Walking in Kansas City, Kansas

I had come to Kansas City KS to do a walk in order to fill in the K space in my Walking the USA A-Z book. As readers of previous posts may know the weather in the Midwest has been very, very hot. I had spent much of the previous day holed up in a hotel as going outdoors when the temperature was 101 (38C)  didn't sound like much fun. I was out the door a couple minutes before 6 AM in order to do the walk during cool temperatures.

I walked from the hotel to 10th Street, noticing murals along the way.

Here is a section of El Baile de la Vida. This mural was painted in 2004 and may look a bit strange because I took this photo still in darkness.

Sorry that I can't provide good information about the above three murals. What I found didn't match the written route material very well at all.

After seeing these murals I went across the street to McDonald's and had a coffee and sandwich.

Next I walked by the Seth Adams Clock.

 The route map says this clock was brought to Kansas City in 1914 by the Winkler Jewelers. When new the clock was silver and had to be hand wound. The city bought the clock in 1971, painted black, and changed to electric power. The clock said 11:00 at about 7 AM in the morning, so the electric power must not be working very well!

By now the sun had risen and I continued down the street a bit to the location of the Huron Cemetery. My idea about the Huron Indians is that they come from the far east of Kansas City. And that is correct. The first records of the Huron show them in Ontario, Canada. The information at the Huron Cemetery says they were pushed westward by the Iroquois Confederation. Then they received pressure from European settlers in the eastern states and finally decided to take their resources and buy land in what is now present day Kansas City, KS. Once there some of the group was further located to Oklahoma.

In the early 20th century, developers began to eye the Huron Cemetery. The Huron in Oklahoma said OK to a sale, but the Huron in Kansas City disagreed. Two women, the Conley sisters, moved into the cemetery in protest. Eventually one Elizabeth Burton Conley

argued some aspects of this dispute before the United State Supreme Court. She is considered to be the first American Indian woman to appear before the Court. Eventually the dispute was resolved and this area is protected.

Next the route design took me through a city park and down by a shell from the U.S. Maine.

This indeed is one of the more unusual things I've seen while doing a walk, and there was absolutely no explanation why this shell is in this city park in Kansas.

Now I headed for the place in which the Kaw and Missouri Rivers joined. I needed to somehow walk safely through an area that is a freeway cloverleaf, full of entrance and exit streets and ramps. I ended up totally on the wrong trail, but did see area of the river confluence in the distance.

On my way back to the hotel I walked under the Kansas City Arch.

This arch is to represent the past, present, and future of the city as well as the cultural diversity of the city.

Nearby an interesting kinetic sculpture.

Back at the hotel I enjoyed some cold water, then took a shower, and started on my way to Lincoln, NE. This trip took me through 4 states! I started out in Kansas, then the highway took me into Missouri for about 100 miles, then into Iowa for about 10 miles and then finally into Nebraska for about 40 miles. Not often that I've been in 4 states in one day!

Yesterday was the first football Saturday for 2013 in Nebraska. And there certainly may not be a place that enjoys and celebrates football as much as do Nebraskans.

Here's a view of just about 10 of the thousands who were tail-gating before the game.

And even the grocery stores are full of Big Red merchandise.

Now with J and K done, what's left is H, Q, T, U, and X. I have good plans for H and T! That will be part of future stories.