Pony Express
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2011
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116
199
Trip End
Nov 14, 2012
Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saturday, May 19, 2012
We visited the Patee House Museum first, which houses a wealth of artifacts and information about early St Joseph. The Museum was originally a hotel, from 1858 to 1865 and during that time, in 1860, it was also the headquarters of the Pony Express, and the US Provost Marshal's office and Union recruiting office during the Civil War.
The Hannibal & St Joseph Railroad was the first in the nation to extend as far west as St Joseph in 1859, and the last Hannibal steam locomotive and railway mail car are displayed in the museum.
Also in the museum is a Carousel from 1941. One of the foremost carousel carvers in the world, Bruce A. White created all the animals on the merry-go-round, and through his efforts more carousel animals are produced in St Joseph than any city in the world. Mr White has supplied more than 1,200 Applebee Restaurants worldwide with their traditional namesake horses.
The Patee Museum building has served as many different things over the years, including a shirt factory for 80 years, which made uniforms for the military during WWII.
We were surprised how many well-known people have been born in or associated with St Joseph,: authors, musicians, politicians, actors and actresses, including Eminem who was born here.
Our next stop was the Pony Express National Museum which told the story of the Pony Express. We were surprised to learn that the Pony Express only operated for 18 months, before telegraph took over.
We also saw the Jesse James Home, where Jesse was killed by one of his own gang members.
We decided to cross back over the Missouri River into Kansas and drive to Hiawatha. At Mt Hope Cemetery we stopped to look at the Davis Memorial. This has a very interesting story, click here to learn more.
After that it was on to Atchison of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad fame to see more trains. The Atchison Freight depot was built in 1880 and is now the Visitor Center. Of course there are many working BNSF lines in the area and much to Cliff's delight we had to stop at a railroad crossing for a train - all 100+ wagons of it.
We finished the day at the Hoof & Horn Steakhouse in St Joseph. This is the oldest restaurant in the town, first opened in 1898; some of the guests looked as though they might have been there when it first opened! We had a great meal..
