| Australia, New South Wales, Tuross Head — McWilliam Park Whale Burial Site |
| |
Whales (generally humpback or southern-right) can provide a magnificent spectacle off this coastline during their annual migration south, from September to November.
Many long-time residents of Tuross Head can recall the arrival of a whale on the beach below, in November, 1980. The whale unfortunately did not survive this ordeal and was buried under the prominent grass mound to be seen on the foreshore. — Map (db m38375) HM |
| Iraq, Baghdad — Duck Memorial |
| | Dedicated to the Memory of all the displaced ducks who gave up their home in the hopes of a better Iraq. — Map (db m50642) HM |
| Ireland, Connacht (County Galway), Inishmore, Aran Islands — Welcome to Port Corrúch Seal Colony — Failte go Port Corrúch |
| | Welcome to Port Corrúch Seal Colony
[First part of the marker is about the seal colony along the coastline and is not transcribed]
As you look across the North Sound you can see the Coast of Connemare and the Twelve pins of Connemara. Near by the factory ruins represents an out post of Victorian industianlism [sic] in the 19th Century. One of the earliest attempts to mechanige [sic] the kelp industry was sited just here for the topography of the area makes this Aran's most favoured . . . — Map (db m22928) HM |
| Ireland, Connacht (County Mayo), Cong — Monk's Fishing House / Teach Iascaigh na Manach |
| | Monk's Fishing House
Fish was a staple in the diet of the mediaeval monastery, and this small building, probably built in the 15th or 16th century, is believed to have been used by the monks of Cong to make the task of catching fish a little easier.
It is built on a platform of stones over a small arch water from the river to flow underneath the floor. A trapdoor in the floor may have been used for a net, and monks could sit by the small fireplace in cold weather waiting for their . . . — Map (db m28068) HM |
| Alabama (Coffee County), Enterprise — Boll Weevil Monument — December 11, 1919 |
| | In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the Herald of Prosperity this monument was erected by the Citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama — Map (db m30306) HM |
| Alabama (Jefferson County), Birmingham — Lane Park |
| | In 1822 William Pullen, Revolutionary War veteran, acquired this land from the Federal Government for farming. In 1889 his heirs sold the land to the City of Birmingham for use as the New Southside Cemetery which operated from 1889 to 1909 with 4,767 burials. The name changed to Red Mountain Cemetery, then to Red Mountain Park and finally to Lane Park in honor of Birmingham Mayor A.O. Lane. The land was also used for the Allen Gray Fish Hatchery ( fed by Pullen Springs), a stone quarry , a . . . — Map (db m27096) HM |
| Alabama (Lauderdale County), Florence — Florence, Alabama |
| | Side A The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. Its home, believed the design of William Nichols, was one of Alabama's great houses, featuring perhaps the earliest peristyle colonnade in America. Built by skilled African-American artisans in slavery. The Forks stood until June 6, 1966, when it was struck by lighting and burned to the ground. Its surrounding brick porch with twenty-three brick columns-once plastered with a mix of lime, horsehair . . . — Map (db m39238) HM |
| Alabama (Lauderdale County), Florence — James Jackson |
| | Often referred to as the most successful breeder of thoroughbred horses in America, James Jackson imported Glencoe and Leviathan to the U.S. in the early 1800's, leaving a permanent imprint on both the breed and American racing history.
Inducted 2009
City of Florence
Walk of Honor — Map (db m38649) HM |
| Arizona (Cochise County), Hereford — Lehner Mammoth Kill Site |
| | At this location in 1952, a large bone bed was discovered containing the remains of extinct mammoth, tapir, bison and horse. Found with the bones were the weapons and tools of the Indians who had killed and butchered these animals. The bones and weapons date back 11,000 years.
The discoverer of this bone bed was Ed Lehner, on whose ranch it was located. Ed had observed the bones eroding out of the banks of a side drainage of the San Pedro River near his home. In 1955 and 1956, . . . — Map (db m43633) HM |
| Arizona (Coconino County), Grand Canyon National Park — Mules and the Canyon |
| | Behind you is the Bright Angel mule corral, where each morning mules greet riders and another adventure begins. Mules have carried people into Grand Canyon since sightseeers first visited here in the 1890s. For many people - including those who cannot hike - mules provide access to the inner canyon.
Mules?
What is a mule?
Mules are hybrids, a cross between a male burro and a female horse.
How long do mules live? How old are the ones visitors ride?
Mules live about . . . — Map (db m39551) HM |
| Arizona (La Paz County), Bouse — In Memory of Eight Ball - Morale Officer — Equus asinus — Camp Bouse |
| | He was our drinking buddy
While on duty
He drank our beer
He was
Full of good cheer
And went to the nurses' quarters around the bend
And came to an untimely end,
Of the Colonel, he was unaware
That it would be the crime of all time
If he ate the nurses' underwear
And was slain by
The jealous rival
Rest in peace — Map (db m41391) HM |
| Arizona (La Paz County), Quartzsite — Hi Jolly |
| | The famous camel herd with which the name of Hi Jolly is linked constitutes an interesting sidelight of Arizona history....Jefferson Davis (afterward president of the Southern Confederacy), as Secretary of War, approved a plan to experiment with camels for freighting and communication in the arid southwest....Major Henry C. Wayne of the U.S. Army and Lt. D.D. Porter (later a distinguished admiral in the Civil War) visited the Levant with the storeship "Supply" and procured 33 camels which were . . . — Map (db m36767) HM |
| Arizona (La Paz County), Quartzsite — The Last Camp of Hi Jolly — Camel Driver, Packer, Scout |
| | Last Camp
of
Hi Jolly
Born somewhere in Syria
about 1828
Died at Quartzsite
December 16, 1902
Came to this country
February 10, 1856
Camel Driver - Packer Scout -
Over Thirty Years a faithful aid
to the US Government — Map (db m32201) HM |
| Arizona (Maricopa County), Carefree — The Old Verde River Sheep Bridge |
| |
Marker 1 - (Main Marker):
The original Verde River Sheep Bridge, also known as the Red Point Sheep Bridge, was constructed at this location in 1943 by Flagstaff Sheep Company, which had been grazing sheep in the area under a Forest Service permit since 1926. As early as the turn of the century, other sheep ranchers also used the Bloody Basin, which supposedly took its name from numerous fights between Indians and settlers that occurred there. After the bridge was constructed, the . . . — Map (db m53966) HM |
| Arizona (Maricopa County), Glendale — Corrals and Tack House — at Sahuaro Ranch . . . |
| | The corrals here are the remnants of the sprawling complex of corrals and pastures needed to raise the livestock that was always important to the operations of Sahuaro Ranch.
In early years, horses and mules were the primary source of power for transportation, plowing, and other work. During the 1920s they were replaced by mechanized equipment, but the number of livestock actually increased as the Smith family began raising dairy cows, beef cattle, and later thoroughbred horses.
The . . . — Map (db m40686) HM |
| Arizona (Maricopa County), Glendale — Dairy Barn — at Sahuaro Ranch . . . |
| | Although some cows were probably always kept on the ranch to supply fresh milk and butter, it was not until after Richard W. Smith bought Sahuaro Ranch in 1927 that dairy cows were raised here commercially.
At first the Smith family sold only bulk milk. The cows were milked in the dairy barn, which was built in 1928, and the milk shipped to local dairies in cans. In 1932, under the supervision of Smith's son, Richard S. Smith, a retail dairy was established on the ranch and this milk house . . . — Map (db m40662) HM |
| Arizona (Maricopa County), Glendale — The Barnyard — at Sahuaro Ranch . . . |
| | The barnyard was the center of activity as Sahuaro Ranch. Horses and mules were stabled, trained, and shoed here. Cattle were brought to the corrals for branding, treatment and shipment. Farm implements and wagons were stored and repaired here.
The oldest structures in the barnyard - all built under William Bartlett's ownership - are the horse stable, blacksmith shop, tack house and some of the corrals. Well into the 1920s, horses and mules provided most of the hauling and transport power . . . — Map (db m40674) HM |
| Arizona (Mohave County), Oatman — 76 — Oatman Arizona and its Burros |
| | Oatman was founded around 1906 as part of Arizona's richest gold mining area. Oatman was reborn in the late 1960's and early 1970's as a tourist town. The main attraction was the wild burro herd. The burros roaming the Oatman area are descendants of the burros from the mining ventures of earlier times.
If it were not for these burros in all probability, neither you nor this plaque would be standing here today. People from all over the world come to visit, feed, and take pictures of the burros. — Map (db m50727) HM |
| Arizona (Mohave County), Oatman — Oatman, Arizona — Elevation 2700 Feet |
| | Oatman was founded about 1908. By 1931,
the areas mines which had produced over
1.8 million ounces of gold. By the mid 1930's,
the boom was over and in 1942 the last
remaining mines were closed as nonessential
to the war effort.
Burros first came to Oatman with early day
prospectors. The animals were also used inside
the mines for hauling rock and ore outside the
mines. Burros were used for hauling water and
supplies. As the mines closed and people moved
away, the Burros were . . . — Map (db m18964) HM |
| Arizona (Pima County), Tucson — AQHHMP #8 — Rillito Race Track — American Quarter Horse Historical Marker |
| | This famous track on the banks of the Rillito River was the birthplace of many racing innovations still in use today. The Southern Arizona Horse Breeders Association, the organization that pioneered Quarter Horse Racing in Tucson, had been hosting races at the Hacienda Moltacqua track since 1941. When Moltacqua was sold in 1943, J. Rukin Jelks volunteered the use the training track on his ranch.
Under the direction of Melville Haskell, an American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame inductee, and . . . — Map (db m40295) HM |
| Arizona (Santa Cruz County), Sonoita — AQHHMP #27 — Sonoita Quarter Horse Show and Races — American Quarter Horse Historical Marker |
| | Seeing whose horse was fastest or who had the best working ranch horse was a natural form of competition for early settlers in Arizona cattle country. So began the race and show tradition at Sonoita. The Sonoita Quarter Horse Show began at the Santa Cruz County Fair and Rodeo Association fairgrounds in 1939. Many exhibitors isolated by distance viewed it as a good place to compete with horses from the region such as the versatile Lightning Bar, sire of Doc Bar, one of the most influential . . . — Map (db m46881) HM |
| Arizona (Yavapai County), Montezuma Castle National Monument — Macaw Pen Stone? |
| | Could This Stone Be The Opening to a Macaw Pen?
Where Did This Stone Come From?
Who Used It?
Why Is This Stone at Montezuma Castle?
Did the Ancient Sinaguans Possibly
Raise Macaws Here?
In the 15th century, near modern-day Casa Grande in northern Mexico, thrived a vibrant community and trading center called Paquime. There, tropical birds called macaws, were brought up from the jungles far to the south. Thousands of macaws were bred and raised in compact adobe boxes that . . . — Map (db m40895) HM |
| California (Alameda County), Sunol — Sunol |
| | Named in honor of Antonio Maria Sunol, merchant, naval man and cattlebarron, who acquired a Spanish / Mexican land grant in 1840.
Along with the vast ranching and fertile farmlands, coal and gold were found in the Sunol area in the 1870’s.
Sunol became a typical western cattletown with the arrival of the railroad in 1869, and a favorite hangout for banditos.
It was rumored that when Joaquin Murrieta stayed here his horse stood on a bed of charcoal keeping the hooves warm for a . . . — Map (db m24495) HM |
| California (Humboldt County), Orick — Big Diamond — A Circus Elephant |
| |
"Big Diamond", a circus elephant expired near here in 1927. His skinned hulk was buried. Years later, his bones were unearthed and speculation arose about a
Humboldt mastodon until investigators were enlightened
by people who'd seen the pachyderm's ignominious end. — Map (db m22274) HM |
| California (Humboldt County), Orick — Madison Grant Forest and Elk Refuge — Dedicated to the Memory of Madison Grant — 1865-1937 |
| | Conservationist, author, anthropologist, a founder of the Save-the-Redwoods League.
This area of 1600 acres, habitat of the last surviving herd in California of Roosevelt Elk is established as a memorial by
· De Forest Grant
· John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
· Archer M. Huntington
· New York Zoological Society
· Boone and Crockett Club
· National Audubon Society
· American Wildlife Foundation
· Save-the-Redwoods League
· California State Park Commission
1948 — Map (db m32569) HM |
| California (Kern County), Lebec — The Camels of Fort Tejon |
| | In 1856 the U.S. Army started an experiment using camel for supply transport in the southwest. The camels proved ill suited to the American southwest.
In November 1859 a civilian contractor turned over 28 camels to the Army at Fort Tejon.
The post quartermaster cared for the camel herd until 1861 when the herd was transferred to the Los Angeles Depot. With the possible exception of an unsuccessful messenger service in September 1860, the camels were never used in military operations. . . . — Map (db m32821) HM |
| California (Kern County), Lebec — The First and Only "Camel Brigade" of the United States Army |
| | The first and only "Camel Brigade" of the United States Army commanded by Lt. Edward E. Beale 1857-1864. San Antonio, Texas to Fort Tejon, California. — Map (db m32820) HM |
| California (Los Angeles County), Avalon, Catalina Island — The Leaping Tuna — (The Thunnus Thynnus or Bluefin Tuna) |
| | The sport of big game fishing originated in Avalon when Charles Frederick Holder caught a 183 pound Blue Fin Tuna with sport fish tackle on June 1, 1898. This angling milestone inspired him to form the Tuna Club of Santa Catalina Island, an organization dedicated to promoting conservation of our marine recourses and good sportsmanship among anglers. It was once common for vast schools of tuna to arrive in early summer within view of the island, often amazing onlookers with their ability to make . . . — Map (db m49856) HM |
| California (Los Angeles County), Avalon, Catalina Island — 997 — The Tuna Club of Avalon |
| | The Tuna Club of Avalon marks the birthplace of modern big game sportfishing. In 1898, led by Dr. Charles Frederick Holder, the club's founding members adopted the rules of conduct stressing conservationist ethics and sporting behavior. Today, their work remains the basis for the sport's internationally accepted principles. — Map (db m49678) HM |
| California (Los Angeles County), San Pedro — Santa Catalina Island |
| | Located approximately 20 miles from the mainland, Santa Catalina Island rises 2000 feet above sea level, approximately 500 feet higher than the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The island is over 20 miles long, making it the longest of the eight California Channel Islands. People have inhabited Santa Catalina Island for at least 7,000 years. Archaeologists have found evidence of complex material cultures with strong maritime traditions. Prior to the Spanish discovery of the island on October 7, 1542, it . . . — Map (db m42129) HM |
| California (Los Angeles County), Wilmington — 169 — Drum Barracks |
| | Established at Wilmington in 1862, Drum Barracks became the United States military headquarters for Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. A garrison and base for supplies, it was a terminus for camel pack trains operated by the army until 1863. Abandoned in 1866, its site remains a landmark of the Civil War in California. — Map (db m50950) HM |
| California (Madera County), Madera — Madera Zoo |
| | In the year 1912 a Mr. William King Heiskell built an aviary with its first inhabitants being a green parrot and several species of birds from around the world. The zoo also had several ponds and water fountains and a bandstand. Although the Madera Zoo wasn’t full of many species of animals, there are several stories about a famous parrot named “Polly” and a alligator named "Galahad".
Polly was most popular for his colorful vocabulary that he learned from his miner friends and . . . — Map (db m34946) HM |
| California (Marin County), Inverness — Common Murres — Point Reyes National Seashore |
| | On the rocks and ledges just below here you can often spot common murres. For a good view from this height, binoculars are helpful. If conditions are right you may hear the colony “moaning” as they huddle penguin-like on the rocks.
Murres are rapid fliers and skillful divers. They pursue fish underwater by stroking with their wings and steering with their feet. On land they are not so deft. An ornithologist, noting their clumsy landings on the precarious ledges, has named them the “awkward squad.” — Map (db m63383) HM |
| California (Marin County), Point Reyes Station — Sea Life in These Waters — Gulf of the Farallones & Cordell Band — National Marine Sanctuaries |
| | Some of the world’s richest waters exist right off California’s coast. An explosion of life occurs here due to a combination of the sun’s energy, wind, ocean currents, and contours of the sea floor. Microscopic phytoplankton form the base of the food chain, which are fed upon by zooplankton and fishes, providing a feast for seabirds, seals, whales sharks and humans. Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries protect this ocean wilderness through research, education, . . . — Map (db m63362) HM |
| California (Marin County), Point Reyes Station — Whalewatching |
| | Southern Migration
•Mexico to Artic feeding grounds
•Pass Point Reyes early March through early May.
California gray whales pass Point Reyes on their seasonal migrations, and often you can see them from this area. The best views are from high ground near the water where you can look down as well as out to sea.
In the spring whales stay close to shore. . . . — Map (db m63360) HM |
| California (Merced County), Los Banos — Henry Miller — July 21, 1827 - October 14, 1916 |
| | There is one description of Henry Miller, California's cattle king, that sums up his contributions to this community: Henry Miller - Founding Father of Los Banos.
Born 1827 in Brackenheim, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, Miller left the family farm at age 14 to make his way in the world. He arrived in New York City in 1847, just as California's Gold Rush was getting underway. Lured by the promise of treasure, Miller joined a myriad of others heading West, arriving in San Francisco in 1850 . . . — Map (db m41164) HM |
| California (Monterey County), Monterey — Monterey Bay Aquarium / Hovden Cannery — There was a cannery here before the aquarium |
| | The Monterey Bay Aquarium stands on the site of the old Hovden Cannery. In its heyday, the cannery processed tons of sardines every day. But by the 1960s the sardines had disappeared, and the cannery closed its doors in 1972.
Now you can see shimmering schools of silvery sardines - and many other local animals - alive and thriving in the aquarium's world-renowned exhibits. — Map (db m41620) HM |
| California (Monterey County), Monterey — The Calamari Story — Dedicated to the fishermen of Monterey Bay |
| | Since the early 1900's the Monterey Bay has been one of the principal fishing centers along the Pacific Coast. Today, Monterey's fishermen continue to be major contributors to the nation's supply of squid (calamari).
In the early 50's Abalonetti began to popularize this delicacy of the sea. Even after several decades, Abalonetti continues to specialize in calamari, serving over 70,000 pounds last year alone.
It is with great respect and pride we dedicate this restaurant to the calamari . . . — Map (db m30162) HM |
| California (Monterey County), Pacific Grove — Hopkins Marine Station — Hopkins scientists study the biology of the bay |
| | The building across the cove is Hopkins Marine Station. It was the first marine laboratory on the West Coast, founded in 1892. Part of Stanford University, its facilities are dedicated to the study of marine life.
What biologists at Hopkins learn about marine life can benefit us all, because the better we understand life in the bay, the better we can protect it. — Map (db m41618) HM |
| California (Orange County), Dana Point — Don Hansen, Dana Wharf Sportfishing — 40th Anniversary 1971-2011 |
| | In dedication to Don Hansen and Dana Wharf Sportfishing, the first business operating out of Dana Point Harbor. Dana Wharf Sportfishing originated Whale Watching for Orange County and founded the Dana Point Festival of Whales and Dana Point Boat Parade of Lights.
Don Hansen has been a great example of strong business leadership in Dana Point Harbor, and is appreciated for his dedication and service to the Harbor community over the past 40 years.
Dana Wharf Sportfishing - May 1971 — Map (db m60798) HM |
| California (Orange County), Silverado — Death of the California Grizzly — 1908 |
| | The Santa Ana Mountains, which encompass the canyons of Silverado, Modjeska and Trabuco, provided one of the last refuges for the state symbol, the Grizzly Bear.
At the turn of the century, beekeeping was an important local industry, providing not only product but also pollination service for area crops. Starting in 1903, it became evident that the marauding habits of at least one bear were disturbing the hives. With their livelihood threatened, the county game warden, Ed Adkinson, a . . . — Map (db m60329) HM |
| California (Placer County), Foresthill — Old Joe |
| | On the day of July 3, 1901 a stagecoach, driven by Henry Crockett, was on its way to the town of Foresthill when a hooded man appeared with a shotgun and ordered Crockett to stop, to which he replied, “You are only foolin.” At that the robber shot and killed the wheel horse known as “Old Joe.” He then robbed the stage and its passengers. Although the robber was later identified as Henry Wise, he was never captured. This plaque and monument replaces the wooden sign that . . . — Map (db m667) HM |
| California (Riverside County), Riverside — War Dog Memorial |
| | They Protect Us On The Field of Battle.
They Watch Over Our Eternal Rest...
We are Grateful.
The War Dog Memorial is a Tribute To All Dog And Handler Teams That Served Our Country So Proudly
Scuptor: A. Thomas Schomberg — Map (db m54430) HM |
| California (San Benito County), Pinnacles National Monument — Return to Condor Crags |
| | The rocky spires of Condor Crags are seen rising above you, named by those who once saw California condors soaring over these lofty formations. In 2003, Pinnacles National Monument became part of a cooperative program to restore these endangered birds back to their wild, ancestral home. The program's goal is to reestablish a wild, self-sustaining population of condors.
The high rocks of Pinnacles National Monument were historically used as nest and roost sites for condors. As the recovery . . . — Map (db m41123) HM |
| California (San Bernardino County), Barstow — General Beale Uses Camels |
| | In 1857, under orders to survey a wagon road from New Mexico to California, General Edward Beale followed the 35th parallel to paths opened by Francis Aubry and Lt. A.W. Whipple. Beale’s orders required importation of camels and drivers to experiment carrying freight to the Southwest.
Out-performing mules, the camels carried 700 pounds and could go for three days without water. Their feet adapted to rocky-sandy soil, they succeeded both summer and winter, though they were not popular with . . . — Map (db m50561) HM |
| California (San Diego County), San Diego — Bum - San Diego’s Official Town Dog / Greyfriars Bobby — The “Tail” of Two Cities – The Brother Dogs Project |
| | Bum
San Diego’s Official Town Dog
Died November 10, 1898 – Aged 12 Years
Loved by everyone – owned by no one. His name suited him because he arrived as a town stowaway, befriended everyone and “bummed” quality food from the local eateries. As a young dog he survived a scuffle with another dog on the Santa Fe train tracks. Though he lost a foreleg and part of his tail, his spirit was unbroken. He guarded the children, led the parades and fire trucks, and had . . . — Map (db m52910) HM |
| California (San Francisco City and County), San Francisco — Bummer and Lazarus |
| | Bummer and Lazarus were two stray dogs who roamed this part of San Francisco in the 1860s. Their devotion to each other endeared them to the citizenry, and the newspapers reported their joint adventures, whether sealing a bone from another dog, uncovering a nest of rats or stopping a runaway horse. Though authorities destroyed other strays on sight, the city permitted these two to run free. Indeed, they were welcomed, regular customers at popular eating and drinking establishments on Montgomery . . . — Map (db m58394) HM |
| California (San Francisco City and County), San Francisco — Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary |
| | Within the ocean swells, beyond the Golden Gate, is an underwater world of astoundingly rich and diverse marine life. Few regions on earth host the multitude of marine species found in the sanctuary’s open waters an estuaries, within its sea floor, and along its rocky shores and sandy beaches.
The 1,255 square mile Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary protects the region’s extraordinary resources. Past human impacts such as seal and whale hunting, egg harvesting, oil spills, . . . — Map (db m63424) HM |
| California (San Francisco City and County), San Francisco — The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals |
| |
Near this site occurred
the incident which led to the formation of
The San Francisco
Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals
on April 8, 1868
———————————
James Sloan Hutchinson, a pioneer banker witnessing nearby an act of cruelty to animals
a condition all too common at that time,
was aroused to put a stop to the offense.
This also lead him to gather a number of leading citizens to form the first . . . — Map (db m33538) HM |
| California (San Mateo County), San Bruno — Seabiscuit |
| | Seabiscuit
Born 1933
Sired by Hard Tack – Out of Swing On
Owner – Charles S. Howard
Jockeys
Red Pollard – George Woolf
World’s Champion Money Winner to 1938 — Map (db m18406) HM |
| California (San Mateo County), Woodside — Folger Stable c.1905 — Folger Estate Stable Historic District |
| | Erected by coffee magnate James A Folger II, and designed by Arthur Brown Jr., who designed the San Francisco Opera House and City Hall, the stable is an example of the so-called "Victorian Gothic Style". Famed for it's decorative elements, it had gas chandeliers, cobblestone floors and pink marble base panels (some still existing). The interior redwood paneling came from what is now Wunderlich Park and was stained to resemble mahogany.
The stable was built to meet the transportation needs . . . — Map (db m56579) HM |
| California (Siskiyou County), Tulelake — Raptors - Birds of Prey |
| | This steep cliff of nestholes and crevices overlooks the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Lava Beds National Monument — fruitful hunting ranges for hawks, falcons, owls, and other birds of prey.
A favorable environment here is supporting a large number of raptors. In recent years, sixteen species have been identified in this area, among them the red-tailed hawk, prairie falcon and barn owl.
Raptors help to control rodent populations that might otherwise threaten crops. . . . — Map (db m63657) HM |
| California (Solano County), Rio Vista — Humphrey the Humpback Whale |
| | Donated to:
Rio Vista Chamber of Commerce
and
City of Rio Vista
to remember the visit of
Humphrey
the Humpback Whale
Oct. 10, 1985 - Nov. 4, 1985
Humphrey the Humpback Whale,
a mighty whale was he
He swam into the Delta, to see what he could see
The people stood and stared, and the fish were scared
He was famous across the nation, until they ended his vacation
Richard Fonbuens, Age 12
Donated by: Silva's Memorial's
Vallejo-Antioch, Ca. Dedicated Jan. 31, . . . — Map (db m17189) HM |
| California (Tulare County), Lodgepole Village, Sequoia National Park — Cattle Cabin |
| | This cabin was built by cattlemen who had acquired much of the Giant Forest land for grazing purposes prior to the establishment of Sequoia National Park in 1890. After the park’s establishment, the land was leased to men who supplied meat and milk to visitors and to the soldiers who guarded the park from 1891 through 1913. Circle Meadow, adjacent to the cabin, was the site of the slaughtering corral. By 1917 the last private holdings in Giant Forest had been purchased and deeded back to the government. — Map (db m44338) HM |
| Colorado (El Paso County), Colorado Springs — A Plentiful Harvest |
| | The abundant seeds of piñon and juniper trees draw wildlife to this ecosystem like a magnet. Chipmunks, foxes, piñon mice and squirrels munch the blue or copper-colored juniper berries. The berries last through the winter. They provide food for hungry robins, waxwings and Townsend’s solitares.
Scrub Jays and Clark’s nucrackers collect the large piñon nuts and store, or caches, them for winter use. Piñon jays can transport up to 60 seeds at one time in their throats!
Humans also enjoy piñon . . . — Map (db m45982) HM |
| Colorado (El Paso County), Colorado Springs — Pick a Climate |
| | As you drive up Pikes Peak, you’ll feel it get colder. You’ll also notice that the plants change. See if you can pick out four different life zones on the way to and from the summit.
A life zone is a plant and animal community that exists at a certain elevational range. The Life Zones of Pikes Peak. Going up 1000 feet in elevation is like traveling 600 miles to the north. Alpine, 11,500 ft. and above. Subalpine, 9,500-11,000 feet. Montane, 8,000-9,500 feet. Foothills, 6,000-8,000 feet. . . . — Map (db m45929) HM |
| Colorado (El Paso County), Colorado Springs — Take a Closer Look...Alpine/Subalpine Life Zone |
| | Alpine and subalpine tundra is the low-growing vegetation found in the “land above the trees.” At this high elevation, the climate is harsh with searing winds, intense sunlight and frigid temperatures that limit the growing season. In spite of these conditions, an amazing array of hardy, yet fragile, wildflowers thrive at elevations above 11,000 feet. Look for bright blue alpine forget-me-nots, bold yellow sunflowers, and other tundra plants that are well-adapted to the weather . . . — Map (db m45927) HM |
| Colorado (El Paso County), Colorado Springs — Take a Closer Look...Foothills Life Zone |
| | The foothills of Colorado’s eastern slope form the dramatic meeting place of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. In this transition area between the prairie and the mountains, grasslands intermix with scrublands of mountain mahogany and scrub oak. These foothill shrubs eventually give way to the evergreen forests of higher elevations. Orange paintbrush, white yucca and blue penstamon add color to this landscape in spring and summer.
Many different animals thrive in this region. Noisy . . . — Map (db m45925) HM |
| Colorado (El Paso County), Colorado Springs — Take a Closer Look...Montane Life Zone |
| | When artists and photographers portray Colorado’s mountainous beauty, they usually capture the classic views of evergreen forests, stands of quaking aspens, and meadows of brilliant wildflowers. The montane area above 8,000 feet contains just such views. Ponderosa pines tower over south-facing slopes an thick forests of Douglas firs blanket north-facing slopes. During the summer, Colorado’s state flower, the blue columbine is abundant in many shady glens.
Almost 2000 elk in the Pikes Peak herd . . . — Map (db m45926) HM |
| Colorado (El Paso County), Colorado Springs — Test Your Bird I.Q. |
| | Watch and listen to see how many different birds you can discover on Pikes Peak. From the foothills to the summit, there are about 225 species. This variety is due to the number of habitats on the mountain. Can you match the birds to the habitat?
Foothills Forest (6,000-8,000 feet): Pinyon pine, Juniper, Scrub oak.
Montane Forests (8,000-9,500 feet) Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine, Aspen.
Subalpine Forests (9,500-11,500 feet) Englemann spruce, Bristlecone pine, Limber pine.
Alpine Tundra . . . — Map (db m45920) HM |
| Colorado (Jefferson County), Golden — Play in the Wind |
| | Windy Saddle Park is named for the nearly constant wind currents that can be felt blowing through the foothills. Winds traveling across the plains are forced upward when they hit the Rocky Mountains, and as the air rises, it has enough force to lift objects into the sky.
Many large birds use these currents to conserve energy. Being lifted into the sky by this wind, called a thermal, is much easier than flapping wings that can span eight feet from tip to tip. Using thermals saves energy and . . . — Map (db m46157) HM |
| Colorado (Morgan County), Fort Morgan — Watching River Wildlife |
| | Take a few moments on this spot to explore the South Platte River and the riparian woodland that runs beside it. You'll discover that this ribbon of life is a great place for wildlife watching. Where the South Platte flows through prairie, farm, and ranch, riparian areas provide habitat for a great diversity of wildlife. The river, sandbars and adjacent woodlands offer food, water, shelter, nesting and denning sites, and a migration pathway. Half of Colorado's wildlife species use riparian . . . — Map (db m47316) HM |
| Colorado (Sedgwick County), Julesburg — Colorado's Wildlife Story |
| | From the eastern prairie to the Rocky Mountains and the western plateau country beyond, Colorado enjoys a rich abundance of wildlife. Protecting this heritage has been a challenge, and Colorado's success is due to the efforts and cooperation of people like you. Early settlers described the West as a vast land filled with wildlife. But by the late 1800s, population growth, uncontrolled hunting and fishing, and changes in land use had taken their toll. I desire to say a word in favor of . . . — Map (db m47323) HM |
| Colorado (Sedgwick County), Julesburg — Last Days of the Buffalo |
| | For thousands of years, these grasslands have supported tens of millions of buffalo, from the giant species of ancient times to the smaller version of today. As North America's largest land animal, buffalo dominated life on the Great Plains. In 1851, Cheyenne chief Yellow Wolf reported to an Indian agent the staggering news that from the foothills of the mountains to the forks of the Platte, the great herds had largely vanished. In fact, starvation stalked the Cheyenne villages. Twenty years . . . — Map (db m47319) HM |
| Colorado (Sedgwick County), Julesburg — Prairie Home Companions |
| | The semi-arid plains are home to hundreds of wildlife species. but even species specialty adapted for life on the prairie need water to survive. The South Platte River and nearby State Wildlife Areas provide excellent habitat for a variety of wild creatures. Visitors on the Watchable Wildlife Trail may be rewarded with views of many animals including deer, raccoons, coyotes, muskrats, foxes, bald eagles, herons or the elusive mountain lion. During spring and fall migrations, many birds stop . . . — Map (db m47373) HM |
| Colorado (Teller County), Colorado Spings — Tricky Affairs — The porcupine’s perfect defense |
| | The porcupine defends itself with between 15,000 and 30,000 needle-sharp quills. Each quill has barbs that flair out from the shaft that resist being pulled out, but also work themselves in. When challenged, the porcupine simply puts its head between its forelegs and turns its rump to the enemy.
Solitary but not territorial, porcupines may resort to communal denning in cold weather. Breeding, a complicated affair given the quills, occurs in late fall or early winter. Dens are chosen in . . . — Map (db m45773) HM |
| Colorado (Teller County), Colorado Springs — Black (and sometimes brown) Bear |
| | The bears that live on Pikes Peak are Black Bears and have been seen in shades of cinnamon to dark brown. They stand approximately 3 feet tall at the shoulder and eat mostly berries, nuts and leaves. Before winter hits, bears eat almost constantly consuming nearly 20,000 calories a day. They will then fall into a deep sleep during which they rely on accumulated body fat to get them through the winter. While still in the den, the sow gives birth to one to three cubs.
Unlike grizzlies, black . . . — Map (db m45772) HM |
| Colorado (Teller County), Colorado Springs — Don’t kill them with kindness — Feeding wild animals on the mountain does more harm than good. |
| | You can help the Peak’s wild animals by not feeding them. “Can one chip hurt?” you may wonder. Yes it can, when multiplied by 2,000 visitors per summer day. Then when the summer’s over, the animals are without their junk food fix.
Even “healthy” foods like grapes, can cause problems. A squirrel may store your handout with its winter food supply. If the grape turns moldy, it could ruin the animal’s caches of food.
Finally, for you own safety, it’s best not to . . . — Map (db m45844) HM |
| Colorado (Teller County), Colorado Springs — Elk Country — A Majestic Head Dress |
| | When snow falls and cold winds blow, elk lose their antlers. Elk drop and re-grow antlers each year while bighorn sheep wear their horns for life. The antler cycle begins when the previous season’s antlers, now useless, break off. Soon skull bumps covered by velvet push upward, growing more than half an inch per day!
When the velvet’s work is done, its blood supply ceases. The dying tissue begins to peel away from the antlers. In October, bull elk are back where they began-carrying another . . . — Map (db m45774) HM |
| Connecticut (Fairfield County), Norwalk — The Birds |
| | While the Mill Pond Restoration Project created a better environment for animals under the water, the creatures that we can see benefiting are the birds. A variety of feathered species are drawn here by the edible plant material and the small fish, crabs and other marine animals in the pond. The birds you see will vary by the time of year. REMEMBER: Feeding “human food,” even bread, to birds is not recommended. Please enjoy watching the birds but let them forage for . . . — Map (db m53484) HM |
| Connecticut (New Haven County), Ansonia — Anna Sewell Memorial Fountain |
| | Inscribe around the globe topping this memorial are the words:Blessed are the merciful
Halfway up the column, on the street side, is inscribed:
In Memoriam Anna Sewell Author Of “Black Beauty” — Map (db m25543) HM |
| Connecticut (New London County), New London — Whaling in New London |
| | Human relationship with sea mammals has evolved through the past 300 years. Oil from whales and seals was exploited, yet essential to developing our industrial revolution in the 19th century. The wealth accumulated from whaling was invested in railroads, industrial development, the hospital and the creation of cultural institutions still in use today by the New London community. Growth of environmental awareness in the 20th century has led to 21st century recognition of the need to save the . . . — Map (db m48186) HM |
| Delaware (New Castle County), Port Penn — Wetland Ways — Bob Beck: Preserver of Port Penn Traditions |
| | Port Penn is a community connected to its wetland landscape. Seasonal changes bring about changes in the lifestyles of Port Penners themselves. Autumn waterfowl hunting and winter muskrat trapping lead into spring shad runs and summer sturgeon fishing. The livelihoods of local families have been dependent upon these cycles on the river and marsh habitats for three centuries. This sense of kinship with the environment is characterized by the traditions of people like Bob Beck. Bob's family has . . . — Map (db m10438) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Downtown — .1 — Market Space: Yesterday’s Town Square — Civil War to Civil Rights — Downtown Heritage Trail |
| | “Hay for the horses, produce for the table, live chickens for the pot, and a hat for your head.”
All this and more could be had right here during the Civil War. The triangular area just ahead to your left was called Major Space. The city’s sprawling City Market stood just to your left, where the National Archives is today.
The jumbled haymarket, indispensable in a world of horse-drawn vehicles, was just west of the City Market on Ninth Street. Up and down Pennsylvania . . . — Map (db m27529) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Foggy Bottom — GW's River Horse — [Lisner Auditorium] |
| | Legend has it that the Potomac was once home to these wondrous beasts.
George and Martha Washington are even said to have watched them cavort in
the river shallows from the porch of their beloved Mount Vernon on summer evenings.
Credited with enhancing the fertility of the plantation, the Washingtons believed
the hippopotamus brought them good luck and children on the estate often attempted
to lure the creatures close enough to the shore to touch a nose for good luck.
So, too, . . . — Map (db m46980) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — Herring Highway |
| |
Each spring a miraculous journey begins in the Atlantic Ocean. Blueback herring, Alewife, and other migratory fish swim to Rock Creek by way of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. Members of the herring family come to Rock Creek to spawn. Since at least 1500 BC until the beginning of European settlement in the 1600s, American Indians reaped the bounty of herring during the spawning season. Over time, this age-old fish migration was hindered by dams, fords, and sewer lines, which blocked . . . — Map (db m40381) HM |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Southwest — Spencer Fullerton Baird — 1823 - 1887 |
| | Second Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Pioneer in American Natural History
[on reverse of statue:] ("Opus, Baskin, 1976") — Map (db m46418) HM |
| Florida (Hillsborough County), Plant City — Cow Cavalry — In Memory — Co. B 1st Battalion Fl. Special Cavalry C. S. A. |
| | (Front face)1863 - 1865 Erected by Plant City Chapter #1931 United Daughters of the Confederacy November 17, 2007
By 1863 the Confederate Army was suffering severe food shortages. Capt. John T. Lesley was commissioned to recruit from Ichepucksassa (Cork area of Plant City) a company of pioneer men to round up and drive the wild cattle of Florida north to the railroad stations. Many were too young or too old for regular military service. With great effort, along with 8 other companies in . . . — Map (db m46292) HM |
| Florida (Hillsborough County), Tampa — In the Beginning... — Uncle Sam Chooses Tampa for Base in 1939 |
| | On July 14, 1939, the Tampa Morning Tribune announced the war department's decision to build the "Southeast Air Base" in Tampa. The land selected was a 6000 acre marshy area known as Catfish Point. As part of President Roosevelt's New Deal Program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) paid local unemployed citizens for land clearing and road construction work. Runways, buildings, and airplane hangars were built by private contractors. Construction was competed less than two years later and . . . — Map (db m34118) HM |
| Florida (Manatee County), Bradenton — The Florida Cracker Trail |
| | This point is the western terminus of the Florida Cracker Trail designated by the Florida State Legislature in 1987. The Cracker Trail follows an east/west route across the State of Florida that has existed since approximately 1850. This trail was used by Florida's early settlers to traverse the state. It was primarily used to drive cattle from Florida's heartland to the coastal ports for shipment mainly to Key West and Cuba. The Confederate Army relied on cattle from this area and other . . . — Map (db m43076) HM |
| Florida (Marion County), Salt Springs — William Bartram Trail — Traced 1773 - 1777 — Deep South Region |
| | In 1774, William Bartram visited Salt Springs, his six-mile springs, and proclaimed it a "Paradise of Fish" — Map (db m48682) HM |
| Florida (Sarasota County), Venice — 1926 Article From "Venice News" |
| | "It's a mammoth," voiced Dr. J. W. Gidley, Paleontologist of the Smithsonian Institute, 15 minutes after he first saw the fossil tusks and jaw bone of the prehistoric monster found in Venice. The size of the tusks indicates that it probably stood 14 feet high and was probably 20 feet long. Found at the same time were bones of horses, bison, mastodon, sloths and camels.
"A fair estimate of the date when this mammoth perished would be about half a million years ago," Dr. Gidley said. The . . . — Map (db m32747) HM |
| Florida (Volusia County), Port Orange — Bongoland |
| | Several attempts were made to operate Dunlawton Plantation as a tourist attraction in the the 1950's Dr. Perry Sperber leased the premises from J. Saxon Lloyd for a park to display prehistoric monsters and had a number of replicas, molded in concrete on wire frames constructed. The park was called "Bongoland" in honor of a large baboon housed on the grounds an Indian village was also reproduced and a small train carried visitors around. But the day of the theme parks had not yet come and . . . — Map (db m34878) HM |
| Florida (Volusia County), Port Orange — Historic Sugar Cane Machinery |
| | Animal powered rollers, used to crush sugar cane, came from the Samuel Williams Plantation. This Plantation was destroyed by the Indians and never rebuilt. — Map (db m46552) HM |
| Florida (Volusia County), Port Orange — Spanish Mills and Bongoland |
| | After the 1850s, Dunlawton's days as a serious sugar venture were through. John Marshall moved away, tried to rid himself of the Florida plantation, and finally snared a buyer in 1871. His successors included Charles Dougherty (a noted lawyer-politician but no farmer); Henry Flagler (who bought a corridor for his coastal rail line); and J. Saxton Lloyd (a prominent businessman who helped create an early theme park, then gave the lands to Volusia County in 1963). In short, Dunlawton had a . . . — Map (db m46551) HM |
| Florida (Volusia County), South Daytona — Giant Ground Sloth |
| | On this site in 1975 was found the best preserved and most complete giant ground sloth ever found in North America.
The sloth weighed three to five tons, stood thirteen feet tall and was a vegetarian.
An estimated fifty species of animals were unearthed approximately twelve feet below the surface of the ground. The age of these findings is estimated to be 130,000 years old. — Map (db m45449) HM |
| Georgia (Bryan County), Richmond Hill — Tom Cat — Garrison Mascot |
| | The sole Confederate fatality after seven hours of intensive bombardment on March 3, 1863, by the monitors PASSAIC (Capt. Percival Drayton), NAHANT, and PATAPSCO, supported by the MONTAUK, the WISSAHICKON, the SENECA, the DAWN, the FLAMBEAU, the SERBAGO, the C.P. WILLIAMS, the NORFOLK PACKET, and the PARA was the garrison mascot. The death of the cat was deeply regretted by the men, and news of the fatality was communicated to General Beauregard in the official report of the action. — Map (db m13038) HM |
| Georgia (Chatham County), Savannah — The Great Dane Dog |
| | The symbol of our company since 1931,
the Great Dane dog is the most elegant
and distinguished of the giant type dog.
A true Great Dane breed is spirited and
courageous, yet always friendly and
dependable. These special attributes
coupled with majestic, powerful strides
make the Great Dane an exceptionally
unique breed.
Originally bred in Germany for hunting
and demanding work in European coal
mines, the Great Dane possesses an
integral heroic quality, and we are proud
to have . . . — Map (db m13335) HM |
| Georgia (Cherokee County), Canton — 028-5 — Crescent Farm Rock Barn |
| | The Crescent Farm Rock Barn was constructed in 1906 by Augustus (Gus) Lee Coggins. One of a rare number of rock barns constructed in Georgia, the Rock Barn, together with the nearby Georgian Revival style main house, constitutes the core of the original Crescent Farm.
Originally a race horse stable, the rock barn was one of three barns on Coggins' cotton and horse farm. It was built to replace a wooden barn destroyed in a fire which killed valuable race horses. The Rock Barn is made of . . . — Map (db m11491) HM |
| Georgia (Clinch County), Homerville — Guest Mill Pond — Home of the World’s Record Jack Fish |
| | 9lbs. 6oz. 31 inches long
Landed by Baxley McQuaig, Jr.
February 17, 1961
On a Johnson’s Spoon — Map (db m53283) HM |
| Georgia (Glynn County), St. Simons Island — North Atlantic Right Whale — Mother and Calf Georgia's State Marine Mammal |
| | In February of 1984, an expedition launched from
St. Simons Island discovered the calving grounds of
the North Atlantic Right Whale. Female whales
give birth in nearby coastal waters during the winter
months; But the young calves and their mothers are
in great danger - many are killed in collisions with oceangoing
vessels, and others die of unknown causes. Even as
Keith Jennings fashioned this sculpture in the fall and
winter of 1995, there were at least six mortalities. . . . — Map (db m55024) HM |
| Georgia (Hancock County), Sparta — “July” 1858 — The Original July Foxhound |
| | In July 1858 an Irish Foxhound arrived in Georgia as a gift from the noted hunter, Nimrod Gosnell of Roxbury Mills, Maryland to Colonel Miles G. Harris of Hancock County. The male puppy was named “July.” Col. Harris invited fox hunters for miles around to join him on a fox hunt during October 1859. They brought their choicest runners with them, but they were no match for “July’s” superior performance in the hunting field chasing red foxes. Hunters from surrounding . . . — Map (db m9486) HM |
| Georgia (Muscogee County), Columbus — Fit for Man and Beast |
| | This watering fountain at Broadway and 10th Street represents the last one of several located in each block down Broadway. It is Columbus' oldest public fountain, dating back to the earliest days of the city. Called the Man and Beast fountain, it contains three watering bowls, one at street level for dogs, a large one in the middle for horses, and a medium-sized one near the top for people. Although we no longer go to public fountains to collect drinking water, fountains offer our community an identity and sense of history in our public spaces. — Map (db m22376) HM |
| Georgia (Telfair County), Jacksonville — 134-4 — World Record Bass |
| | Approximately two miles from this spot, on June 2, 1932, George W. Perry, a 19-year old farm boy, caught was to become America`s most famous fish. The twenty-two pound four ounce largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoldes) exceeded the existing record by more than two pounds has has retained the world record for more than fifty years. Perry and his friend, J.E. Page, were fishing in Montgomery Lake, a slough off the Ocmulgee River, not for trophies but to bring food to the table during those days . . . — Map (db m57147) HM |
| Idaho (Lemhi County), Salmon — The Dog of Discovery |
| | Inscribed on his collar:
"The greatest traveler of my species. My name is Seaman, the dog of Captain Meriwether Lewis, whom I accompanied to Pacifick Ocean through the interior of the continent of North America."
This statue is dedicated to "Seaman" and all the dogs of Lemhi County Idaho -
May 30, 2005.
Made possible by the Lemhi County Humane Society of Salmon, Idaho, the Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee and the city of Salmon, Idaho.
Statue created by Utah . . . — Map (db m59654) HM |
| Illinois (Adams County), Quincy — Tri-State Business Center |
| | Quincy's brewers and brick makers, contractors and coopers, foundry and factory workers, and diverse other tradesmen made this Mississippi River community an important center of commerce in Lincoln's day. Quincy's businessmen, whose enterprises attracted business from Missouri, a slave state and Iowa, a free state, had learned discretion in their sentiments about slavery. Their businesses flourished. The demand by other regions for Quincy's produce and products had grown so great by . . . — Map (db m57883) HM |
| Illinois (McHenry County), Union — Railroad Cats |
| | Cats have been a part of the railroad scene almost since the first rails were laid. Many railroad facilities, such as yard offices, rural stations, and interlocking towers, have had resident cats who have adopted (or let themselves be adopted by) railroaders. In return for food and a place to sleep, the cats helped keep pests under control.
One railroad even had a cat as its primary advertising symbol. The Chesapeake & Ohio's ads featured a kitten named Chessie, and described travel on its . . . — Map (db m39224) HM |
| Illinois (Sangamon County), Springfield — Animal Problems |
| | Cultural differences made it hard for citizens to agree on animal control policies. Well into the 1850's hogs freely roamed the streets, contesting the walkways with pedestrians, rooting up sidewalk planks, and creating smelly "how wallows" in front of stores. Attempts by middle-class reformers to pass ordinances requiring owners to keep hogs penned routinely failed. Opponents, usually Southerners and poor immigrants, argued that scavenging pigs cleaned dirty streets and enabled . . . — Map (db m57077) HM |
| Illinois (Sangamon County), Springfield — Lincoln's Carriage Maker |
| | Lincoln brought his buggy to Obed Lewis for servicing at his shop on the north side of Monroe Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets. When Lincoln first arrived in Springfield riding a borrowed horse he wondered at the "great deal of flourishing about in carriages" he saw here. Eventually he could afford to buy his own. A lawyer friend recalled that Lincoln's blacksmith-made buggy was "a most ordinary looking one." Maintenance included occasional tire and floor repairs, . . . — Map (db m57164) HM |
| Illinois (Sangamon County), Springfield — Lincoln's Horse |
| | When Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865,joyous citizens decorated Lincoln's horse, Old Bob, with flags and led him triumphantly through the streets of Springfield. A week later, on April 14, Lincoln was shot and died the next day. On May 5, Old Bob was again decorated---this time in a black mourning blanket---and marched through Springfield for the last time as part of his former owner's funeral . . . — Map (db m48553) HM |
| Indiana (Allen County), Fort Wayne — Miami Legend of the Sandhill Crane |
| | Long before settlers appeared on the scene, the American Indian people here used the sandhill crane as a symbol for their tribe. Early British and American officials referred to the people we know as Miami as “Twightwees” in various spellings such as the English “Twaatwaa”, “Tweeghtwees” or “Twicktwigs.” A legend about how the name became associated with Miamis extends deep into the early history of its people. It is said that the early Miamis . . . — Map (db m17068) HM |
| Indiana (Allen County), Fort Wayne — Pirogue Landing |
| | Terminal point where French-Canadian boats, hollowed from 30-60 foot poplar logs, brought families and cargo up the Maumee River from Toledo and Detroit, and returned furs to Lake Erie in exchange for traders' supplies, from the late 1700's until the canal era of the 1840's — Map (db m16957) HM |
| Indiana (Benton County), Oxford — 04.1999.1 — Dan Patch |
| | Side One
Standard-bred colt (sire Joe Patchen, dam Zelica) foaled 1896 Oxford, Benton County; raised by Daniel A. Messner, Jr. on this farm. A natural pacer, trained for harness racing, a very popular sport in late 1800's and early 1900's. Dan Patch began his racing career at county fairs in 1900; he became famous in Grand Circuit racing and never loast a race.
Side Two
In 1902, sold to M. E. Sturgis, New York, then to Marion W. Savage, owner of International Stock Food . . . — Map (db m8546) HM |
| Indiana (Harrison County), Corydon — Harrison County (Indiana) Fair |
| | Oldest continuous County Fair existing in Indiana. First fair held Sept. 11 - 14, 1860. Citizens met jan. 1860, organized Harrison County Agricultural Society, adopted constitution which with amendments governs yet today. Ground purchased Mar. 1860 from Benj. Aydelott, half mile track constructed for pacing or trotting, racing against time. In 1904, mare Bertha W won race and dropped dead at grandstand, buried north center field. Near mouth of spring Edw. Smith, first Corydon white settler . . . — Map (db m9634) HM |
| Indiana (Parke County), Marshall — 61.1968.4 — Turkey Run |
| | Little Ned Garland, son of the first family to settle in Indiana North of the 10 O’clock Line, is said to have named the stream below this cliff because wild turkeys roosted in trees within this chasm. — Map (db m3673) HM |
| Indiana (Pike County), Petersburg — 63.1966.1 — The Buffalo Trace |
| | Crossed White River at a nearby ford. It was made by migrating buffalo herds. The trace ran from Vincennes to Louisville and was the only through trail in pioneer days. — Map (db m23217) HM |
| Iowa (Clayton County), McGregor — Bat Caves |
| |
Cave History
Workers for the Hagensieck brewery created these cave openings around 1867 using picks, shovels and blasting powder. They used the caves to store ice and beer until the brewery closed in 1888. Hundreds of bats used the caves until 1986, when the entrances were sealed for public safety. An entrance was reopened for bats in 1998.
A Bad Rap
Myths and superstitions have given bats a bad reputation. But most bats are harmless and less than 1/2 of 1% carry rabies. . . . — Map (db m46742) HM |
| Kansas (Allen County), Humboldt — Abel Secrest |
| |
Farmer Abel Secrest
was shot by Confederates
Oct. 14, 1861
after refusing to
give up his mules. — Map (db m57471) HM |
| Kansas (Atchison County), Atchison — "walked on Shore above this Creek" |
| | "...Capt. Lewis walked on Shore above this Creek and discovered a high moun from the top of which he had an extensive view, 3 paths Concentering at the moun..."
William Clark
July 4, 1804
The U.S. Army expedition led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark paused here on July 4, 1804. It is possible that the mound that Clark described is the bluff that rises above this site.
In his journal, Captain Clark enumerated the members of the expedition, concluding with:
"1 Corpl & . . . — Map (db m44812) HM |
| Kansas (Barton County), Pawnee Rock — "A Rallying Point for the Indians" |
| |
No one actually knows how Pawnee Rock was named. Josiah Gregg, who had been over the Santa Fe Trail eight times beginning in 1831, wrote: the attention of the traveller is directed to the ‘Pawnee Rock' so called, it is said, on account of a battle’s having once been fought hard by, between the Pawnee and some other tribe.
We passed the Pawnee Rock, a huge boulder which for centuries has been a rallying point for the Indians, and still stands, in its solitary majesty, one of the mighty . . . — Map (db m64243) HM |
| Kansas (Barton County), Pawnee Rock — “One of the Grandest Sights Ever Beheld” |
| |
Standing here 175 years ago Santa Fe Trail travelers looked out over a sea of grass. About three miles to the south a line of timber marked the Arkansas River which meandered across the prairie. A few plum thickets dotted the landscape, and an occasional thin line of trees traced the course of feeder streams. Otherwise, almost all that met the eye was grass and sky.
On July 8, 1846, Private Jacob S. Robinson described what he saw from the top of Pawnee Rock:
I witnessed one of the . . . — Map (db m64203) HM |
| Kansas (Barton County), Pawnee Rock — “One of the Grandest Sights Ever Beheld” |
| |
Standing here 175 years ago Santa Fe Trail travelers looked out over a sea of grass. About three miles to the south a line of timber marked the Arkansas River which meandered across the prairie. A few plum thickets dotted the landscape, and an occasional thin line of trees traced the course of feeder streams. Otherwise, almost all that met the eye was grass and sky.
On July 8, 1846, Private Jacob S. Robinson described what he saw from the top of Pawnee Rock:
I witnessed one of the . . . — Map (db m64205) HM |
| Kansas (Butler County), Beaumont — Livestock in the Flint Hills — Beaumont Historical Marker |
| |
The Flint Hills of Kansas are the last remnant of the great Tallgrass Prairie that once stretched from Texas to the Great Lakes. The calcium rich soil of the Flint Hills is renowned for its capacity to quickly fatten cattle in the spring. Beaumont, in 1910 had holding pens for 9,000 head of cattle that came and went by rail. This was before the days of feedlot grain fed cattle. At this time, Beaumont was a typical old western town. The Frisco had four eastbound and four westbound trains a . . . — Map (db m60721) HM |
| Kansas (Dickinson County), Abilene — Historical Abilene |
| | At the end of the Civil War when millions of longhorns were left on the plains of Texas without a market, the Union Pacific was building west across Kansas. Joseph McCoy, an Illinois stockman, believed these cattle could be herded north for shipment by rail. He built yards at Abilene and sent agents to notify the Texas cattlemen. In 1867 the first drives were made up the Chisholm trail and during the next five years more than a million head were received. Abilene became the first of the wild . . . — Map (db m43945) HM |
| Kansas (Dickinson County), Abilene — Texas Cattle Trail |
| | This Boulder marks the northern terminus of the Texas Cattle Trail over which in 1867-1871 journeyed herds numbering more than three million head and it is dedicated to the Pioneers of Abilene in recognition of their achievements. — Map (db m49331) HM |
| Kansas (Dickinson County), Abilene — The Old Chisholm Trail |
| | This post commemorates and marks the first terminus of the old Chisholm Cattle Trail, which extended from Brownsville, Texas, some 1,000 miles to the south. This post is identical to 400 Trail posts placed across Oklahoma (Indian Territory) by Bob Klemme of Enid, OK. to mark the exact trail.
Abilene Original Town Site Marker — Map (db m49632) HM |
| Kansas (Doniphan County), Wathena — "Espyd. a wolf" |
| |
"...towards the Evening a many Espyd. a wolf lying a Sleep with the Noise of the Oars Racing he awoke Stood to know what was a comeing..."
Sergeant Joseph Whitehouse
July 7, 1804
The Corps of Discovery, a United States Army expedition lead by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark passed through this area on July 7, 1804. He also described passing by a small island and noted the color of the bluffs as a yellowish color. Captain Clark wrote in his journal of the men killing a . . . — Map (db m55965) HM |
| Kansas (Ellis County), Hays — Monarch of the Plains |
| | Herds of 60 million buffalo once roamed the prairie until reduced to 300 and near extinction. They were the basis of Indian economy; food for the emigrant, railroad worker and soldier. — Map (db m59713) HM |
| Kansas (Ellsworth County), Ellsworth — Ellsworth, the Cowtown and Fort |
| | When the Union Pacific built through here in 1867 this was buffalo country. As the engines chugged on west, the Hays newspaper reported: "Passengers on the cars between here and Ellsworth have almost daily fine sport shooting at buffalo, immense herds of the huge beasts constantly entering for races with the locomotives." Ellsworth, founded in 1867, was a main terminus of the Texas cattle trade in Kansas, 1871-1875. As such it was one of the wildest of the cowtowns. There were shootings and . . . — Map (db m53550) HM |
| Kansas (Ellsworth County), Ellsworth — 7 — Kansas Pacific Stockyards — Historical Plaza Walking Tour Stop 7 |
| | The stockyards were to your left on the location of today's old CK elevator. The photo to the left was actually taken from a location west of here. It shows scattered buildings in the background. Ellsworth was slowly growing to the north.
In 1871, Shanghai Pierce, a prominent South Texas cattleman, found conditions less than favorable in Abilene for marketing cattle. He directed his herd to turn toward Ellsworth. But on seeing the inadequate stockyards here, he was said to have "set up a . . . — Map (db m54123) HM |
| Kansas (Ellsworth County), Ellsworth — 11 — The Plaza (1873) — Historic Plaza Walking Tour Stop 11 |
| | View of the Plaza looking west. The Grand Central Hotel (9) is on the right. The depot (14) is in the center of the Plaza and the Drovers Cottage (5) can be seen in the distance just to the left side of the depot. Had you been standing here on a summer day in 1868 you could have witnessed a stampede of wild buffalo charging through the Plaza! The buffalo continued past this spot and onto the plains to the east as dazed townspeople returned to daily life in Ellsworth. — Map (db m54110) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — Charles Rath |
| |
Frontiersman
Buffalo Hunter and Hide Swapper
Indian Trader
Co-owner Chas. Rath & Co.
General Store and Hide Company — Map (db m65307) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — Dodge City, a railroad town |
| |
For decades, Dodge City's existence was tied to the railroad. When the first train arrived on the newly-laid Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad tracks in September 1872, stacks of buffalo hides were already waiting to be transported to eastern tanneries.
Dodge quickly became the buffalo capital of the world as hunters, as well as hide and meat buyers, flocked to the Kansas prairie. An estimated three million buffalo roamed the Plains in 1870 and it was believed that natural increase . . . — Map (db m65283) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — Dodge City, full of excitement |
| |
The first structure built on the future site of Dodge City was a three-room sod house. Constructed by Henry L. Sitler, it was near the dusty ruts of the Santa Fe Trail, approximately 500 feet southwest of where you now stand. The "soddie" was headquarters for Sitler's ranch and cattle operations, as well as a frequent stop for buffalo hunters and traders.
During the summer of 1872, George Hoover, a young Canadian businessman, followed the stakes left by Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe . . . — Map (db m65273) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — El Capitan |
| |
This statue commemorates the Texas Longhorn that gave Dodge City its place in history as "Queen of the Cowtowns." The Longhorns are descendants of Spanish cattle brought to Mexico in the 16th century. Between 1875 and 1886, over 4 million head were driven up the trail to the Santa Fe railhead in Dodge City. — Map (db m65271) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — From 'Cattle Capital' to modern city |
| |
In the mid 1880s, economic factors contributed to a change in Dodge City's character. The cowtown era ended with the last Texas cattle drives in 1885. Two severe blizzards in that period destroyed the local range cattle industry. At the same time, a series of fires burned the downtown business district and the U.S. Army closed Fort Dodge. Dodge City's major sources of revenue were gone. The wild and woolly frontier town quickly replaced burned-out businesses with fire-proof brick buildings . . . — Map (db m65356) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — Longhorn cattle arrive |
| |
Dodge City became the buffalo-hunting capital of the world soon after it was founded in 1872. Within three years, however, the buffalo herds were depleted to the point that Dodge needed a new source of income. Longhorn cattle filled that need.
In post-Civil War Texas, one of the few ready sources of available capital was wild cattle. With the meat-hungry North eager to purchase beef - and spurred by attractive shipping rates offered at Kansas railheads - Texas ranchers drove herds . . . — Map (db m65274) HM |
| Kansas (Ford County), Dodge City — My Trails Have Become Your Highways |
| |
Seven million head of longhorns
marketed from Dodge City
[18]70's - [18]80's
Lest We Forget
Modeled by
O.H. Simpson, D.D.S. — Map (db m65363) HM |
| Kansas (Geary County), Fort Riley — "Duty" |
| | Artist - James Nathan Muir A tribute to the Cavalrymen and their Horses who so faithfully served our Nation Dedicated October 2003 — Map (db m32717) HM |
| Kansas (Geary County), Fort Riley — West Riding Hall / Polk Hall |
| | (Left of Stairs) West Riding Hall Constructed 1908 Used as an indoor training arena by mounted troops, the Cavalry School, and the U.S. Olympic equestrian team and for horse shows and polo games until 1952 (Right of stairs) Polk Hall in memory of James Hilliard Polk General United States Army 1911-1992 Duty - Honor - Country (Other co-located memorial markers) (Left Side) Henry R. Adair 1st Lieut. 10th Cav. U.S.A. Killed in Battle at Carrizal, Mexico . . . — Map (db m44341) HM |
| Kansas (Geary County), Manhattan — Historical Kansas |
| | North on scenic K-177 is Manhattan, home of Kansas State University, established as Bluemont College in 1858. Above Manhattan is the huge Tuttle Creek dam and reservoir, described in the 1950s by embattled valley residents as "Big Dam Foolishness."
South on K-177 is Council Grove reservoir, and the historic city astride the old Santa Fe trail. This was the nation's first major highway linking the East and the West. The Kaw Indian mission and other buildings, dating from the trail's heyday, . . . — Map (db m55357) HM |
| Kansas (Greenwood County), Eureka — Greenwood County Cattlemen's Association — BEEF |
| | Organized in hotel lobby
1924 — Map (db m55993) HM |
| Kansas (Greenwood County), Neal — Greenwood County and the Bluestem Pasture Region of Kansas |
| | This county lies almost wholly within one of the world's great beef cattle feeding grounds, the Bluestem pasture region of Kansas. The area, more popularly known as the Flint Hills, extends across the state from north to south in a narrow oval two counties wide, and covers four and a half million acres. Each summer a million head of cattle are fattened on its nutritious grasses.
The Bluestem region comprises the last large segment of true prairie which once stretched from the forests of the . . . — Map (db m55990) HM |
| Kansas (Jackson County), Holton — Jackson County Courthouse Horse Water Trough — Circa 1880 |
| |
[Title is marker text]
Donated by:
Chester & Ethel Lutz & Families — Map (db m63875) HM |
| Kansas (Jackson County), Holton — Livestock Water Trough |
| |
This hand-carved boulder was used by the Snyder family to water livestock in Jackson County, Kansas. The rock was moved seveal times and was last located at the home of Delmer Snyder in Holton.
Donated to the City of Holton in his memory. — Map (db m63872) HM |
| Kansas (Johnson County), Olathe — Not So Little A Farm On the Prairie... |
| | The agricultural censuses for 1860, 1865, and 1870 make it clear that J.B. Mahaffie had one of the most valuable farming operations in the township.
In 1865, J.B. owned 570 acres of land, with 240 of them enclosed by fence. The total cash value of the farm is given as $6000, and the value of farm machinery at $435. Only one other farm in Olathe Township lists the same total cash value, and only one other farm has a slightly higher value for farm machinery at $500. Most of the more affluent . . . — Map (db m34529) HM |
| Kansas (Johnson County), Olathe — Pit Stop |
| | Why does a race car driver pull into the pits, or a truck driver leave the highway to visit a truck stop? The Mahaffie stagecoach stop offered similar services.
Need repairs or new tires? The federal census for 1865 lists a "R. Vickard" - occupation, blacksmith, living in the Mahaffie household. Not every farm had its own blacksmith shop, but the Mahaffie operation did because it was a stagecoach stop and travelers' way station. If your coach or wagon needs repairs, or your horses or oxen . . . — Map (db m34546) HM |
| Kansas (Johnson County), Olathe — Stagecoach Drivers — Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be... |
| | Stagecoach drivers were an interesting group by many accounts. Good drivers were sought by stagecoach companies for their skills in driving. They exercised authority similar to ship captains over their coaches and the passengers traveling with them.
Driving stagecoaches was not without danger. Hollywood usually portrays the greatest threat coming from robbers, or American Indians. In certain times and places, these threats did exist.
As great or greater danger came from sources more . . . — Map (db m34507) HM |
| Kansas (Johnson County), Olathe — Up In Smoke |
| | Thanks to archaeological digs carried out in the early 1980s, we know that the Mahaffies' original smokehouse stood about 15 feet behind you, closer to the ice house.
Smokehouses, like ice houses, offered a way to preserve food. In the nineteenth century, salting and smoking were the best methods to keep meat from spoiling - thereby making it possible to store meat for long periods of time.
Butchering was done in the cold months of the year, to keep flies from laying eggs in the fresh . . . — Map (db m34549) HM |
| Kansas (Johnson County), Olathe — Workin' For a Living |
| | Buck and Tip, the Mahaffie oxen, are four years old. They are accurately called "oxen" now that they have reached maturity. Until they reach four years of age, young oxen-in-training are properly referred to as working steers. Weighing in about 1800 pounds each in the Spring of 2010, they will eventually reach a ton or more (over 2000 pounds) each in the next two years.
Any breed of cattle can be trained as oxen: ox is a "job description." Buck and Tip are Milking Shorthorns - the most . . . — Map (db m34514) HM |
| Kansas (Kingman County), Kingman — Land of the Buffalo |
| |
Before this became a great agricultural country its most important product was the buffalo. Millions of these animals grazed over the prairies, moving in great herds that stretched from horizon to horizon. They were life itself to the Plains Indians who ate their meat, dressed in their hides and used their bones and sinews for countless purposes. Indians killed only what they needed, but wasteful white hunters slaughtered indiscriminately, sometimes using only the tongues of the dead . . . — Map (db m62657) HM |
| Kansas (Marion County), Hillsboro — The Crossing of Historic American Trails |
| |
Chisholm Trail
1867 - 1871
Old Santa Fe Trail
1822 - 1871 — Map (db m61028) HM |
| Kansas (Marshall County), Marysville — Marysville — Original Station — Apr. 3, 1860 - Nov. 20, 1861 |
| | In 1859, A.G. Barrett built the "Barrett Hotel." It was located here on the corner of Eighth and Broadway. He built it of native lumber made at his sawmill on the Black Vermillion River.
This was one of the largest hotels on the Overland Route between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains. It was managed by Mr. & Mrs. Perry Hutchinson. The horse stables were located behind the hotel on the south side of the alley and were owned by Joseph Cottrell. The Pony Express and Stagecoach used . . . — Map (db m48596) HM |
| Kansas (Marshall County), Marysville — Marysville, Kan. — A Home Station — 1860 - 1861 |
| | [Relief of Pony Express Rider] — Map (db m48602) HM |
| Kansas (McPherson County), Canton — Santa Fe and Chisholm Trails |
| |
1822-1872 Santa Fe Trail
1867-1872 Chisholm Trail
[trail maps through local area] — Map (db m53564) HM |
| Kansas (Sedgwick County), Wichita — Buffalo — The Source of Life — Plains Indians Life, Beliefs and Practices |
| | While the Plains Indians hunted many kinds of animals, their very existence depended on the buffalo. The massive creatures supplied most of the meat for their diet. Every part of the great animal was used. Nothing was wasted. From the buffalo they fashioned their equipment. Built homes and furnishings. Made storage containers. In combination with wood, the buffalo was used to construct weapons and riding gear.
More than 60 million buffalo once roamed the Plains. Herds were moving at all . . . — Map (db m56808) HM |
| Kansas (Sedgwick County), Wichita — Confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers |
| |
This marker locates the original confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers. On August 15, 1865, near this point Jesse Chisholm met with the Plains Indian chiefs and headmen to agree on a treaty signing which occurred the following October, 6½ miles due north from this site. — Map (db m60589) HM |
| Kansas (Sedgwick County), Wichita — Dream Animals — The Strength of the Shield — Plains Indians Life, Beliefs and Practices |
| | Animals that appeared in dreams, it was believed, could convey strength to the shield of a warrior. Special medicines made from "dream animals," such as the eagle or buffalo, were tied to the shield or placed under the outer cover. Long pendants of animal hides, buckskin or blanket cloth, often decorated with eagle feathers, were attached to the shield itself. These endowed the warrior with the animal's courage and abilities.
War shields were made of hammered buffalo hide stretched over a . . . — Map (db m56753) HM |
| Kansas (Sedgwick County), Wichita — Eagles — Lords of the Air — Plains Indians Life, Beliefs and Practices |
| |
To the Plains Indians, the eagle was a lord of the air, symbolizing both ferocity and purity. It flies high in the atmosphere where the air is the clearest and where, in the belief of many Indians, the Great Spirit resides. In fact, it was said that eagle feathers brush the face of the Great Spirit. Warriors gathered eagle feathers in order to embody the eagle's keen predatory skills within themselves. Feathers were also worn to show how many enemies a warrior had killed. — Map (db m56792) HM |
| Kansas (Sedgwick County), Wichita — Way of the Horse — A Race of Mounted Warriors — Plains Indians Life, Beliefs and Practices |
| | Horses were introduced by the Europeans in the 18th century. They were seen by the Indians as a creature similar to the dog, subservient to man. The Plains people therefore called the animals "big dogs." However, with the horse came new values and a more complex way of living. Indian families measured their wealth by the number of horses they owned. Tribes would count their history from the time they acquired the horse.
Seized or gained in trade, the horse altered the culture of the Plains . . . — Map (db m56793) HM |
| Kansas (Shawnee County), Topeka — Lingo Livery Stable — 1870 |
| |
The Lingo Livery Stable represents a building that was indispensable to a prairie town. Trips into town included a need for food, water and the care of animals while there. Horse and buggies could also be leased at Livery Stables.
This building was originally located in eastern Shawnee County, on property crossed by pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The Winifred Howley family donated the building to Ward-Meade. Taken down piece by piece, each stone was numbered and stored and the building . . . — Map (db m65021) HM |
| Kansas (Shawnee County), Topeka — Trails across Kansas |
| | Kansas is a land of trails. Even before Kansas became a state in 1861, many people and animals traveled through the area. It is the north-south route for migratory birds. Elk and bison cut paths looking for rivers and other water sources. Native Americans followed the game, creating more trails. In 1821 the Santa Fe Trail established a trade route between the United States and Mexico that lasted more than 50 years. Military roads connected Fort Leavenworth to forts in the south and west . . . — Map (db m48660) HM |
| Kansas (Stafford County), Quivira National Wildlife Refuge — A Brief History of the Growth of the National Wildlife Refuge System |
| |
1903 • Pelican Island established in Florida
1905 • Congress establishes the Wichita Mountains Forest and Game Preserve
1908 • National Bison Range established in Montana
1912 • National Elk Refuge established in Wyoming
1918 • Congress passes the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
1933 • The Civilian Conservation Corps provides the labor for many refuge projects
1934 • FDR convenes a committee to save waterfowl. Aldo Leopold, cartoonist J.N. Darling, and publisher Thomas Beck . . . — Map (db m64274) HM |
| Kansas (Stafford County), Stafford — Home on the Range — Bison, Prairie Dogs, and More |
| | "The area from Great Bend westward for a hundred miles or so was a famous hunting ground for all the plains tribes, as its excellent pasturage made it the home of vast herds of buffaloes, besides plenty of antelopes and deer." - N. H. Darton, et al., Guidebook of the Western U.S., 1915
Hollywood's Dances with Wolves ensured that the Great Plains would be forever linked with bison in American consciousness. A few centuries ago, some 60 million American Bison ranged from . . . — Map (db m40105) HM |
| Kansas (Sumner County), Caldwell — 65 — Caldwell and the Chisholm Trail |
| | A mile southeast of this marker the Chisholm Trail entered Kansas. It took its name from Jesse Chisholm, Indian trader, whose route lay between the North Canadian river and present Wichita. In 1867 it was extended from the Red river to Abilene when the building of the Union Pacific gave Texas cattle an Eastern market. Over this long trail more than a million head were driven before the Santa Fe built south and brought the drives to Newton, 1871, and the next year to Wichita. Incoming setters in . . . — Map (db m49504) HM |
| Kansas (Wabaunsee County), Alma — Stone Fences |
| |
The 1867 law abolishing the open range provided for payment of 40 cents per rod (16½ ft.) to landowners to build and maintain a 4½ ft. stone fence. Stone was plentiful and our pioneers built miles of fences. — Map (db m64885) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — A. B. Hancock Sr. — 1875 - 1957 |
| | Arthur Boyd Hancock Sr. was the son of Capt. Richard Hancock, who established Ellerslie as the leading horse farm in Virginia late in the 19th Century. Arthur Sr. returned from the University of Chicago in 1895 to assist his father, and later, as head of Ellerslie, held onto the farm and broodmares despite the near demise of racing during a wave of antagonistic legislation. In 1915, Hancock started a second farm, in Paris, Ky., on land inherited by his wife, Nancy Clay. After running both farms . . . — Map (db m58285) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt — 1912 - 1999 |
| | Son of a sporting coachman, who went down on the Lusitania, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt took over his family's Sagamore Farm in Maryland after his 21st birthday in 1933. He soon purchased Discovery, which campaigned across the country for several years as one of America's most rugged Thoroughbred champions. Vanderbilt also was drawn into race track management. Pimlico Race Course, and its Preakness Stakes, prospered under his presidency, and Vanderbilt had two stints as president of New York . . . — Map (db m58313) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Allen Paulson — 1922 - 2000 |
| | Long before he owned the international champion Cigar, Allen Paulson had established an American success story honored by the Horatio Alger Association and the Wright Brothers Trophy. Born in Clinton, Iowa, into a family that was to be bankrupted by the Depression, Paulson ventured to California, where he worked on a cattle ranch. He would wash planes for local pilots in exchange for rides. At nineteen, he joined TWA and later developed and patented an improved lubrication valve for aircraft. . . . — Map (db m58319) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Andrew Jackson — 1767 - 1845 |
| | George Washington's diary included references to attending horse racing and Thomas Jefferson was also an avid horseman. Their interest, however, could hardly match that of Andrew Jackson, who stabled some of his race horses on the White House Grounds during his presidency. While Jackson's fame in America rightly comes from service as President, general, and jurist, he was also a sportsman throughout life. When he moved westward from North Carolina, he at one time conceived of building a race . . . — Map (db m58344) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. — 1910 - 1972 |
| | Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. was given the nickname of "Bull" while in school. He was known as such thereafter, the name fitting his large physical frame and deep, commanding voice. Hancock inherited responsibility for Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, which had been established by his father and mother. The family connection to Thoroughbred racing went back one earlier generation to Capt. Richard Hancock, who settled on a farm in Virginia after being wounded there while in service to Gen. Stonewall . . . — Map (db m57720) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — August Belmont II — 1853 - 1924 |
| | Man O’ War, the legendary race horse from the Golden Age of Sport, was bred in Kentucky by August Belmont II. For more than a quarter-century, Belmont was perhaps the most important figure in Thoroughbred racing, as chairman of the Jockey Club, a member of the New York Racing Commission and president of the Grand Race Track named Belmont Park for his father. He also was influential outside racing, particularly in his key role of financing the New York Subway System and the Cape Cod Canal. . . . — Map (db m57640) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Bing Crosby — 1904 - 1977 |
| | After Meadow Court wom the Irish Sweeps Derby of 1965, fans were treated to Bing Crosby's impromptu crooning of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." The famous singer and actor was part owner of the winning colt. Years before, Crosby had greeted the opening-day crowd at Del Mar Race Track in California with a rendition of "Where the Surf Meets the Turf." He and actor Pat O'Brien were original owners of Del Mar, where Crosby's knowledge of technical developments led to introduction of the photo . . . — Map (db m57709) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — C. V. Whitney — 1899 - 1992 |
| | Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney represented the third generation of the Whitney family's prominence in business, society, and racing. His mother was a granddaughter of shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. C. V. Whitney and a cousin, John Hay Whitney, financed early color motion pictures, including Gone With the Wind, and Whitney's own company later produced the John Wayne film The searchers. Whitney was among the founders of Pan American Airways and served as Assistant Secretary of . . . — Map (db m58299) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Capt. Harry Guggenheim — 1890 - 1971 |
| | Charles Lindbergh regarded Capt. Harry F. Guggenheim and Dr. Robert Goddard as the two most forward looking men in the early history of aerospace. Guggenheim financed much of Goddard's research and was himself a combat flyer in both world wars. Guggenheim also served as United States Ambassador to Cuba, and his 1950 address on hemisphere relations was a virtual outline of the Organization of American States. Guggenheim spent much of his professional life overseeing the philanthropies of the . . . — Map (db m58321) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Col. E. R. Bradley — 1859 - 1946 |
| | The activities of Col. E. R. Bradley ranged from operating Palm Beach's Beach Club casino to staging charity race days for orphans. A product of a burgeoning nation in the 19th century, Bradley worked in steel mills in Pittsburgh as a youngster, then roamed the nation as a cowboy, prospector and miner. By the time he testified before Huey long in a Senate hearing in 1934, Bradley proclaimed, "I an a speculator, race horse breeder and gambler." Asked what he gambled in, he replied "Almost . . . — Map (db m58351) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Col. Phil T. Chinn — 1874 - 1962 |
| | Col. Phil T. Chinn's place in the history of Thoroughbred racing and breeding would be secure on the facts alone, for he bred, trained, raced, bought, and sold a number of important horses. It was as a character and raconteur, however, that Col. Chinn was best remembered by those who knew him.
Son of Black Jack Chinn, a rough-hewn Kentucky politician, horseman, and brawler, Phil Thompson Chinn was about twelve when he won the Somerset Derby on a family mare. He later headed for the . . . — Map (db m58320) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Daniel Swigert — 1833 - 1912 |
| | Elmendorf Farms, one of the enduring symbols of the Bluegrass, on Paris Pike, was named by Daniel Swigert. He purchased the 544-acre core of the farm in 1881 for $150,000 from John Sanford, who had called the property Preakness Stud. Earlier, Swigert had been the horse manager of the great Woodburn Stud and also had owned a smaller property, Stockwood Farm. A succession of owners for more than a century have retained the name of Elmendorf. The stallions Virgil and Glenelg were standing at . . . — Map (db m58282) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Dr. Elisha Warfield — 1781 - 1859 |
| | His name having wafted down through history as The Father of the Kentucky Turf, Dr. Elisha Warfield had the overriding distinction of having been the breeder of the stallion Lexington. Depicted elsewhere in this park, Lexington was a bellwether individual among 18th Century American Thoroughbreds. A champion on the race track, first racing for Dr. Warfield and afterward for new owner Richard Ten Broeck, Lexington proceeded to lead the national list of sires a record 16 times. Dr. Warfield's . . . — Map (db m57742) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — E. P. Taylor — 1901 - 1989 |
| | A Canadian whose breeding farms were in Ontario and Maryland, E. P. Taylor nevertheless had a profound influence on Kentucky. His patronage of the Keeneland select yearling sale was significant in its emergence as the elite among international auctions, and his Windfields Farm was the sale's leading consignor three times. As the breeder of Northern Dancer and his son Nijinsky II, Taylor created a lasting influence on international breeding. Northern Dancer, winner of the 1964 Kentucky Derby, . . . — Map (db m57708) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Elizabeth Arden Graham — 1884 - 1966 |
| | The proprietress of the famed cosmetics house, Elizabeth Arden was born Florence Nightingale Graham near Toronto, Canada. At age twenty-four she moved to New York, later borrowed $6000 from her brother, and began her own firm. By 1945, the Elizabeth Arden company was worth $26 million, and she was cited by Fortune Magazine as one of the distinguished figures in American business. After several marriages, she reverted to her maiden name. Mrs. Graham had begun racing horses in 1931, and by 1944 . . . — Map (db m58291) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — George D. Widener — 1889 - 1971 |
| | George D. Widened was a prototype sportsman from a distinguished Philadelphia family. Several years after his father was lost on the Titanic, Widener purchased Erdenheim, the Pennsylvania property which had been birthplace of Iroquois, first American-bred to win the English Derby. Widener's own horses were bred in Lexington, however. He and an uncle, Joseph E. Widener, purchased Elmendorf Farm here in 1923. The uncle retained that historic name, while George D. Widener took the portion known as . . . — Map (db m58288) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — George M. Humphrey — 1890 - 1970 |
| | Among modern political figures involved in Thoroughbred racing have been national Treasury Secretaries George M. Humphrey, william Simon, and Nicholas Brady. Humphrey joined President Eisenhower's Cabinet in 1953, after a vigorous business career which included the restructuring of M. A. Hanna Co., formulation of National Steel Company, and working of a remote iron ore source along the Labrador-Quebec border. Humphrey had been a breeder and owner of saddle and harness horses, and later . . . — Map (db m58287) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — George Washington — 1732 - 1799 |
| | The first President of the United States was an avid horseman and outdoorsman, as befit his era, and he at times was a participant in horse racing. The cherished tale of his Magnolia running against a horse owned by Thomas Jefferson was refuted by historians, but Magnolia was, in fact, a race horse owned by Gen. Washington. Alas, he was not a very successful one, although, being a politician as well as a horse trader, Washington wrote to Light Horse Harry Lee that the horse "is in high health, . . . — Map (db m58334) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Harry Payne Whitney — 1872 - 1930 |
| | The stamp affixed on Thoroughbred racing by William Collins Whitney and his son Harry Payne Whitney remains indelible. It was W. C. Whitney who poured funding into revitalization of Saratoga, the charming old Victorian race track still operating in upstate New York. Secretary of the Navy under Grover Cleveland and founder of the New York utilities giant now known as Con Ed, W. C. Whitney was racing's leading owner three times before his death in 1904. Son Harry Payne Whitney, already a race . . . — Map (db m58325) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Henry Clay — 1777 - 1852 |
| | Visitors familiar with Lexington's Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, know it as a graceful old house, with lovely gardens and grounds. In an earlier time, when Henry Clay built it to some 2,000 acres, Ashland was also the home of Thoroughbreds. Henry Clay, known in history for his political acumen in such matters as the Treaty of Ghent and for his four attempts at becoming president, was also an avid agriculturalist. He was a member of the Lexington Jockey Club and its successor, the Kentucky . . . — Map (db m58346) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Henry Clay — Pioneer Purebred Livestock Breeder |
| | Brought to "Ashland" and its pastures Hereford Cattle from England, in 1817, and added them to his herd of shorthorns. Here he pioneered thoroughbred horse breeding in the Blue Grass. To this farm he brought jack stock from Spain. Here he bred Merino sheep, Red and Belted hogs, and by his example constantly inspired other farmers to improve their livestock. This memorial is presented by "Country Home Magazine" and dedicated by the Kentucky Live Stock Improvement Association October 21, 1937 — Map (db m60864) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — HRM Queen Elizabeth II — 1926 - |
| | The English Royal family has been instrumental in Thoroughbred racing through many successions, and no monarch has been more knowledgeable about the sport that Queen Elizabeth II. There was a Royal Stud farm in the time of Henry VIII, and with Charles II, the term Sport of Kings took on new meaning, for the king was so fond of racing that he personally rode in match races. Queen Victoria's son, the Prince of Wales (afterward Edward VII), lent additional prestige to racing in the latter 19th and . . . — Map (db m58316) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Isabel Dodge Sloane — 1897 - 1962 |
| | Thoroughbred racing for many years has been graced by the participation of distinguished ladies. The first lady to top the list of money-winning owners in a given year was Mrs. Isabel Dodge Sloane, whose Brookmeade Stable earned $251,138 in 1934. Mrs. Sloane was a daughter of the founder of Dodge Motor Company, which in 1926 was purchased by a bank syndicate for $146 million. Mrs. Sloane's half-sister, Mrs. Fred Van Lennep, owned the great show horse champion Wing Commander. Beginning with her . . . — Map (db m58281) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — James Ben Ali Haggin — 1821 - 1914 |
| | A Kentucky-born grandson of a Turkish Army officer, James Ben Ali Haggin was lured west by the Gold Rush. He and his partners eventually owned South Dakora's Homestake Mine---the richest gold vein in North America. Haggin's group also mined other ores, owning the Anaconda Copper Mine in Montana and the Ontario Silver Mine in Utah. When shipping ore from his Cerro de Pasco Copper Mine in Peru necessitated a new railroad, Haggin built it himself, for $2 million. The Haggin group was said to . . . — Map (db m58348) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — James R. Keene — 1838 - 1913 |
| | Castleton Farm, a stately, stone-walled property on Lexington's Iron Works Pike, was purchased by Sen. John Brechinridge in 1790. A century later, it was bought by James R. Keene, a mercurial figure in American business and sport.
Born in London, Keene came to this country as a child and authored a prototype American success story. He was a millworker, school teacher and editor before buying some mules to go into the hauling trade. His customers included the Bonanza mines, and Keene made . . . — Map (db m57784) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John D. Hertz — 1879-1961 |
| | Yellow was the color and name of his taxicab company, and yellow and black were his stable colors. Mr. and Mrs. John D. Hertz' most famous Thoroughbred was Count Fleet, which won the triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes) in 1943. Count Fleet was a son of Reigh Count, which had won the Knetucky Derby for the Hertz stable in 1928, and he sired a later derby winner in Count Turf (1951). Hertz embodied the American success story. An immigrant from Austria, he left home and first . . . — Map (db m58284) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John E. Madden — 1856 - 1929 |
| | John E. Madden named Hamburg Place, outside Lexington, for Hamburg, one of his many champion race horses. He proceeded to breed five Kentucky derby winners on the farm: Old Rosebud, Sir Barton, Paul Jones, Zev and Flying Ebony. Sir Barton also won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1919, becoming American racing's first Triple Crown Winner. A grandson of Madden's Preston Madden, took over operation of the farm and added to its history by breeding the 1987 Derby and Preakness winner, Alysheba. . . . — Map (db m58349) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John Hay Whitney — 1904 - 1982 |
| | British Prime Minister Harold McMillan proclaimed John Hay (Jock) Whitney "the best Ambassador the United States ever had here." Whitney was named to the post in 1954 by President Eisenhower, a golfing and hunting crony. Whitney was named for his grandfather, John Hay, who also had been our Ambassador to England as well as Secretary of State and private secretary to Abraham Lincoln.
Whitney and his sister, Joan Whitney Payson, were also born to the Turf, inheriting Greentree Stud outside . . . — Map (db m58350) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John S. Knight — 1894 - 1981 |
| | Adjacent to this park is the building of the Lexington Herald-Leader, one of the large Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers. Both Messrs. Knight and Ridder were longtime owners and breeders of racehorses. John S. Knight started with the Akron Beacon Journal after World War I and built a chain of papers including such major markets as Miami, Detroit, and Chicago. He personally authored a series that won one of his papers' twenty-six Pulitzer Prizes. He and Marshall Field began a racing partnership . . . — Map (db m58333) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John W. Galbreath — 1897 - 1988 |
| | The far-reaching enterprises of John W. Galbreath were sometimes reflected in the names of his horses. Epsom Derby winner Roberto was named for the great baseball player Roberto Clemente, whose team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, was then owned by Galbreath. Bramalea was named for a Canadian town which Galbreath's development firm had built. Beginning as a pre-teen horseradish salesman in his beloved Ohio, Galbreath applied determination, innovation and honesty to a career that shaped the real estate . . . — Map (db m58327) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Leslie Combs II — 1901 - 1990 |
| | Leslie Combs II put a modern slant on the management and marketing of horses. He specialized in the form of syndication whereby some thirty-six shares would be sold in an individual stallion. Beau Pere, purchased for $100,000 in 1947, was his first syndication and was followed within a decade by Alibhai in the first half-million dollar syndication and then Nashua in the million-dollar plus syndication. Nashua became a prime tourist attraction in Lexington, standing for a quarter-century at . . . — Map (db m58297) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Lexington |
| | The stallion Lexington was the key figure in development of the American Thoroughbred during the second half of the 19th Century. He was statistically the leading stallion in America for 14 consecutive years, 1861 - 1875, and again in two later years. A total of 16 years as the leading sire has never been duplicated in any major racing nation. He sired 84 horses of a quality to be regarded as stakes winners in modern terminology, and 11 of then were recognized as champions. This record was all . . . — Map (db m58337) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Lucille Parker Markey — 1897 - 1982 |
| | From 1924 until her death, Maysville, Kentucky, native Mrs. Lucille Parker Markey was the lady of Calumet Farm. First as the young bride of Calumet heir Warren Wright Sr. and then as the wife of Hollywood writer Admiral Gene Markey, she lived the glory of the Lexington farm and its racing stable. After Wright's death in 1950, she continued the operation which already had bred and raced Triple Crown winners Whirlaway and Citation. Under her guidance, Calumet was America's leading breeder eight . . . — Map (db m58314) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1215 — Man o' War |
| | (Obverse):
Fair Play - Mahubah, by Rock Sand
Greatest race horse and leading money winner of his day. Winner of twenty of twenty-one starts with lifetime earnings of $249,465. Foaled March 29, 1917, at August Belmont's Nursery Stud a few miles away. Sold at auction as yearling for $5,000 to Samuel D. Riddle, his owner throughout his racing career and later retirement. "Big Red" sired 62 stakes winners, his get earning over $3.5 million. War Admiral, Triple Crown winner, was most . . . — Map (db m4741) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps — 1883 - 1970 |
| | An early investor with Andrew Carnegie was Henry Phipps, whose son, Henry Carnegie Phipps, married Gladys Livingston Mills. Mills' ancestors had signed the Declaration of Independence and handled the Louisiana Purchase. As Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps, the former Gladys Mills launched a stable with her brother, Secretary of the Treasury Ogden Mills. Her twin sister, Beatrice Lady Granard, raced horses in Europe in partnership with Lord Derby. Mrs. Phipps raced in the name of Wheatley Stable from . . . — Map (db m58324) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Ogden Phipps — 1908 - 2002 |
| | When Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps launched Wheatley Stable in the 1920's her teenage son, Ogden Phipps, became interested in the sport. In 1932, a year after graduation from Harvard, he registered his own colors of a black jacket and a cherry red cap. Phipps bred his first stakes winner, White Cocade, in 1933 during the time he was working for Smith Barney. Service in the World War II Navy put Commander Phipps' sporting career on hold. After the war, he was one of three breeders who acquired and . . . — Map (db m58317) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Paul Mellon — 1907 - 1999 |
| | Thoroughbred racing is but one of many aspects of society to benefit from the philanthropy of Paul Mellon. A book published in the 1990s listed $640 million in major charitable donations. Mellon's interests range from the work of Carl Jung to gazing at mares and foals in the fields of his Virginia Farm, Rokeby. Mellon's love of art has been expressed by such projects as funding the Yale Center for British Art and a wing of the Virginia Art Museum and then filling them with priceless treasures. . . . — Map (db m58295) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Robert A. Alexander — 1819 - 1867 |
| | Robert A. Alexander established the 2,000-acre Woodburn Stud in Woodford County, in part with the inheritance left by an uncle in Scotland. By creating a commercial breeding operation, Alexander introduced a degree of professionalist to breeding horses that was instrumental in Kentucky's surpassing Tennessee as the center of the American Thoroughbred. Woodburn auctions produced four Kentucky derby winners and 10 Belmont Stakes winners. In 1855, Alexander purchased the young stallion Lexington . . . — Map (db m58340) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. — (1896 - 1947) |
| | For four decades Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. headed King Ranch, one of America's unique institutions. Among divisions of King Ranch is the Thoroughbred farm he founded outside Lexington, on property that was once part of Col. E. R. Bradley's Idle Hour Farm.
Kleberg was a grandson of Captain Richard King, who had heeded Robert E. Lee's personal advice to "buy land and never sell." King Ranch grew to more than eleven million acres of Texas land. Kleberg became its president in 1932, and although . . . — Map (db m58301) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Sam Hildreth — 1866 - 1929 |
| | Admonished by his father that one could not settle down if he wanted to be a racing man, Sam Hildreth wrote years later of such family sojourns as himself and all nine brothers and sisters being taken by wagon train from Missouri to Texas. His father had about a dozen race horses and had heard of an owner in Texas who wanted some action. The Hildreth star of the time, Red Morocco, was called on to oblige. Sam Hildreth was ever held by the "The Spell of the Turf," as his autobiography was . . . — Map (db m58341) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Samuel D. Riddle — 1861 - 1951 |
| | "Lots of men might have a million dollars, but only one man can have Man o' war," said Will Harbut, the faithful groom of the great stallion. The one man who had Man o' War was Samuel D. Riddle, who once handed back the check of a wealthy Texan who had urged him to name his price for the horse. Riddle had purchased Man o' War as a yearling for $5,000 and raced him to legendary status. "Big Red" won 20 of 21 races in 1919 and 1920 and thereafter stood at stud for many years at Faraway farm . . . — Map (db m58343) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Sheikh Mohammed — 1949 - |
| | Through the last two decades of the 20th Century and into the next, the dominant purchasers of Thoroughbreds in the world were the Maktoum brothers from the country of Dubai. As the ruling family of that oil producing Emirate, the Maktoums are international statesmen as well as extraordinary sportsmen. Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum bid Rashin al Maktoum is the oldest brother, but Sheikh Mohammed has often been the most visible spokesman for the family's collective and individual racing and breeding . . . — Map (db m57685) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Warner L. Jones Jr. — 1916 - 1994 |
| | For more than 50 years, Warner L. Jones Jr. was on the board of Churchill Downs, which a great-great-great uncle, Col. M. Lewis Clark, founded in 1875. For 12 years, Jones was chairman. Thus, much of his career was involved in protecting and promoting the track's revered Kentucky Derby. Jones established Hermitage Farm outside Louisville in 1935 and operated it for the rest of his life. He bred 131 stakes winners, including winners of the two most distinguished races at his home track: Dark . . . — Map (db m57736) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Warren Wright, Sr. — 1875 - 1950 |
| | The name of the family company of the Wrights was Calumet Baking Powder and Warren Wright, Sr. would also make that name synonymous with Thoroughbred breeding and racing. In 1913 Wright took over operation of the Chicago company from his father and guided it so successfully that Calumet Baking Powder was sold for $40 million in 1928. After his father, William Monroe Wright, died in 1931, Warren converted his Lexington farm from Standardbreds to Thoroughbreds. In the final two decades of his . . . — Map (db m58286) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — William S. Farish — 1939 - |
| | To the general public, the identity of William S. Farish is likely created by his term as the United States Ambassador to England, his business association and friendships with both Presidents Bush, and his friendship with Queen Elizabeth II, who has been his house guest. To those involved in the Thoroughbred industry, Farish has been one of the most visible and successful of Kentucky breeders and owners, as well as an organizational leader in the industry. Grandson of a former chairman of . . . — Map (db m58336) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — William T. Young — 1918 - 2004 |
| | One of Lexington's most distinguished native citizens also emerged as one of America's top Thoroughbred breeders and owners. W. T. Young developed the stately Overbrook Farm, stocked it with high quality bloodstock and began breeding, racing, selling and buying a succession of major winners. His Storm Cat became one of the leading stallions in the world. Between 1994 and 1996, Young was owner or co-owner of winners of five Triple Crown races. In 1996, Grindstone won the Kentucky Derby and . . . — Map (db m58329) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — William Woodward, Sr. — 1876 - 1953 |
| | Aristocratic by birth and bearing, William Woodward, Sr. inherited the presidency of Hanover National Bank of New York and ownership of Belair Stud, a Maryland property predating the revolution. Woodward also has a lasting connection to Kentucky, boarding his mares for many years at Clairborne Farm. He also helped Claiborne import the great stallion Sir Gallahad III, sire of Woodward's first Triple Crown winner, Gallant Fox. In turn, Gallant Fox sired Triple Crown winner Omaha.
Woodward . . . — Map (db m58283) HM |
| Kentucky (Hart County), Munfordville — The Great Buffalo Crossing — Before 1790 |
| | The American Bison brings the Wild West to mind, but when Europeans arrived in Kentucky, buffalo were spread throughout the Commonwealth. John Filson wrote, in 1784:
"The amazing herds of buffaloes which resort thither, by their size and number, fill the traveller with amazement and terror, especially when he beholds the prodigious roads they have made from all quarters, as if leading to some populous city."
One such road led here, to a natural ford across Green River. Imagine . . . — Map (db m40018) HM |
| Maine (Hancock County), Bar Harbor — Peregrine Falcons Return to Acadia |
| | The recovery of the peregrine falcon is one of the great environmental success stories of our time. Although they once nested on the east face of Champlain Mountain above you, by 1964 peregrines had become extinct throughout the eastern United States. The pesticide DDT prevented them from successfully reproducing, and as individuals aged and died, there were none to replace them. Beginning in the 1970s, coordinated efforts across the country, including a reintroduction project at Acadia . . . — Map (db m54409) HM |
| Maine (Waldo County), Belfast — 28 — Broiler Capital of the World — The Museum in the Streets |
| | Belfast in the mid-20th century was firmly established as "Broiler Capital of the World". Hundreds of thousands of chickens were raised in giant barns throughout Waldo County. At the peak of the industry 22,000 birds per hour were made ready for shipping at two plants situated on the waterfront. When Penobscot Poultry Company opened its state-of-the-art facility on this site in 1956, presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson was present at the opening ceremony. The plant closed in 1988 and was . . . — Map (db m59548) HM |
| Maine (Waldo County), Belfast — 2 — The Circus Comes to Town — The Museum in the Streets |
| | Circuses and Caravans of wild animals appeared in Belfast as early as 1816. In 1885, Barnum's "Greatest Show on Earth," featuring 16 elephants including Jumbo, pitched its tent on Congress Street where over 8,000 people enjoyed the spectacle, despite ankle-deep mud. Six locomotives pulled the circus train into the station where it was met with fanfare. In recent history, when the circus came to town, it was not unusual to see elephants strolling through downtown on their way to a refreshing . . . — Map (db m59384) HM |
| Maine (Washington County), Machias — The Machias River — Downeast Fisheries Trail |
| | Native Americans called the falls next to this sign Machias, the popular translation of which is "bad little falls." The name Machias now applies to the nearby towns and rivers. South of Bad Little Falls, river water mixes with sea water brought in by each tide, making an environment called an estuary. Eagles, osprey, softshell clams, migratory fish, shorebirds and seabirds find the varying conditions of the estuary suitable habitat. Upstream, a vast array of tributary streams, lakes, ponds, . . . — Map (db m54743) HM |
| Maryland, Baltimore — Evergreen on the Falls — National Register of Historic Places |
| | Surveyed for John Walsh in 1754, large square cupola once crowned brick mansion. Built in Italianate style c.1860 by Henry Snyder. Leased after 1864 to James Hooper, owner of Meadow Mill. Estate was sold in 1870 to David Carroll, co-owner of Mount Vernon Mills. Acquired by Maryland Society for prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1926. Granite structure, 1860 was valve house for Hampton Reservoir (filled with earth from Jones Falls Expressway Excavation.) — Map (db m2520) HM |
| Maryland, Baltimore — Structures of Restriction |
| | Fences have played an integral part in Mount Vernon Place’s history. The small interior fence was originally installed in 1935 to keep jackrabbits from eating the gardens during a Baltimore jackrabbit epidemic. The rabid rodents plagued this neighborhood’s green spaces for over two months until wealthier residents displaced them. The fencing has been altered now that the perennials are no longer under a threat. In 2002, the larger exterior fence was installed by the then newly formed Department . . . — Map (db m7726) HM |
| Maryland (Baltimore County), Owings Mills — Gwynnbrook State Farm No. 1 |
| | 290 acres, purchased from Dolfield estate October 29, 1919, from hunter's license fund for the purpose of breeding game in captivity for propagation purposes.
E. Lee LeCompte
State Game Warden of Maryland — Map (db m4339) HM |
| Maryland (Harford County), Havre de Grace — A Crucial Connection — Wetlands are the vital link between land and water. |
| | Wetlands are a beautiful place to visit. Brightly colored flowers and a variety of birds are just some of the wonderful things to see in a wetland. water rushes off the land in a storm. When the water reaches the wetlands, plants help to slow the water's flow. Then, the spongy soil absorbs the extra water, reducing flooding. Water rushing off the land carries soil, trash and chemicals to the bay. Wetland plants trap this pollution, reducing erosion and keeping the bay clean. The Chesapeake . . . — Map (db m9696) HM |
| Maryland (Harford County), Havre de Grace — Birds by the Bay |
| | Herons, ducks, and geese gather along the shores and on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. A Great Blue Heron has caught a fish to eat. Who is this? Domesticated geese are not native to this area. They are from Europe and Asia. The geese probably escaped from a farm and now lives here. Look for American coots spread out in a flock on the water from November to March. Mallard ducks are searching for seeds, snails, insects, and small fish to eat. A Ring-billed gull drops a clam in hopes of . . . — Map (db m9695) HM |
| Maryland (Harford County), Havre de Grace — Havre de Grace Racetrack |
| | In operation from 1912 to 1950 and nicknamed “The Graw.” The Harford Agricultural and Breeders Association racetrack was one of four one-mile thoroughbred racecouses in Maryland and reflected Harford County’s status as a breeding center for thoroughbreds. Man O’ War won the Potomac Handicap here in 1920, setting a track record. En route to the
Triple Crown in 1948, Citation lost his only race that year, to a local horse, Saggy. The clubhouse and grandstand remain. — Map (db m1269) HM |
| Maryland (Harford County), Havre de Grace — Lure of the Chesapeake |
| | Canvasback ducks float quietly on the water The hunter waits Flocks of ducks appear in the sky, cup their wings and drop down to the waiting canvasbacks The hunter's ploy has worked For it was not real canvasbacks that lured the ducks but well crafted decoys The Havre de Grace Decoy Museum is home to one of the finest collections of working decoys from the Chesapeake Bay area. The museum opened its doors in 1986 and through exhibits, education, and conservation the legacy of . . . — Map (db m9694) HM |
| Maryland (Harford County), Havre de Grace — Luxury on the Bay |
| | Listen, and you can almost hear the jazz music and smell the roasting duck. Edward F. Piersol conceived the idea for the Bayou Hotel and was the first owner. The hotel, considered lavish for a small town was built with field stone from Harford County and completed in 1921. Each of the sixty rooms had a private bath, (a luxury for that time) and most rooms had a view of the water. Other extravagances included a parking garage and the indoor pool that is now part of the Havre de Grace Decoy . . . — Map (db m9693) HM |
| Maryland (Harford County), Havre de Grace — Welcome to Our Wetland Home |
| | Along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay wetlands provide a home for many different animals. Listen...Look...can you find the animals that call this special place home? Look Up! Can you find the snake? Black rat snakes are skilled climbers searching in trees for birds and eggs to eat. Also look for black rat snakes along the shoreline where they may be hunting frogs and small mammals. This snake is not poisonous but instead wraps its long body around an animal and squeezes . . . — Map (db m9701) HM |
| Maryland (Kent County), Fairlee — Bass Propagation Lake |
| | Fairlee Mill Pond, Kent County, one mile from this point. Purchased by State 1928. — Map (db m3077) HM |
| Maryland (Kent County), Turner's Creek Landing — Natural Diversity at Turner's Creek |
| | More than 3,600 species of plants, fish and wildlife live in the Chesapeake Bay region. the Sassafras River and Turner's Creek - tributaries of the Bay - provide food and shelter for great blue herons, osprey, otters, beaver, largmouth bass and other wildlife. Aquatic plants in local rivers and creeks shelter crabs and young fish, and serve as food for migrating waterfowl. Boaters, Do Your Part: Avoid disturbing submerged aquatic vegetation beds. Propellers and impellers can uproot vegetation. — Map (db m64356) HM |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Clarksburg — Dowden's Ordinary: The Elephant Comes to Clarksburg |
| | "This elephant, a female, is ten Years old, 8 feet 6 inches high. Her tusks have been broken off, but are growing again, having lengthened about an inch in the last 3 Months. . . . She takes a whip and cracks it, eats 2 Bushels of corn in [sic] the Cob a day . . . . She draws a cork from a bottle with her finger, empties it into her trunk and then pours, or blows into her mouth." - Benjamin H. Latrobe, 1811-
Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the US Capitol made this entry in his sketchbook for . . . — Map (db m50927) HM |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Takoma Park — Roscoe — (a.k.a. Chick Chick) — 1989 - 1999 |
| | This free spirited rooster,
who chose to live in our town,
was fed and protected by
Alan Daugharthy and Alma Keating,
and brought joy into our urban lives.
Friends of Roscoe. — Map (db m64533) HM |
| Maryland (Prince George's County), Bladensburg — Dinosaur Alley |
| | Bladensburg lies in the geologic region known as "Dinosaur Alley." It is the area on the East Coast of the United States were the greatest number of dinosaur bones have been found. Dinosaur Alley runs along the Route 1 corridor between Baltimore and Washington. The layers of earth in this area are about 100 million years old and are made primarily of clay and sand, not rock. One hundred million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous period, the Baltimore-Washington area was a flat plain near . . . — Map (db m33227) HM |
| Maryland (Prince George's County), Bowie — The Belair Stud Farm — Cradle of American Racing |
| | Colonial Manor where breeding for the turf was carried on for three centuries. Laying the foundation of American thoroughbred racing. Samuel Ogle original owner, imported the stallion "Spark", the filly "Queen Mab" and other prize horses. His brother-in-law, Benjamin Tasker Jr., continuing family tradition, bred "Othello" and "Selima", prides of the colonies. Belair Stud Farm blood flows in the veins of almost every American racehorse of distinction. William Woodward, Sr., last private owner, . . . — Map (db m64743) HM |
| Maryland (St. Mary's County), Piney Point — Osprey — Pandion haliaetus |
| | Visit Piney Point between March and October and you might see osprey at home on pilings used to moor oil barges. These graceful birds of prey return every year around St. Patricks Day from their winter homes in Brazil, Colombia or Venezuela.
The Chesapeake Bay estuary supports the largest breeding osprey population in the country. The lower reaches of the Potomac and other tidal waters are their main fishing grounds. Nicknamed the "Fish Hawk," these birds circle 50 to 100 feet above the . . . — Map (db m9016) HM |
| Maryland (Wicomico County), Nanticoke — Roaring Point Park |
| | The tidal and non-tidal wetlands, upland forest, coastal dunes, and beach of this treasure of the Nanticoke River provide habitat for white-tailed deer, osprey, migratory and year-round resident birds, and nesting diamond back terrapins. Please help protect this fragile ecosystem. Avoid walking over the dunes and take out all trash you produce.
Acquisition of Roaring Point was funded by Maryland Program Open Space. The park is owned and maintained by Wicomico County. — Map (db m45252) HM |
| Maryland (Worcester County), Berlin — The Wild Ponies |
| | Hardy, compact, and spirited - the horses on Assateague Island run freely over a range bounded by ocean and bay. Bands of mares and young led by protective stallions graze on marsh grasses, drink at freshwater ponds, and retreat into island forests for shelter. With luck, you will see ponies during your visit. Please watch from a distance. Wild ponies kick and bite, even though they may look tame. Feeding them is dangerous and unlawful. Two Herds The ponies usually live in small groups or . . . — Map (db m8340) HM |
| Massachusetts (Bristol County), New Bedford — Twentieth-Century Whaling — New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park — National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior |
| | Twentieth-Century Whaling-As New Bedford’s whaling industry declined in the 19th century, more than a dozen other nations began hunting whales using “modern” Norwegian methods, with fast, steam-powered vessels and heavy-gauge harpoon cannon. More whales were caught in just a few decades than had been captured during the previous 200 years. Concern for the survival of whales lead to an international ban on whaling in 1986.
Before the claw was introduced, whalemen who worked . . . — Map (db m62387) HM |
| Massachusetts (Worcester County), Sterling — "Mary Had a Little Lamb" |
| |
Statue front:
Born in Sterling, Mass.
Mary Elizabeth Sawyer
1806-1889
and her little lamb
Long side of the base:
“Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.”
. . . John Roulstone
Below lamb’s hindquarters:
This memorial, commemorating the poem, “Mary had a little lamb”, was presented to the Town of Sterling by the Sterling Historical Society. It was made possible . . . — Map (db m48420) HM |
| Massachusetts (Worcester County), Sterling — Mary Sawyer’s Birthplace |
| |
Mary had a little lamb . . .
—
Birthplace of
Mary E. Sawyer
(and her lamb)
1806 - 1889
—
Sterling, Ma. — Map (db m31353) HM |
| Michigan (Crawford County), Grayling — S0709 — The Return of Kirtland's Warbler |
| | The Kirtland's Warbler was first identified in 1851 from a specimen collected on Dr. Jared Kirtland's Ohio farm. The birds originally depended on fire-created young jack pine forests for summer nesting. Such forests in northern Michigan became their prime global summer breeding habitat. Kirtland's Warbler faced extinction due to the loss of habitat and the invasion of parasitic brown-headed cowbirds, which lay eggs in warbler nests and whose young survive at the expense of warbler nestlings. . . . — Map (db m33239) HM |
| Michigan (Mecosta County), Paris — 506 — Paris Fish Hatchery |
| | Opening in 1881, the Paris Fish Hatchery was the state's second fish-rearing agency. This area was selected because of its abundant sources of water and excellent railroad connections. The Paris Fish Hatchery was a major supplier of salmon and brown trout fingerlings. Fish in milk cans painted a distinctive red were shipped throughout the state in railroad baggage cars, the most famous of which was the "Wolverine," which was used from 1913 to 1938, when motorized vehicles began to dominate . . . — Map (db m55404) HM |
| Michigan (Monroe County), Monroe — The Custer Home |
| | This 116 acre "French ribbon farm", purchased by General George Armstrong Custer, his brother, Nevin, and their wives August 22, 1871, ran northerly from the River Raisin. Nevin Custer farmed it until his death. The present Custer Airport, created from part of the farm, is named for it.
General Custer's famous war-horse, Dandy, who accompanied him to the Little Big Horn, lies buried in the old orchard site back of the residence.
Buffalo Bill Cody and Little Annie Oakley would always ride . . . — Map (db m22741) HM |
| Michigan (Oakland County), Farmington Hills — "The Stuart Little Pond" |
| | In the spring of 1953, Eleanor Olney Spicer age 12 was walking her dog, a toy Manchester terrier named Stuart Little, after the children's book, Stuart Little by E.B. White. Suddenly Stuart noticed a small animal and chased it into a drainpipe and could not get out. While Stuart barked for help, Eleanor ran to her mother, who called in a backhoe company to dig poor Stuart out. While they were digging, they removed some drain tiles. Three days later, they had a pond. Hence, the "Stuart Little . . . — Map (db m46697) HM |
| Michigan (Wayne County), Plymouth — 18 — Rose of Aberlone — Michigan Legal Milestone |
| | T.C. Sherwood, president of Plymouth National Bank, contracted in 1886 with Hiram Walker of Walkerville, Ontario for the purchase of a cow, Rose 2d of Aberlone. Both parties believed that Rose was barren and would not breed, and that mistake led to one of the most famous contract cases in U.S. history.
Mr. Sherwood tried to pay Hiram Walker the agreed-upon price, $80, but Mr. Walker refused it after discovering that Rose was pregnant. Her value was now about 10 times greater than that . . . — Map (db m62359) HM |
| Minnesota (Dakota County), Hastings — River Habitats |
| | The Mississippi River and its backwaters are home to a vast and diverse array of fish and wildlife. The river's natural fluctuations help create an environment rich in vegetation — providing food and habitat for nesting birds, fish, and numerous other creatures.
But modifications such as dams and levees, while helpful to navigation and agriculture, threaten the river's ability to sustain this critical habitat. Water level management is one tool for restoring river habitat.
. . . — Map (db m50358) HM |
| Minnesota (Goodhue County), Frontenac — GD-FLC-054 — Lake Pepin's Shell Game / In Search of Summer — Great River Road Minnesota |
| | Lake Pepin's Shell Game
Celebrated today as a resort area, Lake Pepin had an earlier fame as a clamming center. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, more than 500 clammers worked the lake from their flat-bottomed johnboats, using giant combs called crowfoot bars to rake the abundant mussel beds. In this way, they gathered mussel shells to sell to the button factories at Lake City.
With thirty-two species in its waters, Lake Pepin
was unusually rich in mussels. Many bore colorful . . . — Map (db m51948) HM |
| Minnesota (Hennepin County), Richfield — Whiskey |
| |
A Great Horse
A Stout Heart
1911 – 1943 — Map (db m17237) HM |
| Minnesota (Wabasha County), Lake City — A Very Old Fish Story — Great River Road Minnesota |
| | Ten thousand years ago, as the Ice Age was drawing to a close, Wisconsin's fast-flowing Chippewa River carried vast quantities of sand. But where the Chippewa entered the Mississippi, ten miles downstream from here, its current slowed and the sand settled to the bottom, forming a natural dam that backed up the waters of the Mississippi. Thus was born Lake Pepin, one of the most beautiful stretches of the Mississippi.
Prehistoric Relics
Lake Pepin teems with fish, including . . . — Map (db m52074) HM |
| Minnesota (Wabasha County), Reads Landing — The River of Rafts — Great River Road Minnesota |
| | This was once one of the busiest stretches on the Upper Mississippi River. Between 1830 and 1915, lumber companies in western Wisconsin floated millions of pine logs and pieces of cut lumber down the Chippewa River, which enters the Mississippi opposite this point. Once in the larger river, the logs and lumber were assembled into huge rafts and floated downstream to mills in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Some rafts contained up to 10 million board feet of lumber – enough to build 500 . . . — Map (db m52718) HM |
| Mississippi (Washington County), Leland — Birthplace of Kermit the Frog — Leland, Mississippi |
| | Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, grew up and played along Deer Creek during the years 1936-1948, exploring its flora and fauna from here to Stoneville. Sometimes he was joined by his friend, Kermit Scott. These experiences and fond memories spawned in Henson's mind that timeless creation - "Kermit," the original Muppet. — Map (db m12942) HM |
| Missouri (Buchanan County), Saint Joseph — The First Pony Express |
| |
This monument erected by the
Daughters of the American Revolution
and
The City of St. Joseph
marks the place where the first
Pony Express started on April 3, 1860 — Map (db m47492) HM |
| Missouri (Jackson County), Kansas City — Lewis and Clark Expedition Across Missouri |
| | “we Set out early… Passed the mouth of … Blue water river…[and later]… a bad Sand bar, where our two rope twice…. Came to and Camped in the Point above the Kansas River. I observed a great number of Parrot queets this evening…”
William Clark, June 26, 1804
On June 26, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at the mouth of the Kansas River. Throughout the day on June 26, the men of the Corps of Discovery often had to tow the keelboat and the two pirogues that . . . — Map (db m26783) HM |
| Missouri (Platte County), Kansas City — B8 — The American Royal |
| | Kansas Citians may have hung up their cowboy hats for business suits, but we’re still mighty proud of our “Cowtown” past. In fact, we celebrate it every year with one of the oldest livestock shows in the country – The American Royal.
Established in 1899, The Royal began as a modest Hereford cattle show in a tent. But, by 1921, The Royal had grown so large; Kansas City gave the show its first 7.5-acre building. One of the show’s early-featured equestrians was Tom Bass, born . . . — Map (db m43196) HM |
| Missouri (Platte County), Kansas City — A5 — The Stockyards |
| | Railroads and cattle. The two were made for each other, and nowhere did that become more evident than right here in Kansas City.
As cattlemen began using the expanding Kansas Pacific railroad to move cattle more quickly from Texas to points east, Kansas City became a critical railhead along the way. Its central location, and the fact that corn supplies and rivers for watering were plentiful, made the town the ideal rest stop for weary cattle and cowboys. As the Kansas Pacific’s . . . — Map (db m43184) HM |
| Missouri (Saint Louis County), St. Louis — New Buildings for White Haven — Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site |
| | Grant's plans for developing the farm resulted in many improvements, including a barn and stable built between 1869 and 1872. The stable you see today housed Grant's horses. The barn that also appears in the 1875 illustration of the farm sheltered cattle and sheep. Letter from Grant to his caretaker, William Elrod September 4, 1871. — Map (db m59129) HM |
| Missouri (Saint Louis County), St. Louis — White Haven's Outbuildings — Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site |
| | Operating this 850-acre farm required numerous outbuildings. These included a spring house built over the spring to provide a cool place for crocks of butter and cheese; a barn behind the main house for livestock such as cows, pigs, and sheep; and a lime kiln built along Gravois Creek to fertilize the pastures. The remaining two buildings before you serve as reminders of the work necessary to operate a self-sufficient farm.
Ice House Preservation of perishable foods required . . . — Map (db m59109) HM |
| Montana (Big Horn County), Crow Agency — Seventh Cavalry Horse Cemetery |
| |
After the battle, 39 cavalry horses that had been shot for breastworks during Custer’s Last Stand, were found among the dead on Last Stand Hill. In 1879, a temporary cordwood monument was erected by the Army on the crest of the hill. The area, strewn with cavalry horse skeletons, was policed and the remains of the horses placed inside the cordwood monument. In July 1881, Lt. Charles F. Roe and a detail from the Second Cavalry replaced the temporary monument with the present granite monument, . . . — Map (db m45604) HM |
| Montana (Gallatin County), Bozeman — Fur Trade — To the Headwaters |
| | An abundance of beaver encouraged Corps of Discovery members John Colter and John Potts to return to the headwaters. In 1808, Blackfeet Indians killed Potts in a confrontation and stripped Colter bare, giving him a chance to run for his life. In one of the most famous foot races in American history, he outran his armed pursuers and escaped to the Madison River where he hid in a beaver lodge. Ten days and 200 miles later, Colter miraculously straggled into Fort Ramon near present day Custer, . . . — Map (db m29077) HM |
| Montana (Garfield County), Mosby — Bearpaw Shale and the Inland Ocean |
| | The black shale rocks seen in this area represent the muddy sediments deposited by the last ocean to exist in Montana. The shale, known by geologists as the Bearpaw Shale contains fossils of sea-going creatures that lived and died some 70 million years ago. Twenty foot long swimming reptiles like Mososaurus and Tylosaurus fed on fishes and ammonites, relatives of squids and octopi. The remains of the gigantic coiled ammonites called Placentaceras and the straight shelled ammonites called . . . — Map (db m9697) HM |
| Montana (Park County), Gardiner — A Wildlife Paradise |
| | Northern Yellowstone sustains one of the largest and most diverse populations of free-roaming wildlife seen anywhere on earth.
It is often called "America's Serengeti." About half of the approximately 30,000 elk that summer in the park spend the winter here on the northern range. Elevations here are lower, and the area receives less moisture than elsewhere in the park. During winter, wind and sun keep the ridge tops and south-facing slopes relatively free of snow, allowing animals . . . — Map (db m40566) HM |
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