Found Out Today We're Not Criminals.

Tuttle Creek Cove Campground
Manhattan, Kansas
#18 Back In

Our day started out with a short drive to Fort Riley.  We pulled into the visitor area for a pass and 30 minutes later after a photo and background check, we were on the base.  

We wanted to visit the First Territorial Capitol and knew it was only open during the weekend.  No problem for us, as we love Tuttle Creek Cove and staying an extra day is no problem especially since it's only $9.00 a night.  

The base is beautiful and the first thing we passed was the officers horses.  Our passes expired at 4 pm, well I should say, mine expired at 4 pm, Bill's expired at 5 pm.  We knew we had a lot to see while on the base.

Our first stop was the US Cavalry Museum.  We weren't sure how to dress this morning but figured it would warm up.  We both wished we wore long pants.  It was very cold in there, but were told they turned the AC on to reduce the humidity.  

This museum was quite surprising.  It was something you'd expect in a very large city.  The musuem did not charge a fee, but had a donation box.  

The Cavalry Museum chronicles the history of the American Horse Soldier from 1776 to 1950 when it ceased to exist.

The displays were very well done.

I was amazed at how many artifacts were originals.

I thought this was a real treasure.  It was an oil cloth rain hood worn by General George Armstrong Custer.

I didn't realize that their daily duty of "stable call" was to take care of their horse.

All troopers were issued these fatigues to be worn over their uniform while they were taking care of their horses.

I noticed they had a gas mask for the horse, but nothing for the dog.

When we entered the musuem, we came in the back of the building as there was a handicap ramp.  

This is what the building looked like from the front.  It was huge and they made use of both floors.  It was constructed in 1855 as the Post Hospital.

Directly next door was the Fort Riley Regimental Museum. The building was constructed in 1905 as barracks.  The tin ceilings were beautiful.  This museum told the history of the units that were assigned to Fort Riley and the US Constabulary.

There was no way I could capture the trenches exhibit.  It made you feel like you were there.

These exhibits were so life like.

I took a lot of photos and it's hard to pick just a few.

This was a birdcage they made where they kept birds to detect poison gases.

The Vietnam war was very well displayed.

Once again this musuem was housed on two floors.

Somehow we didn't get a photo of Old Trooper Monument.  At the foot of the monument is the grave of "Chief" the last cavalry horse to be maintained on Army records.

A short walk away was our next museum, "The Custer House".  Originally, it was thought that George and Libby Custer lived in this house but researchers believe he lived in a sister house a couple of doors down.  That home was destroyed by a fire and then remodeled.

We were very lucky to find that we were the only ones touring the home and we had the docent to ourselves.  She was excellent and told the stories of the people and times.

The home had mostly original artifacts.

When she took is into the children's room, she told us stories of how other people have experienced a friendly ghost in the house.  

She said the doll would sometimes be sitting up and the bear moved.  This is her first summer here and she said the only strange thing has been the front door opening and no one there.  All of a sudden we heard some noise and we all looked down the staircase, and the front door opened.  There was absolutely no wind or anyone there.  

We decided we'd seen enough of that and decided to head on down the road to our next stop.

Our next stop was our original destination--The First Territorial Capitol of Kansas.  Government corruption and they only used this for 5 days, sounds like current times.  

Believed to have been the Governor's chair.

The building faced the river which was the main avenue of traffic and commerce.

We did also see the parade field but didn't have time to see St. Mary's Chapel, Tuttle Park, Sturgis Field, or the King Field House after all, my pass expired soon.  

It was a tiring but great day.  Now let me tell you about the last five days I've been dealing with.

My 95 year old father who is legally blind lives in an Independent/Assisted living center.  I always call him everyday.  He has dementia so I'm never sure what state he'll be in when I call.  I last talked with him while we were in Hutch.  The next night, I couldn't reach him and thought he might not have hung up the phone as it just kept giving me a busy signal.  The next morning I called the center and the girl told me he was doing fine.  She said she'd tell him I called and ask him to make sure his phone was hung up.  I tried again all day and all I got was a busy signal.  I called again and had them check to make sure his phone was hung up.  It was still busy.  I finally e-mailed the manager, as it was after business hours and she said he was fine, she'd seen him at dinner.  Today I called and asked Jessica to go to his room and call me back from his phone.  Finally, she called.  She said she'd checked the telephone cord in the wall and it was hung up, but when she tried to call me it didn't work.  It seems the power cord was plugged in, but he must have knocked something against it and it was only halfway in.  You couldn't really tell by looking at it.  Thank you, Jessica.

I called him back and he wasn't concerned at all and couldn't understand what all the ruckus was about.  

I didn't take any photos yesterday but we toured the Riley County Museum.  It's one of those, if you've seen one you've seen them all kind of places.  However, we asked about the Goodnow house and the docent took us over and opened it up.  He was excellent and told us the story of how Manhattan--Little Apple got its name.  He knew so much about the lives of Isaac and Ellen Goodnow.  

This is the road into our campsite.  Just checking to see how high the water is rising.

Our neighbors pulled out so we're pretty much by ourselves. 






It's been a couple of long days exploring this part of Kansas.  We've really enjoyed the history and stories of the people.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be a more laid back day.  

Turtle Safely........