Yesterday, the boys and I took a little trip, just east of the town where we live, to the town of Wallace, KS to learn a bit about the history of our quaint community. Our field trip took us to an amazing museum located right here in our county. Right in our own backyard is an amazing wealth of history.
If you haven't ever been there or maybe haven't been in a while, you must go.
Wallace is located within Wallace County. In its hay day, Wallace, KS was the home of a booming Midwest community. With a population of 3400 in 1869, the town of Wallace was actually bigger than Denver at that time. It is the location of the historic Fort Wallace, which served as a headquarters for US military ordered to protect travelers that were making their way west. This was a time when things were very volatile between the government/people and the Native Americans. Battles between the two happened all the time. Many soldiers, settlers and Native Americans lost their lives in this land.
As of the 2010 census, the population is a mere 57 people. Though this is a small community, it is big with history..
To be honest, I thought the boys might be a little bored with all this history. Well, to my surprise, I was wrong! Each of them were excited by the treasures they found around every corner! I had a hard time keeping up with them shouting "Momma, look at this!" "No, come look at this!" I guarantee you will feel like a little kid in this place too. There are so many ooohs and aaahs that you could spend all day and not really see all the treasures within this museum.
Though both of my boys were riveted by the old clothes, guns, and Native American artifacts, they were shocked to see the prehistoric bones from a time gone by. I have to admit, I was a little excited to see them too. Here are a few of my favorites:
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| It is hard to picture a Woolly Mammoth roaming the prairies out here, but here lies a hip joint to prove that they once called this land their home. |
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| I must admit that when I saw this jawbone of a prehistoric marine reptile, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that this beast wasn't roaming our water ways today. Those teeth just scream danger! |
This museum housed so many different things that I had a hard time trying to decide what to highlight and what was my favorite part of our day. Neither of my boys seemed to have trouble choosing their favorite area though.
Sam, my middle son, found his first love at this museum. Trains. The Kansas Pacific Railroad was the line that ran through this area long ago. The museum now houses the original Railroad Depot that was located in Weskan, which is within our county as well. This was such a unique building with lots of interesting things to see.
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| Look at that happy face! He was just loving this moment. Ready to buy his ticket! |
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| My boy feeling like the king of the world! |
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| This is the Railroad Depot. They moved this building 20 miles from its original location to the museum grounds. |
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| We found a little piece of TN right here in NW Kansas. We arrived 149 years and one day later than this soldier's ticket. |
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| Sharon Springs Fire Department. How sweet is that! |
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| The boys and I loved being able to see these wagons. It made your imagination run with ideas about how life must have been traveling in these across the country. |
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| I thought this was a really special find. The Hennick family is still going strong here in Wallace County after all this time! |
What a great day we had taking a walk through time. We have so much more to tell about Wallace, but the heat was taking us over and our feet were getting tired. I encourage you to come take a walk and let Wallace, Ks tell you its tale. It is one that will spin you through time from dinosaurs to battlefields.
You'll know you are there when you drive on HWY 40 in Kansas and spot the wired buffalo. He's famous around these parts!
For more information about Fort Wallace, check out their website at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ftwallace.com/