June, 1989
Being an assembly of several weekend trips taken during May and June. There does seem to be an unintentional theme of cemeteries and memorials running through most of the pictures.
Oklahoma
Taken from the top of the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma. As it is told on the sign, this was the first place in the world where man-made 'earthquakes' were used to search for oil.
From the same place, except we're looking north over the Arbuckle mountains.
New Mexico
The outlaw Bill-the-Kid is buried in the town where he was shot dead by Pat Garrett: Fort Sumner, New Mexico. It seems that his marker was stolen at least once, so the bars now keep that from happening, again. That's appropriate. He was truly a very bad person.
Of course, the real tragic story of Fort Sumner is the story of the forced march of the Navajo Indians from their lands in Arizona and New Mexico to this arid land. Only after a large percentage of them died were they finally allowed to return home. The visitor center has a good display of this history.
The town of Ragland is just south of Tucumcari in north-east New Mexico. Not much happening here, now.
We're looking towards Tucumcari. The road drops down pretty quickly from here.
Kansas
I've spent many nights in this rest stop near Greensburg, Kansas.
Texas
The panhandle of Texas.
Two views from Alibates Flint Quarries National Monuments in Texas (one with motorcycle, and one without).
A view of Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas. It's a surprising thing to come across after riding across miles and miles of flat prairie.
View of the canyon as well as the (closed for the day) visitors center.
The marker commemorates the last large-scale Indian battle in Texas.
Still within Palo Duro Canyon, this is the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.
I made the mistake of walking through one of the low cactus you can see in the foreground. It took me close to an hour to get all of the thorns out of my pants.
My campground at the Canyon. I gathered that the perimeter marker was some sort of snake protection by the previous occupants of the camp site. Must have worked...
Oklahoma
An abandoned church somewhere in central Oklahoma
New Mexico
At the top of the 9,413 foot La Veta pass in New Mexico. It was cold and wet.
An Aerial view of the Great Sand Dunes. For reference, the visitor center (and where the following shots were taken) is in the lower right of the dunes, where the creek seems to cut a little across the sand.
A shot of Medano Creek, which flows by the base of the dunes. Because of the sand and for reasons of hydromechanics, the water flows in waves at about 20 second intervals.
A view towards the east (and the camp grounds).
Colorado
A monument in the nearly nonexistent town of Ludlow, Colorado dedicated to fallen mine workers who were tragically shot by the Colorado national guard in 1914. The guard was mainly composed of specially hired thugs by the mine owners. Many children were shot. This is a very sad (and isolated) place. John D. Rockefeller (who owned the mine) was widely blamed. It changed his life (and his social conscience), too.
The near-ghost town of Pritchett, Colorado, near the south-east corner.
Missouri
A cemetery for Confederate solders north of Concordia, Missouri.
The site of a fierce Civil War battle.
The trenches from the battle are still visible.
A view of the Missouri River from near the battle site.
A view of the Missouri River from the top of the bluffs and a memorial to the World War I dead.
Kansas
An interesting cemetery marker in Hiawatha, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are shown in granite through the various stages of their life together.
Mr. Davis had injured his arm early in life and it had to be amputated.
A statute in the reflecting pool in front of the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. My take on it is that the artist tried to put too much symbolism into it. That, and the buffalo is entirely too small. And, lastly, is this the pose you would expect to take if your horse were to run into a buffalo?
Illinios
Abraham Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois. He and his wife along with some other family members are within.
The Illinois Viet Nam War memorial.
The state capitol of Illinois in Springfield.
And, the reason I was in Springfield? The Springfield Mile motorcycle races. They were rained out.
