An Elk Butcher Incursion

Westbound US-54 near Toronto, Kansas

Elk Falls to Hubble Rubble through The Hollow and Butcher Falls

In the latest adventuring amidst the apocalypse, the dart chose the west southeast region of Kansas. The first 320 km followed a path through cloudy, then rainy, skies across Kansas City opening to fields of blue sky with fluffy white clouds in Chautauqua and Elk Counties.

Elk Falls Bridge and Waterfalls in Kansas

Elk Falls is quite the scenic little spot. Tucked away from the main road and associated civilization, it hosts a beautiful view of the falls from atop an 1893 iron through truss bridge crossing the Elk River.

Outhouse Voting Booth in Elk Falls

The purported ghost town of Elk Falls did not seem so much as all that, after circling the block a few times. Most buildings were relatively well kept and in use as residence or business.

Prudence Crandall Historical Marker near Elk Falls

It is a part of the world one would likely choose to get away from it all. Things can often get quite unfriendly in other parts, even in Connecticut. Prudence definitely picked a good place to retire.

The Hollow in Sedan, Kansas 

In contrast with the previous waterfall scene, the falls at The Hollow in Sedan were but a trickle into a somewhat stagnant green pool. It does hold a certain allure, as a quiet and contemplative break break from the road, within park grounds salvaged from what was once a trash dump. A 1928 school house, relocated from nearby, greets visitors and hosts the Teacher Hall of Fame for Chautauqua County.

Sedan Opera House

There appears to be a lot of history in this little town. The Sedan Opera House is one of many similar structures immediately visible from the road. The building is a 1900-era reconstruction of an original 1885 building that stood at the same location, but was destroyed by fire.

Butcher Falls near Sedan, Kansas

Butcher Falls offered up picturesque erosion scenes less than 10 km to the west. While it is on private property, the owner appears to welcome visitors. In less apocalyptic times, the empty visitor building and small refreshment stand at the entrance suggest it may be quite the destination for some.

Hubbell Rubble in Howard, Kansas

A curious scene had flown by in the haste to arrive at the first destination earlier in the day. Returning along the same route as the original descent, the array of art works suggested a pause. The displays were created by a local rancher and realtor with little more than welding know-how learned through repairing farm implements.

Woodson County Courthouse in Yates Center, Kansas

Along the path homeward, the lawn of the turn of the 20th century Woodson County Courthouse lawn served as another good spot to pause and stretch for a moment. The surrounding square stood just as empty as on the last visit to Yates Center, at a time when there was no looming apocalypse.

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Further Reading

World's Largest Living Ghost Town
Kansas Travel & Toursim

Elk Falls Bridge
Bridge Hunter

Prudence Crandall

National Women's History Museum

Sedan Opera House

Emmett Kelly Museum

Butcher Falls

Kansas Geological Survey

Hubbell Rubble

Roadside America

Healthcare GIS Learns to Lie with Maps

Since the COVID-19 lock down began in earnest roughly five weeks ago, healthcare authorities and the news media have repeatedly failed to help society protect itself.

News has been grim. Indeed, you would think there is nothing else going on in the world. The statistics continually made available paint a picture of almost certain doom. All of the social media realms wallow in it, further perpetuating the surrounding negativity, hyping that which is not hype-worthy, based on incomplete or poorly presented information.

Consequently, I contend that what we are reading everywhere most certainly qualifies as “fake news.”

Organizations involved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to The New York Times to Google to Johns Hopkins are leveraging lessons from the same manual by Mark Monmonier, “How to Lie with Maps”.

The spatial data community should be most ashamed of itself for enabling the situation. Those in the industry have allowed themselves to be manipulated by healthcare authorities and the news media, thereby crippling their ability to seize the moment and show off real Spatial Information capability.

Review the following maps and ask yourself one simple question. What does this tell me about my community? Think local, not global.  Note that all maps were captured at the time of this writing on April 16, 2020

 World Health Organization Coronavirus Map

 Google Coronavirus Map

 Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Map

New York Times Coronavirus Map

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Map

Attempting to discover how many cases there are in my little community of about 30,000 people, I was unable to uncover any data at all.

County level data is all that is seemingly available, and it is no help. For anyone in a similar situation it paints a bleak picture, but perhaps that is the intent of these organizations.

My county covers over 400 square miles (1059 square km). It is about 50% rural/urban. One could easily draw a line between the two areas on a map. Currently, there are 128 cases, and I would hazard a guess that 95% of them are confined to the urban complex.

San Bernardino County, California — Google Maps — April 2020

San Bernardino County, California is the largest county in the United States, covering just over 20,000 square miles (51,936 square km). A very small portion of this area is urban, and I mean very small. They have 996 confirmed cases in that county. Even the sand dunes in the Mojave Desert are not safe.

Coconino County, Arizona — Google Maps — April 2020

Coconino County, Arizona is the second largest in the United States, covering 18,661 square miles (48,330 square km). They have 299 cases. Where are they in that massive county area? I suspect Flagstaff, the largest urban area, which consumes a mere 66 square miles (171 square km).

The list goes on. Comparisons could be made around the world. Identifying and analyzing county-equivalents in other countries is more of a task than necessary to make the point though.

Healthcare authorities across the country, in concert with the CDC and local governments, with full support of the news media, and plenty of backing hype from social media, seem to be taking pains to hide data. It appears that they desperately want everyone to believe that the world is facing the greatest pandemic since The Black Death of the 14th Century.

We need these organizations to help us help them.

If the true goal is to stop the spread and ensure the safety of every individual, then give citizens the data to do that. We do not need an App tracking each other. Report data in the most relevant format to individuals. Most are smart enough to know exactly what to do to avoid danger.

People need to know where cases are, specifically. County by county is wholly insufficient. Data should be displayed city by city, and in cases such as New York City or Los Angeles, we need to know borough by borough. (New York has actually begun to do that, finally.)

This method of aiding social-distancing worked well during the plagues of Europe. If one knew a town was riddled with the plague, they simply did not go there or did so at their own risk.

The world has suffered enough at the hands of misinformation in this age of technology and “big data.” It is time for governments and news organizations to quit lying with maps, and this is the best time and place to start. We need those with the data to be more honest with that data and share it, just as they ask us to share ours.

Let’s do this right for a change. Stop trying to scare everyone!

. . .

In case of curiosity, my background is in Geography, Cartography, Spatial Analysis, and Geographic Information Systems Architecture, forever with a mind towards the lessons taught by the Mark Monmonier in that one simple book, “How to Lie with Maps”

Coming from a Little Grove

Westbound MO-20 near Alma, Missouri

Wandering the Highway 24 corridor from Little Grove to Missouri City

Another beautiful day offered up the opportunity to prowl the graveyards and hometowns of family from years gone by and of course, other diversions.

Little Grove Cemetery near Malta Bend, Missouri

The journey began just south of Malta Bend in search of family. No immediate relations were home at the time, but a few distant cousins were discovered lounging about the lawn.

Malta Bend Mural

Malta Bend is quiet little town with claim to fame of being named for a sunken steamboat, which was only recently discovered nearby. The ship went down in 1841, filled with expensive and rare trading goods, after hitting a tree on the Missouri River near the site of the town.

Grand Pass Methodist Church

Moving west from there, Grand Pass is not much different. The namesake is not quite as intriguing, being named for the Great Osage Trail that passed through in those days.

St Luke’s United Church of Christ in Grand Pass, Missouri

Oddly, Grand Pass has two churches, seemingly unique for a town of only a hundred or so. One is situated right along the highway for the world to see, while the other is hidden down in a valley.

Zion Lutheran Church in Blackburn, Missouri

A Lutheran appearance to the churches in the area clearly define the background of the folks that settled the area as distinctly German.

Returning to the main drag, reviewing location and bearing, considering the time of year and relative insect populations, a minor diversion to an area named for another shipping incident seemed a good idea.

Baltimore Bend Wetlands

In 1859, the 80 meter and nearly 600 metric ton steamboat Baltimore snagged and was lost near this location. As with most other bends in the river where incidents such as this occurred, the name of the steamboat stuck for what is now the Baltimore Bend Conservation Area. This one has not been found yet, and remains interred somewhere nearby.

Dover Cemetery

A short distance down the road from there, more family held their ground at the Dover Cemetery. They were not quite so privileged enough to enjoy a shady spot beneath many of the enormous cedars scattered about, but managed to remain well kept.

The primary estate for the family marked the last round of relative visitations. Most enjoyed shade among the cedar grove. Some had done a few repairs to their accouterments, and all had chipped in to install a new front door.

Hicklin Schoolhouse

Other points drew attention along the journey homeward. Hicklin School sits neatly just a block or so from the road. The historic one-room school was built in 1914 and served the immediate area for about 40 years.

Battle of Lexington Battlefield

Battle of Lexington State Historic Site is another opportunity to peer through the lens of history. The more interesting associations were closed, but the Battlefield Trail remained open, and enabled a moment to stretch.

Masonic College Replica in Lexington, Missouri

Around the corner, a quarter scale replica of the original Masonic College building holds the memory of the September 1861 Union Headquarters of Colonel Mulligan during the infamous siege.

Wentworth Military Academy

Owning a history dating nearly as far back as the battle, Wentworth Military Academy sits silently down the block and the around. It is but a shadow of its former self. The halls are empty, statuary has been removed, and only ghosts of the accomplishments of great leaders of the twentieth century remain.

Apparent Lutheran Church in Missouri City

The conclusion of the journey across this particular portion of the once great highway leading from Michigan to Colorado detoured through Missouri City on the promise of an interesting Historical Marker. At the foot of yet another Germanic temple of worship that could have been the historic point itself, two others options were also presented for considerations.

Top:  River Park in Missouri City / Bottom:  Lewis & Clark marker in Missouri City

In these annals, this last situation is a “Hysterical Marker.” Is it the church, the Lewis & Clark placard located at the foot of the church or, last but not least, the notation of 1951 & 1993 flood stages across the street in River Park?

Battle to Reach Swan Swamp

Steel Shadow Art at Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield State Historic Site 

Mine Creek to Marais des Cygnes, by way of Pleasanton, Worland, and Foster

A bright and sunny day promising temperatures near 32°C led to wandering a civil war battlefield in east central Kansas, followed by visiting a few family graveyards and hometowns of decades past.
The first encounter of the day, Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site in Linn County, Kansas. It honors the victory of outnumbered Union forces of 1864, in what is considered one of the largest cavalry battles of the Civil War; particularly, a certain 20-year old Private Dunlavy of the 3rd Iowa Cavalry Regiment, who captured Confederate Major General Marmaduke.

Prairie Trail at Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield State Historic Site

There is not much there really, beyond a relatively freshly burned open field, and a lot of trail-side reading. A sign indicated the direction of a Confederate Memorial (leaving state property). Nothing appeared in immediate view, and lacking any sort of map, the main path along the Prairie Trail suggested the preferred route on this particular outing.

Linn County Courthouse in Kansas

A quick hop to the east, the Linn County Courthouse stood basking in the warm sun of springtime in eastern Kansas. It was built in 1885, using native limestone, and designed by a Topeka architect.

W.E. “Bunker” Hill Community Center in Pleasanton

Another moment down the street from the courthouse, a structure recalled memories of family reunions long ago.

Looking south across Mine Creek Bridge

A brief back-track along the previous route, and crossing Mine Creek Bridge (1927), a couple of turns were missed, but not forgotten. The grid roads of Kansas are sometimes just too predictable.

Fairmont Church and Littell Cemetery

The Littell Cemetery appeared soon enough, as it had in years past, just as family arrived, proving the best resting place for most. There was little success on this visit. Those called upon could not be located on this occasion.

First Baptist Church of Worland, Missouri

Checking on relatives from about the same period, across the state line, their town stood in ruins. Only a handful of folks call it home now, and the routing of secondary transportation routes appear to have aided in its obsolescence.

Worland is a peaceful little spot though, and those that remain would very likely have it no other way.

Walnut Creek near Foster, MO

The area hosts nature, for the most part. Walnut Creek quietly makes it way through the area, on its way to the Marais des Cygnes River. Many of the tiny towns in this part of the world posses similar traits.

Foster Grade & High School

Foster School once served the community sufficiently. It stands empty, boarded, and mostly forgotten. Later attempts to find any information about the site yielded nothing.

Salem Cemetery

Relatives down the road had witnessed a steady and continuous development in their neighborhood. All the new homes made it impossible to locate them.

Drainage Ditch to the Marais des Cygnes along SW CR4647

The Marais des Cygnes River, which translates to Swan Swamp, interrupts routes north of the previous destination, but not all. A good navigator and atlas prevented an unnecessary detour south.

Marais des Cygnes River from SW CR4647

Swan Swamp was not quite as scenic as originally thought. Years of flood management has obviously made it a shadow of its former self. The drainage ditch put on a better show.

Random field west of Butler, MO

The ensuing dirt road presented a few minor challenges, but offered up a vistas lacking obstruction of any sort. After kicking up the dust and a few rocks, pavement stretched out to Butler. Relatives interred there were much easier to locate. Grounds keepers identified their exact location, making the day a partial success on that specific front. Setting a course for home base, times gone by were left far behind once again.