Day 4

It was really hot last night. When I went to bed, it was still 87°. I have also never seen so many bugs or heard so many bugs banging against the tent. If Kati were here, she would have been absolutely miserable. G3 wasn’t very comfortable either with the heat. Plus he kept tossing and turning because the ground was very bumpy and he couldn’t find a spot to sleep that didn’t hurt. I woke up in the middle of the night, and he was curled up at my feet like a cat.

G3 woke up complaining and so far he has spent the whole morning complaining about everything. He complained that I gave him hot cereal for breakfast because he wanted something better. He complained that I brought dark chocolate hot chocolate, and left the milk chocolate home for Kati. He complained that I didn’t bring milk. It’s 100°. He complained that I made him eat everything in his bowl because at the campsite there was no where to throw away the uneaten food. He complained he wasn’t hungry and I forced him to eat, but he’s the one who asked for two packets of food. I hope his mood improves.

I’m really liking the Kansas highway signs. Kansas is the sunflower state. Therefore, the state highway signs have the number of the highway inside a yellow sunflower. Everything is so flat in Kansas that I’m going 70 miles an hour and I feel like I’m going three. And people are wizzing past me. The speed limit is 70 or 75 MPH depending on the road, but my car is used to the Northeast and starts shaking when I hit 65 MPH. I am loving the fact that there are many country stations here in Kansas. G3 is not nearly as enthralled, especially since the stations play the same songs over and over again.

I should’ve listen to G3 yesterday. He wanted to have ice cream for lunch, but I was trying to be the good mother and give him something more substantial to eat. If I had listened, I would not have gotten sick from food poisoning. Moral of the story, listen to your child and eat more ice cream.

We woke up at 6:00 to get an early jump on the day. I wanted to be on the road by 7:00 so we could be in Abilene where Dwight D. Eisenhower’s house opened at 9. Years ago, during G3’s Lincoln phase, when he was about 7 or 8, we went to Gettysburg. While there, we visited Eisenhower’s farm—the only house he and Mamie ever owned. The tour of the Pennsylvania house focused on Eisenhower the president. This house in Abilene focused on his childhood. Eisenhower grew up poor, on the wrong side of the tracks—literally. The section of town in which he grew up was poorer and more ethnically and racially diverse. This most likely impacted his actions as president later on.

Neither G3 nor I enjoyed this tour as much as we enjoyed other tours. The tour guide focused mostly on artifacts in the house, which never interests us as much as stories pertaining to the people who lived there. We did learned that Eisenhower’s parents purchased the house for $1000. Eisenhower had six brothers, one of whom died as an infant. It was a small house and the boys had to share a room. In order to get some privacy, Eisenhower closed himself inside a closet to read—and he read a great deal. And people think I’m weird for walking and reading.

Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas. His father was working on the railroad. When his father was offered a job at a creamery in Kansas, he quickly seized on the opportunity to return to Kansas. In order to prepare for the job he needed to take a corresponding course. The books from the course are still in the family home. The tour guide attributed the Eisenhower boys’ success in life to seeing their father studying when they were younger. His brothers grew up to be a pharmacist, banker, lawyer, university president, and an electrical engineer.

The house had a radio. Needless to say, Ike’s mother loved listening to her son broadcast updates on World War II. In 1946, Eisenhower‘s mother won the Kansas Mother of the Year award. I suppose that’s not surprising considering her son just won the war in Europe.

While the house tour was not as informative as G3 and I would’ve liked, we did sit through a film about Eisenhower‘s life, and we did walk through the museum. I was surprised to learn that Eisenhower did not want to go into the army. His dream was to go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. However, he received a West Point appointment instead. How different history may have turned out if he had gotten his wish.

Eisenhower was responsible for the storming of Normandy. On D-Day all the soldiers received orders directly from Eisenhower. On May 7, 1945, Alfred Jodl surrendered directly to Eisenhower. (Hitler had already committed suicide.) At the end of the war, Eisenhower witnessed the atrocities that took place in German concentration camps. He insisted that press and government representatives from both Washington and London go to the camps and document what happened. It was important to him that the world know exactly what Germany did.

Following the war, Eisenhower was first sought after by the Democrats to run for president, however, it was the Republicans who secured him a nomination. He ran against Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson won more of the popular vote than any other losing candidate in history (not sure if that is still true) but it wasn’t enough for him to claim victory. As many of you know, Eisenhower’s campaign slogan was “I like Ike.” Some people consider it to be the most successful, catchy, and well remembered political slogan of all time. I definitely think it’s better than “Make America Great,” though one could easily argue that Ike succeeded at that far better than the man who used it.

There is much we have to thank Eisenhower for. Many of the road trips we do with G3 would not be possible without Eisenhower. While in Germany, during the war, Eisenhower was impressed by the autobahn. (Germans did do something well.) As president Eisenhower wanted something similar. Therefore, he devised an interstate system that would allow us to travel across the country. Economic growth was outstanding during the Eisenhower years. There were plenty of jobs and Americans—mostly men—were paid well.

Eisenhower was also very important for civil rights. He appointed many judges who for years helped bring about change and grant more equality to African-Americans. He nominated Chief Justice Earl Warren to the Supreme Court. Warren went on the lead the Supreme Court to a 9-0 decision in Brown V. Board of Education—which desegregated schools. When the Governor of Arkansas balked at the order to desegregate and called in the National Guard to prevent it, Eisenhower called in federal troops to ensure it happened and to protect the Little Rock Nine.

When McCarthy went on his witch hunt, destroying dozens of careers by accusing people of being Communists, Eisenhower did not approve. As a result, he helped orchestrate McCarthy’s demise.

In terms of the world stage, Eisenhower is responsible for the idea that if one country fell to communism, then others would follow. This fear of the domino effect ruled American policy during the the Cold War. Although Eisenhower was opposed to communism, he did not like the idea of nuclear war. Even at the end of World War II, he did not agree with Truman‘s decision to drop the bombs on Japan.

On the tour, we met a couple from Indiana. While G3 and I go to president houses, this couple likes to travel the country to go to presidential libraries. The woman said they have only one left to visit. And because I did not write down which one they still need to see in my notes, I have no recollection of which one it was.

OMG! We stopped at Subway for lunch—in Kansas—and I have never seen people move more slowly. Coming from New York, I am used to speed. Here they were going so slow it reminded me of the Sloth scene in the movie Zootopia.

G3 really wanted to go to Nebraska. He didn’t want a gaping hole between South Dakota and Kansas. When he suggested we go to Nebraska, I initially said no, But then I thought about it consulted my National Park app. I figured if there was something worth visiting in the South-east corner we would go. There was. The Homestead National Historical Park is not far across the border. Since I couldn’t resist the opportunity to learn more history—to teach G3 more history—we turned the car north after Eisenhower‘s house. This national Park has added meaning for me because dad collected the State National Park quarters for G3 and this is the park on the Nebraska quarter.

While we were driving, I saw a historical marker for Pony Express. I was very excited to stop and read the sign. G3 made fun of me for stopping. It was just a marker—nothing more—indicating where one of the stops along the Pony Express had been. The Pony Express lasted only a year and a half—from 1860 until 1861. It ran from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento, California. The pony express was able to deliver mail in a third of the time that it took the stage coaches. By the end of 1861 it was no longer needed because the trans continental telegraph was able to deliver information far more quickly.

All stories have two sides. The history of the Homestead Act is no different. You can look at it from the white man’s perspective, as there being endless opportunity and free land for anyone willing to work it. Or you can look at it from the Native American perspective in which white people came in and stole land that they had lived on for centuries. Neither story is wrong, but we need to acknowledge both of them. We can’t just look at what the white man gained and ignore how we got it and who we hurt in the process.

Americans today like to believe that America was built on the ideals of independence and self-sufficiency. We think about people pushing West, claiming land, and making a go of it on their own—without help, especially from the Government. The truth is, that is just a myth. The Homestead Act was not simply about independence or being able to do things all on your own. Today, many Americans are against government assistance. They think it breeds laziness. The reality is that the Government was giving handouts all along—handouts that sometimes bred success. Without the free land doled out as a result of the Homestead Act, people would not have been able to make it on their own. They would not have had the money to purchase the land necessary to begin their own farms.

Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act in 1862. It went into affect on January 1, 1863. The very first Homestead was in Beatrice Nebraska—the current site of the National Park. Local legend claims that Daniel Freeman was at a party on December 31 when he heard about homesteading. In the morning, he woke up and immediately went to register his claim. I always associated the Homestead Act with the late 1800s. If you had asked me a week ago when the last homestead was granted by the United States government, I probably would’ve guessed somewhere in the 1890s. I would’ve been wrong. The last homestead went to Kenneth Deardorff in 1974, the year I was born. He came home from fighting the was in Vietnam and wanted a fresh start. The only land left available was in Alaska, so that’s where he went. The Supreme Court won’t let Biden pay off $10,000 of my school loan, but I would happily accept a plot of land instead. Because I’m sure that 160 acres is worth more than $10,000.

According to the Homestead Act, in order to claim 160 acres of land, one needed to build a shelter and begin farming. After five years, if they were successful, they received the title to the land. The act did not discriminate—men, women, and minorities were able to apply for a homestead. Even so, I’m sure it is no surprise that the majority of homesteaders were white men.

Many homesteads did not succeed. Success of a Homestead was not just based on how hard somebody was willing to work. Luck played a factor. Weather killed many homestead aspirations. Lack of rain was deadly to crops. Also, not everyone had the means to obtain proper equipment to farm. Despite the failures, it is believed that up to 93 million Americans are descended from homesteaders.

Perhaps the most famous homesteading family was the Ingalls. They didn’t do anything special and Charles wasn’t particularly successful, but his daughter went on to write books about their life on the frontier, books that inspired a TV series. That’s America for you—put someone on TV and they are instantly famous. Moral of the story, write a book about your dad and someday he too may be famous.

America is so good at remembering Abraham Lincoln as being the good guy who freed the slaves. But we are unable to remember the things he did that harmed other people, specifically Native Americans. When the Homestead Act went into affect, Americans were told that the land was theirs for the taking. As a result, Americans invaded the west, ignoring treaties that had been signed with Native American tribes. What followed was the loss of even more land.

Arguably, more damaging than the fact that treaties were violated is the fact that the Homestead Act inspired the Dawes Act of 1887. It was conceived by Senator Dawes from Massachusetts and signed by President Grover Cleveland. Maybe they had good intentions, however, the consequences were dire. The Dawes Act divided reservation land. Much like the Homestead Act it gave 160 acres of land to each Native American. Cunningly, the good land was set aside because after the Natives took their claims, Whites could claim the rest. The result was a loss of up to 60% a reservation land.

At the historical park, G3 and I watched a video, strolled through the museum, and then took a short walk through the prairie. The National Park is restoring the land to its original state—before homesteading. We couldn’t take a long walk because it was 86° and we were melting.

At home, most traffic lights are on a timer. Apparently, that is not the case in Nebraska. I stopped at a red light and was there for about three minutes. Just as I was beginning to wonder if the light was ever going to change, the guy behind me knocked on my window. He explained that I needed to move up closer to the stoplight, otherwise I wouldn’t trigger the sensor that would turn the light green. I apologized and he said no worries, he could see that I was not from around here.

On the drive back to the campsite, G3 was hungry and looked online for a place to eat. He found a Mexican place in the middle of nowhere. We are in Kansas. My expectations were low. But G3 wanted Mexican, so we stopped. The food was surprisingly good.