Pets

 

Sightseeing

I decided last year that in my lifetime, I want to see all of the Smithsonian museums in my lifetime. 

I live in Kansas, so getting to them doesn't happen very often. However, in the meantime I can take in all of the little museums around me, which I plan to do this year. 

I think being a tourist in and around your town is an excellent thing to do every once in a while. 

On Friday, I played tourist. My first stop was the Dalton Gang Hideout in Meade, Kansas and my second stop was Dorothy's House and the Land of Oz attractions in Liberal, Kansas. 

I'm exhausted right now from a day of travels, so I'm going to borrow from Wikipedia here.

And notice the photo I took of the 'Overseer of the Poor' book. 

Ha!

The Dalton brothers were a gang of 19th century robbers who stole from banks and trains. Historian Richard White has made the case that the Daltons were "social bandits"; that is, outlaws enabled by supporters who either actively helped them evade capture, kept silent about what they knew, or otherwise abetted the criminals. Such social bandits, White wrote, lived openly in communities who accepted them as friends and neighbors.^[5]

The property being named as the hideout of Eva's outlaw brothers stems from a local legend that arose in the 20th century, claiming the brothers used it as a place of refuge.^[6] The brothers were known to have been in Meade in the years prior to their crime spree that began in 1890. No supporting documentation of their presence in Meade after that date has thus far surfaced.^[7][4]

One of the earliest mentions of the legend came from the Wayne Settle family who owned the home in the 1930s, and supposedly had no prior knowledge of the walled-off tunnel. They recounted a visit from a stranger who claimed to have been part of the Dalton Gang, and was able to direct them to the tunnel's entrance.^[4] When the property was being developed into a tourist attraction in 1940, two individuals provided oral accounts that added to the lore. Local newspaper publisher Frank Fuhr claimed that he had used a telescope to watch the gang members enter, but never exit, the barn.^[4] Belle Mackey gave an interview to the local newspaper alleging that she and her husband unknowingly had Emmett Dalton as their ranch guest for two days in 1892, without asking his name or any other details. She claimed it was only after seeing Dalton's picture in a newspaper over a year later, that she believed he had been their visitor.^[6]