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11 April 2006 -
Tuesday
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We awoke about 6:15
and had to move fast as we had an 8:00 am appointment at the Ford
dealer. After leaving the van in with
the service manager we walked over to a Wal-Mart Super Center for a haircut
and breakfast. Apparently we had
encountered the only Super Center where a cup of coffee could not be had let
alone a meal! We just couldn’t
understand how this type of situation could occur her in the Heartland of
America. When Fred brought the
problem to the attention of the store’s management team it was not
appreciated, as their response was, “we couldn’t get a cup of coffee either”. Now with an answer like that he was beginning
to feel like he was back home in New Jersey!
Maybe the cozy mom and apple pie lifestyle advertised in those “red
states” isn’t all it could be.
Since the hair salon would not open until 9:00 am we entertained
ourselves looking at the goods. By 9:10
the salon operator arrived but two other patrons were ahead of us so we
left. We had no success at the
world’s largest retailer. After
returning to the van we drove back into downtown Woodward and found a nice
café on Main Street that that was so typical of small town America a quarter
century ago but less so today.
Appetites satisfied we headed on to the Courthouse to look up land
records in an effort to establish when our great-grandfather Jeremiah E.
Moreland had come to Woodward County.
This information would be extremely important in determining the birth
location of our maternal grandfather Jerre’ F. Moreland. We know that Jerre’ was born 25 June 1899
and that his father died in Woodward County 20 November 1901, a mere 29
months later. Unfortunately we were
not able to locate any record of Jeremiah owning property while living
here. After a short stint at the
local library we left town at about 1:30 pm and headed northwest towards
Kansas. In hind sight we
realized that we had failed to look for several other records that may have
answered our questions as to when Jeremiah had settled in Woodward thus we
had left the door open for another trip back to this part of the
country. Out on the prairie the
strong crosswinds continuously buffeted the van making it very difficult to
drive. Along the way we saw plots of
evergreen trees on the tops of each hill.
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Apparently the local government had planted them as wind barriers
to stop snowdrifts during the winter. Around 4:00 pm we
arrived in Liberal, Kansas. One must
surely wonder how this small city got its name. In 1872 Mr. S.S. Rogers became the first homesteader in what
would later become Liberal. Outside of the Cimarron River, water was very
scarce in Southwestern Kansas and there was usually a charge for even a small
amount; however Mr. Rogers always gave his water free to passing travelers.
Quite often he would hear a reply of "that's mighty liberal of you"
from the grateful recipients. By
1885, Mr. Rogers had opened a general store and the government established an
official Post Office. It seemed only natural to call the new town
"LIBERAL".
Upon our arrival in
town we set about looking for a place to stay overnight. After consulting our books and maps we
decided to check out the Seward County Fairgrounds. As they were acceptable we paid $10.00 for a site with electric
and headed back to the center of town where we visited the local
library. Although we didn’t find any
information to assist in our research we did obtain a coupon for dinner at
Pizza Hut. As such we proceeded to
the nearest location where we ate salads and a large veggie pizza. Following this we found a free Internet
hot spot near a motel were we checked our email. Then back to the fairgrounds for the evening. We rated this place a “2”, which would be
expected from a location that was not developed for family camping but rather
a place for vendors and exhibitors to hook-up during the annual fair. During the night the sheriff came by so
Fred got out to tell him that we had paid, and he acknowledged that he had
already seen out receipt in the windshield. Other that that we slept pretty
well this night. |
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