Watkins Woolen Mill State Park, Lawson, MO

Where in the world is Ginger? I volunteered and was selected for a supervisory detail in the Kansas District Office for the month of April. The detail was full of challenges and many rewards. The following posts are photograph stories of my adventures in Kansas and Missouri. I'm going to start the posts with a woolen mill located in Lawson, MO. After taking the guided tour through the mill, I have a greater appreciation for textiles and SHEEP.

"The Watkins Woolen Mill is among the best preserved example of a mid-19th century woolen mill in the United States. Its variety of machinery for preparing, spinning, and weaving--some of it modified during its life at the mill to improve its performance--presents an unsurpassed cross-section of textile technology at that time and is the finest collection of early textile machines in situ in North America. The mill was designed and built by Waltus L. Watkins (1806-1884), a machinist and master weaver from Frankfort, Kentucky."

SHEEPIES!!!

The woolen mill is the brick building in the back.

Ken next to the mill's wood-fire boiler. The boiler provided 100-pounds of pressure to power the mill's 60-horsepower slide-valve steam engine that ran the mill's looms and machines.

During the process, wool is fed into a picker, which prepares the wool for carding by pulling it apart into small, fluffy bits.

Me carding wool by hand.

Carding machines untangle individual fibers and reduce sheets of wool into a continuous strand (it was explained that these machines were adjusted while running and led to missing fingertips).

Wool spun into yarn.

Yarn ready to be woven into cloth.

Ken working the cloth press.

The general store within the mill.

The Scalehouse - wagonloads of wool and grain were weighed prior to going to the factory or the gristmill.

Liberty Jail

Visiting the Liberty Jail was a humbling experience. I'd remembered bits of the story from Church, but seeing the restored jail and hearing the history was very moving (I owe a big thanks to Matt for recommending the visit). Liberty Jail is the place that the prophet leader, Joseph Smith, along with Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Alexander McRae, Lyman Wight, and Caleb Baldwin spent the bitter winter of 1838-39 unjustly charged with treason while their faithful families and church were being forced from Missouri.

The jail was built in 1830-1833 in Liberty, Missouri, made up of a combination of wood and rock walls four-feet thick; two levels; and inner dimensions of 14-feet long, 14.5-feet wide, and 6.5-feet tall. On October 27, 1838, Lilburn W. Boggs, governor of the state of Missouri, issued the "Extermination Order", demanding Mormons leave the state and the militia was sent. The order was formally rescinded in 1976.

The men entered the jail on December 1, 1838.

The jail had two stories, and Joseph and his colleagues were confined to the bottom level referred to as the dungeon.

While imprisoned, Joseph Smith wrote epistles to his loved ones and to members of the Church; portions of which are contained in Doctrine and Covenants sections 121-123.

The six prisoners suffered miserable conditions, including the coldest part of the Missouri winter, no bedding (only a rock floor covered with straw), course filthy food, hunger, and sickness.

On April 6, 1839, the Church leaders departed Liberty Jail and were allowed to escape. On April 22, 1839, the men joined their families in Illinois.

Bo Lings

Mom and I met up with some of my colleagues for Dim Sum at Bo Lings. This was the first time we've eaten Dim Sum, so we allowed the others to order... what an event in eating. My favorites were the shrimp dumplings and the custard tarts. I tried chicken feet... yeah, not a fan.

Farhana and husband, Kevin.

Huy and Susie.

Me and Mom.

Check out that spread of food - good grief!

The James Farm

In Kearney, MO we visited the James Farm where both Jesse and Frank James were raised by their mother Zerelda. The house is the location of the Pinkerton Detective Agency raid in 1875. The Pinkerton bomb killed Jesse's half-brother, Archie, and severed his mother's right hand. The museum located on the farm contains Jesse's original coffin lid, the picture he was straightening when he was shot, and a variety of items owned by Jesse.

[Info. Note: "Home of Rev. Robert James, Baptist minister who came here in 1840. Son Jesse was born here and with his brother Frank, were involved with the Bushwhackers in criminal escapades until Jesse was killed in 1882. Frank surrendered and lived with his family."]

The original location of Jesse's grave can be seen from the porch of the house.

Replica of Jesse's original headstone. The museum contains what is left of Jesse's original tombstone. Because of vandals chipping away at the tombstone, what has survived is a small piece of the base, as well as the footstone.

In 1902, Jesse James was re-interred next to his wife in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Kearney, MO.

Steamboat Arabia

A museum that shouldn't be missed in Kansas City, MO is the Steamboat Arabia Museum. After sinking in 1856, the steamboat was excavated in 1988 (132 years later) uncovering preserved frontier supplies - the world's largest collection. The only casualty during the sinking was a solitary, forgotten mule.

The steamboat Arabia measured 171-feet long and was capable of carrying 222-tons.

Preserved 6-ton stern section of the boat.

Preservation lab.

Ken next to the snag that sank the steamboat Arabia (recovered during the excavation).

Bob Hawley, part of the team that worked to salvage the boat. The wreck was found one-half mile from the river's edge and buried 45-feet underground. 20 irrigation wells were installed around the boat to drop the water level in the ground. During the excavation, the ground water was removed at a rate of 20,000 gallons-per-minute, 24 hours-per-day.

Ken with Bob.

Historic City Market

I so wish our farmers market was like Kansas City's City Market. The market place was so full of life... produce, flowers, spices, shops/street vendors, restaurants... they have it all.