Midway between the windmill farm and Bill Bunting's studio, to the east of US 287, was
Two Buttes. Like Pike's Peak, it is a landmark cowboys would have used to figure out "where the heck are we, and which way is the watering hole?"
Outside of Dodge City, KS the Santa Fe Trail splits, with a shortcut called the Cimmaron Cutoff branching southwest, and Two Buttes seems to halve the distance between the two routes. "How fer is it?"/ mileages are deceiving in flat areas, one could imagine a cattle drive or wagon train in a dust storm suddenly seeing Two Buttes on the horizon and realizing "whoa, we've strayed way off course"....
Behind me, La Junta was a major point on the main route of the Santa Fe Trail, US 287 was the north/south connection of Amarillo to Yellowstone, and Bill being a motorcycled evangelist, his recommendation for crossing the length of Oklahoma was Highway 3, a little over 600 miles. (I ended up taking about 2/3 of his advise, because my Texas stunt and following the wind to Elk City put me on a different path in the middling part).
When Bill looked at the maps of my routes thus far, he liked the idea that I was hitting so many important towns in the region, like Council Grove, Kansas, which is the main jumping off point of the Santa Fe Trail, you could see the wagon ruts at the one of the most documented crossings. This natural rockbed crossing over the Neosho River can best be seen from the north side of the Neosho River Bridge on Main Street.
It probably would take months of conversations with Bill to find out all the heritage he had been accumulating, and when he mentioned how Council Grove had been settled by Seth Hays, Daniel Boone's grandson, I brought up MY Dan'l Boone historical connection, with a direct ancestor in the pre-1776 days. Isaac Crabtree was with Daniel's son when he was killed by Indians, becoming the hothead with the King of England putting a reward for his capture, and who pretty much chased off/p*ssed off Boone, causing Boone to commence his exile years.
We traded a lot of information, plus swapped souveniers. He gave me two last recommendations, the best steakhouse in Springfield and avoid stopping in
Campo.
So, I'm living large. After the
Baca Weekly Don Quixote interview and the steak dinner, I pull into the Shell station on the outskirts of town, notice two red vans from Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana) doors open with all sorts of scientific gizmos on display. Students are playing hacky sack and tossing frisbees, and two teachers are sitting in beach chairs under umbrellas.
My interest is piqued, I roll up and ask "
What's up?". It is only then that I see the "
School of Meteorology" decals.
They are
Tornado Chasers, in other words. When I tell them they were a day late, that the storm of the century passed over me, "the Rain Man", west of Lamar, they said no, they calculated that they were sitting in the center of a 100 mile area which "guaranteed some interesting tornadic possibilities".
I'm pointing at the calmish, puffy clouds and giving my first hand "Rain Man" experiences, arguing "I followed your storm, and it left Lamar early this morning". One of the professors took me into the van to look at his million dollar radar. He pointed out the clouds that hit me that morning, but punched in a few commands and showed me a greenish oblong thing. "That is what WE are following, should arrive in 2-3 hours,
moving at 25-30 miles per hour."
Not wearing a watch, nor carrying a compass, avoiding newspapers and only having a cheap Time/Life portable radio for campsite entertainment, this "inside information" seems important. But I am stuck, in a due south direction, with just enough time to hit Boise City, OK and then head east on Highway 3.
I left them with my thanks for the heads up, and was soon in the Comanche Natural Grassland, take a couple of pix of buffalo (I estimate 200 staring at me as I passed) and a quick "
tweaking the nose of Campo".
Quote:
The Town of Campo is a Statutory Town located in Baca County, Colorado, United States. The population was 150 at the 2000 census. The town is situated on the Great Plains, straddling U.S. highway 287.
Campo has recently achieved notoriety as a small town speed trap, due to the hiring of a policeman to raise revenue from U.S. highway 287 travelers. The presence of a policeman, a judge and a jail in a town of 150 inhabitants has raised corruption and racketeering suspicions. Motorists receiving speeding citations have reported being threatened with jailing or having their licenses suspended, while at the same being told that if they pay an additional fine to the judge, the ticket will not be entered in the system.
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I crossed into Oklahoma and found the intersection with the Cimmaron Cutoff. There was a covered picnic table at the stop,
AND a 2 foot gap in the fence. I wheel Rocinante through the gap, and wander about 3 miles down a dusty track, and find myself between two hills, where I saw 1860-70's pioneer graffitti scratched into the rocks.
This was the most treacherous part of the shortcut...
Quote:
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The other main branch cut southwest to the valley of the Cimarron River near the town of Ulysses and Elkhart then continued toward Boise City, Oklahoma, to Clayton, New Mexico, joining up with northern branch at Fort Union. From Watrous, the reunited branches continued southward to Santa Fe. This route was generally very hazardous because it had very little water. In fact, the Cimarron River was one of the only sources of water along this branch of the trail. Many people died because of the lack of water.
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(I am at the limit of 5 pictures, and two important photos taken between those hills are very necessary to finish this episode......they would be the very LAST photos taken THAT day, fersure)
With the idea of
"Treacherous", and my morning duties calling, this is a good spot to leave you in cliffhanging fashion.....(sorry).