Newton, KS (still!)

Well, Adventure Cycling recommends a day off for every seven days you ride. When we awoke at 5:00 a.m. the thunderstorm that had started during the night was continuing in full force. The rain was coming in torrents, and when we turned on the weather report to check on things it said that there might be more rain late this afternoon (so far none) and that there was some minor flooding where we were headed. It certainly wasn't Iowa style, but we decided that this was a sign that we needed to take our day off.

I caught some extra sleep while Bob remained transfixed by the weather reports and eventually we pried ourselves out of the room to walk up the road for breakfast. After a nice breakfast, an exploration of Newton was in order. It actually turned out to be much more interesting than we'd imagined. We'd remembered seeing on one of the maps that one of the towns we were passing through actually had a library founded and funded by Andrew Carnegie. It turns out this is the town. We walked the mile or so into the main part of town and noted the library's location. The library itself actually moved into a modern building several years ago,and the original building was converted into a museum. The museum didn't open until 1:00, so we killed time with a leisurely walk through town, eventually a light lunch and then our cultural foray.

It turns out that although we now think of Kansas as the place where wheat and corn are grown, many of the images we have of the Wild West actually took place in this part of Kansas. Newton is on what was the Chisholm Trail, a north-south route for cattle, etc. back in the day. Although the town is now largely Mennonite and seems quite proper, it was once known as "Wild Newton" and was the scene of a very famous gunfight, the details of which still are the fodder for arguments and discussion.

The museum was just opening an exhibit about the Chisholm Trail, including clothing and implements worn by cowboys. We saw a pair of leather chaps that might have weighed as much as I do. The rest of the museum was divided into sections: railroading was and still is big here, so there is a section all about the railroads (the local school teams are known as the Newton Railroaders!). Another section does a history of the county set agains a timeline of the "outside world."

Several movies were set in and around the area, including The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland. That movie was about the women who served food, etc. on the trains. It's the movie that included the song, The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. Also a movie called Picnic, starring Kim Novak and William Holden.

The thing I found most fascinating was the piano in the basement of the building. It had been in the USO headquarters nearby during World War II, and it became a custom for soldiers passing through to sign the piano. It is covered with signatures and someone took the time to catalog them in a booklet. I didn't have the time to search through every page, but did find several signatures of people from Pittsburgh.

After the museum, we walked around the corner to the Warkentin House. It's a beautiful Victorian mansion (it reminded us some of Clayton) that was built by Bernhard Warkentin, a Mennonite who came here from Russia with the idea that this would be a good place to grow Turkey Red Wheat. The rest, as they say, is history. The woman who took us on our tour explained that although the family was very wealthy, they took care to give to the community and see that people in the area had what they needed.

One of the things that demonstrated the extent of their wealth, although we didn't get to see it, was a revolving platform in the garage. Apparently, Mrs. Warkentin drove her electric car all over town but wasn't proficient at backing up. So they had the platform installed in the garage so that she could just rotate the car around and pull out!

The kitchen was particularly fascinating (to me, at least) because of the number of "modern" conveniences incorporated. There was a hand pump that pumped water to the roof, so that the house had running water. The very large ice box was set next to the wall, so that the ice man could open a door in the outside wall of the house and slide the block of ice right into the icebox without having to enter the house.

The stove was eight burners: four of them were wood burners and four were gas. Next to the stove was an additional gas burner that was exclusively for the irons to be heated on.

We spent a relaxing afternoon learning about the history and culture of Newton and then returned to our motel for a relaxing swim and dinner. Tomorrow, we'll make the trek to Eureka. They are promising cooler weather, in the 80s. We'll see.