Escapees September-October 2023

Pawnee Indian Museum. PHOTO COURTESY OF KANSAS TOURISM

Hiawatha, Kansas, Davis Memorial, Mt Hope cemetery. PHOTO BY HARLAND J SCHUSTER COURTESY OF KANSAS TOURISM

His eleven-room home in Marysville has become a showcase for all the trappings of early life. Every early-day household neces sity and more are on display in this home. Visitors see original furniture, ornate light fi xtures, decorative mirrors, rugs, drapes and clothes worn by Mrs. Koester. The grounds surrounding this house are planted with grass and fl owers. There are also some interesting yard ornaments. This lovely home, open to visitors, is located a short distance south of Marysville’s Main Street, at 10th and Broadway. At the point where U. S. Highway 36 inter sects with U.S. 81, is the Republic Country Historical Society Museum. Exhibits at the four-acre site include an 1870’s log cabin, a church, a school, a caboose and many other artifacts from the country’s early settlements. A large tool room is fi lled with many antique wood-working and stone-working tools. GoWest Moving on west, about 20 miles from Belleville on U.S. Highway 36, turn north on State Route 266 to the Pawnee Indian

Village Museum State Historic Site, constructed around the fl oor of a Pawnee earth lodge occupied in the early 1800s. This museum contains artifacts excavated on site. On the grounds are the remains of lodges, storage pits and a forti fi cation. Nine miles north of US 36, on K-8, and another mile to the west, is the restored cabin where Dr. Brewster Higley wrote the words to “Home on the Range,” Kansas’ state song. Kansas has more than 25 state parks plus thousands of city parks situated in various landscapes. Keep in mind that these city parks often welcome campers at reasonable rates or offer free camping. Twenty miles west of Smith Center is the town of Agra. At that location, turn south to reach the 10,778-acre Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge. This park, located in the middle of the fl yway of waterfowl that stop there during spring and fall, draws such upland game birds, such as pheasants, quail and prairie chickens, that soon set up resi dences there along with other Midwestern wild animals.

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September/October 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine