MONDAY
April 21, 2014
TRAVEL: Burlington to Frontier Campground, Waynesville,
OH. Left Burlington at 0510 CDT. Arrived Frontier Campground at 1520 EDT. 421.2 miles pulling a trailer. Traffic was average. Of course there was construction along the
way. Averaged 9.2 mpg pulling the loaded trailer. WEATHER high 50’s when I left – got up to the 70’s. Cloudy. This site has full hookups at $30/night – a deal - only 4 other sites occupied but lots of seasonal trailers on site.
TUESDAY April 22, 2014
7 Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP (7 of 401)
Dayton,
OH
“What dreams we have and how we fly” – Paul Laurence Dunbar
“What dreams we have and how we fly” – Paul Laurence Dunbar
Spent a little over 2.5 hours here. Very nice museum and a 30 minute film on the Wright Brothers. Part of the museum is dedicated to Paul Laurence Dunbar, a black poet and writer who grew up in Dayton with Oliver & Wilbur Wright. A ranger gave me a personal tour of the Wright Cycle Company house. Here a short history.
Oliver (1867-1912) & Wilbur (1871-1948) Wright never
went to college, they were inventors
-They started a printing business, then they built
bicycles.
-The bicycles used”
coaster” brakes
-1900 – 1901 they
went to Kitty Hawk to build and test gliders.
They kept meticulous notes on their experiments.
-1903 they built and
flew an airplane at Kitty Hawk. The
first successful flight lasted 12 seconds covering 120 feet. It took off on a track and could not turn.
-1904 – 1905 Back in
Dayton, they tinkered, talked, tested and crashed. They built and tested their designs in a wind
tunnel. In October 1905 were staying
aloft and going in circles for 39 minutes and 24 miles.
The rest, really is history.
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| Paul Laurence Dunbar House |
I drove to the Paul Laurence Dunbar house. I first learned about Dunbar by taking a Black Literature course back in the late 60’s. They have a 8 minute film about Dunbar on the second floor of the Aviation Heritage Visitor Center.
National Museum of the United States Air Force – Wright-Patterson AFB. First of all the Wright appears obvious but the Patterson . . . I believe it’s named after a guy named Patterson, who invented the cash register and founded the National Cash Register Company.
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| National Museum of the Air Force The Administration/IMAX Building is to the right. 4 huge hangers you can see 2 of them left. There's one of every US military plane in here, including a B52 and a B1 and a trainer Space Shuttle. |
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Bockscar the B29 that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki
|
The last survivors of the Doolittle Raid opened the bottle of cognac last year here, in November 2014.
I never got to golf at the air base . . . . this museum is a
gem. It is huge. If there was ever a US military plane flown,
it is here. Just amazing. Done very well. It could easily be a full day, including two
IMAX films, that I didn’t have time to see.
I took a tour that lasted 3 hours that was given by one of the museum
volunteers. The to the BX and
Commissary. I got back to the trailer
about 7:15pm. One thing about eastern
time is that the daylight lasts longer.
WEDNESDAY
April 23, 2014
WEATHER cold morning woke up it was 36 degrees & clear,
eventually got to mid 50’s sunny some wind
8 HOPEWELL
CULTURE NHP (8 of 401) Chillicothe, OH
This is about an hour drive west of where I’m staying. The Hopewell were Native American mound builders who lived in this area between 200 BC – 500 BC. A great film at the Visitor Center “Mysteries of the Ancients.” The museum is small but in reality, an art museum of the Hopewell. Exquisite craftsmanship, especially with the mica.
This is about an hour drive west of where I’m staying. The Hopewell were Native American mound builders who lived in this area between 200 BC – 500 BC. A great film at the Visitor Center “Mysteries of the Ancients.” The museum is small but in reality, an art museum of the Hopewell. Exquisite craftsmanship, especially with the mica.
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| Hopewell Culture Visitor Center |
No one really knows what these people called
themselves. Their art work was buried in
the mounds (many of them burial) made from materials not native to Ohio. Mica - from the Appalachians,; Copper - from Lake Superior; Shells and shark teeth - from the Gulf Coast;
Obsidian – from Yellowstone; Grizzly Bear canines - from the Rockies; Silver –
from Canada.
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| Hopewell Culture - Mound City Group |
MOUND CITY GROUP - a fully restored earthwork complex. All of these sites were farmed over or destroyed. The Mound City Group was the site of a WW I training camp. Good film and museum here. A flat, hard pack gravel 2.2 mile hiking trail. I spent almost 3 hours here.
The HOPEWELL MOUND GROUP is the largest single
earthen-walled enclosure constructed by the Hopewell. Within it’s 2 mile long wall, shaped like a
D, is a burial mound 500 feet long and 25 feet high. Just enough of it is left today to see it’s
outline. Hopewell, because this was the farm of Mordicai
Hopewell.
The concept of “Hopewell Culture” was born after a display
of artifacts at the 1893 “World’s Columbian Exposition” in Chicago. Today the artifacts are in Chicago’s “Field
Museum.” This place is huge. The Hopewell
lived in small family units of 2-3 huts, but must have been very organized
socially. The about of effort to move
this much earth must have taken many, many years. A 2+
mile trail around and through the site.
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| Hopewell Culture |
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| Hopewell Culture Layout - Geometric Precision |
The last site I visited was the SEIP EARTHWORKS, yes these are on the old Seip farm. Much of this site was downed by 2 centuries of plowing; again the 2 circle-1 square arrangement. Two miles of an embankment wall that was 10 feet high, enclosing over 120 acres in the shape of 2 circles, The square was 27 acres. The CENTRAL or SEIP MOUND measures 240’ x 160’ x 30; high. This central mound like those at Mound City was restored.
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| Hopewell Culture - The mound is in the distance. Remnants of wall back of small sign |
BONUS: 9 COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG BUFFALO SOLDIER
NATIONAL MONUMENT (9 of 401) Wilberforce,
OH
On February 25, 2013, the
COL Charles Young home and farmland were declared a NM by President Obama. There is no interpretive center here
yet. This is located in Xenia, OH very
close to Wilberforce University.
On February 25, 2013, the
COL Charles Young home and farmland were declared a NM by President Obama. There is no interpretive center here
yet. This is located in Xenia, OH very
close to Wilberforce University. |
| Charles Young Home - VC in progress |
In a nutshell, Young was born to slave parents in 1864, entered West Point in 1884 (perhaps the 3rd black American to graduate). Assigned to one of the six all-black “Buffalo Soldier” regiments; 9th Cavalry, Fort Robinson, NB; military attaché to Haiti, served in the Philippines, and with Pershing chasing Pancho Villa. He retired as a COL in 1917. Recalled by President Wilson died in Lagos, Nigeria in 1922. Buried at Arlington.
THURSDAY
April 24, 2014
WEATHER: nighttime low 40’s high of 60 partly cloudy |
| Taft House and Visitor Center |
1857 – Born September 15
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| Chickering piano in the Taft parlor was the Steinway of it's day |
1863-80 – educated in city public schools, Yale University,
Cincinnati Law School
1880-1882 – Legal reporter, Asst. Prosecutor, Hamilton OH,
Collector of Internal Revenue 1st OH District
1885-1897 – Assistant Solicitor Hamilton Country
1886 - marries
1896-1900 - Dean of Cincinnati Law School
1900-1901 – President US Philippine Commission
1904-1908 – First Civil Governor of the Philippines
1904-1908 – US Secretary of War for Teddy Roosevelt
1909-1913 – PRESIDENT
OF THE US nominated with Roosevelt’s support. In 1913Roosevelt ran against him under the
Bull Moose Party splitting the Republican vote, Wilson was elected
1913-1921 – Professor of Constitutional Law Yale
1915-1921 – President of League to Enforce Peace
1918-1919 – Co-chair National War Labor Board
1921-1930 – CHIEF
JUSTICE, US SUPREME COURT, appointed by Harding. Buried at Arlington.
A short film – more like a powerpoint of old photographs
with narration. Taft is the only person
to be both PRESDIENT & CHIEF JUSTIC.
A nice house, the house is the museum.
I had a personal tour of the house by a volunteer. No more than 1.5 hours total.
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| Great American Ballpark - Cinncinnatti |
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| Reds - Great American Ballpark - a downtown ballpark |
FRIDAY April
25, 2014
WEATHER: 40’s high low 50’s rain.
TRAVEL: Frontier
Campground to Uniontown River’s Edge KOA, Connellsville, PA. It is right on the river. People here very friendly. Lot’s of trailers not many people.
11 FRIENDSHIP HILL NHS
He built the home on the Pennsylvania frontier above the
Monongahela River. Gallatin was an entrepreneur, politician, diplomat, financier,
gentleman, farmer and scholar. Patrick Henry called him “a most astonishing man.” I’ve heard of him but never quite sure where
he fit in US history. Here comes the
history lesson.
I spent about 3 hours here. A fee park. You could spend 4 hours, more walking the trails. A very good film and museum. Much of the museum is dedicated to the National Road (current US 40. Also, part of the park, I visited the Mount Washington Tavern – a stage stop on the National Road and Braddock’s Grave.
We’ve all heard about this place since 5th grade US History. LTC George Washington, age 22, may have been the spark that set off the French and Indian War (Seven Years War in Europe 1754-1763). However, here’s the story, of course there are 2 versions of how it started, French and English.
April 1754 - Washington’s half regiment was sent west to build a road and on May 24, 1754 arrived in a swampy meadow. Washington thought it “a charming place for an encounter.” Narrow but almost a mile long it had one flaw, later discovered – too close to the woods.
On June 3, 1754
Washington fearing “we may be attacked by
considerable forces” built a circular stockade with a storage house in the
center in the swampy meadow.
This place was somber – quiet –
a place of reflection – like Vietnam Wall in DC. Almost all of us remember 9-11-2001, the first time terrorists used
commercial airliners to destroy symbolic targets, commit mass murder and spread
fear.
Heroes. Listening to what was happening they knew they were part
of a planned attack. The passengers and crew made a collective decision, by
vote, to rush the terrorists and try to retake the plane.
In business, you’d call this a stretch goal. I figured this place was 30 miles from Flight 93, it was 1415, but the NPS does not
provide an address for the GARMIN, so I used ONSTAR. Bad rep – she sent me to downtown Johnstown
not the Johnstown Flood NMem in the Town of St. Michael, PA
like I asked for. Not the first time ONSTAR was wrong – frustrating. Stopped for gas, asked for directions and
used my cell phone for directions. It talked to me and got me there just fine.
BACKGROUND:
“Our misery is the work of man”
Saturday - April 26, 2014
WEATHER: woke up to a steady
rain. Very cold last night, in the
30’s. Cloudy all day, reached a high of
60.
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| Friendship Hill - Visitor Center |
Home of Albert Gallatin (1761-1849). Born is Geneva, therefore having a European aristocrat background, he was
influential in shaping a young United States , its politics and culture. He
purchased the land in 1786. This house
is huge.
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| Friendship Hill Albert Gallitin House |
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Secretary of the Treasury to presidents Jefferson and Madison (1801-14).
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| Friendship Hill - statue of Albert Gallitin |
Secretary of the Treasury to presidents Jefferson and Madison (1801-14).
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Devised a plan for financing the Louisiana Purchase
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Submitted a plan to Congress for a road and canal system linking
the nation. As a whole the plan was
rejected but the construction of the National
Road was begun in 1811.
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Helped draft the Pennsylvania constitution (1789-90).
-
Assemblyman
(1790-93) , briefly US Senator
(1793-94 actually setup to win but lose by Alexander Hamilton, an rival, and
then disqualified because he lacked a prerequisite of 7 years citizenship), US Representative (1795-1801 – guess he
showed Hamilton) and a US Negotiator for the Treaty of Ghent which
ended the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent eventually ended the
animosity between the US and Britain. Gallatin, being European born, brought what
the British considered a sophisticated and perhaps more refined manner to the
negotiating table. The other negotiators were American born Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams.
-
US
Minister to France (1816-23), US Minister to
Great Britain (1826-27)
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President of the National Bank of New York, later
Gallatin National Bank of New York City, today the bank of called JP Morgan Chase.
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Chaired the council to establish New York University
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Published an influential study of American Indian tribes.
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Founder of the American Ethnological Society. (Ethnology (from the Greek ethnos meaning
"nation" ) is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes
the characteristics of different peoples and the relationship between them.)
Enough - a good
stop. Not much of a Visitor Center here,
no film, there was a ranger in the house.
Trails. Along way down to the
Monongahela and of course the usual tough walk up, walked about 5 miles. It was reminiscent of the trails at Wyalusing
State Park near Prairie du Chien.
12 FORT
NECCESSITY National Battlefield
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| Fort Necessity Visitor Center |
I spent about 3 hours here. A fee park. You could spend 4 hours, more walking the trails. A very good film and museum. Much of the museum is dedicated to the National Road (current US 40. Also, part of the park, I visited the Mount Washington Tavern – a stage stop on the National Road and Braddock’s Grave.
 |
| Fort Neccessity - Braddock's Grave |
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| Fort Neccessity Washington Tavern |
We’ve all heard about this place since 5th grade US History. LTC George Washington, age 22, may have been the spark that set off the French and Indian War (Seven Years War in Europe 1754-1763). However, here’s the story, of course there are 2 versions of how it started, French and English.
BACKGROUND: The
English and French both claimed the area between the Appalachians and the
Mississippi River. Washington was sent
by the Governor of the Virginia colony to defend the English fort at the forks
of the Ohio River (Pittsburgh) only to learn that the fort was in the hands of
the French who named it Fort Duquesne.
 |
| Fort Neccessity |
April 1754 - Washington’s half regiment was sent west to build a road and on May 24, 1754 arrived in a swampy meadow. Washington thought it “a charming place for an encounter.” Narrow but almost a mile long it had one flaw, later discovered – too close to the woods.
May 28,
1754 - A French force was camped in a ravine seven
miles away. Washington’s led a force of
40 men to the French camp, guided by Seneca chief names Half King.
French version: the British
(fired the first shot) ambushed the French, killed 10 including a deliberate
kill of the Commanding officer, 1 wounded, captured 21, 1 escaped to Fort
Duquesne. The losses for Washington’s
force of 40 men were: 1 KIA, 2 WIA. English version: the French fired first and Seneca Chief, Half
King tomahawked the French commanding officer.
The French and British were not at war.
Washington’s force retired to the swampy meadow where they had
built the stockade. He was joined there
by COL Joshua Fry with another part of
the Virginia Regiment. Fry promoted
Washington to COL. Fry died on May 31,
1754.
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| Fort Neccessity |
By June 9, 1754 the
remainder of the regiment arrived.
July 2,
1754 Washington strengthened the defenses of the stockade by
improving the trenches.
July 3,
1754 The French force of about 600 plus 100 Indian allies attacked
Washington, not in formation, but from the woods. It rained most of the day, the trenches filled
with water and CPT Louis Coulon de Villiers, the brother of the officer who was
killed on May 28th, requested a truce to discuss terms of
surrender. The document was in French
and Washington had a poor translator.
The British were allowed to withdraw with honors, retaining their
baggage and weapons, only surrendering their swivel guns. However, with signing a document he did not
fully understand, Washington accepted full responsibility for the death of the
officer on May 28th. The
British left Fort Necessity on July 4, 1754 and marched
back to Virginia. The French burned Fort Necessity and returned to Fort
Duquesne.
My
neighbor (Jeff) at the site next door is on his first time out with a trailer –
just bought it in March. Easy to talk
to. Also this KOA is very friendly. When you check in they come around to make
sure you’ve got everything. met Robin
who also has a restaurant. I think I’ll
stop after church on Sunday.
SUNDAY April 27, 2014
WEATHER: very, very cold last night – mid to low 30’s –
a “two dog night” as I had no dogs, I used two blankets – glad I brought the
Korean “mink” blanket.
9:30
mass at Immaculate Conception in Connellsville.
The priest was entertaining – vibrant – not sure if he had a bad wig – a
bad haircut – or a bad hair day. Short
sermon but a high mass- incense – the works – he sang everything from the
Holy-Holy to the Our Father. A
combination of a bad hair cut/day.
LUNCH
BUFFET: After church I went to the Mill
Run Grille, 749 Mill run Rd, Mill
Run, PA (724-455-2308) – about 12 miles from the KOA. This is run by Robin and I met Mike her
husband there, they also run this KOA.
Wish I’d taken a picture of the place. . . . nothing special here, but friendly people and great home cooked food. A
deal! For $7.95 the buffet had
salad, fruit salad, stuffed pork chop/lasagna/baked chicken, beans, mashed
potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls and dessert. The $7.95 Included coffee. Their slogan over the kitchen which is right
behind the counter is “Enter as strangers, leave as friends.” This couple rightfully belongs in the
hospitality business. After an early
breakfast this buffet was enough fro lunch and dinner.
REALLY TRIED TO DO TO
MUCH TODAY but it worked out. . IN ADDITION
TO THE FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL, I ADDED STOPS AT JOHNSTOWN FLOOD and BLUE
KNOB STATE PARK. The last two
were planned for July.
13 FLIGHT
93 MEMORIAL National Memorial
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| Flight 93 |
Flight
93 National Memorial is the nation’s memorial to the 40 passengers and crew of
Flight 93. The Memorial plaza borders
the crash site. A boulder marks the
impact site.
This site is very simple.
The Visitor center is under construction and scheduled to open in
Septembr 2015.
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| Flight 93 National Memorial - black wall - white wall in background |
There is no fee. There is
a 3.5 mile drive into the memorial site from the road. This site was an abandoned coal strip
mine.
There is an audio phone tour.
THINGS
I DIDN”T KNOW OR HAD FORGOTTEN:
-
0842 Flight 93 takes
off from Newark, NJ, almost 30 minutes late and therefore was behind the 2 that
hit the twin towers and Pentagon.
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0846 Flight 11
strikes the North Tower of the World Trade Center
-
0903 Flight 175
strikes the South Tower of the World Trade Center
-
The likely target was the Capitol in Washington, DC, on the
opening session of Congress.
-
0928 the terrorists traveling in 1st Class, killed
the Captain, a first class passenger, a crew member and incapacitated the First
Officer.
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0937 Flight 77
strikes the Pentagon
-
Passengers used Airfones
to make calls. All these called
were logged. Some called 911, left
messages, the last 2 calls, just before the crash were made from personal cell
phones.
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0957 the passengers and crew struggle for control
-
1003 Crash upside down traveling at 563 mph – 18 flying minutes
from DC
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| Flight 93 - boulder marks the crash site |
Like the Vietnam Wall people leave memorials. I really felt like I should have left
something. A fitting place for a St.
Barbara coin – not only patron saint of the Field Artillery but patron of
“sudden death.”
-
The only black box recorder that was found. Also found terrorist documents. The investigation
and evidence put the story together.
14 JOHNSTOWN
FLOOD National Memorial
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| Johnstown Flood |
Got here around 1545. It
closes at 1700. I could have used more
time but I’ll be back in the area July 10th. Another place I had heard a lot about – but
not sure of all the details. A TRAGEDY
- - - -
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| Johnstown Flood - this was the Conemaugh Lake |
BACKGROUND:
The South Fork Dam
had been built on the Little Conemaugh
River in order to provide water for canals.
The development of railroads made the use for the dam unnecessary. The dam was built solidly with a spillway, a
water gauge, and a discharge pipes at the base of the dam to release water.
A group of very rich Industrialists (Carnegie, Mellon, etc)
purchased the land and formed the South
Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The
stocked the lake with bass and trout, built homes and cottages, lowered the height of the earthern dam,
blocked the spillway with a fish trap and got rid of the discharge pipes – all
so they would keep the stocked fish in the lake. No engineer was consulted as to the changes
made by the South Fork Fishing and
Hunting Club. In short, the dam fell
into disrepair.
 |
| Johnstown Flood - on the right is the route of the flood wave |
“Our misery is the work of man”
May 30, 1889 – record rains
-
3:10 pm - the dam started to break
o
A warning telegraph message was sent to Johnstown, a steel
company town of 30,000
o
20 million tons of water
o
Drop of 450 feet to Johnstown 14 miles away
o
It took 57 minutes for the wall of water to reach Johnstown
o
A wall of water sometimes
70-75 feet high, reaching speeds of 40 mph
“A roar like thunder”
IT WAS OVER IN 10 MINUTES
2,209
DEAD
PROPERTY DAMAGE AT $17 MILLION
DISEASE FOLLOWED THE DELUGE
CLEANUP TOOK YEARS
There is a fee, a museum and a 30 minute film. The film is dark -sobering.
Since I was so close, 15 miles from Blue Knob State Park, a place I plan to stay in July, I
thought I’d drive there. Another up and down roller coaster, that is way back there. The drive took more like 40 minutes. Glad I took the time. Camping here is in an open meadow, literally
on the top of a mountain. Today there
was only one trailer there but I’m looking forward to July.
