Days 24 and 25 - In and Around Chamberlain and Oacoma (31/1,038 miles)

Lewis and Clark arrived on the west shore of the River in what is now Oacoma on September 16, 1804, feeling wet, cold and exhausted from battling hard wind and rain for several days.  They stayed for three days to rest and dry out.

I very much can relate to how they felt.  I've spent he past couple of days resting, camping and riding around to see the sights in this area.

The hills around this town provide magnificent views (one of which is featured on the cover of my guide book, "Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail").  

 

The most interesting attractions in this area are the magnificent Akta Lakota Indian Musem and Cultural Center, and a rest stop off the freeway containing an enormous statue of a symbolic native American woman named Dignity and an interesting Lewis and Clark Museum.

 

I have now reached a logical stopping point for Part I of my journey along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Chamberlain is just off the Interstate, so it is an easy place to meet someone.   I have many commitments throughout the summer so I'm not exactly sure when I will start Part II of the trip.  Part II will require a great deal of planning because it will involve a lot of very challenging terrain in extremely remote regions with few resources for cyclists.  Might be a good segment to have someone sag for me.  Anyone interested?  :-)

 

Day 23-Platte, SD to Chamberlain, SD (57/1,007 miles)

It seems like everywhere I go I attract a crowd!  :-)

In this part of the country, the Missouri River effectively divides the Midwest from the West.  East of the River there is still a lot of farmland.  The west side of the River is mainly ranch land.

The town of Chamberlain is a seemingly prosperous little community that caters to sportsmen, particularly fishermen and pheasant hunters.    There is a large and pretty reservoir alongside the downtown area that attracts a lot of recreational boaters in the warm weather months.

The dams that have been built along the river in the last 60 years have fundamentally changed the character of the river that Lewis and Clark traveled.  The Army Corps of Engineers built the dams to help control flooding and works hard to maintain a navigable channel for barge traffic beneath Yankton, the site of the first dam.

Despite all the Army Corps of Engineers' calculations and hard work, there was serious flooding below the dams in 2011.  Everyone I talked to insisted that the floods were caused by errors in judgement (I am paraphrasing  here) by the Army Corps of Engineers. Somebody, of course, has to take the blame when bad things happen...

In 1904,  the Missouri River was a meandering river with many channels, sandbars and backwaters that was constantly flooding and changing course.  The current was not nearly as swift as it is today.  

This, I guess, is South Dakota's counterpart to Paul Bunyan.  Good to see that he is a cyclist!

 

(Backup) Day 22-Pickstown, SD to Platte, SD (37/950 miles)

On August 26, 1804, slightly downstream from Yankton, Pvt George Shannon, the youngest member of the Corps of Discovery at 18, was dispatched to recover the Expedition's two pack horses, which had wandered away.  Apparently he did not think he would be gone long because he did not think to bring ammunition for his gun. He recovered the horses and thinking he was downstream from the expedition, he headed north.  In fact, he was upstream from his comrades.

Shannon was finally reunited with the expedition near here on September 11, 1804.  He nearly starved.  While lost he ate only a rabbit he managed to shoot with an ammunition substitute and some grapes.

In a remote area north of Sioux City I missed a turn onto a road that was "unmarked."  Like Shannon, I eventually realized I had gone too far and turned around. It cost me about 10 extra  miles of riding, Unlike Shannon, I did not miss any meals!

I am now in the windswept plains.  This time of year winds are predominantly out of the north or northwest (the direction in which I am riding).   In a couple of months the grasses in the verdant landscape you see in this picture will be turning brown,  it will be much dryer and hotter, and the predominant winds will be out of the south/southeast.  

 

It is not hard to imagine large herds of bison roaming the grasslands in this part of the country.

Day 21-Springfield , SD to Pickstown, SD (47/913 miles)

The only thing I'll say about the weather today is that it was so horrible that someone offered to put my bike in their pick up truck and take me to Pickstown.  It was tempting, but I politely declined.

The Corps of discovery lived  off the land. Most of the men selected for the expedition were excellent woodsmen and hunters. Each day Lewis and Clark would designate a couple of men to hunt for wild game to feed the crew that night.  It was in this area that they bagged their first buffalo. Most of the men considered hunting a welcome alternative to rowing, poling, and pulling the boats.

The crew enjoyed a variety of wild game as well as fish they took from the river.  Deer had been especially plentiful to this point in their journey and thus their staple food was venison.  

Deer remain plentiful today.

 

Like the Corps of Discovery, I eat a lot of fish and other high protein food to fuel my travel.

As directed by President Jefferson, Lewis studied plant and animal life very carefully throughout the expedition and wrote extensively about it in his journal.  He and Clark took a keen interest in "barking squirrels", which we know today is prairie dogs.

Very close to Pickstown, Lewis and Clark poured water down a hole to flush out a prairie dog, which they caged.  Two months later Lewis sent the prairie dog, along with many other specimens he had discovered, back down river and on to Washington DC to President Jefferson. 

Day 20-Springfield, SD

I stayed in a motel last night because it is too cold and wet to camp. I woke up this morning to a cold, hard, driving rain that was supposed to continue most of the day and into the night.  Despite the miserable weather, I was tempted to take advantage of the unusual tailwind.  The forecast for tomorrow is for slightly colder temperatures, high 30s and low 40s, but less rain. The winds will be headwinds.

So I've been spending the day exploring the town. Springfield has a population of fewer than 800, but that doesn't include the 1200 inmates who are incarcerated in the prison here in town.

The prison is a most interesting story. Apparently it was the campus of the University of South Dakota at Springfield until The state decided to convert the school into a prison in the mid-80s.  Barbed wire was installed around the entire campus and the dormitories were converted to prison cells.  

Things at the new prison were going great until somebody got the bright idea that it should be a co-ed prison.  The resulting population increase was predictable.  So a couple years into that failed experiment, the women inmates were removed to another facility.

My motel apparently serves two large target markets - visitors to the prison and duck hunters.

An even more interesting discovery I made in this town is that there is a remarkable guy who, all by himself, is constructing a 72 foot aluminum sailboat.  It weighs over 60 tons.  He began work on it in 2002 and expects it to be completed in about two years.

The boat is alongside its owner's main business, which is a body shop.  He was kind enough to give me a personal tour and to answer my many questions.

As you can imagine, opinions among townspeople about this project vary greatly.  There are, of course, many doubters and detractors.  But there are a lot of people, including a lot of very knowledgeable sailors who have traveled long distances to see this boat, who believe he will be successful in his dream of launching it as an oceangoing to vessel.

Successful or not, I found this gentleman's determination and perseverance to be inspirational. His saying is that, "Noah's Arc was built by an amateur. The Titanic was built by professionals."

For those interested in learning more about this fascinating project and the visionary who is pursuing it, visit www.sailingdakota.com.

My day off in this little town has been one of the most enjoyable days thus far in my journey!

 

 

Day 19-Vermillion, SD to Springfield, SD (76/866 miles)

I am now entering an especially sparsely populated area of South Dakota, which requires careful planning in regard to supplies and daily destinations.  There are a lot of Native Americans in this region, just as there were when Lewis and Clark passed through in the late summer and early fall of 1804.

 

In 2003, a descendent of a chief of the Oto tribe donated to the Oklahoma historical society an 11 page manuscript purporting to be Clark's handwritten script of the speech that Lewis gave to a band of Yankton Sioux Indians at a council that took place at Calumet Bluff  on August 30, 1804. 

I obtained a copy of the manuscript from the Army Corps of Engineers visitor center in Yankton.  I have no way of authenticating this, but the fact that The pamphlet in which it was contained was produced and circulated by the National Park Service would seem to lend credibility.  The text of the speech was as patronizing as my earlier research has led me to believe.  As the following excerpt indicate, the tone of the speech was both promising and threatening:

"Do these things which the great Chief of the Seventeen great nations of America has commanded and you will be happy…"

"… one false step you should bring upon you the displeasure of your great father who could destroy you and your nation as the fire destroys and consumes the grass of the plains."

These guys apparently did not subscribe to the tenets later set forth in the Carnegie classic, "How to Make Friends and Influence People"!

To some extent, history repeated itself 200 years later when some Corps of Discovery reenactors came up the Missouri River to celebrate the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  They were not received at all well by the Native Americans in these parts.  

 

According to some guys I met here in Springfield with first-hand knowledge of the reenactment, it was a disaster. Apparently the ringleader, a teacher from Illinois, wanted to meet with as many Native Americans as possible along the way to educate them about solutions to their modern day problems.

By the time the reenactors arrived in Chamberlain, SD, a bit upstream from here, a mob of about 200 enraged Native Americans set out to burn the reenactors' replica of the keelboat.  They likely would have succeeded had they not been restrained by numerous law enforcement personnel.  

Eventually even the other reenactors reached the point where they had had enough of this guy. There was a mutiny and the crew of reenactors overthrew and dismissed their leader.

So, armed with all this information, I will be humbly and respectfully riding through several large Indian reservations over the next few days.

Day 18 - Vermillion, SD

Severe weather kept me in Vermilion all day, which gave me time to meet some wonderfully hospitable local residents and take in some fascinating sights.

On August 25, 1804, Lewis, Clark and seven othes from the Corps of discovery hiked to the top of Spirit Mound near Vermilion to check into reports from Native Americans that there were miniature people who shot deadly arrows inhabiting the mound.  They found nothing to substantiate those stories, but from the mound they were able to see for the first time something equally interesting to them - large herds of buffalo roaming the plains.

 

I spent the afternoon at the renowned National Music Museum on the campus of the University of South Dakota, where I learned that the jing tinglers, flu floopers, tar tinkers and who hoovers that Dr. Seuss wrote about do actually exist.

 

Finally, I was able to see the Missouri River much as it appeared to Lewis and Clark meandering through the plains.

 

(Backup) Day 17-Sioux City, IA to Vermilion, SD (59/790 miles)

Wedding anniversary celebrated; son graduated; and mother venerated!  Now I know why Lewis and Clark didn't want any married men on the expedition -- too many responsibilities at home!

Great to be out on the road again today.  Crossed into South Dakota, which is the sixth state I've ridden in so far on this tour (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota).

I am staying tonight with a warm showers host in Vermilion.  He is one of the few warm showers hosts  in South Dakota and I am fortunate he is here because there are severe thunderstorms forecast all night tonight and heavy rain all day tomorrow. He has been kind enough to offer me a bed in that house located just off the University of South Dakota campus that he is remodeling.  I plan to take the day off tomorrow and tour the famous music/musical instrument  museum at the University of South Dakota campus.

I passed the Lewis and Clark campsite in elk point, SD. It was here or near here that the Corps of discovery elected a new sergeant, Patrick Gass, an expert carpenter, to replace the deceased Sgt. Floyd.

It is interesting that the crew had an election, rather than some kind of an executive order from Lewis and Clark, to select the replacement sergeant.  It is believed to be the first US election held west of the Mississippi River and Clark's slave, York, was a accorded a full vote.

 

Gass was the last surviving member of the Corps of Discovery when he died in 1870, at the ripe old age of 98.  At age 91, he attempted to enlist to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

My warm showers host told me I should be careful of rattlesnakes when camping in central South Dakota. Duly noted.

Day 16 - Sioux City

My favorite Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center thus far is the one in Sioux City.  It is complete with lifelike talking figures and focuses on some of the interesting things that the Expedition experienced in and around Sioux City.

The first of many meetings between Lewis and Clark and top Indian chiefs took place in or near present day Sioux City.  Technically the first encounter with Indians was with some lower ranking Indians of the Oto-Missouri tribes in Council Bluffs on August 3, 1804.  Lewis and Clark urged them to summon the top chiefs to the meeting, but they were out hunting buffalo and didn't care to be bothered to come back for a meeting.  So Lewis and Clark went through a dress rehearsal with the lower ranking Indians.  The meeting did not go well.

Lewis went through his stock talking points, one of which was that the U.S. had purchased the land on which they were living and the "great white father"  (i.e., President Jefferson) wanted there to be peace among tribes and between Indians and white settlers.

It appears to have been largely one-way communication, but Clark made it clear in his journal that the Indians in attendance were not happy with the "peace' medallions and other gifts bestowed upon them by Lewis and Clark.  One of the gifts given to most or all of the Indians in attendance was a paper "certificate of good behavior," that one Indian tore up in apparent disgust.

Lewis repeated the spiel a couple of weeks later, on August 19, with the chiefs after they returned from hunting buffalo.  The reaction was similarly negative, but the disappointment may have been more with the gifts than the messages.

Coincidentally about the time of the second meeting with the chiefs, a deserter, Pvt. Moses Reed, was apprehended by a search party dispatched by Lewis and Clark and returned to camp.   Reed apparently felt he had had enough.  One night he stole a rifle and some ammunition and took off. Upon his caputure he was court martialed and found guilty of desertion.

Over the objections of the Indians, who did not believe in corporal punishment, Reed was sentenced to walking the gauntlet four times, meaning his fellow soldiers formed two parallel lines and pummeled him as he walked between them.    While that seems cruel by today's standards, I guess it was not unusual.  After all, he could have been sentenced to death.

I imagine that the execution of this punishment, dissatisfaction with the gifts, and a patronizing message combined to make a poor first impression on the Indians.

Speaking of desertion, I want to make it clear that I am not deserting this journey. But my wedding anniversary is on Friday, my son graduates from college (On Wisconsin!) on Saturday, and Mother's Day is Sunday.  This seems to be a good weekend for me to go home for a break!  I am leaving my bicycle and gear with a Warm Showers host and am renting a car in Sioux City so I can return to Minnesota for a few days.

See you next week!  

Day 15 - Mondamin, IA to Sioux City, IA (62/731 Miles)

Like the crew of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, I usually unpack all of my gear each night, sleep in a tent, and re-pack it in the morning.   Above is a photo of my not-so-stealthy campsite in a city park last night.

A few nights earlier I went to a local police station and asked an officer on duty at the desk whether he knew of a park or other place where I could inconspicuously set up my small tent at dusk with the understanding that I would be gone by the break of dawn.  Basically, "he just smiled, shook my hand, 'No' was all he said".  Having now had this experience a few times, I've decided that going forward I will beg forgiveness rather than ask permission.

I am a member of an international network of touring bicyclists known as Warm Showers that makes their showers, yards, etc. available to other members.  The website says there are over 89,000 of us worldwide and 42,000 of us are active.  I have been an active member for many years but no one has ever contacted me about camping in my yard.  A few nights ago I camped in the yard of a member in Atcheson, KS, and had a great time with my host.  Unfortunately, it is rare that a member happens to live where you want to camp.

In the evenings the Lewis and Clark crew would sometimes sit around a campfire and enjoy their ration of whiskey together.   Occasionally a guy would play the fiddle and the men would sing and dance. Given that I tend to travel alone, I seldom have a campfire and I sure don't sing or dance.  But if I am camping in or near a town and if I have time and energy, I sometimes find a local bar and have a drink with the locals.

A few nights ago in a small town I found myself seated at a barstool next to a couple of football coaches from the local small college.  One guy seemed a bit out of place -- an African American who stood 6'5" tall and weighed 325 lbs.  He had been a starting offensive lineman on a nationally prominent college football team and had just finished a brief stint in the NFL.  Like me, he was originally from the state of Michigan, and we had a great discussion.  He might very well be the biggest defensive secondary coach in college football!

My ride today ended in Sioux City, which celebrates Lewis and Clark's heritage more than any city I have ever visited.  That may be because a lot happened there on their trip upstream.

There were three sergeants on the Corps of Discovery, one of whom, the very popular Sgt. Charles Floyd, died in Sioux City from what is now believed to have been a ruptured appendix less than 100 days into the expedition.  The crew took his body up to a bluff and had a military funeral for him. They marked the grave with a stripped tree.  On the way back they stopped at the gravesite and found it had been disturbed, perhaps by wolves.  They reburied him.  Over the years his grave was disturbed multiple times by erosion and each time the people of Sioux City re-buried him.

Late in the 20th century, Sgt. Floyd's journal turned up in, of all places, in the Wisconsin state archives in Madison.  This generated renewed interest in Floyd and the expedition.  Shortly thereafter a statue that looks like a miniature Washington Monument was erected at his burial site.  Today it stands as a tribute not just to Floyd but also to the Louisiana Purchase and everyone on the Corps of Discovery.

Day 14 - Council Bluffs, IA to Mondamin, IA (54/669 miles)

I arrived at the Lake Manawa State Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa early last evening only to learn that the campground had closed at the end of last season and is not reopening this year.  Not that it mattered to me, but depending on who I talked to the reason for closure was either renovations or to appease angry neighbors who were annoyed by unruly campers.

Fortunately for me, One of those angry neighbors was out walking his dog when I arrived.  He saw how crestfallen I was and kindly offered to let me camp in his yard.

I started today by having a delightful breakfast with my niece, who is a student at Creighton in neighboring Omaha. But things went quickly downhill from there.

I got a flat tire on the outskirts of Council Bluffs.  A piece of metal, probably from a steel belted automobile tire, penetrated my tire and the tube.  I always say there's never a convenient time to get a flat tire, but this was as convenient a time as ever. There happened to be a bicycle shop just down the street.  I decided to take the opportunity to buy the most bulletproof tire they had in the unrealistic hope that this will be my last flat tire of the trip.

I'm extremely happy with how my new tire rides.   I think I feel about like Clark did after his crew put up the new mast!

The wind was pretty favorable most of the day, and I had plans to make it to a campground about 13 miles north of here. Unfortunately, late in the day the wind direction changed abruptly and I didn't want to risk having to ride in the dark against a very stiff headwind on a narrow 2-lane highway with no shoulder.  I rode all over this small town looking for an appropriately discreet place to pitch my tent and found nothing. So I am awaiting nightfall, at which time I will pitch my tent in a small city park under the cover of darkness. 

Oh, and by 5:00 p.m. today the temperature here had cooled off to  94°F!  My weather over the past two weeks has gone from 40° and rainy to this! The one constant throughout has been hard winds, mostly in my face.

Just another exciting day in the life of a bicycle tourist!

I've ridden about 50 miles of gravel roads and rough trails over the past two days without having any tire problems.

 

And then I follow the red brick road through Council Bluffs and get a flat!  :-)

 

Day 13-Peru, NE to Council Bluffs, IA (70/615 miles)

It didn't take long following the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition for Americans to begin moving west and settling in the newly acquired territories.  For some reason, however, the historic importance of the Lewis and Clark expedition seems to have been lost upon 19th century historians. The expedition was largely forgotten until the early part of the 20th century.

By the time the bicentennial rolled around, Louis and Clark had become full fledged American heroes and every American child learned from an early age of their heroic adventures in history classes in school.  Federal, state and local governments erected all kinds of monuments, statues, historical markers, and interpretive centers all along the route of the exhibition. Roadsigns are posted marking the Lewis and Clark Trail.  I have taken time to stop and explore everyone of them I have come across. 

 

Lewis and Clark interpretive center in Nebraska City, NE

 

Above, Lewis and Clark camped and left autographs here - Rulo, NE

Below, a replica of the keelboat (constructed for an IMAX movie made about the expedition) juxtaposed against my fully loaded bicycle.  The keelboat could carry approximately 15 tons of cargo, which is considerably more than my bike!

 

Day 12-Big Lake, MO to Peru, NE (50/545 miles)

The first 13 miles today I experienced something I have not experienced yet on this tour - a modest tailwind!!  It was wonderful! This must be what it feels like to ride an E-bike!  That changed from a tailwind to a crosswind when I turned to the north late this morning. Still, it was a welcome relief from the headwinds I have battled every day of this trip so far.

Lewis and Clark experienced almost no tailwinds to this point in their journey, which took them until early July to complete without the benefit of much help from tailwind. The crew on the keelboat was having to move the heavy boat upstream largely with the use of poles and oars.  They had with them to horses that would help man on the shores pull the key about when it became snagged in the mud and debris that tended to collect in the shallow waters on the sides of the river.

It was exhausting work, and as spring change the summer, the core of discovery had to take frequent breaks and rest days to recover from fatigue.

I think the Corps of Discovery must have held out the same kind of hope that I currently do for some tailwind. Over the past few days I have been riding along a bend in the river and watched as the flow of the river has changed from being predominantly west to east to being predominantly north to south.  

As they went through this bend, the Corps of Discovery took time to construct a new mast from a cottonwood tree.  An apparently sanguine Captain Clark specifically commented in his journal upon how beautiful the new mast was, noting how its color changed to a gorgeous red.

At this point in the journey, Clark was making copious notes in his journal about his observations.  This is fortunate because Lewis, the more literate and articulate of the two, wrote virtually nothing.  

No one is sure exactly why Lewis wasn't writing much during the spring and summer of 1804. Some historians have speculated that his writings from that period were lost. It is true that upstream from here there was an incident in which the keelboat on which the journals were kept nearly capsized.

More historians, however, attribute Lewis's lack of writing during this and other periods to periodic bouts with depression. It is known that his father suffered from depression and Jefferson was aware that Lewis also suffered from depression.

So what was Lewis doing around this. In the journey? Well, among other things, we know from what Clark wrote that he was continuing to climb the river bluffs notwithstanding his brush with death on the river bluffs a month earlier.

I made a side trip to a point in the river bluffs overlooking Fort Leavenworth.. This photo was taken in the general area in which we know that Lewis was exploring the bluffs.  This is likely similar to what Lewis saw from the tops of the bluffs in this region.

 

Traveling on the Glacial Hills Scenic Byway in Kansas and on remote roads and the Steamboat Trace trail in Nebraska the past couple of days has given me an opportunity to get a close look at that beautiful and fertile prairies of this region that so impressed Lewis and Clark.

 

There is a very old saying that a squirrel could travel from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Mississippi River without ever setting foot on the ground simply by jumping from tree to tree.  That same squirrel would be earthbound in Kansas and Nebraska!

Day 11-Atchison, KS to Big Lake, MO (53/495 miles)

Lewis and Clark encountered over two dozen different Indian tribes on their expedition.  It was at this point on the river where they thought they would have their first formal meeting with the Kansa tribe.  That meeting did not materialize because the Indians were hunting bison on the plains in early July 1804 when the expedition passed through this region.

President Jefferson had instructed Lewis and Clark to do everything possible to befriend the Indians.  In fact, he wanted Lewis and Clark to invite some of the important tribal leaders to visit Washington, DC.

Lewis and Clark often gave the Indians gifts, including medallions with the likeness of President Thomas Jefferson on them, tobacco, whiskey and blue beads.

The reception that Lewis and Clark received from the Native Americans varied from tribe to tribe. They often feared that the Indians would attempt to rob them.  Usually they were well received by the Native Americans, but later in their journey their fears of being robbed would prove justified.

Today I rode through the first of many Indian reservations I will pass through on my trip, that of the Iowa tribe in southeastern Nebraska.  Earlier in the day, I passed through Troy, Kansas, which is the location of a large wood carving honoring Native Americans by a gentleman who now  has created different carvings honoring Native Americans in all 50 states.

 

With a few exceptions,Federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction over activities that take place on Indian reservations. Law enforcement on the reservations is handled exclusively by tribal police. I once spoke with a cyclist who told me he had experienced problems on the Lewis and Clark trail with young Native Americans who tried to rob him while he was camping on reservation land.

 

I had that story in mind when I entered the reservation. The first thing I saw upon entering the reservation was a tribal policeman parked on the side of the road.  I went over to speak with him and he could not have been nicer!

 

Day 10-Platte City, MO to Atchison, KS (38/442 miles)

Whiskey played in important role on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Many evenings the crew would enjoy their ration of whiskey around the campfire.  Lewis and Clark also used whiskey as gifts to curry favor with Native Americans they encountered along the way.

At about this point in the journey, two privates on the expedition were standing guard at night when they decided to dip into the whiskey supply.  Bad idea. There was fear of being attacked and robbed by Indians in this area and guard duty was serious business.   Further, whiskey was a valuable and scarce commodity that was closely watched.  

The expedition discovery was a military exercise and the two were court-martialed and convicted. One of the privates was somewhat repentant so he received a sentence of merely 50 lashes on his bare back.  The other received a sentence of 100 lashes.

Today I passed through the town of Weston, MO, and decided that in keeping with the spirit of the expedition discovery I should sample the whiskey of the local distillery.

 

excelsior Springs, MO to Platte City, MO (52/404 miles)

In navigating their journey, Lewis and Clark relied heavily upon information they received along the way from Native Americans and French Canadian fur traders who traveled up and down the Missouri River. 

 I occasionally ask directions from locals, but rely mostly on Maps from Adventure Cycling.  The maps are incredibly precise and detailed. Below is a map of a portion of my route today.

 

As you will note, the Maps tend not to give you the most direct route between point a and B. But they do give you the safest and often most scenic route. On days like today I have to spend a fair amount of time navigating!

There are no mountains in Missouri, but there are lots of rolling hills.  some are pretty steep.  The past couple of days I have had to use my lowest climbing gear a number of times and have often found myself bumping up against 40 mph on the downhills. Yahoo!  You wouldn't think that would be the case by looking at the elevation chart on my map!

It rained again last night and all morning, so I explored the historic and charming town of Excelsior Springs.  In much of the 19th and 20th centuries, people came to Excelsior Springs from all over the Midwest and beyond seeking the curative affects of a variety of mineral waters from various springs around Excelsior Springs. 

The economy of Excelsior Springs boomed from this tourist business. In 1936 the Hall of Waters was constructed as a New Deal project in downtown Excelsior Springs. It was the collection point for all of the varieties of mineral waters from wells around Excelsior Springs, and it featured a mineral water swimming pool and all kinds of hydrotherapy and other spa treatment services, as well as a mineral water bar. Like many new deal projects it is still around today and it is a magnicent edifice.

 

This all came to a crashing halt in 1963 when a gentleman seeking a cure for his arthritis visited Excelsior Springs and a variety of other towns that touted curative effects from their mineral springs.  Not feeling cured and unhappy with the cost of treatment, the gentleman wrote a scathing feature story in the Saturday Evening Post debunking the myth that mineral waters contained curative qualities. 

But don't we still drink mineral water today thinking it is healthy?

excelsior Springs, MO to Platte city, MO (52/404 miles)

In navigating their journey, Lewis and Clark relied heavily upon information they received along the way from Native Americans and French Canadian fur traders who traveled up and down the Missouri River. 

 I occasionally ask directions from locals, but rely mostly on Maps from Adventure Cycling.  The maps are incredibly precise and detailed. Below is a map of a portion of my route today.

 

As you will note, the Maps tend not to give you the most direct route between point a and B. But they do give you the safest and often most scenic route. On days like today I have to spend a fair amount of time navigating!

There are no mountains in Missouri, but there are lots of rolling hills.  some are pretty steep.  The past couple of days I have had to use my lowest climbing gear a number of times and have often found myself bumping up against 40 mph on the downhills. Yahoo!  You wouldn't think that would be the case by looking at the elevation chart on my map!

It rained again last night and all morning, so I explored the historic and charming town of Excelsior Springs.  In much of the 19th and 20th centuries, people came to Excelsior Springs from all over the Midwest and beyond seeking the curative affects of a variety of mineral waters from various springs around Excelsior Springs. 

The economy of Excelsior Springs boomed from this tourist business. In 1936 the Hall of Waters was constructed as a New Deal project in downtown Excelsior Springs. It was the collection point for all of the varieties of mineral waters from wells around Excelsior Springs, and it featured a mineral water swimming pool and all kinds of hydrotherapy and other spa treatment services, as well as a mineral water bar. Like many new deal projects it is still around today and it is a magnicent edifice.

 

This all came to a crashing halt in 1963 when a gentleman seeking a cure for his arthritis visited Excelsior Springs and a variety of other towns that touted curative effects from their mineral springs.  Not feeling cured and unhappy with the cost of treatment, the gentleman wrote a scathing feature story in the Saturday Evening Post debunking the myth that mineral waters contained curative qualities. 

But don't we still drink mineral water today thinking it is healthy?

Day 8 - Higginsville, MO to Excelsior Springs, MO (57/352 miles)

The weather forecast said it would be "noticeably warmer". today and I noticed it was!  Even more noticeably, the winds died down quite a bit from yesterday.  I will enjoy it while I can.  The forecast for tomorrow is calling for rain and "noticeably" cooler.

Today was a fun, hilly ride through scenic terrain. Not much to report on the Lewis and Clark front on this stretch, but I witnessed some very interesting Civil War history.

I visited the battleground upon which the battle of Lexington took place in September 1861. The history of the Civil War in Missouri is an interesting one. It seems that in Missouri there effectively was a civil war within the Civil War.  Although Missouri was a officially a Union state, The Missouri State Guard was a strong confederate army that at the time was operating along the Missouri River.  Under command of General Price. The Missouri State Guard routed the Federal forces in the Battle of Lexington.  

The most interesting aspect of the battle was that the Missouri State Guard made advances by using large, impenetrable hemp balls for cover and rolling them toward the fort until the federal forces had expended all of their ammunition.

The Missouri legislature provided no leadership.  One group of state legislators was meeting separately and voting to secede from the Union while a second group of legislators met on their own and pledged allegiance to the Union.  

This sounds a lot like how the US Congress operates these days!

The divisions in Missouri still had not resolved themselves by 1863. Missouri sent thousands of troops to fight on both sides of the Battle of Vicksburg.  Even though Missouri was officially a Union state, one of the stars on  the Confederate flag represented Missouri.

The geographic division in Missouri seemed to be on somewhat of an an East – West basis. People in western Missouri, where there were more slaves, tended to support the Confederacy, and people in the East, particularly in St. Louis which had a large German population, tended to support the Union.

The photo below is of the Anderson House at the battle of Lexington, which later served as a hospital during the Civil War.

 

 

Day 7 - Marshall, MO to Higginsville, MO (33/295 miles)

My family saw the play "Wicked" in Minnesota yesterday.

I saw Wicked in Missouri today: constant headwinds from 19-29 mph (I literally had to pedal hard to get down hills); temperatures in low to mid-40s all day; spitting rain off and on; 30 miles on a  straight 2-lane highway with no shoulder and a posted speed limit of 60 mph (I wanted to go faster, but could only manage 6-7 mph); and I had to share the road with 18 wheelers all day.  
 

Lewis and Clark couldn't have had it any tougher than this!

I took refuge in a gas station and listened to a long string of motorists come in and complain about the high winds.  A couple of barbecue sandwiches perked me up! 

Forecast is for much better weather tomorrow and consistently improving weather all week.  The weather this weekend is supposed to be spectacular!