GLASS INSULATORS OF THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL TELEGRAPH
A case in point. It seems to me that the Native Americans must have been a rather intelligent people. They were able to survive, and even thrive, in an environment that does not forgive mistakes easily. They were people that lived with nature and both adapted their surrounding to themselves and adapted their lifestyles to the surrounding environment. In the 1800's the United States was expanding west towards California. The best communication time was on the Butterfield Stage which took an average of twenty-two days to deliver mail in either direction. When the Pony Express came into existence the time was cut to about ten days. When the transcontinental telegraph was completed 1861 a message could be transmitted coast to coast in a matter of minutes. In the composite picture above the top portion shows an old telegraph key and two blue glass insulators that were used on the poles. It was indicated that the Indians would take the insulators from the poles and make decorative adornments for themselves. So to hide the insulators from the sight of the Indians wooden caps were placed over the glass. Out of sight and out of mind. On the bottom left is is an original and on the bottom right is a reproduction. It seems to me that it would take any person about one second to realize where the glass insulator was hidden. There must have been another reason for the covers. But as it was told the story is interesting. These and many more displays are at the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph Missouri.
Every once in a while I find out that information that I have gotten from some source is not as accurate as is desirable. I have been telling people that the Tiffany stained glass windows in the Presbyterian church in Topeka are the only Tiffany windows west of the Mississippi. When I was in Topeka I visited them again, something I may do often. I was fortunate enough to visit when a former minister of the church was giving a tour to a group of school students. He related that he had in the past told the same story about the windows to tours that he gave. During one of the tours a man told him that there were two other churches west of the Mississippi that Tiffany windows could be seen. One was in St. Joe, Missouri and the other in Dubuque, Iowa. We went to see the windows in St Joe. They are from the early career of Tiffany, while the ones in Topeka are from late in his career. The St. Joe windows are heavily painted in the tradition of the stained glass window makers of the 1880's in America and Europe. While they are not the quality of the Topeka windows they are still fabulous. We had hoped to see the ones in Dubuque as we headed east, but things just did not work out that way. Next trip maybe.
EARLY TIFFANY STAINED GLASS WINDOW IN ST. JOE, MISSOURI
I can tell already that I should have written a POTR about two weeks ago. There has been so much happening that there is not going to be room to tell you all that I would like in this issue. I have been writing some in the Uncle Duck's Tracks blog. One big objective in our routing was to go through Sioux Falls, SD so that Erma could get her drivers license renewed. It took her almost ten minutes to get the renewal done. Look in the machine to verify that eyes are still functioning and stand in front of the blue screen till the light flashes to take a picture. Then in three minutes the new license is ready and we head out the door. But to do this we had to drive 1200 miles. There must be a reason besides "we have done it that way for sixty years." At least we do not have to renew for another five years.
Near Sioux Falls, but in the state of Minnesota, is Pipestone National Monument. I have wanted to visit there ever since I first read about it several years ago and I finally had time to get there. For three to four thousand years the Native Americans have quarried a red catlinite rock or pipestone which they carved into sacred effigies, religious items and medicine pipes or prayer pipes, which the white man called peace pipes. The pipestone was not only used by local tribes but was traded from coast to coast. The Indians considered the quarry area to be sacred and even warring tribes suspended any hostilities while in the area. When we were there it seemed to be an almost sacred place. The weather could not have been better in any way. There was wildlife to be seen and heard and flowers blooming in the area. There was even enough water in the stream to create a beautiful waterfall. The quarries are only worked in the late summer when there is less water that gathers in the pits. If there had been Indians actually quarrying it would have been great. There were two natives that were demonstrating the carving of objects . They were using modern methods and tools but it was still enlightening to watch.
A WATERFALL AT PIPESTONE NAT. MON. IN PIPESTONE MINNESOTA
We went on to Wisconsin Dells and met with some people from Bentsen Grove in Texas. Since they have lived in the area for a long time we had tour guides and good tour advice. There is so much to see there that we will have to go back some time. Unfortunately it was not all good. Our friend for nearly twenty years and travel companion for all our travels, our cat, died the first evening that we were there. While it was not unexpected it was still a loss. At least a few dozen times a day we look for him to come greet us or to be laying in some of his usual spots. We lost a very good friend. and companion.
In the 1700's the French made maps of the area and called it the Dalles of the Ouisconsin river. Meskousing was the name that the Native American called the river. As you can see it is a simple step to Wisconsin Dells. It is a land of great forests with high rock formations. One of the rock formations is called Standing Rock. In 1865 H. H. Bennett established a photo studio in town selling local photos and postcards to the tourist. He also developed a stop action shutter for a camera and is credited with taking the first ever stop action photo. He had his son Ashley jump from the main formation over to Standing Rock and got a picture of him in midair on the thirteenth jump. Today at the same place during a boat tour of the Upper Dells the same scene is reenacted with German Shepard dogs. It really is a short jump for them. Thanks to a camera that can take five pictures per second I was able to get the shot below. This is only one of many tall cliffs, formations, slot canyons and sights to be seen.
A GERMAN SHEPARD DOG JUMPING BACK FROM STAND ROCK
We are now in Rochester, NY and will spend time here visiting our Daughter and seeing the friends that we have made here over the past ten or fifteen years. There are a couple places that I would like to visit and some things that I want to do. So it should be a fun time. It has rained more in the three days we have been here than we have seen since some time last summer. It has not rained a lot but we simply have not seen rain beyond a heavy sprinkle for months at a time. After a rainy day tonight is very foggy and that is something that we have not seen a lot of either. We joke about it being a cold winters day. The different parts of the country sure have different types of weather. This is not bad though.
Till later this is Doug of
Peace On The Road
