KANSAS CITY HERE I AM

he cold weather that has had a grip on the Midwest the past few days continued as I left St. Louis and headed to Kansas City. It was 18 degrees and sunny when I left St. Louis and the talk around the motel was that it was snowing in Kansas City.  Wanting to avoid downtown rush hour traffic I decided to head north on I-55 and go around the north side of St. Louis on I-270. 

Just a few miles west of I-55 is a decommissioned section of Route 66 that leads up to the old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The Chain of Rocks Bridge carried Mother Road travelers across the Mississippi River and was unique because about half way across there was a 20 degree bend to accommodate shipping traffic.  The Old Bridge has long since been replaced by the New I-270 bridge and is today open only to pedestrian and bike traffic.

I parked in the parking area on the Illinois side of the bridge and walked out to the state line at the center of the bridge. Just past the state line on the Missouri side is where the Bridge takes it sharp Right turn. It was freezing cold and I had seen enough so after a few photos, I headed back to the car.

Once back at the car, it was time to head west to Kansas City. I really like my little WAZE app on my phone.  As I was heading out I-270 toward I-70, WAZE popped up and rerouted me around a significant construction backup and sent me down the Missouri 370 expressway where I hooked up with I-70 and headed west.

A couple of hours later I passed through Columbia and stopped at the Midway Truckstop, which was featured on the Travel Channel a couple of years back.  This is one place that didn’t live up to the hype. In short this place is a dive, old grungy and borderline dirty. But I can say I have been here, I just won’t be back.

The only side trip I took today was up to Richmond, Missouri where I first stopped at the Pioneer Cemetery. Before moving west the Mormons were centered in this area and a number of prominent members of the Early Mormon Church are buried here.  But the one grave that brought me here was that of William T. “Bloody Bill” Anderson.  Bloody Bill was a Missouri Guerilla during the Civil War and served with William Clarke Quantrill. Anderson was killed by Union Soldiers on October 26, 1864. Union soldiers identified Anderson by a letter found in his pocket and paraded his body through the streets of Richmond, Missouri. The corpse was photographed and displayed at a local courthouse for public viewing, along with Anderson's possessions.^] Union soldiers claimed that Anderson was found with a string that had 53 knots, symbolizing each person he had killed. Union soldiers buried Anderson's body in a field near Richmond in a fairly well-built coffin. Some of them cut off one of his fingers to steal a ring. Flowers were placed at his grave, to the chagrin of Union soldiers. In 1908, Cole Younger, a former guerrilla who served under Quantrill, reburied Anderson's body, and in 1967, a memorial stone was placed at the grave.

 

About a mile away in the Richmond City Cemetery rests the remains of Bob Ford.  On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James went into the living room in preparation for the trip to Platte City. James had just learned of gang member Dick Liddil's confession for participating in Hite's murder while reading the daily newspaper, and grew increasingly suspicious of the Fords for never reporting this matter to him. According to Robert Ford, it became clear to him that James had realized they were there to betray him. However, instead of scolding the Fords, James walked across the living room to lay his revolvers on a sofa. He then turned around and noticed a dusty picture above the mantle, and stood on a chair in order to clean it. Robert Ford then drew his weapon, and shot the unarmed Jesse James in the back of the head.  James' wife Zerelda ran into the room and screamed, "You've killed him." Robert Ford's immediate response was "I swear to God I didn't."

After the assassination, the Fords wired Crittenden to claim their reward. They surrendered themselves to legal authorities, but they were dismayed to find that they were charged with first degree murder. In one day, the Ford brothers were indicted, pled guilty, and were sentenced to death by hanging, but two hours later, Crittenden granted them a full pardon. Despite the deal that was made with Crittenden, the Ford brothers received only $500, a fraction of the money they were originally promised

For a time, Bob Ford earned money by posing for photographs as "the man who killed Jesse James" He also appeared on stage with his brother Charles, reenacting the murder in a touring stage show, but his performance was not well received. The way he had killed James—while his back was turned and he was unarmed—earned Ford much enmity from the residents of the various towns where they performed.

Charles, terminally ill with tuberculosis and addicted to morphine, committed suicide on May 4, 1884. Soon afterward, Bob Ford and Dick Liddil relocated to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where they opened a saloon By early 1885, Bob Ford had become a Las Vegas city policeman. According to legend, Ford, the owner of a saloon, had a shooting contest with Jose Chavez y Chavez, a comrade-in-arms of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War. Ford lost the contest and left town.
On December 26, 1889, Ford survived an assassination attempt in Kansas City, Kansas when an assailant tried to slit his throat.

Within a few years, Robert Ford had settled in Colorado, where he opened a saloon-gambling house in Walsenberr. When silver was found in Creede, Ford closed his saloon and opened one there.
On the eve of Easter 1892, Ford and gunman Joe Palmer, a member of the Soapy Smith gang, were drinking in the local saloons and proceeded to shoot out windows and street lamps along Creede's Main Street. With the help of friends and business partners of Smith, they were soon allowed to return. Ford purchased a lot and on May 29, 1892, opened Ford's Exchange, said to have been a dance hall. Six days later, the entire business district, including Ford's Exchange, burned to the ground in a major fire. Ford opened a tent saloon until he could rebuild.
 
June 8, 1892, Edward O’Kelley  entered Ford's tent saloon with a shotgun. According to witnesses, Ford's back was turned. O'Kelley said, "Hello, Bob." As Ford turned to see who it was, O'Kelley fired both barrels, killing Ford instantly. O'Kelley hence became "the man who killed the man who killed Jesse James." O'Kelley's sentence was commuted because of a medical condition, and he was released on October 3, 1902. O'Kelley was subsequently killed on January 13, 1904 while trying to shoot a policeman.

Ford was buried in Creede, Colorado but later was exhumed and reburied here in Richmond.
From Richmond it was just a short 45-minute trek down to the Comfort Suites in Independence, Missouri. This will be my home for the Next four night. Tomorrow it will be off to the Sprint Center for a full day of Basketball