This from Sam’s journal: “We got off at a lazy start. So then we start driving. Mom said there is a weird part of Kansas. So we will see if is weird? It is very weird!”
He was talking about Kansas’ Gypsum Hills – a section of road between Medicine Lodge and Coldwater of red earth, craggy bluffs, and, scruffy trees. We paused at a scenic pullover fully expecting John Wayne to gallop over a hill at any moment and letting our imaginations run away with us. Ross described the bluffs as “large ant hills” and we all considered what it would be like to explore the ravines lining the landscape.
We stopped in Coldwater for a quiet picnic lunch. The park, which is just west of the highway about two blocks was shady and peaceful – the pool didn’t open until 1:00 p.m. We dined on bologna, tomatoes, carrots, chips, salsa and cherries and while becoming Thursday’s object of fascination for a couple of kids in a neighboring window. We waved.
After Coldwater, we continued on the highway through the Big Basin – a one mile wide sinkhole created by the collapse of gypsum deposits beneath the earth’s surface. It was there that I made the mistake of mentioning that we would soon be passing the Dalton Gang Hideout.
For the next 30 miles a faithful and regular request came from the back of the SUV concerning whether or not we had reached the roadside attraction. So when we got to the outskirts of Meade, Kansas – I told Isaac to “keep his eyes peeled.”
“I think I saw it Mom!” he would then shout about every thirty seconds pointing to a shed or abandoned house at the side of the road. “No,” we would explain, “there will be signs.” So, when we did finally see the signs, we followed them four blocks south from the highway past a tiny, green and pink Victorian cabin and two-story, wood sided barn to the bottom of Gallup Away Canyon to park under a shade tree and go see what the fuss was all about.
From the moment we entered the museum located inside the barn, curator Marc Ferguson enthralled us with the story of Eva Dalton Whipple, sister of the infamous Bob, Emmett and Grat Dalton, wife of a respected local merchant, and locally famous hat maker.The museum had pictures of places in Coffeyville where the Dalton boys – described in Meade as, “just a couple of rambunctious boys” – met with their demise. We explained that we were fully familiar with that part of the story after having visited on previous vacations. Marc, who is a practicing living historian and gunfighter, then proceeded to fill us in on the scoop behind the discovery of the hideout.
Apparently, pressure from law enforcement concerning Eva’s alleged involvement with the Dalton gang caused the Whipple’s to mysteriously disappear from Meade. The house was then collected by the city for back taxes and resold. The couple who purchased the home happened to be eating dinner one evening when a “rough looking stranger” with a Winchester rifle suddenly appeared out of the pantry. The outlaw, upon noticing that the home was occupied by strangers, made a hasty retreat back the way he came.
Upon further investigation, the couple discovered a tunnel leading from the pantry floorboards to a well concealed hole behind one of the feed bins in the barn. The rest, as they say, is history with the tunnel as the main attraction. The museum really is worth a stop if you interested in history and have a few extra moments in Meade. The walk through the tunnel from the barn to the house and exploration of a unique, two-level, kitchen-in-the-basement prairie home is well worth the $4 admission fee.
After that very unscheduled stop, we hit the road again through sage and scrub brush, yucca, and more red earth to our first destination in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The navigator was needlepointing through the Oklahoma panhandle so we missed our turn in Guyman. This caused a slight delay and one mile detour into Texas. As a result, however, we did get a close up view of a massive prairie fire which looked to be just outside of Griggs.
All in all, it was a successful day with excellent mileage covered. The hacienda style Ventana Inn was clean, quiet and comfortable which was just what we needed after the end of a long day of driving.
