Good Guys and Bad Guys In Independence Missouri!!

I forgot to mention that dinner night before last was at Jack Stack Barbecue in Kansas City.  As barbecue goes, it was one of the best!!  Barbara and I shared a sampler plate that had pulled pork, burnt ends, chicken and polish sausage.  Since we are looking for the all time best EVER bread pudding on this trip, we tried their version.  Definitely pass on this one ... it quickly fell to the bottom of our list!!

Yesterday we cruised around Old Downtown Independence, where the pioneers outfitted their wagons and headed West.  Swales (grass covered ruts in the ground) can be seen to this day where the trail began.  Being so close to the Missouri-Kansas border, you KNOW the County Jail got lots of use, containing the bad guys ... or maybe they were the good guys.  The Sheriff's residence was built onto the front of the jail, so it just looks like you are entering a house.

This was Quantrill's territory.  The Confederate Bushwacker led a raid on Lawrence Kansas, killing 150 men and boys, which led to Union Commander Ewing creating General Order No. 11, forcing the depopulation of many counties along the Kansas-Missouri border, including the grandparents and mother of future President Harry Truman and the James Boys.  If they didn't move, they were killed on the spot, their possession seized and their houses burned.  What caught my attention was the small blanket in this display that belonged to Quantrill ... it is said he gave up his quilt to a wounded soldier in exchange for this blanket.  In the corner is the date 1844.  I have one exactly like this ... given to me by my mother.  I know very little of my great great grandmother, other than she was a Southerner who married a man from the North and was disowned by her parents.  I think I need to look into this some more!!

With the original six cells not being enough to hold all the Civil War problem guys, they added six more on the second floor.  All the cells had doors with bars and a solid door that blocked out the light.  The outside windows had only bars and no glass, allowing heat and cold to enter at will.  No one was much concerned about their comfort.

When Jesse James was killed, Frank James made a deal with the Governor and was housed in this cell until his trial.  Friends and sympathizers brought rugs, tables and pictures to make it more homey!!

Apparently he ate with the Sheriff's family and attended the opera before he was acquitted of all charges!!  

I don't know if Ghost Adventures has been here, but they should check it out.  I'm SURE this is Frank James' ghost I caught on camera!!!  Okay, not really ... it's just a light reflection the camera caught that you couldn't see with the naked eye!!

This was the Sheriff's parlor, furnished with vintage rugs and couches, one of which has a large secret drawer hidden under the seat.  The picture over the mantle was painted by Mr. Bingham, famous for the oil painting "Order No. 11" about the Civil War atrocities of Ewing.

You've probably heard of the hair wreaths and flowers made in the early 19th century.  This was in the Sheriff's parlor ... about 19 inches tall and made from the hair of the dead relative pictured in the middle.  There is even a Hair Museum around here if this fascinates you enough to see more!!

Lunch was at the Courthouse Exchange, a nice cool basement restaurant that Harry Truman used to eat in every day while he was a Judge at the Courthouse just across the street.  Very reasonably priced, the food was excellent ... and we got another chance to sample a new bread pudding.  I would say it moved to number 2 behind the tasty one in Jerome Arizona!!  Lots of yummy brown sugar sauce made this one more moist and delectable!!

This is the Courthouse where Harry Truman worked as a County Judge, which sort of started his career on the right track ... with the help of Thomas J. Pendergast, named Superintendent of Streets, who filled his pockets with money, as he selected politicians and provided jobs.  He brought more corruption to Kansas City than any other, but was also credited with getting the city through the Depression.

Now on to the Good Guys ... this home was originally built by a leather/saddlemaker and included three rooms.  The Painter Bingham purchased it and lived here with his family, before selling to Waggoner and Gates, who built a huge flour mill and produced the Queen Of The Pantry Flour!!

It didn't take Mr. Waggoner long to expand the house to todays size of 8,000 square feet.  The plant was located across the street, but eventually burned down.  They still have some of the flour and a couple of old cookbooks.

This was one of the ads they were going to use, but it got pulled.  Can you see the white spots on the back of the butler's jacket??  It's hand prints made with flour ... like he was probably playing footsie with the female cook on the left ... the lady of the house being on the right.  But that's not what got it pulled ... it's the ankle of the cook that is showing beneath the dress, next to the cat!!  Oh my ... scandalous!!!

The home is spectacular ... having been restored by the local Historical Society with original furnishings.  Mr. Waggoner had five children and only one grandchild that died very young.  The house ended up being the bachelor quarters of the remaining son until his death.  When the mansion was to be torn down, locals gathered the money to purchase the property and restore it to it's amazing beauty.  This is the entry way.

The dining room was Mrs Waggoner's pride and joy, being made with African wood.  The chandelier has a crown at it's top, for the Queen of Flour.  Since the carpets had to be cleaned, snaps were placed in the floor to keep it in place until it required beating outside to remove the dirt.  That's one I haven't seen before!!

There's a fairly small kitchen with an even smaller pantry.  This ice box however, can hold up to 100 pounds of ice and tons of food.  

What would a mansion be without a music room, complete with a Steinway piano??

There were many bedrooms, furnished with original items found stored in the basement and the attic.  

Actually, the third floor attic area was the servants quarters, with a large gathering room and 5-6 small bedrooms.  Only one bathroom was shared by all.  Fairly modern for it's time, they had an on/off shower ... exactly like our RV models.  There were no children that lived here, but they did have some toys and this Zimmers Baseball game, valued at many thousands of dollars!!

The lovely ladies that gave us the tour of the house ... a private tour by the way ... stayed late so we could see everything and look through the gift shop on our way out.  From here you can walk across the creek to see the swales left by the early pioneers.  All in all an amazing day full of history and interesting places.  There wasn't time for the Pioneer Trail Museum ... maybe next time.

We picked up a MUCH larger fan for my rig on the way home, and it was a good thing.  The power had been out and the babies were stressing in 92 degree heat inside the rig.  At Barbara's advice, I turned on the generator immediately.  Seems too many people have ALL their air conditioners on and it fried a main breaker.  Once repaired,  my AC stayed on the rest of the night and the puppies are cool as cucumbers now!!  I'll be glad to move over to the other side of the park today, where the electrical service is newer and hopefully bug-free!!