The Road Genealogist

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Sauk Centre, MN: Birthplace of Sinclair Lewis

Redwood Falls, MN, Library

St. Paul's Catholic Church at 304 Sinclair Lewis Avenue; you can see a view from the west on the church's blog in the first link below.

Panning right to the rector's living quarters in a photo taking diagonally across the intersection from in front of the nunnery. There is also a Catholic school across Sinclair Lewis Avenue from the nunnery.

        But the man who put Sauk Centre, albeit as Gopher Prairie, on the map was writer Sinclair Lewis in his 1920 novel Main Street. He followed that with perhaps his best work in 1922: Babbit.
        The publication of Arrowsmith in 1925 brought him a Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1926, but he refused the prize since it was not for the value of his work but rather because Pultizer winners glorified "the wholesome atmosphere of American Life."
        Other novels during the 1920s were Elmer Gantry (1927) and Dodsworth(1929). In 1930 Lewis became the first American to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature, though many critics felt the award should have been given to Theodore Dreiser. [However, Dreiser's sex life was one of the prime reasons for the passage of the Mann Act.]
        Of the three links below on Sinclair Lewis, the first seems the most balanced. Some, especially that of Gore Vidal, are rather lengthy.

[Return to the top of the page] Links:

St. Paul's Catholic Church Blog
Encyclopaedia of World Biography bio of Sinclair Lewis
Wikipedia biography of Sinclair Lewis
New York Review of Books article on Sinclair Lewis by Gore Vidal

Routes:

W 9 Jul Actual Route: MN23 bd - Jasper - Luverne - Worthington W/M

Th 10 Jul Actual Route: Worthington W/M - Hawkeye Pt, IA - Spirit Lake Lib - Storm L - Carroll - Denison W/M

F 11 Jul Actual Route: Denison W/M - Harlan - Avoca - Council Bluffs W/M

Sa 12 Jul Actual Route: Council Bluffs W/M - Percival, IA, Wendys - Auburn, NE - Beatrice W/M

Su 13 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Arby's - Beatrice W/M

M 14 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Arby's - Lib - Beatrice W/M

T 15 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Lincoln - Omaha VA Hosp ER - Council Bluffs, IA, W/M

W 16 Jul Actual Route: Council Bluffs W/M - Omaha, NE - Lincoln - Beatrice Lib - Beatrice W/M

Th 17 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - Fairbury McDs - Hebron Trk Stop

F 18 Jul Actual Route: Hebron Trk Stop - Geneva Lib - Geneva Cemetery - Beatrice W/M

Sa 19 Jul Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice P.O. - Beatrice Lib - - Beatrice W/M

Finding Campgrounds:

RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
Free campsites website
Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Carlson Branch Library, Fargo, ND

The French trappers described the Badlands as Les mauvaises terres a traverser, which translates roughly to "Bad ground to cross."
Not so for birds -- but definitely so for those of us using "earth-pads."

Panning left from the above photo, which was taken on 15 or 16 June.

Panning left yet again....

The Badlands are thought of as dry; but that's not the case even in late spring.

Except for the Black Hills region slightly farther west South Dakota would have to be considered a Plains State.

With the sun low in the west the ridges and ravines stand out brightly or darkly.

A view from Sage Creek Overlook reveals that the Sage Creek Campground, just to the right of center past some tall cottonwoods, is nearly filled.

Panning left (I think)....

The next morning I headed toward the east.
By way of backbround, 75 mya [million years ago] the area from western Iowa to western Wyoming as well as from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico was covered by a shallow sea -- which caused the deposit of numerous fossils in what was then the seabed. Once the continental plates began shifting and mtn ranges rose, there were changes.

You can see various seabeds in the horizontal lines of the ridges in this photo.

Clearly not too far from the Yellow Mounds Overlook.

Either it's the vacation season or I'm being followed.

"Double-time where, Sergeant!?!?"

But some homesteaders did find both arable land and water.

[Return to the top of the page] Links:

National Park Service webpages for the Badlands National Park
Wikipedia article on Badlands National Park
More Photos of Badlands Natl Park

Routes:

Sa 28 Jun Actual Route: MN Rest Area - Dilworth, MN W/M - Fargo Br Lib - 55th St Fargo W/M

Su 29 Jun Actual Route: MN Rest Area - Dilworth, MN W/M - Fargo Br Lib - MN Rest Area

M 30 Jun Actual Route: MN Rest Area - Dilworth, MN P.O. - Fargo Br Lib - 55th St Fargo W/M

T 1 Jul Actual Route: 55th St Fargo W/M - Fargo Br Lib - VA Hosp - MN Rest Area

W 2 Jul Actual Route: MN Rest Area - Fargo VA Hosp - Fergus Falls W/M

Th 3 Jul Actual Route: Fergus Falls W/M - Arlington Lib - Sauk Centre Lib - Sauk Ctr W/M

F 4 Jul Actual Route: Sauk Ctr W/M - McDs - Sauk Ctr Lib - Sinclair Lewis Intrepretative Ctr - Wilmar W/M

Sa 5 Jul Actual Route: Wilmar W/M - Redwood Falls McDs - Redwood Falls Lib - Walmart

Su 6 Jul Actual Route: Redwood Falls W/M - Redwood Falls Lib - Marshall Walmart

M 7 Jul Route: Marshall W/M - McDs - Marshall Lib - Walmart

T 8 Jul Route: Marshall W/M - Marshall Lib - Pipestone Natl Monument

Finding Campgrounds:

RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
Free campsites website
Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Salinas Pueblo Missions - Gran Quivira, NM

Carlson Branch Library, Fargo, ND

Gran Quivira (aka Las Humanas) was the largest of the three Salinas Missions.
I visited it twice, with my first visit stopped by a high-wind which had the elderly female ranger, who out-weighed me, ready to put a cross-boby block on me if I didn't return to the parking lot.

Since the boardwalk to the ruins was under construction I debated taking the shortcut others had, but decided the asphalt path was more gradual. Another consideration, which didn't occur to me at the time, is that this is rattlesnake county.

As you can see, Gran Quivira, which sits on a ridge top, was a sizable pueblo.

An artist's conception of Las Humanas near its peak populaton in c1670 when it had 20 masonry blocks and 1500 to 2000 people.

Continuing the loop around the Gran Quivira ruins....

Here's the last photo I have of the Gran Quivira Pueblo Mission ruins since, in learning to use my new memory card reader for my camera, I copied other photos over those previously taken here.
Gran Quivera was one of the primary locations where the Plains and Pueblo Indians met to trade until the successive crop failures in the 1670s along with raids by the Apaches forced many to flee south to relatives along the Rio Grande.

[Return to the top of the page] .Links:

My 16 May post on the Abo Salinas Pueblo Mission
My 30 May post on the Salinas Pueblo Mission at Quarai
National Park Service webpages for the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
Wikipedia article on the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
Additional photos of the Salinas Pueblo Missions

Routes:

Th 19 Jun Actual Route: Bowman Lions Club RV Park - Bowman Lib - Dickinson W/M - Belinger - Medora - Theodore Roosevelt NP Cottonwood CG

F 20 Jun Actual Route: TR NP Cottonwood CG - Medora - Belfield - Kildeer - Beulah - Hazen, ND, City RV Pk

Sa 21 Jun Actual Route: Hazen City RV Pk - Stanton Gift Shop/Lib - Knife River Indian Villages Historical Sites - Washburn - Washburn bd

Su 22 Jun Actual Route: Lewis & Clark Interpretative Ctr - Fort Mandan - Washburn - Underwood - McClusky - Carrington Lions RV Pk

M 23 Jun Actual Route: Carrington Lions RV Pk - Carrington Lib - Cooperstown - Mayfield Trk Stp

T 24 Jun Actual Route: Mayfield Trk Stp - Blanchard - Fargo McDs - Fargo Lib - Fargo W/M

W 25 Jun Actual Route: Fargo W/M - Fargo Lib - Fargo W/M - N. Fargo Trk Stp

Th 26 Jun Actual Route: N. Fargo Trk Stp - Fargo Lib - Dilworth, MN W/M

F 27 Jun Actual Route: Dilworth, MN W/M - Fargo Br Lib - VA Hosp - MN Rest Area

Sa 28 Jun Actual Route: MN Rest Area - Dilworth, MN W/M - Fargo Br Lib - 55th St Fargo W/M

Finding Campgrounds:

RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
Free campsites website
Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

The Tallest Structure in North America

The Tallest Structure in North America, ND

Carlson Branch Library, Fargo, ND

The KVYL-TV transmitter tower near Blanchard, North Dakota. It's approximately in the center of the photo to the left of a tree which is small than those to its right.

Zooming in on the TV Tower from a distance of about 2 miles to the north-west on 24 Jun 2014.

From a distance of about a mile the 2,064-foot tower's top may be obscured by low clouds.

A somewhat closer shot reveals a white, concrete block building near the base of the tower, which is the tallest in both North & South America.

This final shot of North America's tallest structure doesn't reveal the top since I couldn't see it in the low clouds through my camera's viewfinder.
However, the bottom link below includes a photo of the tower and its guy-wires.

[Return to the top of the page] Links:

Wikipedia list of tallest man-made structures in the world
Wikipedia list of tallest structures by continent
Photo of KVLY-TV mast