June 7, 2012

We left Tulsa and drove to Fort Scott, Kansas.  This is where Fort Scott National Historic Site is located.  The fort was established in 1842 to separate the eastern side of the country which was settled by the Europeans and the western side which was supposed to be reserved for the Indians.  In the 1840’s when settlers flocked to California the line was dissolved and the fort was shut down.  In 1854 congress opened the Kansas and Nebraska territories for settlement and declared that the residents of those territories could decide by vote whether their states would be free or slave territory.  Abolitionists, proslavery supporters and free staters got into conflicts and the fort reopened to quell the violence.  This era was known as “Bleeding Kansas”.  The civil war brought the army back to Fort Scott and there was a large hospital there for wounded men.  In 1873 the army left for the last time and the fort was sold to the townspeople for homes.  In 1978 it became a National Historic Site.

We tried to stay at the Fort  Scott city park but a group had reserved all spots and were coming in today.  There is a Corps of Engineers park near Burlington and we decided to try to go there.  As we were entering Burlington, we noticed a camping sign.  They had a city park with RV spots.  Some had electric and water in a parking lot but we got electric only next the Neosho River.  We are the only ones here and it was $6.00 a night.  After unhooking Jim grilled some tri-tip steaks I had marinating all day and I fixed baked potatoes and a salad.  Then we went into town to look around. This is a charming little slow paced town.  We found an American Legion post and had a beer and then went to look for a geocache.  This cache was at the other city park by a spillway. It also had camping and was more suited for larger RVs.

We have been following Route 66 for a few days.  There are a lot of lightning bugs up this way.  Very pretty to see.