Exploring Natoma, Kansas

In the midst of the Mount Os Expedition of July 2010 members of Osborne County Tourism went to several other sites as well. 

Saturday, July 17, 2010, 6:15PM - unfortunately, Natoma's new restaurant, the Shaylite Kitchen & Bakery, is only open Monday thru Friday and thus was closed when member of Osborne County Tourism came through.  Have to really try to come over during the week and try the place.

Luckily next door is the soon-to-be-opened-at-last Pohlman's Community Museum.  We got to take the tour of the place!

They had to rebuild and repoint the walls, restore the ceiling, put all new wiring inside - pretty much fix the place from the ground up. 

Bob Eickhoff of the Natoma Heritage Seekers gave everyone an up-to-date report on how the future museum building is coming along.

We took a bit of a drive off on scenic backroads south and west of Natoma, even into Rooks County, where among other sites is the one-time location for the Hungry Ridge One-Room Schoolhouse.  Now that's got to be one of the best names for a school I have ever heard. 

The brief drive enabled us to view some historical markers that were put up oh, around five or six years ago and see how they were doing.  Some, like the Tapley Post Office marker above, are in desperate need of being replaced.

Back in Natoma, in the southwest part of town, One comes across this place.  I kid you not. 

A closeup of some of the mayhem.

Pretty much the whole story in a nutshell.  Make that oildrum.

You can't see it, but behind the metal shovel thingy is a Septarian Concretion hanging down.

Across town in the southeastern part, one visionary citizen continues his dream of turning his home into a castle. 

Asn as we came home we managed to stop by the Hoot Owl Farm.  But that is certainly another story!

The July 17, 2010 Ascent of the Eastern Face of Mount Os. Loss of Life: Minimal.

     The pretty-much-unheard-of Mount Os Expedition of 2010 unfortunately received virtually no publicity anywhere whatsoever.  This led to several desperate attempts by one of the members of the Expedition at faking widespread interest in the story - an example of which is this pathetic ripoff of a 1923 National Geographic Magazine cover - in hopes of creating the impression that the world had watched with rapt attention while the melodramatic details of this near-adventure unfolded.  Pity (in the form of a few hundred bucks slid under the table and a couple of cokefloats slid over the table) led to our allowing excerpts of the long-winded Tale of the Expedition to be printed here - and probably, for that matter, for the first time anywhere else as well. 

* * * * *

 - PART I -

Planning the Expedition to
the Highest Point in Osborne County, Kansas

     Mount Os [pronounced aaawwwzzzzz].  2,088 feet above sea level.  A once-mythical Kansas summit that remained elusive to geologists, adventurers, and soil conservation groupies throughout the county's first 138 years.  Oh, sure, you could ask just about anywhere and find out the Lowest Point in Osborne County, Kansas ("Why, that's where the North and South Fork Solomon Rivers both flow out of the county at its eastern border, sonny - everyone knows that!").  Despair at ever finding the Highest Point,  however, seemed the general rule of the day. 

      Until January 2010, that is, when mild-mannered local historian and avid Kansas Explorer Club member Von Rothenberger announced to a innately disbelieving and skeptical local citizenry that he had found it.  At an email news conference he cited twenty years of pestering the same people with the same endless question and delighting in reading countless old discarded county topological maps, all of which finally culminated in one long 28-hour-long-session-spread-over-two-days of comparing twenty years' worth of carefully documented notes with a wonderful new Internet research tool called Google Earth to discover the location of the physical structure of Mount Os. 

    A few moments of silence were then explosively shattered by an almost immediate firestorm of comments.  "I thought it would be elsewhere."  "You sure? That rise to the north looks higher."  "This can't be it - your computer must've been wrong."  "You sure? That rise to the south looks higher."  "Aaaw, that can't be it!"  "What about Pilot Mound? And Sand Mound? And  . . . !"  And so on and so forth for the next several months.

     Undaunted, Rothenberger hid under his bed and layed low and the uproar slowly faded away.  Then word was secretly sent out and three groups that eventually made up our Crack Climbing Team assembled at the Peace Lutheran Church in Natoma, Kansas.  This became known under the code name of Natoma High Camp.

    

     An example of the meticulous undercover planning that went into this Expedition can be seen by this never-before-seen napkin map, which was created after the Expedition was over.  It shows the best suggested route for Expedition Groups A & C to travel from the Expedition's Base Camp, which was established at The New Place in Luray, to the fluid location of the Natoma High Camp.  Also given is the potential site from there of Mount Os.  Secrecy was such among the Expedition members that neither Group A - "The Wild Bunch" - nor Group C - "The Woolly Bunch" - were aware of each using this route at relatively the same time. 

     The Expedition's Crack Climbing Team assembled at last in a secreted basement compound far beneath Natoma High Camp.  Groups A & C were joined here by Group B - "The Native Guides", and Group D - "The Lone Explorer".  Don't let the jolly dispositions and doughy physiques fool you; these highly untrained professionals were invited to be part of the Expedition through their many years of negotiating the sometimes-rugged hills and always-deep gullies of the Blue Hills Highlands.  Our Crack Climbing Team experienced several minutes of training for the ardous rigors of the Expedition and needed only a few more minutes to settle on the best approach to scaling Mount Os, via the East Face. 

     Oh, and they also decided to co-sponsor the General Bull's Revenge Supper to be held the night of Saturday, October 16th at the Homestead Restaurant in Alton.  Be there or be square!

     The above Google Earth topological map displays the Expedition's agreed-upon plan for the Approach.  By driving County Road 657 south from Natoma High Camp approximately three miles, then turning left (west) onto West 290th Drive for .75 miles into the Eastern Face of Mount Os, they hoped to save countless needless hours of walking to the summit.  It was a bold plan and one full of hot wind and little water.

     Layed out here is the massive assemblage of Kansas-oriented mountaineering equipment carried by the Expedition: (a) Standard U.S. Flag for planting on the summit; (b) one hand-carried thermometer for up-to-date readings on the extreme conditions to be found on the summit; (c) one can of OFF to ward off the insidious giant varmints known to infestate the Mount Os region; (d) Standard Topographical Map for the vaguely exact locating of the summit; (e) Duct Tape - 'nough said; (e) Standard St. Mary's Safari Hat, to pretend that there is someone in authority in charge of the Expedition; (f) Standard Sunflower Visor, for identification to other would-be climbers that THIS is an All-Kansas Expedition; (g) Standard Black Umbrella, for . . . er . . . well, something; and finally (h) A Top-Of-The-Line Insulated Jug for carrying either cool, cool water or hot, hot coffee - depending on the extreme conditions to be found on the summit.

     Shown here are the Standard Alpine Climbing Boots inexperienced mountain climbers use when attacking the unknowable heights of Kansas summits.  Nearly a third of the Expedition were shoed with this latest high-tech equipment.  The rest had heels.  And sandals.  Sigh.

* * * * *

- Part II -

Our Crack Climbing Team

Adeline Eickhoff – Native Guide, Our Russellian Translator

Betty Pruter – Native Guide, Our Alton/Osborne/Natoma Dialects Expert, Meteorologist

Carolyn Williams – The Lone Explorer, Moralegist

Eileen Wilson – Woolly Bunch, Moralegist

Joe Hubbard – Wild Bunch, Logistics and Supply

Kathy Bristol – Wild Bunch, Still Photography, Hydrologist

Laura McClure – Wild Bunch, Communications Expert, Transportation

Mildred Morgan – Woolly Bunch, Moralegist

Orville Pruter – Native Guide, Our Ellisian Translator

Bob Eickhoff – Native Guide, Our Rooksian Translator

Russell Phalen – Wild Bunch, Senior Porter, Equipment Maintenance

Von Rothenberger – Wild Bunch, Expedition Leader, Photo-Journalist, Cartographer

     All plans having been made and all potential hazards assessed, the Expedition ran one more run-through of all needed baggage and settled into three post-selected Expeditionary vehicles.

Part of the baggage and equipment prepared for the Expedition.

 

     There was a tense moment when the Native Guides engaged in an animated conversation as the rest of Expedition members waited in their air conditioned vehicles.   The Natoman dialect is difficult for the average ear to pick up, but the discussion seemed to involve reciting the recent history of a local spirit named "Tucker."  Eventually the proper phrases were said and the Expedition could continue.

*  *  *  *  *

- PART III -

The Approach!

The temperature sat at 105 degrees as we left Natoma High Camp and began the climb in elevation.

     From the inside of our state-of-the-art SUV our high-tech meteorogical equipment informed us that as we have climbed a few hundred feet higher the temperature outside had indeed dropped to a more reasonable 100 degrees.

     Indeed, only a few minutes later the temperature had fallen to a balmy 99 degrees - by Kansas standards just another typical July day!

     Sure enough, one look outside the titanium-tinted window proved that we indeed had climbed above the treeline.  We were getting near our objective!

*  *  *  *  *

- PART IV -
At the Summit! 
 

     Go on, pinch yourself - in this photograph you are actually looking south from the summit of Mount Os.  Mount Os can be technically described as being a "mesa summit" - that is, flat-topped and wide.  This explains part of the visual concerns by visitors, where it seems that the ridges in the distance are higher than the central location.   This mesa summit covers approximately .75 miles in area.

     A Meteorogical Station has been established at the Mount Os summit, with a rain gauge that will keep records of rainfalls going all the way up to four inches!  Technology is a wonderful thing. 

     NEXT:  A wind gauge would be nice.  The wind at the summit was unrelenting, howling across Mount Os at thirty miles per hour and threatening to cast dust all over Expedition's Summit Camp.

     Just as the U.S. Marines raised the U.S. Flag at Iwo Jima in this famous photo from World War II . . . .

     So did two of our Native Guides, Orville Pruter and Bob Eickhoff, raise the U.S. Flag at the summit of Mount Os.  There was not a dry eye among the Expedition at this moment. 

 

     It was a moment to remember - the U.S. Flag waving at the summit of Mount Os, 2,088 feet above sea level, the Highest Point in Osborne County, Kansas.  The once-mythical site is now a piece of Kansas Explorer lore!

     Here they are! They've Done It! Hot, Sweaty, Exhausted, & Windblown - but Exhilarated! The Expedition Members have reached the highest point in Osborne County, Kansas!   They are seen here standing at the summit of Mount Os for the Official Photograph.  This is the moment the Team will remember for at least the rest of the week.  Absent are Kathy Bristol, who is taking the photo, and Joe Hubbard, who was overseeing the Summit Camp. 

      And in the end, the enduring question remained:  why find and climb Mount Os in the first place? 

BECAUSE IT WAS THERE!!!

 

     Back at Base Camp, The Wild Bunch lives up to its name as it celebrates the Expedition's amazing accomplishment with the tossing back of one or two badly needed drinks. 

 

     As the sun goes down on another great Kansas July day, who knows what other new exciting adventures are still out there to be found in for all Explorers in Osborne County, Kansas!

Eventually Getting Around To Paying Tribute To The Namesake of Osborne County, Kansas - July 10, 2010

     So as you drive southwest through Ellsworth, Kansas on Kansas State Highway 14 you pass on through the downtown and cross the bridge over the Smoky Hill River and as the highway curves to the left (true south) you look on your right for the first gravel road heading west. 

     Got that?  Good.  'Cause it's a whole lot harder than it sounds.

     There used to be a sign at this intersection denoting a cemetery down that particular gravel road with an arrow indicating the direction to take to it.  For some reason it is no longer there.

     There used to be a sign in the southeast corner of the cemetery denoting its name and giving its hours of operation and the speed limit for driving it.  For some reason it is no longer there.

     There used to be a nice fence all along the southern edge of the cemetery separating it from the gravel road.  For some reason it is no longer there.

     I tried Google Earth and then several Ellsworth County, Kansas websites to determine the name of this cemetery.  Okay, so ten years ago I knew its name, but in the interim it is no longer coming to mind.  No luck with the Internet; not one of these sites named this particular cemetery.  They name every other cemetery in Ellsworth County, Kansas, but for some reason not this particular one.

     So I sent out an email to "The Cowboy," Jim Gray, who knows more of the cowboy history of Kansas and especially Ellsworth County in his little finger than any number of historical societies put together.  Sure enough, in about an hour he emails back that this is the Ellsworth Cemetery, or, as some locals now call it, the Old Ellsworth Cemetery.

     Boy, I feel better.

                                 The (Old) Ellsworth Cemetery

So on this particular sunny Kansas Saturday afternoon while walking around the Ellsworth Cemetery I discovered several handcarved tombstones that were amazing in their condition, considering their age.

Okay, so I got off the point a bit as to why I was there.  Just next to the westernmost turn-in to the cemetery one can find the following grave:

The tombsone of Vincent B. Osborne.  Note the error in spelling his name.

   Although nearly a third of Kansas' counties bear the names of men who were Civil War officers, only two privates have been thus honored. One of them was Vincent B. Osborne, who served as a Kansas volunteer soldier for three and a half years, was twice wounded, and had a leg amputated in 1865.  Osborne County, Kansas is named after him.  The other county named for a private is Rooks for Private John C. Rooks. Two counties have been named for noncommissioned officers: Ness, for Corporal Noah V. Ness, and Harper, for Sergeant Marion Harper.

     Nothing is known of Osborne's early life, except that he was born March 4, 1839, in Hampden County, Massachusetts. He was 22 years old when he enlisted in the Civil War in July 1861 in the Second Kansas Infantry, at Clinton, Missouri. He must then have lived in Missouri, for he suggests that his life would have been in jeopardy had he been captured by Missouri rebels.

     One month after joining the army, Private Osborne was wounded in the thigh during the battle of Wilson's Creek (August 10, 1861), and was hospitalized for almost six months in St. Louis. Before he recovered, the Second Kansas infantry had been mustered out of service. Osborne re-enlisted, along with other veterans of this short-lived regiment, in the Second Kansas cavalry which was being organized in the early part of 1862. He was mustered in at Leavenworth on February 19, and assigned to Company A, commanded by his former captain, Samuel J. Crawford.

     Between March and September, 1862, Osborne's, company rode more than 1,500 miles on escort duty, traveling from Fort Riley over military roads and the Santa Fe Trail to Fort Union, New Mexico, and back.

     Returning to the regiment in the fall, Company A fought in a number of skirmishes and several important engagements, as the Second Kansas took part in a campaign against the rebel forces of Generals Marmaduke and Hindman, in Missouri and Arkansas.  Osborne describes, at some length, the battles of Old Fort Wayne (October 22), Cane Hill (November 28) and Prairie Grove (December 7).

     In the early part of 1863 Osborne was a hospital attendant at Fayetteville, Arkansas, and at Fort Scott. During the rest of the year, and in 1864, he was on detached duty much of the time, serving as messenger at district headquarters, Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the latter year.

     On January 16, 1865, he left Fort Smith, on board the Annie Jacobs, to rejoin his regiment.  Next day, at Joy's Ford, rebels shelled the steamboat and forced it aground. During the firing Osborne was severely wounded in the leg while helping to tie up the boat. Two days later, at Clarksville, Arkansas, his leg was amputated.  When he left the hospital six months later, the war was over.

     In 1866 he came to Kansas, having been appointed sutler at Fort Harker [today's city of Kanopolis, Kansas] by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, upon the recommendation of Governor Samuel J. Crawford, who had been Osborne's company commander.  In 1867 he settled in the near-by frontier town of Ellsworth. On June 22 of that year Governor Crawford appointed him a special commissioner (along wth Ira S. Clark and John H. Edwards ) to organize Ellsworth County.

     That same year another county to the north and west was organized and named for Vincent B. Osborne. It was also in 1871 that Osborne was elected to the state legislature from Ellsworth County, serving during the session of 1872.

     He married Nellie V. (Henry) Whitney, widow of Sheriff C. B. Whitney who was killed in 1873. Their daughter Katie, born in 1877, died the same year.

     Osborne was highly regarded by the people of his county. When he was admitted to the bar (by the district court) in October, 1875, the Ellsworth Reporter recalled his fine war record, noted that a county and city had been named for him, and stated that he ". . . is today probably one of the most popular men in the county."

     During the 1870s he held several local offices, being a justice of the peace in 1872-1873, probate judge from 1873-1879, and township trustee for several years. At the time of his death he was city clerk, probate judge, and president of the newly-organized Ellsworth County Agricultural and Mechanical Association.  He died on December 1, 1879, at the age of 40. 

     "According to the [family] tale, one dark night he tripped on a hole in the wooden sidewalk near his home. Somewhat enraged, he got himself a hammer to repair the sidewalk but in the dark he managed to pound his thumb instead of the board.   Result: blood poisoning." - Great-granddaughter Linda Blain.

     Perhaps the oddest thing about the life of Vincent B. Osborne was that he never set foot in his namesake county, despite living only sixty miles from it at the time of his death.   Despite that fact, Osborne County has always been proud to be named for such an illustrious individual.  Take well care of his eternal sleep, Ellsworth County.