found a lot of monuments.

Here's what he wrote yesterday:

I always have said that the only thing the DAR did wrong was they didn't put wheels on the markers. There isn't hardly any of them that haven't been moved at some time or another. I've found that when the markers were placed they were placed right on the trail. In your earlier email about it being on the northwest corner of Pawnee Rock in my judgment that would have put it right on the trail.

On the 19th of this month we are going to give a tour on the SFT for some of our people over here in SJ, one of the stops this time will be Pawnee Rock west through Larned and beyond. We have a elderly lady who is a member of the DAR and she gets a big kick out of seeing these markers and we just like to get the facts right. This will be the third trip we have had, the other two went east.

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Lions Club dinner is Saturday

But first -- do it today -- mail an 80th-birthday card to the lively June McFann.

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Tracking the DAR marker

The long-ago photo of the Santa Fe Trail marker placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. It appears to be in the northwest corner of old Pawnee Rock, at the western end of Bismark Avenue. Larry Mix sent this photo.

[March 4]   Larry Mix is asking for our help with another bit of Santa Fe Trail history -- specifically the Daughters of the American Revolution trail marker that now sits at the entrance to Pawnee Rock State Park.

Here's what Larry, of the Santa Fe Trail Research Center in St. John, wrote:

"In the early 1906 DAR book I have on where the markers are set it states that it sat "At northwest corner Block 25, city of Pawnee, Barton County." Would that be where it is now?

"The reason we were asking about the DAR marker is that we have a photo of this marker and it doesn't match with where it is at now. If you look at the way it sits now, in this photo the Rock should be in the background but it isn't. Also the fence don't match any of the fences that are shown in early photo of the Rocks entrance, the corner is wrong.

"Guess inquiring minds just want to know! Thanks for your help anyway, some day we will get it figured out, maybe."

Northwest corner of Pawnee Rock, in the 1902 plat of the city. The DAR marker originally was in Block 25, very close to where the Santa Fe Trail ran after it passed the Rock and headed toward what is now Larned.

In the park's early days -- it was purchased in 1908 to become a park -- the monument was emplaced at the entrance. Larry Smith sent this photo.

Two men pose next to the DAR monument, most likely after it was dedicated in May 1912. Many elms were planted along the road to the park not long before the dedication. This photo was found in a batch taken around 1914, according to Don Ross.

On March 7, 1931, the DAR monument is visible at the extreme right of this photo of the park entrance. Larry Smith sent this photo.

The DAR marker in January 2005, tucked in by a lilac bush.

A close-up view of the marker in August 2006.

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Muscle memory

My ski trail through the birch and spruce forest and bog near Fairbanks.

[March 4]   The temperature warmed up to the 20s yesterday afternoon, so I put on my fleece shirt and pants and went skiing after work. It was the first time I had skied in a couple of years, and to my proud regret I used lots of muscles -- triceps, for example -- that don't get used in normal behavior. I didn't fall down in an hour of sweaty exercise.

Because it was also the day of the big basketball game between the beloved Jayhawks and K-State, I had to think of basketball practice at Pawnee Rock junior and senior high. We ran wind sprints -- from one baseline to half court and back, then all the way to the other baseline, then to half court and back, then all the way back to the first baseline. And we did the duckwalk.

The duckwalk is walking while you're squatting. It's a method for improving balance and thigh muscles, and it was effective at making boys walk the hallways like very sore ducks for the first week of practice.

That's how I expect to feel today, and with every ungainly step I will happily remember those long-ago afternoons in T-shirts and cotton shorts.

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Ring around the monument

A photo from the Christian Schultz family book shows the monument in 1914.

The Pawnee Rock spire, apparently before the pavilion was built in 1920.

Visitors to the park see the sights; the monument has its "ring. The year is not shown.

The wreckage in 1938.

[March 3]   Our friend Larry Mix of St. John (operator of the Santa Fe Trail Research site) wrote to ask to have a bit of Pawnee Rock history clarified. I wish I could do it myself, but I can't find the info and I'm hoping that one of you will have the answer.

The monument was erected in 1912, and it was tall and fair. In 1938, a storm knocked down the monument and broke it. Now there's a smaller spire decorated with illustrations.

At some point, a "ring" appeared around the spire. It wasn't there in the beginning, and it's not there now.

So here's what we need to know: When was the ring installed? And why?

Also, when were the carvings added?

If you know, please share with us.

The monument in 2006.

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Two views of Pawnee Rock

[March 2]   Larry Smith was browsing through the Kansas Memory site operated by the historical society and came across rare stereoscopic images of Pawnee Rock.

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Tomato stress

[March 2]   One recent summer when I was passing through Great Bend, I bought tomatoes and a watermelon at the farmers market in the library parking lot. The tomatoes smelled like they were fresh off the vine, because they were. I photographed the tomatoes because I was so happy to have them.

The tomatoes lasted a day, because I ate them right away.

Last night I bought tomatoes at Wal-Mart. I picked up a couple and gave 'em the sniff test, and they smelled just like red baseballs and felt like it too. Then I settled for the even-more-costly tomatoes with the vine attached, because the vine had a whiff of tomato about it.

The tomatoes lasted a day, because they rotted.

My advice -- and you can take this to the bank -- is to buy tomatoes that have never seen a shipping container.

When I was a kid, I loved tomatoes but by the end of July I was tired of weeding the garden and watering the vines. Now I wish very much to have another tomato summer.

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See the children run

[March 1]   I was zipping along through the countryside yesterday when up popped "Fields of Gold," a song I hadn't heard for quite a while. I tend to get wistful on 6-hour drives anyway, and this time the song seemed especially poignant.

The song is about lovers walking through barley, and it's easy for a Kansas kid to switch out the type of grain for one we're much more familiar with.

A field of ripened grain is a beautiful sight -- undulating waves of cereal wealth, the staff of life, money on the hoof for Pawnee Rock's farmers, the very color of wedding rings -- and worthy of lovely songs. Still, something makes us remember our particular field as from a distance, so that the rows upon rows of wheat blend into an ocean of color.

A field of gold is a sensuous metaphor for longing, although you've no doubt stood in a wheat field and have a more learned point of view. Unless you're completely inconsiderate of the farmer's efforts, you look down as you stride, leaving shoeprints in the tan dust and walking as much as possible in the furrows. Wheat up close is clumps of thigh-high dry shafts topped with heads reaching out with prickly fingers. The sunbeaten grain itself is encased in fibrous husks, and the grain is hard to our bite.

The lessening of wonder is an adult thing, I suppose, and it comes as we trade our sense of mystery for the certainty of knowledge.

But can't you and I still see ourselves as youngsters on the old farm, frolicking in the wheat before supper? In my longing for the happy moments of childhood, I like to think that I can play in fields of gold with both my heart and my eyes wide open.

Here are the final lines of "Fields of Gold," which was written by Sting and recorded (in the version I have) by the late Eva Cassidy:

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold.

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Sell it

Advertise here to an audience that's already interested in Pawnee Rock:

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