Jeremiah Watt

I spent Friday morning In Ft.Scott, and going over the Ft.Scott Cemetary as we ll as the actual Fort from old. Noww this fFort is really gorgeous, but almost to well maintained to feel right............not sure how to explain it but at Larned you felt like you could bump into a Corporal at any moments time. Not so here In Ft.Scott.


The cemetary located in Ft Scott is ranked the number one amongst Military Cememtarys as far as place of choice to be buried. And after that comes Arlington..........that was revealing to me, and how important the location and actions of this Fort have been over the years.




The cememtary can boost its first victiom of an Indian engagement from 1851, one unfortunate Alexander Morrow who died that day, right up to folks that have been layed to rest from the Iraq Conflict. The Cemetary is a well kept place with rows of graves that read from every date and every rank amongst the military.



Ft.Scott is like many other of our frontier established Forts, having been sold at one point in its history back into the citizenry of the town when decommissioned after the west was considered settled. This particular Fort, was decommissioned twice and brought back each time, at the end of the last training campaign for WW2 it was then handed over to the Kansas State Park system for complete renovation and added to Historically important sites in America.


I had done the entire tour of the Fort, and even bought a few little goodies for my kids I have in youth group at Church. I done a little of my traveling Christmas shopping and was ready to get on the road to Nevada, for you see I had now completeely given up on getting down to Nixa on time for Elizabeth's birthday party and see my friends the Brennens. I felt really akward in getting there lay=te and then ruining the day for Liz, so all I had to due was make the call.............................................


I was on the road under clear skies and warm weather, ripping down great roads on my way to another museum in Nevada Missouri. Over here it is pronounced "Mizourah", with no sharp E on the end. We tourists can be picked right out by our pronunciation of words. The little town of Nevada derives its name from a city of the same in Nevada, but once these folks back east get done with the beautiful Spanish word you would have a hard time recognizing it at all.

The Bush Wacker Museum, and all that it makes famous about the bloodiest event in American History, the Civil War.

There were serious border skirmishes between a free Kansas and a slaved Missouri, and one fellow in particular Quantrill lead the largest of raiding parties for the longest time in this soon to be Civil War. These days were known historically as the "Blleeding Kansas" days. Ther are countless books written on the subject, and every other aspect of the Civil War for that matter.

But in it all, Missouri played into the Civil War in many fashiopns, from the raiders of Quantril, to the first real battle between the Union North and the Confederate South, it was in hte mix thru it all and then on afterwards as unsettled state line battles ensued.


I filled my water and headed for the next stop of El Dorado, not knowing that I was being followed by a man wearing dark glasses and looking through two holes in a news Paper. Ever since I had taken my cape off from the day before, I had made a vow to travel in the dangers that all common men travel in each day, and to not use any of my finely honed skills to lessen those dangers.


I rode like a whirlwind the 20 or so miles to El Dorado, and pulled into a small grocery Store to get a little something to drink.......................OH MY GOD< thats when I remembered the phone call to David. So I sat drinking Gator, and getting my cell phone out and cued up...................ring a ding ding Jim-bo, ya got 5 messages. So I listen, and they are Lizard telling me to be sure to ride towards Nixa, and that was at 9:30, and then 4 messages from her dad david and he was on the road hunting me. Folks, let me tell ya, David is a tough nut super spy, he makes tornadoes look like lady bugs as an adversary goes. I am on the phone "Mooey Pronto", and have David live on hte other end.......he is running the highways of Kansas looking for a biker but hasn't found me yet. "Where in the heck are ya, Jeremiah asks David? SO I tell him, and come to find out that we must have pased one another on the road when he stopped to get coffee..................I really think that he stopped to clean his Glock, he was so mad hunting for me.

David, as it rutned out was only about 5 miles down the road, and was in the parking lot in moments from the time that I called. We loaded up the bike and trailer and were headed to Nixa for the big Party. We talked about all manner of things, but for me the interest is what david does for a living. If ever you get to meet him you will be entertained, and ask him to tell you about all that he hass done in life apart from working for Shute's in Nevada and having his own saddle shop at one time. He is the father of two great girls, Elizabeth and Adrian, and the husband of Allison who makes each meal great and all comer welcome.